All posts filed under: psychogeography

Archaeology and Folk Horror in HELLEBORE

I’d like to thank James Dixon and Lorna Richardson for inviting me to discuss archaeology and folk horror in HELLEBORE at the 5th Public Archaeology Twitter Conference. I’ve compiled all the tweets from my presentation in this post for easier reading. Thank you for inviting me to discuss history and archaeology in @helleborezine for #PATC5. I’m Maria, and I’m the founding editor of HELLEBORE, a small press magazine devoted to British #FolkHorror and the #Occult. Folk horror is enjoying much interest at the moment. The term remains associated with these three films from the late 60s-early 70s (the so-called “Unholy Trinity”), but its roots go back to the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. Why are history and archaeology important in folk horror? The idea that drives the subgenre is the survival of ancient cults, usually in remote rural areas, a mere step away from our “civilised” surroundings. These ancient rituals will be re-enacted, almost inevitably, to some horrible ending. In folk horror, the past is unearthed, often literally, with or without archaeologists involved. Or the …