The Evil Under The Soil: Burial and Unearthing in Folk Horror
The burial and subsequent unearthing of cursed objects is an act that is astonishingly common in Folk Horror.
‘Terra Incognita’: Tracing Literary Occult Pathways in North London
North London has captured the imagination of gothic writers through the ages, exploring both sides of the region’s possibly: one a promise, one a threat.
Folk Healing & Hypnotism: Arthur Spray, ‘The Mysterious Cobbler’ of Bexhill
Arthur Spray, known as ‘The Mysterious Cobbler of Bexhill’, wrote an autobiography in 1935 which detailed his famed powers in healing and hypnotism.
A Californian Krampus
Relentlessly sunny and known for a love of trend over tradition, Los Angeles is an unlikely home to a new incarnation of the old Alpine devil. It helps, perhaps, that make-believe is serious business in my town, and that it’s filled with creative people prone to see in an old tradition of folk Catholicism a revolutionary way to shake up the holidays.
Cursed Paintings: Ill-Fated Portraits and Unlucky Landscapes
The cursed painting is an enduring urban legend that continues to have the ability to scare us, and also makes a good tabloid news story.