The First Sheaf

by H.R. Wakefield

H.R. Wakefield’s 1940 tale The First Sheaf, was first published in his collection, The Clock Strikes Twelve.

Old Porteous tells his friend about his strange experiences as a boy in Reedley End, an isolated parish plagued by drought and crop failure, whose denizens may have tried to reverse their fortunes by turning to "the old ways".

This is a folk horror story set in the backwaters of rural England. A new vicar goes to a rural parish that has suffered a terrible drought. The local folk shun him and want nothing of his God. He fears they have other gods of their own. Then a young girl goes missing, and the vicar's son must search out the mystery of the round field and pay a terrible price for the knowledge he gains. Think The Wicker Man meets John Barleycorn. Folk horror before they invented the term 'folk horror.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories

Unknown Binding

About the author

Herbert Russell Wakefield was an English short story writer, novelist, publisher, and civil servant. Wakefield is best known for his ghost stories, but he produced work outside the field. He was greatly interested in the criminal mind and wrote two non-fiction criminology studies

Used These Alternate Names: H.R. Wakefield, H. Russell Wakefield, Рассел Уэйкфилд?, Herbert Russell Wakefield, Herbert R. Wakefield, Henry Russell Wakefield, Henry R. Wakefield, Sir H. Russell Wakefield, Horace Russell Wakefield

Reviews

[Indieflower · Rating 4 out of 5]

A disquieting short story of a village where the new vicar finds his parishioners to be aloof and somewhat hostile, as time goes by he fears they may have other gods than his.

[bbcamel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why would you stick your hand in there twice? :|

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another one for folk horror book club.

Very brief again. Some classic folk horror elements and imagery. Not much fear though because you know the ending before it happens.