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🎄 Though the "folk horror" genre dates back to the silent era (Häxan, 1922, Sweden), recent films like Midsommar (2019, US/Sweden), La Llorona (2019, Guatemala), and The Medium/ร่างทรง Rang Song (2021, Thailand) demonstrate a renewed interest in folkloric horror stories from around the world.

As the editors of Folk Horror: New Global Pathways explain, "folk horror derives from folklore—from the roots of community and communal fears. And as such, one would assume that it has to be global, composed of variegated regional formations."

In 2021, Kier-La Janisse and Severin Films released an extensive documentary about the history of folk horror, titled Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched, along with an accompanying boxset called All the Haunts Be Ours, which contains 20 feature films. In 2024, Severin Films followed this up with All the Haunts Be Ours volume 2, containing 24 feature films. Both boxsets also contain a wealth of special features, including interviews, short films, and more.

What is Folk Horror?

Folk horror intertwines several elements:

• Cultural folklore and local superstitions
• Rural isolation and community dynamics
• Ancient practices surviving into modern times
• Conflict between modernity and tradition
• Connection to land, nature, and seasons

Rather than a rigid genre definition, folk horror may be better understood as a collection of interrelated tropes and themes that emphasize the horror inherent in folk traditions, pagan practices, and deeply rooted cultural fears.

Folk Horror Tropes

Here are the key tropes that define folk horror films:

• Rural communities and isolated locations
• The Outsider, Skeptic, or Ethnographer
• Ancient sacred sites
• Witchcraft, shamanism, and folk magic
• Cults and extreme religious practices
• Human sacrifice
• Animal transformation
• Vampirism in folk contexts
• Culturally-specific vengeful ghosts

The Folk Horror Chain

In contrast to the above tropes, Adam Scovell's "folk horror chain" is a narrative theory that suggests folk horror films are united by "a linking set of narrative traits that have causational and interlinking consequences." The four elements of the folk horror chain are:

1. Landscape - Folk horror films emphasize the landscape in which they are set.
2. Isolation - The landscape leads to the isolation of the characters.
3. Skewed morals - Isolation leads to a skewed sense of morals or beliefs.
4. The happening - The skewed morals or beliefs of the community lead to a happening (often a summoning).

Key Films to Explore

• Häxan (1922, Sweden)
• The Wicker Man (1972, UK)
• Blood on Satan's Claw (1971, UK)
• Witchfinder General (1968, UK)
• Kuroneko (1968, Japan)
• Ganja & Hess (1973, US)
• The White Reindeer (1952, Finland)
• Midsommar (2019, US/Sweden)
• La Llorona (2019, Guatemala)
• The Medium (2021, Thailand)

This note is part of a series exploring folk horror in cinema. Click the links above to explore specific tropes in more detail.