folk horror

  • Mistress Grimshaw’s Purse

    In St Barrow’s, Mistress Grimshaw’s charity opens her purse only for those who beg aloud before the parish. Judith Cox, widowed and cornered, finds a way to make the purse answer the want it knows best.

    Read more →

  • Shall I Come Away?

    Shall I Come Away?

    Ralph Travers, a curate in Exeter, struggles with his conscience after inadvertently making the Devil, Bucky, known to children through a rhyme. As children start disappearing, he faces the consequences of his actions.

    Read more →

  • The Even Ash

    The Even Ash

    In a series of intertwined tales, women at fairs confront the consequences of seeking love through an ancient ash charm. Each one learns that desires shape their fates, often leading to regret.

    Read more →

  • The Seven Blessings of Cecily Scratcher

    At St Mildred’s, every blessing has a shadow. Cecily Scratcher waits beneath the lychgate to tell seven old warnings of beauty, grace, sorrow, roads, love, labour, and goodness, and of the children made to carry what adults should not.

    Read more →

  • Arrange The Symmetry

    Arrange The Symmetry

    About a 14-minute read or 22-minute listen. In Streindarke, Ballion, known as Civic Quiet, navigates the intricate balance of power and duty while investigating the disappearance of Lord Suze Ben-Sashe.

    Read more →

  • The Magpies of Hagley Stile

    About a 40-minute read or 1hr 3-minute listen. In Hagley Stile, magpies are never merely birds. One by one, the old rhyme becomes a reckoning as sorrow, joy, birth, theft, silver, gold and secrets gather beneath black-and-white wings.

    Read more →

  • Merlin and the Unburied King

    About a 22-minute read or a 34-minute listen. Three days after the battle at Arfderydd, Brother Robert searches for the missing bard, Merlin, amidst the devastation. As he and two others navigate the battlefield, they grapple with the dead king Gwenddolau’s unburied body, Merlin’s potential madness, and the need for a proper farewell.

    Read more →

  • The Smothing of Dunsop Bridge

    About an 11-minute read or a 14-minute listen. This folklore tale warns against taking unbaptised children near the Smothing. When a family breaks the rule, they face dire consequences as their child changes, seemingly possessed. An old woman helps reclaim the child, but the experience leaves lasting scars. Villagers remember the tale as a cautionary…

    Read more →

  • The Broomfield Witch

    The Broomfield Witch

    About a 30-minute read or a 41 minute listen. Jess Harwood returns to her late mother’s home after seven years, uncovering memories and remnants of her mother’s life and secrets. As she begins to help the village with herbal remedies, she discovers a powerful stone, the Eye of the Dracan, which deepens her connection to…

    Read more →

  • Emmie and the Black Orchard

    About a 20-minute read or a 30-minute listen. In Duskdale, the arrival of winter deepens despair as a blight affects children, including young Pip. Emmie, seeking to save him, takes an apple from a forbidden orchard, causing a troubling shift in the village where memories of the dead fade. Ultimately, Emmie must sacrifice her memories…

    Read more →