My novel, Small Fires, follows two sisters who are persecuted for the murder of their parents and flee to an unnamed island governed by a figure known only as the Warden. As the women’s harrowing past come to light, so does the lore of this strange land – of midnight rites, annual festivals and Folk who seem like they have stepped from a fable. The sisters murdered their parents but can they survive a place where bitterness runs through the land like poison in blood?
This is a contemporary folk horror which examines generational trauma, female rage and possession. Small Fires is part fever dream, part dark fable. An unsettling nod to the power of stories and a stark reminder that the tales we tell can be deadly. It is heavily inspired by folklore from Britain and Europe and has been likened to The Wicker Man, The Bloody Chamber and even The Brothers Grimm.
Small Fires is also a real tribute to folklore and to folk horror as a genre. I’m delighted to recommend now five of my own favourite folk stories, in both literature and film.
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride, by Roshani Chokshi
This novel was recommended to me very recently by author Rachel Greenlaw, and it is one of the most beautifully written books I’ve come across. Rich, beguiling and lyrical as a song, it has an undefinable quality to it that makes it feel ethereal. It follows a scholar who falls in love with a woman named Indigo but there is more myth than marriage to this pairing, and he unravels a strand of dark and frightening stories about her past. It’s Rebecca meets Mexican Gothic meets the Brothers Grimm. I re-read sentences over and over again just to enjoy the melody of them. It is a puzzle box of folklore and myth and legend.
Hereditary and Midsommar
I’m including both Midsommar and Hereditary in the same pick, purely because they have the same director and I watched them back to back one rainy afternoon. They are now two of my favourite folk horror films. They put a lens on humanity, and approach characteristics of the genre with originality and flair. Hereditary hooked me within the first fifteen minutes of watching. And for good reason. It centres on a family struggling with grief and inherited trauma, following the death of the family’s matriarch, and blames possession, folklore and the occult for the problems they encounter.
Also incorporating themes of grief and trauma, Midsommar is dark, fascinating, disturbing and frightening on an almost subliminal level, filled with pagan cult rituals and Swedish folklore. A couple travels to Sweden for a festival, and find themselves involved in a strange and deadly community and competition. These two films, with their matching metaphors, will fill your dreams and darken your thoughts in the most powerful way.
Where the Dark Stands Still, by A. B. Poranek
This story follows a young woman named Liska, who unwittingly unleashes her magical power on her community and flees to a foreboding forest in an attempt to suppress it. There, she makes a deal with the demon – the Leszy – who lives there. But the Gentleman Devil makes a bargain of his own: one year of servitude in exchange for a wish. This book has such a sophistication and power to it. The writing is flawless, transportative and enchanting, as the best fairy tales are. And the way it explores Polish folklore is delicious. Think a combination of Howl’s Moving Castle, Beauty and the Beast and Slavic folktales.
The Loney, by Andrew Michael Hurley
The Loney begins with a family taking a pilgrimage from their London church to a desolate coastal area of Northern England – a stretch of land with a mysterious abandoned cottage, devastating tides and a dark history, with rumours and stories of folk magic. This book is a masterclass in spare, pared-back writing and slow-burn atmosphere, which builds to a striking crescendo. It is an examination of childhood, religion and the dark regions of the human heart. I loved the locations, the themes and the compelling question that hangs off the final page. It is superb storytelling, and if you enjoy being ‘haunted’ by the books you read, this is one for you.
The Bloody Chamber, by Angela Carter
This collection of old fairy tales told anew, through a feminist, gothic prism, explores themes of female identity and power, calling upon folk traditions and folklore to create dark supernatural stories that are sensual, aggressive and unsettling, as many of our oldest myths and folktales are, but flavoured with the most scintillating voice. If a book is like a recipe and its characters, plot and writing are the ingredients, than this book is a divine mouthful. It’s piercing, feminist, arresting and subversive. Carter was ahead of her time with this collection and I think it is hugely relevant in today’s modern society. My favourite of the short stories is its namesake, ‘The Bloody Chamber’ which is inspired by ‘Beauty and the Beast’. A must-read for lovers of female rage in folklore and myth. It also put me in the mind of The Mere Wife, by Maria Dahvana Headley, a glorious and furious retelling of the Beowolf poem.
Ronnie Turner is the author of the unsettling folk horror novel, Small Fires, published by Orenda Books.
