Postcards #12--Rural Horror Tropes

This is a fun one. Often tropes in rural horror are over-the-top. And they can blend folk horror elements with the rural elements for an extra kick.

Here's a short list to get you started:

1. Stereotypical "horrorbilly" genres. Slasher, kidnap, complex robbery, sexual crimes and the like.

2. Family history which may also have elements of folk horror. Rituals or habits of which only the locals have knowledge.

3. Return of a local who is now an outsider who inherits a piece of family land.

4. Hierarchy of townsfolk. The wise elder, the isolated witch, a counsel, etc.

5. A family member goes missing and that brings another home in order to search.

6. A cursed place.

7. A trespasser who pays for his transgression.

Recently, things have gotten better for this genre in that it's more complex, which lends it a bit of seriousness it lacked. Stereotypes are being broken down. There's more of a focus on the encroachment of the urban, economic difficulties, and even environmental change. Poverty, drugs, manual labor, struggling against the weather...all these elements add depth to what could be a simplistic portrayal of small town life.

Here are a number of books I like that are expressions of many elements I've listed here, though you might not see it at first:

The Ritual by Adam Nevill

The Grass Monkey by Scott Langrel

Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison

The Ruins by Scott Smith

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

The Bird Eater by Ania Ahlborn

Black Mouth by Robert Malfi

Scuttler's Cove by David Barnett

I left out Stephen King, but you get the idea. Some of these have multiple elements, some have one, but rural horror beautifully crosses many types of horror.

I have two short story collections, Well Water and other odd tales, and Bluebud: A Collection of Fears that touch on numerous of these elements. You can find out more about them on my books page, though you could go directly to Tiny Worlds Publishing to check them out. Soon I'll be finished with Cigar Box Saint and Judderbones, which feature rural horror elements. Updates to come!

If you like the occasional farm video, check out Chicken Story Time at my Substack, Poison Ivy House.

We are getting ready to move, so please bear with me if posting becomes erratic.

Happy reading!

Lyndsey

Photo: Shawn Kent