Folk Horror: A Subgenre Invented by Scholars

Abstract

The author explores folk horror as a subgenre of horror, delving into its recent emergence and categorization as an “invented tradition.” While the term surfaced in 1970, it gained widespread recognition relatively recently. Adam Scovell was first to thoroughly examine folk-horror as a subgenre of horror in his book on the same subject, which was published in 2017. It was also him who “invented” the canon of the folk horror subgenre by proposing the concept of the “unholy trinity” —which consisted of three British films (The Witch Hunter in Chief, 1968; Blood on Satan’s Claws, 1971; The Wicker Man, 1971) — associating folk horror specifically with British cinema. However, some scholars challenged Scovell’s approach, expanding the notion to encompass other cultures and mediums, such as American, Thai, Indonesian traditions, and extending into music, cartoons, and literature. In this article, the author examines the academic reception of folk horror. The author argues that scholars show a particular interest by proposing specific analytical approaches to analyze empirical data on one hand, and by aiming to challenge the subgenre’s conventional boundaries on the other hand. The author critiques attempts to redefine folk horror yet recognizes its applicability to various national film traditions, including the Russian context, exemplified by the successful incorporation of folk horror elements in the TV series “To the Lake” (2019), specifically in the third episode of the second season.