The History of Folk Horror

What makes the most unsettling stories feel close to home?

Folk horror draws on folklore, landscape, and long-held beliefs to explore how fear can take root in ordinary places – particularly in rural and isolated places. From ghosts, monsters, and cults with violent rituals, these stories often reflect deep anxieties about belonging, otherness, and the tension between old ways and modern life. 

This talk explores the genre across literature and film, from the ghost stories of M. R. James and E. F. Benson to movies like Midsommar, Hereditary, and Eden Lake. We’ll also consider the future of folk horror, from eco-horror and the influence of the internet, and AI.

Doors open at 6:30pm, last entry 7pm, talk starts at 7:30pm - come down early to grab a good seat!

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Speaker Bio:

Ruth Heholt is Professor of Literature and Culture at Falmouth University in Cornwall, and has published widely on ghosts and the Gothic. She is the founding editor of Revenant: Critical and Creative Studies of the Supernatural and co-edited Folk Horror: New Global Pathways with Dawn Keetley (2023). As an expert on the Victorian writer and ghost hunter Catherine Crowe, she has appeared on the What’shername women’s history podcast discussing Crowe’s work. She is also the editor of the British Library collection Bird of Ill Omen: The Gothic Tales of Catherine Crowe.

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This talk is 16+. All under 18s must be accompanied by an adult, and all under 25s may require government issued photo ID to gain entry.

For accessibility requirements, please contact the venue with any accessibility requirements before booking. Spaces may be limited and will be sold on a first come first served basis.You can call: 0121 693 2248 (Mon-Fri 9.30am-6pm & Sat/Sun 12-6pm) or email [email protected] with your access requirements and the show you wish to see in order to make a booking. Disabled Access is available by lift.

A £1 venue restoration levy is added to each ticket, paid directly to our venue to be reinvested in the running of the space

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