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Weird Walk #5
Weird Walk: Number Five - Samhain 2021
46 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 23, 2024
I really enjoyed this issue of Weird Walk - the zine that explores the weirdness of the British landscape and the experiences one has when we ramble exploring culture, history, folklore and nature.
There seemed to be quite a heavy leaning into folklore and folk horror in this zine this time which is always a plus. I'm realising that the people behind this zine are quite well connected to media figures because they seem to get interviews from TV, art and literature quite often.
Some highlights from the zine include:
An overview of a folklore ritual / dance in a Derbyshire village where the roots of it are lost. The Horn Dance uses horns dated from the Norman Conquest but the reindeer were likely extinct in Britain then, which suggest they come from somewhere, and although there is some documentation of festivities in the 13th century in the area the Horn Dance was first recorded in the 17th century before being revived in the 18th century. I kind of love the idea that something has lasted so long and yet no one knows why it started or what the purpose of it is.
The music article is about pipe organs and again, there is something rather eerie and quite gothic of an organ in a village church. I'm familiar with one of the artists featured but I am not clamouring to go and listen to more. I appreciate what they are trying to do here, but some of the music articles have started to feel flat.
I really enjoyed the interview with Charlie Cooper who wrote and starred in 'This Country' which was a pretty funny comedy set in a Cotswold village where Bristol and Swindon are the bright lights far away. The interview suggests there are a lot of folk horror elements in the show which I definitely get. There is a sense of the outsiders, of the local legends and culture unique to the place. It's quite an insular comedy, and the interview is good.
The interview with the Director of 'Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched' is decent and to be honest is a good advertisement for the documentary which is absolutely essential viewing for anyone interested in folk horror. What I liked was the exploration of the difference between folk horror in the UK which perhaps draws on a familiarity to the land and noticing when something is off, compared to the folk horror of the US, Canada and Australia where the fear is rooted in the generational trauma of indigenous people and the impact of colonisation. Folk horror being a result of, and a response to colonisation. In some respects I think much British and European folk horror may be a response to industrialisation, and organised religion. The interview serves as a good intro to the documentary all the same.
I loved the primer of folklore elements in childrens literature. I can see myself digging into some of these (yeah I know another 10 books to the to be read pile I won't read) and it is notable how many of these books were TV shows in the 70s and 80s (which may be how the article was sourced). In many respects chidren's literature can key into that sense of the land not being right, particularly for teenagers who most definitely live in a liminal space.
Stuart Lee's article promises to be about a walk around Herefordshire but turns into a study of an author of books about walking and pulp fiction, of Karl Marx's daughter's secretary of landed money and a family inextricably linked to the occult, Alesteir Crowley, the Gnostic Catholic Church and Gerald Gardner.
The final article is about the building of a modern stone circle at Glastonbury (festival site, not the town). I get what the builder was doing, trying to create a place with energy with gifts and placing of stones and all that spiritual stuff. In 2024 whatever intentions were there in the 80s they are long gone. One can wave dowsing rods over the stones all they want and review the perfect placing but this place is not about peace and love and energy. It's about hundreds of wealthy middle class kids playing at being alternative watching the blandest corporate music from half a mile away. I'd be amazed if there is anyone who thinks there is the remotest connection to what Glastonbury was in the 70's to what it is now.
As always the zine is printed on excellent stock - well worth a look.
There seemed to be quite a heavy leaning into folklore and folk horror in this zine this time which is always a plus. I'm realising that the people behind this zine are quite well connected to media figures because they seem to get interviews from TV, art and literature quite often.
Some highlights from the zine include:
An overview of a folklore ritual / dance in a Derbyshire village where the roots of it are lost. The Horn Dance uses horns dated from the Norman Conquest but the reindeer were likely extinct in Britain then, which suggest they come from somewhere, and although there is some documentation of festivities in the 13th century in the area the Horn Dance was first recorded in the 17th century before being revived in the 18th century. I kind of love the idea that something has lasted so long and yet no one knows why it started or what the purpose of it is.
The music article is about pipe organs and again, there is something rather eerie and quite gothic of an organ in a village church. I'm familiar with one of the artists featured but I am not clamouring to go and listen to more. I appreciate what they are trying to do here, but some of the music articles have started to feel flat.
I really enjoyed the interview with Charlie Cooper who wrote and starred in 'This Country' which was a pretty funny comedy set in a Cotswold village where Bristol and Swindon are the bright lights far away. The interview suggests there are a lot of folk horror elements in the show which I definitely get. There is a sense of the outsiders, of the local legends and culture unique to the place. It's quite an insular comedy, and the interview is good.
The interview with the Director of 'Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched' is decent and to be honest is a good advertisement for the documentary which is absolutely essential viewing for anyone interested in folk horror. What I liked was the exploration of the difference between folk horror in the UK which perhaps draws on a familiarity to the land and noticing when something is off, compared to the folk horror of the US, Canada and Australia where the fear is rooted in the generational trauma of indigenous people and the impact of colonisation. Folk horror being a result of, and a response to colonisation. In some respects I think much British and European folk horror may be a response to industrialisation, and organised religion. The interview serves as a good intro to the documentary all the same.
I loved the primer of folklore elements in childrens literature. I can see myself digging into some of these (yeah I know another 10 books to the to be read pile I won't read) and it is notable how many of these books were TV shows in the 70s and 80s (which may be how the article was sourced). In many respects chidren's literature can key into that sense of the land not being right, particularly for teenagers who most definitely live in a liminal space.
Stuart Lee's article promises to be about a walk around Herefordshire but turns into a study of an author of books about walking and pulp fiction, of Karl Marx's daughter's secretary of landed money and a family inextricably linked to the occult, Alesteir Crowley, the Gnostic Catholic Church and Gerald Gardner.
The final article is about the building of a modern stone circle at Glastonbury (festival site, not the town). I get what the builder was doing, trying to create a place with energy with gifts and placing of stones and all that spiritual stuff. In 2024 whatever intentions were there in the 80s they are long gone. One can wave dowsing rods over the stones all they want and review the perfect placing but this place is not about peace and love and energy. It's about hundreds of wealthy middle class kids playing at being alternative watching the blandest corporate music from half a mile away. I'd be amazed if there is anyone who thinks there is the remotest connection to what Glastonbury was in the 70's to what it is now.
As always the zine is printed on excellent stock - well worth a look.
August 2, 2022
Disappointing issue, the only article that really stands out is the piece on children’s fiction, though the antler mask/dance material is interesting.
A particularly poor article is the aimless waffle of Stewart Lee. He cannot resist sneering at Alfred Watkins for his imagining networks across the landscape. This seems out of place in a publication that celebrates the Weird. Lee is always quick to defend the imaginings of his chums in the trans community and to aggressively hound anyone who dares to question that grift. He was very loud in his condemnations of “covidiots” too.
This gives the whole fifth edition a stench.
A particularly poor article is the aimless waffle of Stewart Lee. He cannot resist sneering at Alfred Watkins for his imagining networks across the landscape. This seems out of place in a publication that celebrates the Weird. Lee is always quick to defend the imaginings of his chums in the trans community and to aggressively hound anyone who dares to question that grift. He was very loud in his condemnations of “covidiots” too.
This gives the whole fifth edition a stench.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews