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willemijn_corvus 's review for:
Flemish folktales retold
by Kerria Seabrooke, Signe Maene
I bought my copy while I was on holiday in Brugges, Belgium. As someone who's been getting into folklore and looking for a fitting souvenir, this was a perfect match! The book is easy to get into. If you don't know much about folklore, you won't be overwhelmed by an overload of information. The stories are creepy and uncanny, but most importantly of all, they are enjoyable as well as insightful. A great choice if you want to learn more about specific (and sometimes even lesser known) folklore! However, what I would've liked to see is more background information on the specific creatures in these tales. That would've made the stories a bit more... tangible? Sometimes, I ended up being slightly confused as to what the creature was, why they were the way they are and why people feared them. But other than that, a great read!
This book is dived into six parts, each with their own subject within the world of Flemish folklore. Each part contains six 3-4 page long stories with accompanying art. I wrote a little review for each part, because I really loved some of them, while others left me a bit disappointed.
Part 1: Witches ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The first part of the book has six folktales about famous Flemish witches.
What I really enjoyed, was that each story has its own vibe. Some stories are told by the witch herself, while other stories are told by the people who have an experience with a witch. Some stories focused on the "wickedness" of the witch, while other stories focused on how the witch was ostracized due to a variety of reasons.
All six tales showcase how misogyny played (and is still continuing to play) a huge role in fearing women / witches. They were too beautiful or too hideous. They were too powerful or too quiet. It was never good enough.
At the end of the part on witches, there was a chapter which talked about the reason behind the choosing of these 6 specific tales and zoomed in on more details about the respective folktales. Apparently, witches have been (and still are) a huge part of Flemish folklore. I think I'm going to dive into this subject a bit more, because I've read quite a bit on witches and witchcraft around the world, but never anything about Flemish witches.
Part 2: Creatures of the Woods ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Six chilling folktales about a variety of creatures one can find in the woods. Ranging from magpies to werewolves, this second part of the book is filled with the most scary and sometimes misunderstood creatures.
What I really enjoyed, is that the folkloric vibes are incredibly strong within these chapters. I can just imagine these stories being told generation upon generation, and that feels powerful. Stories like that carry power.
It was honestly scary at times, especially because we are so familiar with these animals. Magpies and their screeches do sound like they are casting evil spells. Hares are intimidating creatures. One could easily believe that they are shape shifting witches.
One story even focused on trees being the "evil creatures" that lurk inside a forest. That is a nice change!
The endnotes were interesting as well. Apparently, multiple folktales have been combined into one on several occasions. I find that to be very interesting, because it shows how much folktales there are and how well they work together. There's also a lot of focus in folklore on animals being shape shifting witches. Iconic if you ask me!
Part 3: Devils ⭐
I know, one star sounds/looks harsh, but I just really didn't like these 6 folk stories about devils. I simply didn't feel connected to them or was intrigued by the "evil". Some of the stories even seemed incredibly silly.
Now, I've thought about why I feel like this. And I think that the concept of devils is just not something that I believe in or strikes fear into me. I don't see these creatures as intimidating. So, when reading about them "wreaking havoc", making strange deals with humans etc, I just don't really experience that sense of wonder that I have with other folkloric creatures and beings.
There was one story that had a bunch of ravens in them (and if you know anything about me is that I LOVE ravens and are easily entertained when they show up), but even this particular story didn't do much for me.
Part 4: Lost Souls of Water and Air ⭐⭐
These 6 short stories weren't exactly like I expected. I felt like they were a bit surface-level? As a reader, you're thrown into the stories without sufficient backstory, and that takes away some of the thrill / magic if you are unfamiliar with these folkloric themes. Nonetheless, they were interesting to read.
My favourite story is the one about the girl who is murdered and goes into the woods to vibe with the spiders. Apparently, there's folklore that explains that one day a girl saw the beauty of the spiderwebs, got so inspired by them, went home to create what we know as lace, and that all the rich ladies knocked on her door to get their hands on such a beautiful piece of lace. I didn't know that! When I was on holiday in Brugges last week, we did see a lot of lace souvenirs and even a lace museum. But now, I understand why we saw so much of this!
Part 5: Ghosts: ⭐⭐⭐
The spooky vibes are much stronger in these 6 stories than in the previous two, and I'm glad! The different ghosts were given a bit more backstory. The setting felt very gothic to me. I enjoyed that!
These aren't your classic ghost stories either, so that was nice! The ghosts all had their own origin story and their own motives.
However, one of the stories had a really bad ending... It was very abrupt and it didn't really make sense to me? But I guess you can consider it to be terrifying in the day and age in which the folktale really "lived".
A pretty fun few chapters!
Part 6: Unique Beings of Flanders: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Perhaps the part of the book for which I was the most excited! I love local folklore, and since I bought this book on holiday in Brugges, it was absolutely perfect!
It's interesting to see how folklore works and looks like across the globe. These six folktales are unique, yet also recognizable. There are similar creatures in Dutch and other kinds of folklore. Makes you wonder how we allocate "drifted" apart from each other since the source seems to be the one and the same.
I really enjoyed these. I would've liked to have some extra background information on these creatures, but the information that was given was sufficient to not only understand, but really enjoy the mischief and horror that these creatures bring with them.
A great way to end the book!
This book is dived into six parts, each with their own subject within the world of Flemish folklore. Each part contains six 3-4 page long stories with accompanying art. I wrote a little review for each part, because I really loved some of them, while others left me a bit disappointed.
Part 1: Witches ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The first part of the book has six folktales about famous Flemish witches.
What I really enjoyed, was that each story has its own vibe. Some stories are told by the witch herself, while other stories are told by the people who have an experience with a witch. Some stories focused on the "wickedness" of the witch, while other stories focused on how the witch was ostracized due to a variety of reasons.
All six tales showcase how misogyny played (and is still continuing to play) a huge role in fearing women / witches. They were too beautiful or too hideous. They were too powerful or too quiet. It was never good enough.
At the end of the part on witches, there was a chapter which talked about the reason behind the choosing of these 6 specific tales and zoomed in on more details about the respective folktales. Apparently, witches have been (and still are) a huge part of Flemish folklore. I think I'm going to dive into this subject a bit more, because I've read quite a bit on witches and witchcraft around the world, but never anything about Flemish witches.
Part 2: Creatures of the Woods ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Six chilling folktales about a variety of creatures one can find in the woods. Ranging from magpies to werewolves, this second part of the book is filled with the most scary and sometimes misunderstood creatures.
What I really enjoyed, is that the folkloric vibes are incredibly strong within these chapters. I can just imagine these stories being told generation upon generation, and that feels powerful. Stories like that carry power.
It was honestly scary at times, especially because we are so familiar with these animals. Magpies and their screeches do sound like they are casting evil spells. Hares are intimidating creatures. One could easily believe that they are shape shifting witches.
One story even focused on trees being the "evil creatures" that lurk inside a forest. That is a nice change!
The endnotes were interesting as well. Apparently, multiple folktales have been combined into one on several occasions. I find that to be very interesting, because it shows how much folktales there are and how well they work together. There's also a lot of focus in folklore on animals being shape shifting witches. Iconic if you ask me!
Part 3: Devils ⭐
I know, one star sounds/looks harsh, but I just really didn't like these 6 folk stories about devils. I simply didn't feel connected to them or was intrigued by the "evil". Some of the stories even seemed incredibly silly.
Now, I've thought about why I feel like this. And I think that the concept of devils is just not something that I believe in or strikes fear into me. I don't see these creatures as intimidating. So, when reading about them "wreaking havoc", making strange deals with humans etc, I just don't really experience that sense of wonder that I have with other folkloric creatures and beings.
There was one story that had a bunch of ravens in them (and if you know anything about me is that I LOVE ravens and are easily entertained when they show up), but even this particular story didn't do much for me.
Part 4: Lost Souls of Water and Air ⭐⭐
These 6 short stories weren't exactly like I expected. I felt like they were a bit surface-level? As a reader, you're thrown into the stories without sufficient backstory, and that takes away some of the thrill / magic if you are unfamiliar with these folkloric themes. Nonetheless, they were interesting to read.
My favourite story is the one about the girl who is murdered and goes into the woods to vibe with the spiders. Apparently, there's folklore that explains that one day a girl saw the beauty of the spiderwebs, got so inspired by them, went home to create what we know as lace, and that all the rich ladies knocked on her door to get their hands on such a beautiful piece of lace. I didn't know that! When I was on holiday in Brugges last week, we did see a lot of lace souvenirs and even a lace museum. But now, I understand why we saw so much of this!
Part 5: Ghosts: ⭐⭐⭐
The spooky vibes are much stronger in these 6 stories than in the previous two, and I'm glad! The different ghosts were given a bit more backstory. The setting felt very gothic to me. I enjoyed that!
These aren't your classic ghost stories either, so that was nice! The ghosts all had their own origin story and their own motives.
However, one of the stories had a really bad ending... It was very abrupt and it didn't really make sense to me? But I guess you can consider it to be terrifying in the day and age in which the folktale really "lived".
A pretty fun few chapters!
Part 6: Unique Beings of Flanders: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Perhaps the part of the book for which I was the most excited! I love local folklore, and since I bought this book on holiday in Brugges, it was absolutely perfect!
It's interesting to see how folklore works and looks like across the globe. These six folktales are unique, yet also recognizable. There are similar creatures in Dutch and other kinds of folklore. Makes you wonder how we allocate "drifted" apart from each other since the source seems to be the one and the same.
I really enjoyed these. I would've liked to have some extra background information on these creatures, but the information that was given was sufficient to not only understand, but really enjoy the mischief and horror that these creatures bring with them.
A great way to end the book!