The Mammoth Book of Folk Horror

by Stephen Jones (Editor)

Welcome to a landscape of ancient evil . . . with stories by masters of horror Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, H. P. Lovecraft, M. R. James​, Ramsey Campbell, Storm Constantine, Christopher Fowler, Alison Littlewood, Kim Newman, Reggie Oliver​, Michael Marshall Smith, Karl Edward Wagner, and more!   The darkness that endures beneath the earth . . . the disquiet that lingers in the woodland surrounding a forgotten path . . . those ancient traditions and practices that still cling to standing stone circles, earthworks, and abandoned buildings; elaborate rituals that invoke elder gods or nature deities; the restless spirits and legendary creatures that remain connected to a place or object, or exist in deep wells and lonely pools of water, waiting to ensnare the unwary traveler . . . These concepts have been the archetypes of horror fiction for decades, but in recent years they have been given a Folk Horror.   This type of storytelling has existed for more than a century. Authors Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, H. P. Lovecraft, and M. R. James all published fiction that had it roots in the notion of the supernatural being linked to objects or places “left behind.” All four writers are represented in this volume with powerful, and hopefully unfamiliar, examples of their work, along with newer exponents of the craft such as Ramsey Campbell, Storm Constantine, Christopher Fowler, Alison Littlewood, Kim Newman, Reggie Oliver, and many others. Illustrated with the atmospheric photography of Michael Marshall Smith, the stories in The Mammoth Book of Folk Horror tap into an aspect of folkloric tradition that has long been dormant, but never quite forgotten, while the depiction of these forces as being in some way “natural” in no way detracts from the sense of nameless dread and escalating horror that they inspire . . .  

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction, Fantasy, Literature, Contemporary

552 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 7, 2021

About the author

Stephen Jones is an eighteen-time winner of the British Fantasy Award.

Reviews

[Jim Dooley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking for a nice set of “keep me up at night” Halloween stories, I spotted this collection called THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF FOLK HORROR: EVIL LIVES ON IN THE LAND! The list of writers included impressed me so much that I purchased it as a pre-order.

As I began the Preface, I was introduced to the definition of “Folk Horror” … and I’ll admit that my heart sank a bit. I was expecting some gruesome tales tied to “off the beaten path” locations. That was certainly a part of it. But, then I learned that these often involved “Fairy Folk” … and my sense of wondering if I’d made a mistake grew significantly.

Then came the opening tale from Arthur Machen, a name to be reckoned with in horror fiction. The tale was called THE WHITE PEOPLE … and I Really Struggled to get through it. It didn’t help that much of the narrative was from a recovered journal that ran-on a bit like stream of consciousness writing. At this point, I was ready to return the book to the shelf and admit defeat.

Thank goodness I decided to try one more. This was JENNY GREENTEETH by Alison Littlewood, and it was exactly the type of story that I hoped would be populating the majority of this collection. The great news was that this was exactly the case. Out of 19 collected tales, I strongly enjoyed 14 of them … close to 74%. Of the others (excluding the first one), I thought they were quite good, although they did not instill that chilling sense of dread that I’d hoped to encounter.

Some examples of the best include:

* WAILING WELL by M.R. James. I can usually count on James to “tastefully” raise the chill quotient!

* STICKS by Karl Edward Wagner frequently reminded me of the better moments from the movie, “The Blair Witch Project.” This was a story that was uniquely its own, though.

* THE FOURTH CALL by Ramsey Campbell just “creeps under the skin” before I’m quite aware of it, and by then it’s too late!

* THE HOUND by H.P. Lovecraft is one I’d read before, yet it was still incredibly unnerving.

* THE GYPSIES IN THE WOOD by Kim Newman is a novella that serves as the concluding work. Newman expands on Doyle’s creation of The Diogenes Club, and it was a real joy!

I enjoyed this so much that I picked up an earlier collection, THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF HALLOWEEN STORIES, without even checking the list of contributors. I’m very much looking forward to reading that one!

[K.J. Charles]

Varied collection of folk horror stories, many avant la lettre. Mixed bag tbh. Some great-an MR James I didn't know, some very nifty modern writers (Gavin's Field was genuinely unsettling). The Christopher Fowler one set in India is...kind of racist, tbh. There's an HP Lovecraft that does nothing to persuade me that I haven't read quite enough HP Lovecraft. And as ever I find Kim Newman's personal mythos impenetrable.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars--I really liked it. Outstanding to me were the stories Sticks, The King of Stones, Wyfa Medj, and The Gypsies in the Woods. I'm not sure if this is my favorite volume of folk horror specifically, but it is a nice collection.

The White People: Arthur Machen. 4 stars. Not a bad place to begin! Machen's story is a classic of weird fiction.
Jenny Greenteeth: Alison Littlewood. 3 stars. A tale of wartime bargaining.
All I Ever See: Mike Chinn. 2 stars. I'm a big fan of the Uffington white horse, but the story seemed incomplete.
Wailing Well: M.R. James. 2 stars. I can see how this story would work better when read aloud (its original purpose). Some creepy imagery but I wanted more.
The Offering: Michael Marshall Smith. 3 stars (a bonus star since the story is set in Copenhagen, where I'm currently living).
St. Andrews Well: David A. Sutton. 2 stars. I liked the central image (the well) but again it felt incomplete.
Sticks: Karl Edward Wagner. 5 amazed stars. LOVE this Lovecraftian story set in rural America. This story alone makes the collection worthwhile.
Gravedirt Mouth: Maura McHugh. 2 stars. Barely a story.
Gavin's Field: Steve Rasnic Tem. 4 stars. A man inherits a house, but the neighbors have a strange way of life...
The Hound: L.P. Lovecraft. 4 stars. I'm not a fan of Lovecraft's cosmic horror, but I enjoyed this tale of occult-loving graverobbers digging up the wrong grave.
The King of Stones: Simon Strantzas. 5 stars. Hell yes! Creepy and mysterious. I love the "city-slickers stumble into a sinister village" trope, and this is a good example.
The Devil's Piss Pot: Jan Edwards. 3 stars. Fun local legend story.
The Mistake at the Monsoon Palace: Christopher Fowler. 3 stars. This was set in India, which was a nice change.
Wyfa Medj: Storm Constantine. 4 stars for a fun folk-horror story about a midwife, but also for some lovely writing.
The Dark Country: Dennis Etchison. 2 stars. The Mexico setting was nice, but not really horror.
Ancient Lights: Algernon Blackwood. 2 stars. Not Blackwood's best.
Porson's Piece: Reggie Oliver. 4 stars. Fun ghost story.
The Fourth Call: Ramsey Campbell. 4 stars, both for the eeriness and the zany plot. Very original.
The Gypsies in the Wood: Kim Newman. 5 stars. I enjoyed this Victorian Holmes-like story of changelings and the faery realm.

[Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is indeed mammoth - a chonker over 500 pages - and runs the gamut from classic spooky tales from old masters to more recent offerings by modern authors. As with any anthology, I had my favorites, but I really can't stress enough the overall quality of this collection. I mean, is that shocking? Stephen Jones is a BEAST when it comes to the horror genre.

One thing that I particularly enjoyed about this collection is that it focused on stories that had connections to nature. Lots of themes here about man vs wild, settling the land, colonization... all from different perspectives and given the nature of this anthology (both older works and newer) it turns into a snake eating its own tail: how do humans effect the natural world around them? Where are our blind spots? What are we capable of?

Definitely pick this one up if you love cornfields, the mist between trees, and the echo of a songbird that suddenly stops short.

Thank you to the publisher for this ARC! I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Tracey Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

We’ve all gone a bit mad for folk horror in the last few years, haven't we? I’m frankly still shocked that a movie as audacious as Midsommar was so successful! As someone who watched The Wicker Man at an incredibly impressionable age, I’m very excited that the mainstream has decided to follow me into the woods to worship the old gods. And out here, The Mammoth Book of Folk Horror is the closest thing we’ll get to a bible. Well, one that doesn’t release an ancient curse, anyway.

In this 500+ page collection, you’ll find favorites such as Arthur Machen, M.R. James, H.P Lovecraft, and Algernon Blackwood. These are absolute essentials for those who are new to the genre, and always a pleasure for established fans to revisit; M.R. James’ Wailing Well has an especially creepy ending.

But it is the lesser known writers that excited me the most. Stories such as Gravedirt Mouth by Maura McHugh tells a tale of a Girl Scout trip gone incredibly awry, or Storm Constantine’s incredible Wyfa Medj, which literally had me gasping with horror on the final furlong.

The highlight in the collection for me was genre stalwart Ramsey Campbell’s horrifying tale, The Fourth Call. If you thought your family’s festive traditions were strange, think again. The great thing about most of these tales is that much of the horror lies in the unknown and unseen. A disturbing sound here, a stray breeze from there, a seemingly harmless artifact, can all contribute to something a lot more sinister. A notable exception to this is Simon Strantzas’ story, The King of Stones, which is absolutely brutal.

The Mammoth Book of Folk Horror, as the title may suggest, contains an enormous amount of stories, so quality inevitably varies. However, it is fantastic to see the many interpretations of folk horror, and how it existed long before the term was officially coined. An essential collection for anyone with a remote interest in the naturally terrifying.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great October read, a nice collection of old and new stories, most of which managed to at least give me a shiver.

[SUSAN · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fantastic collection of stories to cover a gamut of folk horror stories, there are different writing styles as much as different lurking horrors.

I'm so glad this book includes the story "Sticks" by Karl Edward Wagner. There is something special about it that reaches out to everyone who reads it, I think. For me, it's a compulsion to make nature art that might be too unsettling for the neighbors to view. But hey. there's always Halloween... huh. I don't think there was a story referring to Halloween though. Odd?

This is a fantastic collection for any horror enthusiast, I was lucky to find it on a random used bookstore outing.

[G · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really fun read. I've been a traditional ghost story/folk horror freak for a long, long time now, so I was delighted to find old favourites along with new voices; as usual with anthologies, there were some stories that gripped me more than others, but for me there were no real clunkers in this... except maybe for the H.P. Lovecraft one, which, being a fairly early story, was even more over the top than usual for HPL, so much so that I got some strange looks for laughing so hard on public transportation. Also, I would have found "A Warning to the Curious" a much better fit than "Wailing Well", but really, any Monty James tale will do for me.
Personally, I would have loved to see some L.T.C. Rolt included as well, along with E. Nesbit, Saki and A.M. Burrage, but I guess most people are more into modern day horror than old school ghost stories, so I don't mind. Oh, and a huge thank-you to Stephen Jones for giving a shout-out to "The Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water" in his Introduction -- I had never heard of this PIF, but of course it's one and a half minute of folk horror perfection, and I'm now totally obsessed with it (also, will never go swimming again). It would have been great to see Phil Rickman mentioned as well, as his books may not be "horror" as such but are steeped in 100% folk horror spookiness, but that's more of a suggestion than actual criticism.
A really nice, strong collection of tales, much much better than similarly-themed anthologies I've read. Definitely recommended.

[Aditi Ramaswamy · Rating 2 out of 5]

No.

+2 stars, one for “Jenny Greenteeth” and the other for “The Devil’s Piss Pot”. I’ve got a soft spot for water-based British folklore, and both of these delivered quite nicely. The image of the human-faced, sharp-toothed, serpentine knucker in the latter was delightfully chilling.

The rest, though… some of the stories were merely incomprehensible. Some were unintentionally silly (making flowers sing is… an image I would not call horrific, personally). I read my first H.P. Lovecraft story in here and walked away wondering why there’s so much hype about his writing. He took a typical trope (“evil accursed Oriental amulet”) and proceeded to expound on it with language so horribly flowery that it would put Kew Gardens to shame. The most shameful addition, though, is Christopher Fowler’s “The Mistake at the Monsoon Palace”. From the first page the reader is smacked in the face with racist, casteist diatribes about Indians: the Adivasi character is a sleazy cheat, Indians are implied to wipe our nethers with rupees (??), Indian Americans are “invisible”, and the kicker: the spoilt-brat rich racist white heroine not only doesn’t have to question her racism, she ends up the Only Designated Protector of the Land, keeping it out of the grasping hands of the greedy ignorant Indians who wish to desecrate it.

I write short stories too, so I generally feel awkward giving reviews like this. But given the racism, I’m incredibly disappointed that I wasted money on this.

[Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great anthology of stories. Like all collections not all will be to everyone's taste. I still can't get on with Arthur Machen even though he's one of the godfathers of horror fiction.
Did find plenty of new (to me) authors - Alison Littlewood , Michael Marshall Smith , Simon Strantzas and Kim Newman.
Brilliant way to pick up new reads.

[Jim Reddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an anthology of folk horror, a subgenre of horror which often, but not always, has elements of folklore. Other elements usually included are rural settings, isolation, the power of nature, and local beliefs. Overall this is a good mix of old and newer stories. As with most anthologies I liked some stories more than others.

Favorite stories:

Jenny Greenteeth by Alison Littlewood
The Offering by Michael Marshall Smith
Sticks by Karl Edward Wagner
Gravedirt Mouth by Maura McHugh
Wyfa Medj by Storm Constantine
The Gypsies in the Wood by Kim Newman

I really enjoyed the last story “The Gypsies in the Wood” by Kim Newman. It was a little different from the others, and not just because it’s a novella instead of a short story.

A member of a group called the Diogenes Club is called in to investigate mysterious happenings in a village. In this story the Diogenes Club is a secret wing of the British government which investigates supernatural threats. It’s based on the gentlemen’s club of the same name which first appeared in the Sherlock Holmes story “The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter.”

While this story has some elements of folk horror, it also has elements of fantasy, mystery, and adventure. I like the writing style a lot. Every character is interesting and the dialogue is sharp, witty, and with a touch of humor once in a while. It made for a real page turner. I’ll be seeking out more of Kim Newman’s work.

List of stories:

The White People by Arthur Manchen (3/5)

Jenny Greenteeth by Alison Littlewood (4.5/5)

All I Ever See by Mike Chinn (3/5)

Wailing Well by M. R. James (4/5)

The Offering by Michael Marshall Smith (4.5/5)

St. Ambrews Well by David A. Sutton (3/5)

Sticks by Karl Edward Wagner (5/5)

Gravedirt Mouth by Maura McHugh (4.5/5)

Gavin’s Field by Steve Rasnic Tem (3/5)

The Hound by H. P. Lovecraft (4/5)

The King of Stones by Simon Strantzas (4/5)

The Devil’s Piss Pot by Jan Edwards (4/5)

The Mistake at Monsoon Palace by Christopher Fowler (4/5)

Wyfa Medj by Storm Constantine (5/5)

The Dark Country by Dennis Etchison (2.5/5)

Ancient Lights by Algernon Blackwood (4/5)

Porson’s Piece by Reggie Oliver (4/5)

The Fourth Call by Ramsey Campell (3/5)

The Gypsies in the Wood by Kim Newman (5/5)

[Alison C · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Mammoth Book of Folk Horror” consists of 19 stories, some original to this anthology and others reprints, of horror tales rooted in ancient folktales, primarily those of the United Kingdom but also some from the United States and one from India. As with any anthology, some stories are more appealing than others, although I will note that unusually for me, I had to read these in groups of three or fewer because I was scaring myself trying to read them all back-to-back! With writers ranging from Arthur Machen (“The White People,” 1899) to H.P. Lovecraft (“The Hound,” 1924; the first mention of the Necronomican is found here) and forward to Kim Newman (“The Gypsies In the Wood”) and Ramsey Campbell (“The Fourth Call”) and back again to Algernon Blackwood (“Ancient Lights,” 1912), then into the present with Alison Littlewood (“Jenny Greenteeth”) and David A. Sutton (“St. Ambrew’s Well”), this collection has something for every horror fan! Recommended - just be sure all the lights are on if you’re reading this at night!

[Biblio Files (takingadayoff) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Horror of Folklore

This is one of Stephen Jones's most enjoyable horror anthologies. (It includes some borderline disturbing photos by Michael Marshall Smith.) It has classic horror authors like Arthur Machen, M. R. James, Karl Edward Wagner, H. P. Lovecraft, and Algernon Blackwood.

There are several modern horror writers, also--Alison Littlewood, Mike Chinn, David A. Sutton, Maura McHugh, Steve Rasnic Tem, Simon Strantzas, Jan Edwards, Christopher Fowler, Storm Constantine, Dennis Etchison, Reggie Oliver, and one of Kim Newman's Diogenes Club stories. Kim Newman's novella is worth the price of the book.

Stephen Jones gives the actor Mark Gatiss and movie director Piers Haggard credit for the term "folk horror." In his introduction, Jones begins with the well-known Wicker Man and Witchfinder-General. This type of fiction--on film and in literature--may appeal especially to the British, but not exclusively.

One interesting thing Stephen Jones brings up is that these stories are in a way "natural" rather than "supernatural horror. But that doesn't make them less terrifying.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of folk horror was so interesting to read. It has something for everyone, from classics to new stories. I was introduced to a lot of authors reading this book.⁠
⁠
It is a huge collection of stories, coming in at over 500 pages. A nice surprise when reading this book was the addition of photographs and illustrations. ⁠
⁠
One of my favorites was Jenny Greenteeth. It is the beginning of the book, and it was fabulous. Such an atmospheric read! I knew then this was going to be a great selection of stories. All of them are so creepy, and I certainly don't want to be in the woods at night after reading these tales.⁠
⁠
It is out today, so if you are looking for a collection of folk horror, both old and new, this is the book for you.

[Heather Daughrity · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love folk horror, then you need this book. Full of stories of ancient things which haunt the land, old customs and bizarre rituals, legendary creatures, dark gods, and forgotten altars, this book boasts some big names from the last 150 years as well as some more recent horror writers.

Add in some beautifully creepy artwork and this makes the perfect tome to settle in with on wind-tossed autumn days.

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only so/so, all reprints, some old.

Best stories were by Michael Marshall Smith and Karl Edward Wagner. Also like Dennis Etchison, but really not folk horror, debatable if horror at all.

[Timár_Krisztina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kezdem rendesen kiművelni magamat a folk horror műfajából. Egyúttal végleg szívembe zártam. Nem az ijesztgetésemre játszik rá ugyanis, hanem intenzíven megmozgatja az agyamat, és olyan félelmek megfogalmazásában segít, amikről nagyon nehéz beszélni. 

Azt azért meg kell vallanom, hogy konkrétan ettől az antológiától többet vártam. Amire az van írva, hogy Mammoth Book, és annak megfelelő a terjedelme is, annak a tartalma lehetne kicsit változatosabb, képviselhetne többféle látásmódot, és főleg korszakot. Stephen Jones nyilvánvalóan nagyszerű szervezői munkát végzett, hogy összehozhassa ezt a kötetet – talán túlzásba is vitte. Egy tizenkilenc novellát és elbeszélést tartalmazó kötetbe, amely elvileg egy egész (nem is vadonatúj) műfajt fed le, szerintem nem kellett volna tizenegy olyan írásnak belekerülnie, amelyik kifejezetten ebbe a kötetbe, ennek a szerkesztőnek a megrendelésére készült. Vagy akkor pakoltak volna még be melléjük ugyanannyit. Én mint olvasó készséggel kibírtam volna. Ettől még természetesen az újak között is éppen úgy voltak kedvenceim, mint a korábbiak között. 

Részletes értékelés a blogon:
https://gyujtogeto-alkoto.blog.hu/202...

[Miguel Lupián · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tengo un grave problema con los "Mammoth Books": a pesar de ser realizados por pesos pesados (en este caso Stephen Jones), sus prólogos --paradójicamente-- son simples y raquíticos; sin dejar de lado que la selección (como hemos visto también en sus homólogas españolas) suele incluir a muy pocas autoras. Eso sí, rescato la definición de Folk Horror que propone Jones: "Aunque su alcance es amplio, el Folk Horror es básicamente el lado horroroso del folclore. Es el mal que perdura bajo tierra; la inquietud que persiste en el bosque que rodea un sendero olvidado; esas antiguas tradiciones y prácticas que aún se aferran a círculos de piedras en pie, terraplenes y edificios abandonados; los elaborados rituales que invocan a dioses ancestrales o deidades de la naturaleza; los espíritus inquietos y criaturas legendarias que permanecen de alguna manera conectados a un lugar u objeto, o que existen en pozos profundos y oscuros y charcas solitarias, esperando atrapar al viajero desprevenido".

[GaP · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of tales....Stephen Jones curation is always impeccable.

[Todd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much actual horror, more fae

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a treasure! It is rare for such a large collection of stories to have so few weak spots. So many of the stories hit the nail on the head of folk horror atmosphere, both of earlier eras and more modern settings. Do you need something to darken your days and get ready for spooky season? These stories will absolutely do the trick. By dark, I do mean dark in the theme of, "Did that just happen? Did anyone else see it? That's terrifying, but I'm not sure if I can tell anyone because they'll think I'm crazy for believing that creepy things in the wood are real." If you prefer more modern, dismemberment type horror, only one or two of these were that type.

I read a lot of anthologies. Maybe it's a short attention span. The editors of anthologies sometimes like to throw in a long novella as the last selection. I don't always like that and sometimes I don't finish that long story at the end. This time, I'm glad I gave it a shot. "The Gypsies in the Wood" by Kim Newman is one of the best stories I've ever read. It was dark, but the fantasy world building was so real. It was my favorite style of "we are always just on the edge of the unknown." For horror fans, I might have labeled it dark fantasy instead, just to put the expectations in the right place.

This one will stay on my shelf and I'll probably revisit it. I'm going through and putting Post It tabs in my favorites.

[Tony Entrekin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a complimentary Kindle edition of this collection from Netgalley in exchange for a sincere review. This is one I was hoping I'd be approved for. First, I love folk horror and have done so for many years before prior to its current reemergence on the horror scene. Secondly, a Stephen Jones anthology is usually a high quality collection, and this one is no exception. Jones balances the stories among classics by the masters (MR James's "Wailing Well," Arthur Machen's " The White People," Algernon Blackwood's "Ancient Lights"), and more recent classics from the modern masters (Karl E Wagner's " Sticks" and Dennis Etchison's "The Dark Country"), as well as
modern stories from writers establishing themselves in the genre (Michael Marshall Smith's chilling " The Offering, " Storm Constantine's equally chilling "Wyfa Medj," and Reggie Oliver's "Porson's Piece," which has the atmosphere of classic MR James or Blackwood). There are also new stories from masters such as Steve Rasnic Tem's wonderfully creepy rural tale "Gavin's Field" and a typically terrifying yet darkly humorous Christmas tale from the inimitable Ramsey Campbell, a writer who has excelled at folk horror throughout his long, and hopefully longer, career. My only complaint is the inclusion of Kim Newman's "The Gypsies in the Wood.". It's an excellent tale, and Newman is one of the best writers in the genre. The problem is that the story takes up a quarter of the anthology's length.. Again, it's a fine tale, but the space might be better occupied by several short stories rather than this novella. Nevertheless, this is a highly-recommended collection full of frightening and unnerving stories.

[Kevin L · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fairly solid anthology which does cover some well worn ground. But, you really can’t go wrong with works by James, Blackwood, Etchinson, and Campbell.

I did get introduced to three writers that I had not read before — Christopher Fowler (The Mistake at the Monsoon Palace), Maura McHugh (Gravedirt Mouth) and Reggie Oliver (Porson’s Piece) — and I mean to track down more of their work, especially Reggie Oliver’s whose writing was simply beautiful.

And, this collection has Karl Edward Wagner’s Sticks, which is probably my favorite piece of short folk horror ever. If you’ve not read Sticks before track it down immediately and then think about all the media it has influenced over the years.

Lovecraft’s The Hound is a clunker, and the inclusion of Newman’s The Gypsies in the Wood is a head scratcher, cause it’s a mystery adventure with fae trappings applied, but no horror or real Folk feel, in my opinion.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of folk horror was so interesting to read. It has something for everyone, from classics to new stories. I was introduced to a lot of authors reading this book.⁠
⁠
It is a huge collection of stories, coming in at over 500 pages. A nice surprise when reading this book was the addition of photographs and illustrations. ⁠
⁠
One of my favorites was Jenny Greenteeth. It is the beginning of the book, and it was fabulous. Such an atmospheric read! I knew then this was going to be a great selection of stories. All of them are so creepy, and I certainly don't want to be in the woods at night after reading these tales.⁠
⁠
It is out today, so if you are looking for a collection of folk horror, both old and new, this is the book for you.


Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my copy!

[Yin Leong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice mix of stories

I enjoyed reading this, which I picked up because I’m curious about folk horror. The anthology is a nice mix of the old and new. The stories include those written by the old horror masters such as M.R. James, H.P. Lovecraft and Algernon Blackwood. It also features more modern writers such as Ramsey Campbell and Dennis Etchison.

It’s a good introduction to folk horror. I highly recommend this book if you are looking for something in this horror subgenre.

My favorite stories in the anthology are “The Gypsies in the Wood,” “Porson’s Piece,” and “Ancient Lights.”

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can be wrong in a book edited by Stephen Jones and featuring Algernon Blackwood, H. P. Lovecraft, M. R. James​, Ramsey Campbell, Storm Constantine, Christopher Fowler, Alison Littlewood, and Kim Newman?
Nothing as they're all master storyteller and their story can always scare me.
So please go and read it. It's a very huge book but this means a lot of fun.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[Rupert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 500 + page book that was finished too soon. Many stories didn’t accomplish a lot beyond the premise/set up, but they almost all succeed in alternate landscapes and free floating dread.
One disappointment was it ended on my least favorite story, which also happened to be the longest of the book. Written by Kim Newman, the beginning or prologue was well done and had me going, but then it really switched tone and dragged on.

[Dirty Dayna · Rating 4 out of 5]

i almost loved this book as it connected the past and present writers in a middle ground with shared themes. I think some tweaking to the layout would have resounded better with me it just felt a bit disjointed. However this probably would be resolved in the published book. I think some reorganizing of the stories would give a better flow.

[Sistermagpie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely great collection of folk horror of all different kinds. Some I'd read before (I must have been 12 the first time I read Sticks and it's stayed with me ever since) but plenty of two, lesser-known works that I'm so grateful to have gotten a chance to see. There's a great variety of tone and setting too. Highly recommend!

[PF Albano · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are 18 stories in this collection. Here are the stories divided by how I rate them.

5 Stars: 6 stories (33%)
4 Stars: 3 stories (17%)
3 Stars: 4 stories (22%)
2 Stars: 2 stories (11%)
1 Star : 3 stories (17%)


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