Folk Horror: New Paths
“A something that lurked in waste places, that was hinted at by the sound of water gurgling through deep channels and by the voices of birds of ill-omen… a kind of ungodly hallowedness – these were the things that called her thoughts away from the comfortable fireside.” – Sylvia Townsend Warner, Lolly Willowes Grow your understanding of folk horror in fiction and film, and explore new folk horror directions in your own writing.
Part one: The way we came A brief overview of the folk horror subgenre and its history, including a couple of different approaches to defining it. We’ll look at some well-known and less well-known works associated with folk horror, and explore some of the key elements of a folk horror story. There’ll be opportunities for discussion throughout and writing exercises to give you a chance to try out some of these ideas in your own writing.
Part two: The ways ahead We’ll build on part one by exploring some questions and conflicts arising in the subgenre, such as: Who counts as ‘folk’, and who gets to decide? Can folk horror look forward, or only backward? How should we expand the folk horror ‘canon’? We’ll read and discuss some (possibly surprising) texts and use creative writing exercises to forge new paths in the folk horror genre.
What Participants Will Take Away
- A good understanding of the central elements and troubled margins of folk horror
- Writing techniques and ‘story seeds’ to use in their own work
- A diverse and wide-ranging reading list
There will be an optional opportunity to share. Don’t feel like sharing? That’s totally fine.
This workshop is suitable for all levels.
This workshop happens on two consecutive Sundays:
Sunday, September 8, 2024: 8 AM PDT / 11 AM EDT / 4 PM BST / 8:30 PM IST / 1 AM AEST
AND
Sunday, September 15, 2024: 8 AM PDT / 11 AM EDT / 4 PM BST / 8:30 PM IST / 1 AM AEST
This workshop goes for two days, 2 hours each day.
About Instructor
Sarah Jackson (she/they) writes gently unsettling speculative fiction and poetry. Her work has appeared in Strange Horizons, Translunar Travelers Lounge, Stonecoast Review, and elsewhere. She offers friendly and supportive writing workshops on topics from fairies to feelings, and she’s the editor of Inner Worlds, a quarterly digital zine of speculative fiction about our inner lives.
Click here for the Crow Collective Workshop FAQ.
Registration: Want to register? Sign up for the mailing list and you’ll be notified when registration opens in July.
Click here for the text version of the September 8 AND 15 time zone map.