THE HISTORY OF FOLK HORROR

In this talk at Hastings White Rock, Dr Joan Passey follows folk’s shadowy trail from the ghost stories of M. R. James, Thomas Hardy, and Arthur Conan Doyle through to films like The Witchfinder General and The Wicker Man – exploring how ancient customs and unsettling landscapes have fed some of our darkest fiction.

Using film clips along the way, she will uncover where genuine folklore ends and invented tradition begins, and why these stories still get under our skin. Passey is a gothic literature specialist and editor of the British Library’s ‘Tales of the Weird’ series, so she knows her way around the stranger corners of British culture.

The 90-minute talk begins at 7:30 pm, with doors open from 7 pm and a Q&A afterwards. General-release tickets cost £15.50 each or £28.50 for two. Final-release tickets rise to £17.50 each or £32 for two. Seating is unreserved.

Content note: references to violence, sexual violence, sacrifice and cannibalism, so this talk is only suitable for people aged 16+