The Fiends in the Furrows: An Anthology of Folk Horror

"The Fiends in the Furrows" is subtitled, "An Anthology of Folk Horror." Folk horror dwells in the pagan rituals, quaint traditions, family secrets, ancient superstitions, and/or sorceries of European-American rural village life. Often-times there are spiritual laws in effect, laws that are enforced by a malevolent being ruling over a village, wood, or mountain region where the horror takes place. The horror emerges when an outsider or heretic of some sort inadvertently violates or purposefully challenges an obscure taboo associated with the folk locale and all hell literally breaks out. In the days of the pulps, folk horror was called "weird fiction." The American, HP Lovecraft, wrote weird fiction for the pulps while the English master of folk horror, MR James, crafted his tales purely for the thrill of sharing them with friends. I would mention Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" and Stephen King's "Children of the Corn" as two of the more famous modern examples of this genre.The Fiends in the Furrows is an above average collection of short, folk horror stories. Like many short story collections, the quality of the storytelling is uneven depending on the author. Some of the stories here, like "The Jaws of Ouroboros" are more dystopian fantasy than folk horror. Others are somewhat farcical or tongue-in-cheek and never achieve pure horror for me. Thus, I was leaning toward a three star review for this package. However, the writing here is really good. Even if the story doesn't quite pan out, the phenomenal prose will win you over. That amps up the rating to four-stars for me as I love a well-written narrative.My favorite tale was "Back along the Old Track" by Sam Hicks. It's the most evocative of the masters like MRJ and HPL. It's a simple story but creepy. Good folk horror must produce creepy atmospherics."Sire of the Hatchet" by Coy Hall is what you get when you cross Robert E. Howard with MR James while "The Fruit" by Lindsay-King Miller is a classic skin-crawler with many unanswered questions.Two of the stories, strangely enough, deal with snake-handling Christians. This was unexpected for me and I usually approach such tales with caution as they often contain an overabundance of adolescent barbs aimed at Church people. But both these tales (Eric Guignard and ST Gibson) are quite good. Both feature good snake-handlers and bad ones. And the bad ones have a well-deserved, horrifying end... as it should be for those who violate God's laws or his people!The remaining stories are well-written but resemble fever dreams more than folk horror stories. I prefer more straight forward story-telling with the traditional plot in which an unwitting outsider uncovers the creepy underbelly of a rural idyll, then seeks to escape it, leading to the inevitable demise of said transgressor for the sake of protecting the horrifying social order that has been long imposed on the locals.This book is recommended for those who love short fiction, folk horror, or a well-turned prose narrative.Enjoy!

The first three to four stories were fantastic; the dark, old world tone I was looking for. The rest of the books stories were just nowhere near as griping and I couldn't even get through them all. One story in particular had potential but was so riddled with distracting errors it was obvious that it hadn't been proofread. All in all, the book is well done and the writing is professional. I love the illustration on the cover. The great first-half is worth the price I paid.

These compelling folk horror tales are like nothing I have ever read before. With one exception, these stories draw you into a world where the ground no longer feels solid under your feet. Everything shifts again & again. The tale you can skip is "Leave the Night". The author has never met an adjective he didn't like and uses 2 or 3 for every noun. And don't get me started on his use of adverbs. I'm hard on him because all of the other works are great and very enjoyable; his story was a very jarring exception

I'm not sure this book will have wide appeal to any reader because the tones and styles of the stories are incredibly different. I wouldn't even say that every story feels like horror. Whatever your particular interest, I'd say there will only be one or two stories that are what you are looking for.If you can get it on sale, do so, if only to read "The Fruit". I've never read anything quite like it before, and it is the reason this book got three stars instead of only one or two.

Usually I find myself disappointed in these types of books, but not the case here! All the stories are very different, but certainly lend themselves to the "folk" horror genre. From eclectic to downright creepy to overtly frightening, I think most people who enjoy these types of stories will be highly satisfied. I will be following most of the authors to see what else they offer. More!

Absolutely fantastic collection of stories. Every single one was great, creating their own weird worlds. My only complaint is that I wish each story was longer because each had such vivid imagery and I love the feel of creeping dread that folk horror exudes.

This is the perfect read or gift for someone who gets a little too into fall. By nature of the beast, the stories are so rooted in our recent human history that a strange comfort accompanies any chill down the reader's spine. Especially enjoyed S. T. Gibson's contribution.

A solid anthology of folk horror. I definitely enjoyed some stories more than others, but expect that with anthologies. Which ones each reader enjoys most will likely change with the readers. I particularly enjoyed the Eric J. Guignard story.

Folk horror is quickly becoming the in thing, and it is easy to see why, the roots of it have been ingrained into psyche for generations, from the campfire tales to the fairy tales your granny you used to tell you, it's a genre that is perfect for these times.The Fiends in the Furrows, takes the bustling in the hedgerows and turns them into your darkest nightmares, from Stephen Toase's delightfully macabre The Jaws of Ouroboros, mixes drug lords with an almost Quatermass weirdness, to the almost sensual terror of Lindsay King-Miller's The Fruit, and The First Order of Whaleyville's Divine Basilisk Handlers by Eric J. Guignard which sees old feuds stirred up by religious fervour, this is an anthology that will stir up those primal fears that are ingrained in all of us. ​

...because there are only nine stories. It probably rates nine out of nine, though.This book describes itself as an anthology of Folk Horror. What is Folk Horror? Frankly, it's whatever you think it is, but that's not a problem, as here we have nine stories from (so far as I can trace) unknown writers, not one of which is a dud.Having said that, three in particular stood out for me. In the order they appear they are Back Along the Old Track by Sam Hicks (a classical tale of the outsider in a strange village, which carries echoes of The Dunwich Horror and The Shadow over Innsmouth), The Fruit by Lindsay King-Miller (just when you thought it was safe to go back into the orchard...) and The Jaws of Ouroboros by Steve Toase (some carniverous landscape and a crime boss who'd make Don Corleone head for the hills). None of these will leave me in a hurry.At least a couple of the stories could've used a little more care at the proof-reading stage, but this is a very minor point.

Although a long-term fan of weird fiction in general, this was the first collection specifically devoted to folk horror that I’ve read; and I’ve not been disappointed. I haven’t heard of any of these authors before, but David Neal and Christine Scott must be commended on selecting a really well written collection of stories. Many anthologies seem to have at least a couple of tales apparently just making up numbers, but not this one; I thoroughly enjoyed reading them all. Of course I’m still going to have my favourites, and I’d particularly recommend ‘The Jaws of Ouroboros’, ‘Pumkin, Dear’ and ‘The Way of the Mother’, all because of their originality, and because they particularly appealed to my love of the bizarre. If you’ve not read any folk horror stories before, I would suggest you start here.

When will I learn....despite previous disappointment from past horror anthologies I decided, because of the good reviews many readers provided to give this one a go. I should though have listened to my gut instinct and the few reviews that suggested this would turn out to be yet another let down. There were a few o/k stories but nothing exceptional. 'The Fruit' captured my attention and was a good read, I liked the idea of the living standing stones in 'Jaws of Ourobouros' but this wasn't developed and it moved into a modern storyline and lost it's way and certainly wasn't folk horror. It should probably have been part of a different anthology. The 'Basalisk Handlers' was o/k and the best for me was 'The Mother' which did create that sense of otherness, and rural Myth unease. The rest I found boring and instantly forgettable. I'm giving it two stars as I'm feeling in generous mood.

I love folk horror, and this anthology didn't disappoint. By the end, I felt immersed in times past and the scent of the land - exactly what I wanted from it.I'd previously read about half the authors so knew they wouldn't disappoint. Most of the writing was very strong. Only two stories disappointed me a little, and that's down to personal taste.By the way, I must give a shout-out to the cover artist as I think the cover really suits the theme.