Scan barcode
monsterful_alex's review against another edition
4.0
This book took a long time to read, not because it wasn't enjoyable, but because it kept referencing other books and landscapes and films that I wanted to experience before going ahead with each chapter. It is a beautiful, haunting book about ghosts and places and how their meanings intertwine to make stories, both personal, fictional and historical.
hiking_pages's review against another edition
4.0
A haunting, beautifully crafted memoir that stirs memories for all of us who find comfort in stories that lay in the beyond. This was so much more than I thought it would be - a travelogue of places that inspired some of our greatest supernatural writers, intertwined with a personal journey of grief. Stunning.
caitsidhe's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.75
Beautiful book threading together the english landscape, some of the greatest works of uk horror and weird fiction ever, and the ever-present reality of mortality and grief
charliebk_2's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
elwellz's review
4.5
Deeply enjoyed this, makes an excellent literary companion to Scovell’s Folk Horror
funktious's review against another edition
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.5
This is a difficult book to review. On the one hand, it's clearly a deeply personal book for the author who has experienced a lot of tragedy in his life and hopefully found this exploration of supernatural fiction and the landscapes that inspired it cathartic.
But unfortunately the sheer volume of miscellany made it a difficult book to engage with. Its incredibly difficult to follow the threads of the narrative when they take so many twists and turns and you find yourself reading about a completely different subject from one paragraph to the next.
There is plenty of good reading in here and an excellent bibliography that will send you down many rabbit holes. But it wasn't the five star read I was hoping it would be from the cover and blurb.
But unfortunately the sheer volume of miscellany made it a difficult book to engage with. Its incredibly difficult to follow the threads of the narrative when they take so many twists and turns and you find yourself reading about a completely different subject from one paragraph to the next.
There is plenty of good reading in here and an excellent bibliography that will send you down many rabbit holes. But it wasn't the five star read I was hoping it would be from the cover and blurb.
amalia1985's review against another edition
You'd think that a book that ambitiously claims to trace and explore the roots of British Folklore and its huge impact on films, TV series, novels, plays, etc would be right up my alley. And, initially, it ticked all the right boxes. Ghostly roads that lead nowhere, legends, the 70s hysteria, folk-based films, myths, haunted grounds. M.R. James and his masterpieces. And Donald Pleasance. It took 100 pages until things started going awry.
At a certain point, I began to feel indifferent (at best) and exhausted (at worst). Endless name-dropping, jumping from theme to theme with a few pages and quite a few paragraphs were incoherent, written in a style that felt all over the place. In addition, the writer's thoughts started becoming more and more unclear and the constant hints of monumental misery were tiring. Plain and simple.
Also, ''people are returning to the old gods''? Are you even serious?
The pseudo-dramatic tone was almost laughable. In the end, exhausted, annoyed and disgusted, I gave up. Step off your high horse and your self-righteousness and hire an editor. Make a wish to your old gods. See where that gets you...
At a certain point, I began to feel indifferent (at best) and exhausted (at worst). Endless name-dropping, jumping from theme to theme with a few pages and quite a few paragraphs were incoherent, written in a style that felt all over the place. In addition, the writer's thoughts started becoming more and more unclear and the constant hints of monumental misery were tiring. Plain and simple.
Also, ''people are returning to the old gods''? Are you even serious?
The pseudo-dramatic tone was almost laughable. In the end, exhausted, annoyed and disgusted, I gave up. Step off your high horse and your self-righteousness and hire an editor. Make a wish to your old gods. See where that gets you...