The History of Folk Horror

Discover how folk horror turns rural life and old traditions into terrifying stories. Followed by Q&A. 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 7pm, talk starts at 7:30pm - come down early to grab a good seat! Follow us on IG @seedtalks Speaker Bio: Ruth Heholt is Professor of Literature and Culture at Falmouth University in Cornwall, and has published widely on ghosts and the Gothic. editor of Revenant: Critical and Creative Studies of the Supernatural and co-edited Folk Horror.