Earlier this year, my short story, The Sack, was published in Literally Stories. To date, it’s my most traditional horror piece, and it’s set in rural Wales. We’ve not been able to return to the UK from Singapore in over 2 years because of the pandemic, and I frequently pine for the British countryside. The odd thing is that I find myself looking to horror films and books to quench my thirst. There’s a particular mood that comes to mind when I think of country lanes and old graveyards; bleak hills and pastures surrounded by dry stone walls; rocky mountain tops and green valleys; remote beaches and isolated coves. Many places have long and dark histories, and grim tales are not uncommon.
There are numerous classic folk horror movies based in these settings, such as The Wicker Man, Witchfinder General, and Satan’s Claw. This piece in the Guardian a few years ago brilliantly captures the essence of British folk horror – illustrating its features by describing the short story, A View from a Hill, by MR James.
When I wrote The Sack, I had in mind a story that fits into the folk horror space. Growing up where I did in rural Wales meant familiarity with the spookier corners of the countryside. I won’t spoil much by telling you that the story describes a journey home in the dark along a country road. This was an experience familiar to me. Seeing and experiencing strange phenomena while walking home at night wasn’t unheard of. To my rational mind, I attributed odd experiences to an overactive imagination and/or an overly fulfilling trip to the pub in the village nearby.
Where I grew up, local legends and ghost stories were ample. There was an old railway line haunted by a Victorian couple; a hill frequented by a headless horseman; a pond where horses had drowned, and their screams could be heard at night; my father even told me of a ghost Viking he saw running across a field in the darkness.
That’s not to say Singapore doesn’t have its own ghost stories (it’s home to the Pontianak – amongst others) but I do miss the mood of the spooky British countryside. There really is no place like it. We hope to return next summer, but in the meantime, I will continue to quench my thirst with folk horror and by developing more stories that are based in this setting.
On that spooky note, Merry Christmas, and happy holidays!
