Damnable Tales: A Folk Horror Anthology

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The Lady on the Grey" - John Collier. Playboy proud of his list of conquests tries to catch up with his main competition. This was probably the most fun story in the collection. And what a book it is: a considerable and considered selection, and delivered handsomely. When I heard it was being crowd-funded I was a bit wary of what the quality would be like, but there’s no complaint here. It is solidly constructed and well presented. The subtle touch of adding an earthy red to some of the chapter openings is just a little thing, but I found it nice attention to detail. And the illustrations are superb. Sharply printed, and the old woodcut style suits the material. There is a quirkiness and humour to some which suits folk horror tales really well, yet – even so – the image for Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Thrawn Janet’ is rather disturbing (and also my favourite illustration in the book). This richly illustrated anthology gathers together classic short stories from masters of supernatural fiction including M. R. James, Sheridan Le Fanu and Arthur Machen, alongside lesser-known voices in the field including Eleanor Scott and Margery Lawrence, and popular writers less bound to the horror genre, such as Thomas Hardy and E. F. Benson.

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Hogy ennek mi köze a folk horrorhoz? Az, hogy a folk horror – ha jól értelmezem – pont ennek a felfogásnak ad egy piszkos nagy pofont, de úgy, hogy a fal adja a másikat. És még csak nem is nyers erőből adja, hanem ügyesen és kiszámítottan. remember how the first story was written in an almost-unreadable dialect? well this one is 10 times worse This anthology of Folk Horror Tales curated and illustrated by Richard Wells, has the most hauntingly beautiful imagery to accompany diverse and Damnable Tales about the horrors of the ages. The Withered Arm was also a very interesting story, with almost a time travel/sensing the future paradox of the two main characters harming each other unintentionally, in ways that depend on the actions of the other... And the idea of someone having magical powers beyond their control, that others are more aware of than they are, was really well done Con semejante nómina era difícil que algo saliera más pero hay también otros autores menos conocidos con relatos de mucha calidad. Eso sí, es terror clásico similar al que podriamos encontrar en algún libro de Valdemar gótica y eso es sinonimo de calidad.The stories date from 1872 right up to 1964. They cover witch persecution, hauntings, the pagan gods of old, and the true horror of what humans can inflict on each other as a result of fear. It is a sensational read for dark nights. The tale of ‘Thrawn Janet’ by Robert Louis Stevenson is genuinely terrifying!

Damnable Tales: A Folk Horror Anthology by Richard Wells Damnable Tales: A Folk Horror Anthology by Richard Wells

The Devil of the Marsh• (1893) • short story by H. B. Marriott Watson [as by H. B. Marriott-Watson] What is it about these stories of the uncanny, many of them written over a century ago, that make them so appealing to contemporary readers? In his Introduction to Damnable Tales, the novelist Benjamin Myers offers a clue: ‘They take place in worlds we recognise as once-removed from our realities. These are the settings of our ancestors, and therefore are still carried somewhere deep within us now: remote villages and darkened lanes, lonely woodlands, obscure country houses and crumbling cemeteries. Places where the crepuscular light is eternally fading and in which the inanimate or the dormant is slowly stirring.’ The collection will feature classic stories from masters of supernatural fiction including M.R. James, Sheridan Le Fanu, and Arthur Machen, alongside lesser known voices in the field including Eleanor Scott and Margery Lawrence and popular writers less bound to the horror genre, such as Thomas Hardy and E.F. Benson. Man-Size in Marble" - Edith Nesbit. A young couple new to the country learns why they can't "keep good help"! This is a great story, and one of the oldest in the collection- Nesbit was writing at the same time as Arthur Conan Doyle! While her contemporaries were cranking out Victoriana Nesbit delivers her tale in a strikingly modern style that reminded me of Bernard Taylor's best.Over all this book was a disappointment. I went in with such high expectations; I saw it on the shelf in Waterstones (yes brought new which makes it even more disappointing) and did a wee happy jiggy dance. I had never seen a Folk Horror anthology before, and especially one that was so beautifully illustrated. So therefore it had to be mine. Perfect Gothtober reading I thought. There was none of that eerie foreboding that you get from communities just outside the modern world going balls deep into some old school religion much to the horror of the modern watchers on. There was nothing unexplained and just down right creepy. Blood on Satans Claw these stories ain’t. As with any anthology, the stories are of mixed quality. There are 23 short stories in this volume, and each is accompanied by its own newly commissioned woodcut style lino print at the beginning of each tale. Anthology Title: Damnable Tales: A Folk Horror Anthology• anthology by Richard Wells Contents (view Concise Listing) June: The Priest's Story: How Pan Came to Little Ingleton• (1926) • short story by Margery Lawrence