Folktale

by Tony Evans

For the last fifteen years, Daryll and Preston, childhood best friends from the suburbs of Chicago, have travelled the world in search of one thing – a real haunting. All they want is to experience an actual, real, true to life haunting. To see a real ghost standing in front of them. The only problem is, they’re always met with the same shitty story set to a different town, and there’s never a ghost in sight.

But when Daryll comes across a random ad on an unfamiliar website, one that seems to be written with them specifically in mind, a new hope is ignited. The strange ad promises a unique experience set deep in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. An experience that’s catered specifically to those seeking a real haunting. And the best part is…it’s based on an old local folktale.

After years of searching, Will Daryll and Preston finally find what they've been looking for?

Or will this trip turn out to be like all the others…a dead end?

After all...it’s just an old folktale…right? Just a story...

Genres: Horror

141 pages, Paperback

Published March 23, 2024

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Preston and Darryl go for a hike into the Appalachian mountains. It will be a trip they never forget. They meet up with a very strange man named Jesse Moore. But he's rather harmless to all the other encounters that follow. Absolutely enjoyed this dark, atmospheric, gory hick tale with a good sex scene inside. It's a bit too winding at parts but the author comes to a great final. Really recommended!

[Peter Topside · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This wasn't bad. I really tried to get into the friendly, locker room banter between Daryll and Preston. But, the beginning portion of the book, just had too much of it and it came across as too manufactured. Not totally organic. However you want to say it. The visions and general creepiness were decent but also felt a bit forced at times, i.e. the sexual encounter with Molly and Daryll. I almost wish that this focused more on the natural horrors of the forest and the abundance of ideas that could have come from that, with Molly being used very sparingly. Would have made the appearances more impactful and meaningful. Jesse was a fun character and was definitely a highlight. But, not without some room for improvement, this was still a decent witchy sorta story.

[Corrina Morse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly, this book is beautifully set out, with creepy cool illustrations and chapter headers.

It's a short, gripping, creepy read that would make for a great spooky campfire tale.

Preston and Daryll are looking for the ultimate ghost hunt. The creepiest haunting. They're done with the over-saturated haunts and want something wilder, something lesser known, and it seems that the Appalachian Mountains may have something for them. This particular folktale is all too tempting for them, and they pack up and head off. What's the worst that could happen….?

Intriguing from the start, it immediately pulls you into its seductively sinister depths. It's addictive, weird, creepy and wild. Every chapter draws you deeper into this folktale, messing with your mind, alongside the characters, keeping you guessing and looking over your shoulder.

A real trippy trip. And I enjoyed the twist immensely. 🖤

[Milt Theo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tony Evans' 'Folktale' is a great example of Appalachian horror done right: the folklore felt appropriately sinister, the rural atmosphere gave off very strong "lost in the woods" vibes, and the dialogue, well, that was really well-done! The story starts quite straightforward: two paranormal investigators from Chicago, who enjoy a good scare but have never been able to find a real supernatural occurence, stumble upon an ad offering them the genuine article somewhere deep up the Appalachian Mountains. Once there, strange and downright bizarre events start happening, from huge horseflies that seem to communicate with a local, to visions of a beautiful woman. And, as in every found footage horror movie taking place in a similar setting, instead of picking everything up and run back where they came from, the two "townies" decide to spend the night camping and visit the promised land the next morning. The night, however, has other plans for them, and it shows them that sometimes folktales have teeth. A nicely done folk horror story!

[Brooklyn Attic Books]

This was a lot of fun. Thank you for returning me to my Blair Witch loving days. The two bros the story centers on are not the most favorable characters but I really do begin to empathize with them when they're ostracized for being from a big city doing some research in a small town, in the middle of nowhere USA. Been there, done that.

[Erica Fields · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this!! Very creepy folklore tale, no way I would go into those woods!

[David Washburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

What Tony Evans manages to do with his Appalachian story "Folktale" is drop two paranormal ghost hunters in a rural wooded setting that has a heavy tone of 'at-rght-there's-a-perty-mouth and Blair Witch vibes. Clocking in at just under 140 pages, this story is paced fast, and to the point.

The intensity is cranked up to 10 and the lights are dimmed quickly in this one and you are plunged into the insanity that doesn't take long to show its face. I recommend giving this one a spin if you enjoy witchy/folk horror/short books.

[Lauren Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun, quick, fast paced read!!! It was set in the woods of Kentucky which is where I live so this hit close for me! It gave me major Blair witch project vibes which happens to be my favorite horror movie ever so this was right up my alley! This was my first read from this author and will be picking up his others for sure! Oh and the cover is amazing!!

[Zach Triplett · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wild and wicked story told by Tony Evans! A fun and well written story that illustrates everything as if you were watching it live! Folktale keeps the reader moving onto the next page and pulls at your emotions and thoughts. I definitely recommend the book and all of Tony Evan's writing.

[Josh Hitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great folk horror tale from Evans. This time two paranormal investigators want something different other than another normal haunter house. When one finds a simple ad on the Internet about a haunted camping experience in the woods of Kentucky, promising a real experience that was different from the norm they jumped at it. However when they get to the rundown market in the middle of nowhere to meet their guide, they get weird vibes immediately. Which to them just meant a great trip, though it turns from weird/spooky to dangerous really quick.

Just a great tale, a continuation/retelling of a tale in his fantastic Wicked Appalachia, this really drives up the creep factor. Also extends the lore a bit which was great. Highly recommended.

[Leslie Powell-Mccarty · Rating 4 out of 5]

The next time you go tent camping take this book, snuggle into your sleeping bag, start reading and scare yourself to death! This was a quick creepy and gruesome ride perfect for summer nights in the woods. I have five more books to read from Tony Evans and I can't wait to get to them!

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come.

[Damascus Mincemeyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Horror is a tree with many branches. The classics—Frankenstein, Dracula, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Gothic graveness of Poe and M.R. James—serve as the trunk, and while each burgeoning new subgenre creates its own fledgling offshoot, the tree’s root is undeniably folklore. Many of horror’s most familiar stock figures evolved directly from those superstitious myths of old, passed down through the generations by our ancestors: the vampire and werewolf of Eastern Europe, the Haitian zombie and Arabian ghoul, the Russian child-devouring witch Baba Yaga, the vengeful yōkai (ghosts) of Japanese lore. All originated as warnings about the dangers lurking in the dark bowers of man’s domain, but if, as is often claimed, every legend has some basis in fact, what are we to make of these supernatural archetypes? Are they mere boogeyman fables that have assumed roles in the collective unconscious far beyond their intended purpose? Or does something real truly serve as their inspiration?

It’s the power inherent in spinning such yarns that’s the core of horror author Tony Evans’ latest novella, the unnerving Dark Holler Press release, Folktale. Lifelong friends and Chicago suburbanites Daryll and Preston are thrill-seekers with an appetite for the paranormal. For the last fifteen years they’ve traveled to allegedly haunted destinations near and far with the hope that each trip will bestow an authentic ghostly encounter, yet always return disappointed. Level-headed Preston believes he’s outgrown their phantom hunting and wants nothing more than to settle down with his longtime girlfriend, Sarah, until the day Daryll shares his latest find: an advertisement from remote Pleasant Grove, Kentucky, an unincorporated town nestled deep in the Appalachian wilds promising ‘Folktales that are GAURANTEED to scare!’. Reluctant, but wanting to acquiesce his buddy, Preston agrees to the venture, but their road trip odyssey flounders once the pair arrive and find little more than a convenience store owned by Jesse, an elderly backwoods bumpkin with a penchant for tall tales. Concerned they’ve wasted their time and irritated by both Jesse’s gruff nature and dubious love of flies, they’re convinced to stay upon hearing the old man’s claims that a sorceress from centuries past with a connection to Beelzebub and a taste for babies still roams the local forests. When Daryll and Preston proceed to set up camp, however, they quickly learn Jesse’s stories were no bluff, and the pair must endure a harrowing night of fearsome hallucinations, psychological and physical torments, and a blood-soaked revelation that may cost them their lives.

Folktale is a fast read; at a slim 139 pages, it can be consumed in a single dedicated sitting. Evans employs a slow burn set-up for much of the book, spending leisurely time introducing his leads’ contrasting personalities (the profane back-and-forth banter between horn-dog Alpha Male Daryll and hesitant, sensitive guy Preston provides a healthy dose of comic relief) and the macabre history of Pleasant Grove. While some may find such a drawn-out approach off-putting, there’s method to the madness, and as he’s shown with previous literary efforts Sour, The 11th Plague, and the superb collection Better You Believe, Evans is a master of fostering mood and tension, and once Daryll and Preston hike into the wilderness he rewards the patient reader with unrelenting shocks, grotesque imagery and vivid gore that continues literally until the last line.

Born and raised in the same Appalachian foothills where Folktale is set, Evans brings an authentic creepy-crawly campfire ambiance to his storytelling, and that atmosphere is heightened by the novella’s art team, A.A. Medina of Fabled Beast Design and cover designer Kristina Osborn from Truborn Design, both of whom perfectly capture the novella’s hair-raising essence. With it’s fevered talk of witchcraft, human sacrifice, and Satanic covenants, sly wink-and-nod fright flick references, and gut-wrenching, nihilistic finale, Folktale is an entry written by a horror fan for horror fans, and because of that I feel compelled to grant it a well-deserved 4 (out of 5) here on Goodreads. Don’t go into them woods!

[Rachel Coffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up in Tony’s world, so this story is a nostalgia I’m not sure I can express. Tony Evans spun this take on mountain folklore with an accurate Kentucky dialect and rural survival skills. When two paranormal investigators from Chicago chase their adrenaline fix into the isolation deep in the Appalachian Mountains, they find manners mean a lot in the South. I’ve grown up listening to SE Kentucky folktales from my Granny, and Tony Evans stuck true to his roots, weaving a sinister tale full of unsettling truths. Rules I grew up learning with the same folklore–don’t judge a book by its cover, rules are in place to keep you safe, and good manners and respecting your elders isn’t an option. Folktale took me right back to my childhood, wandering through the mountain hollers, looking for the magic in my backyard. As I sit here on my back porch, sipping on a little shine, I’m looking at the fly, trying to steal a nip of my drink a little differently. How many horseflies have I killed in my life? Thanks for unlocking that unknown fear, Tony!

[Dale Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was an OK read. Felt the first interaction with Jesse dragged a bit too much, the forest area where they camped could have been expanded upon - they camped, something happened, then all hell broke loose. And when I say "all hell broke loose", it wasn't anything original, just your generic witch in the forest influencing the locals type thing.

[Ashlee Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ✨