Haunting Scars in the Landscape – A Review of “Spirits of Place”
Paul Watson reviews a collection of essays which explores case studies of the associated folklore of landscape and place in countries throughout the world.
Mark Twain’s Wild West and the Presidential Election of 1872
In a daring act, facing frightful peril, Mark Twain exploited a legend to launch his onstage comic career. With his future as a lecturer on a knife’s edge, Twain decided to open with a worn-out narrative that had seen better days. A disgruntled audience nearly drove him from the stage … until they understood his brilliant manipulation of their own folklore.
Can Belief in Slender Man Make Him Real?
Slender Man was created in 2009 in the Something Awful forum by user Victor Surge (real name: Eric Knudson) in response to a challenge to “make something creepy.”
Past Anxieties: Defining the Folk Horror Narrative
‘Have you ever heard the term ‘folk horror’ before?’ I asked a colleague of mine: a classics professor. ‘In particular, when describing drama?’
Ghosts, Angels & Death Omens: The Seven Whistlers in Mining Folklore
On 21st September, 1874, after hearing the cries of the ‘Seven Whistlers’, miners employed in North Warwickshire refused to descend into the coal pits.