No rest for the Wicca: How ‘folk horror’ explains our politics

Creaky pub signs, animal skulls, and empty church yards. The British countryside can be a scary place, but what does the popularity of ‘folk horror’ tell us about our politics? Writer Jude Rogers is joined by John Doran, co-founder of music website The Quietus and presenter of BBC Radio 4 New Weird Britain series, to explore the effects of films like The Wicker Man on our national psyche and what the continued appetite for eerie renderings of the countryside says about us.

• “Folk horror creates an uneasy clash between the modern and the ancient.”
• “The unstable times we are living through are quite magical in their own horror.”
• “Folk horror symbology is easily co-opted by the far right.”
• “It’s often very conservative in suggesting that female sexuality shouldn’t be trusted.”

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Written and presented by Jude Rogers. Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Audio editor: Jade Bailey. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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