Introducing- Modern Black Folk Horror

Folk horror is a subgenre of horror film for cinema or television that uses elements of folklore to invoke fear in its audience. Typical elements include a rural setting and themes of isolation, religion, the power of nature, and the potential darkness of rural landscapes. Although related to supernatural horror films, many derive their horror from the actions and beliefs of people rather than explicitly supernatural elements; the primary focus of the stories is often upon naïve outsiders coming up against these forces.

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Let’s start here. For our purposes as in my first piece, I’ll be drawing from both film and literature to talk about Modern Black Folk Horror. Never heard of it? Great. Come on in.

If you enjoy horror, you’ve probably seen at least a few folk horror things. Perhaps The Witch, The Wickerman, if you like deep cuts maybe you’ve seen Kuroneko or The Wailing. Those movies that often take place either in England or somewhere foresty and make use of the folklore many of us have at the least learned a bit about either in school or just through casual life. What you don’t see are Black people.

I spent a lot of time searching and did not successfully find what I was looking for. In terms of why we could say a million things but, instead I’d like to focus on what I am creating in Modern…