The Outsider, Skeptic, or Ethnographer

🎩 Rural and isolated communities in folk horror are thrown into relief by the arrival of an outsider or the presence of a skeptic. This character provides both a narrative entry point for the audience and creates dramatic tension through the clash of worldviews.

Types of Outsiders in Folk Horror

The Urban Visitor

Characters from cities or more "civilized" areas who visit rural communities:

• Robin Redbreast (1970, UK)
• The Wicker Man (1972, UK)
• Children of the Corn (1984, US)
• Clearcut (1991, Canada)

These characters often approach rural customs with curiosity, condescension, or both - making them perfect targets for the community's plans.

The Skeptic

Characters who disbelieve in supernatural or folk beliefs until confronted with evidence:

• Night of the Demon (1957, UK)
• Night of the Eagle (1962, UK)
• Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968, UK)

The skeptic represents scientific rationalism confronted with unexplainable phenomena, creating a tension between modern and traditional worldviews.

The Ethnographer or Academic

Folk horror frequently features scholars studying the very communities that become their downfall:

• The City of the Dead (1960, UK)
• Lokis: A Manuscript of Professor Wittembach (1970, Poland)
• The Savage Hunt of King Stakh (1979, USSR)
• Candyman (1992, US)
• The Medium (2021, Thailand)

In Candyman, academic Helen Lyle researches urban legends in Chicago's Cabrini-Green housing project, embodying the ethnographer trope in an urban setting.

The Archaeologist

Similar to ethnographers but focused on physical artifacts and ancient sites:

• The Sign of Death (1939, Mexico)
• A Warning to the Curious (1972, UK)
• Children of the Stones (1977, UK)
• The Dreaming (1988, Australia)

Cultural Variations

Dr. Dejan Ognjanovic has noted that the outsider trope is more common in Western or Anglicized folk horror. In Slavic folk horror, for example, "someone is already immersed in this value system, and whatever happens in this plot arises from within."

This cultural difference highlights how folk horror varies across regions, reflecting different relationships to tradition and modernity.

Narrative Functions

The outsider character serves several important functions in folk horror narratives:

1. Audience Surrogate - Allows viewers to learn about the community alongside the character
2. Cultural Contrast - Creates tension between modern and traditional worldviews
3. Moral Warning - Often punished for their intrusion, skepticism, or disrespect
4. Colonial Subtext - Can represent broader themes of colonialism and cultural appropriation

The Ethnographic Gaze

The prevalence of ethnographers and academics in folk horror reflects the genre's connection to the history of folklore studies. The "ethnographic gaze" - the perspective of an outside observer documenting "primitive" customs - often becomes inverted in these films, with the observer becoming the observed, the documenter becoming the documented.

This note is part of a series exploring folk horror in cinema. Return to the main Folk Horror overview to explore other tropes.