Call for Papers for Special Issue: Folk Horror

‘Revenant’ is now accepting articles, creative writing pieces and book, film, game, event or art reviews for a themed issue on folk horror, guest edited by Dr. Dawn Keetley.

Since 2010, ‘folk horror’ has been enjoying a renaissance as critics and bloggers have been working to define the genre, understand its appeal, and establish its key texts, including what has become the central triumvirate of the folk horror canon—Witchfinder General (Michael Reeves, 1968), Blood on Satan’s Claw (Piers Haggard, 1970), and The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 1973)—and numerous British TV series from the 1960s and 1970s—The Owl Service (1969), Robin Redbreast (1970), BBC’s A Ghost Story for Christmas (1971-78), Penda’s Fen (1974), and Children of the Stones (1977). Critics have also begun to uncover a rich pre-history for the folk horror of the 1960s and 70s at the same time that writers and directors in the 21st century have been re-inventing the genre with such new incarnations, in film, as The Blair Witch Project (1999), Eden Lake (2008), Wake Wood (2009), Kill List (2011), A Field in England (2013), The Witch (2015), The Hallow (2015), and Without Name (2016) and, in fiction, Adam Nevill’s The Ritual (2011), Andrew Michael Hurley’s The Loney (2014) and Devil’s Day (2017), Thomas Olde Heuvelt’s Hex (2016), and John Langan’s The Fisherman (2016).

With the aim of producing a special issue that will represent the ‘state of the art’ of folk horror scholarship, we invite submissions that take up any aspect of folk horror in film, TV, literature, art, or music. These topics could include, but aren’t limited to:

  • history of folk horror
  • definitions of folk horror
  • religion and folk horror
  • national identity and folk horror (local vs global, rural vs urban)
  • gender, race, and / or class in folk horror
  • transgressing and limiting borders
  • the devil
  • pagan folk horror
  • the built and natural environments of folk horror
  • re-inventing folk horror in the late 20th and early 21st century. For articles and creative pieces (such as poetry, short stories, flash fiction, videos, artwork and music) please send a 500 word abstract and a short biography by April 15, 2018. If your abstract is accepted, the full article (maximum 7000 words, including Harvard referencing) and the full creative piece (maximum 5000 words) will be due November 18, 2018. We are looking for a Spring 2019 publication date.Additionally, we are seeking reviews of books, films, games, events and art that engage with folk horror (800-1,000 words in length). Please send a short biography and full details of the book you would like to review as soon as possible. Further information, including Submission Guidelines, is available at the journal site: www.revenantjournal.com.Inquiries are welcome and, along with all submissions, should be directed to [email protected]. If emailing the journal directly at [email protected] please quote ‘folk horror issue’ in the subject box.