The Devil's Dyke - East Cambridgeshire
My stories are a fusion of contemporary folk horror and classic styled ghost tales, inspired by and incorporating elements of myth, folklore, archaeology, the occult, psychogeography, and history.
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For me, living in East Anglia, I feel surrounded by the vibes of what I can relate to as ‘Folk Horror’ - the lonely salt marshes of North Norfolk, the desolate sand dunes of coastal Suffolk, and the flat and isolated fens of Cambridgeshire.
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Bordered by the unforgiving North Sea this region of strong and proud communities spanning several millennia - with its dark, foreboding and liminal landscape - has spawned ancient traditions of folkloric myth and a history of pagan ritual all its own.
With the decline of the Gothic novel during the mid-19th century which heralded the arrival of the Ghost story with influential authors such as J. T. Sheridan Le Fanu, Edgar Allan Poe, Charlotte Riddell, Edith Wharton, and M. R. James taking centre stage, the scene was set for those modern era authors from whom I have taken much of my inspiration, with the works of Shirley Jackson, Susan Hill, James Herbert and Ramsey Campbell packing my bookshelves (apologies if I’ve omitted your favourite).
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Both classic and modern ghost stories tend to contain elements of folklore and psychology - set within an isolated village or community, or within the walls of a knowing and unforgiving large house or structure of decaying magnificence.
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Into this setting is placed the protagonist who is often of a quiet and naïve disposition, who then proceeds to discover some type of antiquarian object that introduces a spectral or paranormal threat into the mix.
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Merge the two - fuse them, and this is what I term as :
‘Folk Horror styled Ghost Stories - with elements of Mystery, Suspense and History’