It’s been a long, dark winter (aren’t they all) but I have, as usual, enjoyed accentuating the atmosphere with some weird and spooky fiction.
Here’s a quick summary of the books I enjoyed escaping with this winter.
Edited & Illustrated by Richard Wells
Folk Horror / Anthology / Historic
Tales Accursed is the second collection of classic supernatural stories selected by the artist Richard Wells. Each of the sixteen tales is accompanied by one of Richard’s striking lino-print illustrations.
I have been looking forward to this collection ever since the first one, Damnable Tales, came out in 2022. A friend was kind enough to gift me one for my birthday last year, which was hugely appreciated, not least because the hardback editions are, firstly, a thing of absolute beauty and also because they done as a limited run only.
It’s worth owning for Richard Wells’s lino cut illustrations alone. But I have also enjoyed the opportunity it presents for expanding my awareness of Folk Horror and its roots. Many of the authors (Shirley Jackson, M. R. James, E. F. Benson) I am familiar with and many (Algernon Blackwood, William Croft Dickinson) I was not.
It was fun to read new stories from the authors I already know and love and even better to discover new writers whilst exploring the origins of my current favoured genre in more depth.
M. R. James’s Wailing Well was a particular revelation and one it’ll take me a while to shake. All I’ll say is I’m glad I was never in his Scout troop.
Stories by Bridget Collins, Imogen Hermes Gowar, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Andrew Michael Hurley, Jess Kidd, Natasha Pulley, Elizabeth Macneal, Laura Purcell, Susan Stokes-Chapman, Laura Shepherd-Robinson, Stuart Turton, Catriona Ward
Ghost Stories / Anthology / Seasonal
The tradition of a haunted tale at Christmas has flourished across the centuries. These twelve stories – authored by some of today’s most loved and lauded writers of historical and gothic fiction – are all centred around Christmas or Advent, boldly and playfully re-imagining a beloved tradition for a modern audience.
I was unfamiliar with all the authors of this book bar two (Laura Purcell and Andrew Michael Hurley). It was really great to discover such a wealth of contemporary writers with a passion and talent for writing the paranormal. The stories were all so different but the pace and atmosphere of each one was very well executed and all were fun to read.
Loving Christmas as much as I do, especially as a season for ghostly tales, meant the festive element added something extra special for me. I shall undoubtedly return to this collection this festive season, too. It’ll come sooner than you think!
By C. A. Fletcher
Folk Horror / Novel / Curses
A water-borne blight hits a small community on a remote Scottish island. The residents are a mix of island-born and newcomers seeking a slower life away from the modern world; all have their own secrets, some much darker than others. Some claim the illness may be a case of mass hysteria – or even a long-buried curse – but when ferry service fails and phone towers go down, inconvenience grows into nightmarish ordeal as the outwardly harmonious fabric of the community is irreversibly torn apart.
I was very excited about this book. Scotland is somewhere I love, partially because I visit often and have done a lot of hiking there, but also because the wild landscape I love so well is steeped in mystery and folklore. It is crying out for more folk horror, especially stories set on the far-flung, weather-beaten islands.
Some of my excitement also came from the fact that when it came through the post box it gave a proper thunk on the door mat. Folk Horror novels are often short, but I love a good, long book, one that gives itself space to delve into a plot, characters, setting without compromising pace. And Dead Water does do this. There is also plenty of action, a good, simmering threat and a really rich, immersive atmosphere.
The reason for the 3-star rating is purely personal. The central premise was just not what I was after. I don’t want to give too much away, but I was after a Scottish-folklore-inspired-premise and it leaned more toward legends from other parts of the world. There are plenty of readers out there for whom this won’t matter, so I still encourage you to give it a go. But, for me, it felt like the fact that it was set on a Scottish island was almost incidental, when I was hoping that the location would be the driving force of the whole thing.
I am still glad I read it and, as I say, don’t let my purely `subjective reasons put you off. It’s just, for me, the ending wasn’t what I was expecting and wasn’t, in the end, one that chimed for me personally.
By Mary Sharratt
Witches / Historic / Fantasy
Set in Lancashire, England, during the infamous witch trials of 1612, DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL reveals the true story of Bess Southerns, aka Old Demdike, cunning woman, healer and the most notorious of the Pendle Witches, and of Alizon Device, her granddaughter, struggling to come to terms with her family’s troubling legacy.
I recently did some deep-diving the history of the Lancashire Witch Trials. Being a resident of Lancaster (I can see the castle where the accused were held captive and tried for witchcraft from my bedroom window) I have long been curious about the human reality of this dark period in history and I recently decided I wanted to try my hand at a short story inspired by the events.
However, historical writings and contemporary accounts, accurate or not, spin an impersonal list of either accepted or debated facts. Important sources, but I was keen to read a novel. Something that humanised all the participants in a realistic way and let me explore what happened with sympathy, empathy and emotion.
Daughters of Witching Hill did this for me. It is not a horror. It is a human drama with a smattering of paranormal. It is up to the reader to decide if the supernatural elements are meant to be real or (in my opinion) the interpretation of events by the characters through the filter of the belief systems of the time.
It is sweet, very sad, very human. Dark, definitely. And anyone who knows about the trials knows how it ends. But I enjoyed using the book (even acknowledged as fictionalised/tweaked by the author herself as it is) to imagine the human reality of the dark and frightening time in our history.
by Matt Wesolowski
Folk Horror / Novella / Contemporary
When a train unexpectedly stops during a journey to the far reaches of North East England, a sinister figure emerges from the darkness outside. When one of the passengers goes missing, the rest are left to consider whether they are safe.
Matt is so good at summoning creepiness into everyday, identifiable situations and he delivers again with this short-but-not-sweet novella. (Don’t) Call Mum is part of the Northern Weird Collection from Wild Hunt Books and is out in May. You can read my full review here, but in short I enjoyed having an evening in with this one and can say that I won’t be rushing to look out a train window in the dark any time soon.
by Robert Aikman
Anthology / Weird / Uncanny
Aickman’s ‘strange stories’ (his preferred term) are constructed immaculately, the neuroses of his characters painted in subtle shades. He builds dread by the steady accrual of realistic detail, until the reader realises that the protagonist is heading towards their doom as if in a dream.
I listened to this collection in audio book format, which I do recommend. It was narrated very well and having it read to me added an extra element of intimacy to the weirdness of the stories.
But even with that and with the reputation of this collection, I don’t really know what to say about it. I’m glad I experienced it and I would recommend to anyone who enjoys being weirded out or is interested in the history of horror fiction. They are, unsurprisingly, masterfully executed and they hold their place in the canon for a reason. But the uncanniness is of a subtle, unsettling sort that just left me sort of on edge and unhappy.
This is absolutely the point, I get that. But it’s not really for me.
The Final Girl Support Group
by Grady Hendrix
Horror / Slasher / Satire
This may be the book I enjoyed the most out of all my reads this winter. It was the one that came closest to my rarely-given five-star rating. I have some opinions about the the pacing and the timetable of some of the revelations, but I only because I enjoyed the story so much and felt it was just a few tweaks off being outstanding.
I felt bruised after reading this. In a good way. Unsurprisingly it’s about violence. Violence against women specifically and the sexualisation of it in the movie industry and in society in general. Grady’s thing is about taking established horror tropes and giving them a twist to make you look at them with fresh eyes. So, yeah, it’s hard-hitting. And it’s a little uncomfortable because it kind of does what it is preaching against in order to prove a point. There were moments where I wondered whether the author was just very cleverly creating an environment in which to sensationalise abusing women guilt-free. But on reflection, no. Hendrix handles the concept well and it is fully self-aware. I was ultimately happy with how he explored it and how the story played out.
Part of this is because Grady Hendrix has an uncanny ability to write women well. After finishing the first book I read of his, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, I was surprised to learn he wasn’t a woman himself. He seamlessly inserts the feminist narrative into Final Girl Support Group without being preachy, creates realistic, flawed characters and doesn’t pull any punches with the harder truths of the premise.
I definitely felt tender by the end. The minor niggles I have about the pacing of plot are all that kept it from five stars. Either way, I can’t wait to read the next Grady Hendrix I have on the shelf.
WHAT’S NEXT?
by Tom Fletcher
A deeply atmospheric literary horror novel about the nature of repressed guilt, grief and fear.
As far as I’m concerned, spooky season never ends. I have another Grady Hendrix ready to go (How To Sell a Haunted House) but I came across Witch Bottle not so long ago and absolutely have to read it next.
I’m avoiding reading up on it so I can go in blind, but I was excited to discover that it may well be a witchy Folk Horror set in Cumbria. I’ve written one of these myself (currently attempting to get an agent/and or publisher) so I am looking forward to reading something that’s blazed the trail I hope to potentially follow.
I always thought Cumbria was crying out for more folk horror, being so full of mystery, history and folklore and with such bewitching landscape to boot.
I can’t wait to get stuck in. Will it be the elusive five-star read I’m always seeking? Fingers crossed.
J. S. Collyer Spec Fic Writer