On-demand recording

The History of Folk Horror

with Dr Barbara Chamberlin

£15

Watch risk-free — if it’s not for you, we’ll refund you in full. Just ask.

▶ Instant access by email after checkout.
♾ The link never expires — rewatch whenever you like.
↩ Happy or refunded — full refund if it’s not for you, even after watching.

What you’ll explore

What folk horror is — and why the uncanny landscape haunts us
From M. R. James's ghost stories to Witchfinder General, Blood on Satan's Claw and The Wicker Man
How the genre draws on ritual, superstition and the rural past
Today's folk-horror revival and its new voices
Why these stories hold a dark mirror to our present fears

About this talk

Why are we drawn to dark stories, uncanny landscapes and ancient ruins — and how do they show the past still shaping our present? Folk horror taps into our fascination with fear, superstition and the uncanny, revealing how ancient stories continue to echo in modern life. In this talk, Dr Barbara Chamberlin traces the genre from M. R. James's ghost stories to cult classics like Witchfinder General, Blood on Satan's Claw and The Wicker Man, through to today's revivals and new voices. Explore how folk horror entertains, unsettles, and holds a dark mirror to the fears that still shape us.

A peek inside

Your speaker: Dr Barbara Chamberlin

Dr Barbara Chamberlin is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Brighton, where she teaches comics, landscape writing, folk horror and the Gothic. Her work includes a chapter in the Routledge Companion to Folk Horror (2023) and the co-edited collection Horror and Comics (2025), and she speaks regularly at Gothic and folk-horror events.

Ready to watch? Instant access, yours to keep.