American Folk Horror: The Unquiet Meadow
Good evening all,
I'm quite the fan of folk horror, a topic which I plan to expound upon as time allows... but anyone who follows me likely already knows that. I wanted to share a podcast/radio show keeping the Faith alive in their show The Unquiet Meadow. A delightful traipse through apocalyptic folk, eerie jazz, blackgrass (that's a word now, and I'm sticking with it) and sometimes just plain weirdness.These guys are cool, neat, and all about Keeping Asheville Weird. Give them a listen if you get the chance.
Edit: due to popular demand, I cannot help but refer all to:
https://folkhorrorrevival.com/
One of the premier sites of the greater Folk Horror community. Also, it's a WordPress site, so I'm going to see about dragging them into our on little... "Family" so to speak... It's a work in progress...
And though I am loathe to mention it, there is a very highly active presence on Wastebook... Invite only, but I can supply such.. in exchange for certain... oaths... 🐇
wow thank you for this, I am listening to it as I write, I love experimental folk and rock, now I get to learn of lots more artists which is always a joy for me xxx
I listened to that and the real horror is when I can fast forward due my connection :-D and that I am listening at 06:30 am- it's still dark in my place
I studied American folk stories and there was once a horror folk introduced to the class. It was about a village full of European settlers and then there was a creature chopping people head's off-something like this. It was also available in German and I can't really remember the title at the moment.
Thanks for that suggestion. I always loved folk stories but horrors where never my thing, fold or modern :)
Aargh. Shoulda mentioned that this is a music show... Actually, think I may have to edit that... 🐐
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I just had a bit of a google to consider what qualified as American Folk Horror. I'm quite a fan of American gothic, and it's translation in Australia, but it's not quite the same thing. I did love 'Get Out' - gee that was a good film, but the other films on the list - not big on being freaked out i.e Texas Chainsaw Massacre makes me feel sick even just looking at the title. I'm sure you'll be able to inform me a bit more on this genre over time! I wonder where your fascination with all things dark comes from? I do find it fascinating ..
Folk Horror is an extremely nuanced concept, but the best place to get a good idea would be over at Folk Horror Revival, a site that's about nothing but. It's largely considered a British/European phenomenon, but different strain exist in all places and cultures, and are just as widely varied as those places. A few good australian examples would Picnic at Hanging Rock, and maybe sorta kinda Lake Mungo. But in all cases, there is a tinge of the supernatural involved, or at least a breakdown of civilized order.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre doesn't have a shred of the supernatural to it, but oh my... does civilization breakdown. Honestly, it's a really kickass film, and contrary to what everyone thinks, there is not One. Single. Drop. Of. Blood. in that entire movie. It's entirely in your head.
Ha! That reminds me of a time when I was working at a video store and these girls came in saying they were having a Halloween party and wanted the scariest movies we had. I glanced to the guy next to me and simply said "Chainsaw." We had got that and a few other solid hits, then I asked how old the girls at the party were.. They said 12.
Now there was no way in Hell we were going to scar a pack of 12-year olds that way, so instead we gave them The Evil Dead II and The Shining. HA!!!
Ah yes, see, Picnic At Hanging Rock is what I'd call Australian Gothic, BUT yes, the spiritual element could take it into the 'folk' territory. It's sooo nuanced, isn't it? In Australian gothic, it's the unknown and lonely aspect of the landscape that makes it, recalling the terror of the coloniser in a hostile world. And then there is the indigeneous unknown on the periphery. I haven't seen Lake Mungo - my sister went and visited hte area last year and it's on our lists of places to go.
Yes, I saw Texas CM at 13 accidentally at a sleepover - went to the toilet and cried until Mum came and got me. I couldn't watch horror again for years and years and years after than - and now, I'm kinda really choosy about what I watch.
Then Australian Gothic is effectively synonymous with Folk Horror. The "Lake Mungo" movie is what I was speaking of... Cool as hell.
As for Picnic at Hanging Rock, when my stoner friends and I watched it back in 2001, I completely blew their minds when I suggested that a pack of fauns ran through and stole them away..
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This looks cool. Folk horror. I like it.