The History of Folk Horror

Dr Sam Le Butt is taking the history of folk horror to the Nelson Mandela Auditorium at Sheffield Students' Union on Monday 26 October. It's part of the Seed Talks series at Foundry, and the talk is open to University of Sheffield and Hallam students, for ages 18 and over.

Le Butt frames folk horror as a blend of history, myth and imagination. She'll trace the genre's dark origins in ancient customs, folklore and modern anxieties, usually set against its typical backdrop of remote villages, wild landscapes and forgotten beliefs. From there, she charts the genre's recent comeback, with new films, TV and books building on the classics of the 1960s and 70s like The Wicker Man, Witchfinder General and The Blood on Satan's Claw—films that themselves drew on older Gothic and supernatural writing, including the work of Algernon Blackwood. There's a Q&A to follow the talk, so you'll have a chance to ask your own questions.

Le Butt is a researcher, writer and educator with a PhD in English Literature from the University of Bristol. Her own research covers fungal horror, Gothic and sci-fi storytelling, and her debut fiction collection, Curious Woman and other Creatures, was published in 2022. The session runs about two and a half hours, with doors opening at 7:00pm and the talk starting at 7:30pm. The venue is the Nelson Mandela Auditorium, Sheffield Students' Union, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TG.