Andy Paciorek
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Albion unearthed
Social, political and cultural influences on British folk horror, urban wyrd and backwoods cinema
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The term ‘folk horror’ has been used to refer to horror that most frequently has strong rural, occult and sometimes folkloric elements. Whilst discussion has unearthed examples of ‘folk horror’ from numerous different nations, the designation is most strongly associated with a limited number of British films and other media in the late 1960s to mid-1970s. The aim of this chapter is to discuss the socio-political and wider cultural factors of this period within the UK and explore how they may have influenced and/or inspired this particular mode of cinema. From there we look at the revival of ‘folk horror’ and its growth in stature and status within the 21st century and again consider the influence that the contemporary social, political, cultural and perhaps environmental situation has had upon its resurgence. In this exploration we pay strong attention to films of both the psychedelic era and of the current folk horror revival but also consider folk horror in relation to sub-genres or modes like hauntology, urban wyrd and backwoods horror. We explore the cultural climate that the first wave of British folk horror arose in and question why it has again taken root and grown more vigorously now.

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Folk horror on film

Return of the British repressed

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