Using Folklore in Horror media is a subgenre that has been going on for years; it is almost as old as the genre itself. Moviemakers use Folklore from different cultures to tell their stories. In some media, it is used correctly, but that is not always the case.
The term folk horror is an umbrella term that is used for these two genres. This term originated in 1970 when it was mentioned in the British film magazine Kine Weekly by reviewer Rod Cooper. In 2004 Piers Haggard, director of The Blood of Stan’s Claw, used the same term in an interview.
To put it simply Folk Horror could be every horror media that uses folklore elements to progress the story and create fear factors. Folk Horror however does not lean in on jump scare tactics or bloody imagery. Instead, the story is told through local Folklore. The genre dives into mythology and legends that are intertwined with history and culture. Folk horror plays into the fears of childhood that have been linked with fables.
There are some discussions about that every horror media is just Folk horror. Mikel Coven, author of Film, Folklore and Urban legends states that Horror Films are based primarily or largely onf folklore. In some correct way, the horror genre takes a lot from folktales, mythology and legends. For example, different movies make use of ghosts and some different beliefs and cultures have different ghosts and handle those in different ways. If we look at the past ten years, 239 movies are derived from folktales from different cultures. The legend that gets used the most is demons with sixty-eight productions made about them. The year 2018 was the year when the most movies came out that were based on folktales about forty-two movies. There are fewer folk series and games. As those usually come from own creations from the person that made them then it be based on Folklore. Sometimes series also use multiple Folklore in their show to move along the narrative, shows like Supernatural and Grimm use different Folklore.
Non-Western folktales are used in the horror genre to create another narrative to the story. It offers a wide range of stories that are full of traditions and supernatural or mystical elements. Although non-Western folktales create a new insight into the genre, it does not always get portrayed right. Here is the significance of the cultural story decreased to exotic elements, without taking the original context into account. This can lead to stereotyping. “When I was doing research on my book I talked with native people about the folklore,” Jet Bakels, author of the book Monster Dieren, explains.
When used wrong
Usually when making movies about Folklore most of the time the same stories get used. As they have already been moulded into something that here and there can be changed to differentiate from other movies, shows or games. This happens to the folklore from demons as there a different demons in different cultures. Sometimes filmmakers do venture out of their comfort zone and make a movie about something different, as the movie Tarot did. In 2024 Sony Pictures brought out a new horror movie called Tarot. This movie makes use of the tarot card to proceed with its storyline. Only the tarot cards get misinterpreted to make the storyline interesting. Tarot cards are usually a way to show insight into different paths that are available for you and the choices you can make. In the movie, they are used as a death sentence. The group gets haunted by the haunted versions of the cards they got. There has already been a misconception about tarot cards that they predict the future and that the card “Death” is a bad omen when it is not. So, making a movie where the cards get used in this forbidden, evil way makes it not better to improve the image of the Tarot cards. They initially were made as playing cards and later became cards to give you insight. In other movies, a person from another culture gets used to giving cryptic information or warnings about the curse or monster.
Some filmmakers take national styles to make their Folklore more appealing to a bigger public. Like in Turkish horror, the folktale about the Djinn gets merged with elements from Hollywood and Asian Horror. This takes the risk that the stories lose their unique style and culture and get taken by the well-known horror genre. The media makes use of the growing popularity of Folklore in horror but usually aims their attention towards the simplified version of the story. Because of that, the story does not come to it is right. This leads to repeating stereotypes and minimalizing from the non-Western folktales in the horror genre.
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From Folklore to Fear the podcast about exploring different Horror media and the folklore they use in their product. This podcast talks about different horror movies, tv shows and games. Listen here to the first episode about the Horror Game Until Dawn.
Data explanation + credits music
The data used in this article comes from putting all the Horror movies, tv show and games from 2014 and 2024 in a Excel sheet and by looking into the movie storyline base it on if it uses Folklore or not and what kind of Folklore.
Music used in Podcast:
Incantation by Scott Buckley | www.scottbuckley.com.au
Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The Summoning by Scott Buckley | www.scottbuckley.com.au
Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
