This anthology offers the perfect transition into the Halloween season, blending twisted and atmospheric folk horror with the charm of a dark storybook. Spanning the course of the past 150 years, it provides a comprehensive overview of folk horror, showcasing how these eerie tales have evolved over time. The chronological layout gives readers a clear view of the genre's progression across decades.

As with any anthology, some stories stand out more than others, but I continue to be captivated by the complexity of folk tales and the deeper truths that lie within. While the repetitive plot points and themes in some of the earlier stories may feel monotonous to certain readers, the overlapping motifs of disbelief and the uncanny give the collection a haunting unity. Despite its occasional slow moments, this anthology is a fascinating exploration of folk horror’s rich and eerie legacy.

Thank you Netgalley for this advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

Tales Accursed: A Folk Horror Anthology is a collection of 16 tales told in chronological order, from Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's "The White Cat of Drumgunniol," published in 1870, to Shirley Jackson's "The Man in the Woods," published in 2014, 49 years after the author's death.  Each tale is accompanied by wonderful lino-print illustrations by editor Richard Wells.  

This anthology is a good overview of the course of folk horror tales over the past 150 years or so, and the layout from earliest to latest really allows the reader to see how these stories have progressed over the decades.  But I would caution that this is probably a collection only for the true fan of this particular sub genre, as the dryness and often uniformly repetitive plot points and themes of some of the stories, especially the earlier tales, may make this collection a bore for some readers.  Those that really love their traditional folk horror tales, however, will find it worthwhile.  I personally prefer more contemporary folk horror, and some of these stories were already familiar to me.

While none of the stories in this collection were quite five stars for me, a few elevated themselves among the rest, including "Ancient Lights," by Algernon Blackwood, "Morag-of-the-Cave," by Margery Lawrence, and, of course, "The Man in the Woods," by Shirley Jackson.

My thanks to NetGalley and Unbound for a digital advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.  Tales Accursed: A Folk Horror Anthology will be released on October 3, 2024.  I would also note that a lot of these stories are set in October, so folk horror fans may enjoy this as a spooky season read.

An ideal book for heading into Hallowe'en with stories reaching back to the early 19th century, and almost comforting to think of generations of people sitting round their fires terrifying each other with their tales. As an anthology, there are some atories i preferred to others, but I'm always amazed at just how complex folk tales can be and often hint at deeper truths.
Thank you to netgalley and unbound for an advance copy of this book

A collection of folk horror short stories. Includes sea-witches and ghostly cats. The first story was published in 1870. I love the writing style of the time. Very descriptive, painting beautiful scenes. A classic to be read on cold, stormy nights by a fire.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Unbound for the ARC.

This collection is impressive! It includes several works I've neither read nor encountered before, which is quite exciting.

My thanks to Netgalley and Mr Wells' publishing team for the chance to read this

A collection of the best folk horror stories you'll ever read, by the masters of the genre. To rate it will be a shame and I am pleased that I got approved to read this ARC!

Richard Well’s collection of historical horror short stories, “Tales Accursed,” is an excellent collection for those curious about exploring the genre. I particularly enjoyed “The Country-Side” by Elinor Mordaunt, less a horror tale than the tale of a lonely woman’s descent into depression, and Shirley Jackson’s haunting “The Man in the Woods.” Wells’s illustrations, each depicting one of the sixteen stories included, also set the tone for each and are simple yet menacing and mysterious.

As with most anthologies, some I liked more than others. The imagery was quite atmospheric, so I can see why they were chosen.

Overall, a fitting collection of folk stories, but not my all-time favourite.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is an anthology of previously written stories put into this nice collection.

This anthology contains 16 stories. Each story is preceded by a lino print that helps to set the tone. Nature, and the supernatural lore associated with it, (most notably the wooded countryside and the craggy seashore) are the unifying themes. As such, these tales are quite similar to each other. This helps to set the tone for the reader, but also makes the experience a bit repetitive at times. While this collection is touted as folk horror I would say "spooky/eerie" is a more apt description.

In my opinion, most of these tales are a 3 star read. My absolute favorite is No-Mans Land. It felt like it could belong in a darker/more sinister Emily Wilde story (of course I would think so; I adore the Emily Wilde series immensely). Another enjoyable tale was Morag-of-the-Cave. Both of these were quite close to 5 stars!

Overall, this was a fun read to kick off the autumn months (even if it is still 90+ degrees outside...). I read this ARC digitally (thank you NetGalley), so I have a hunch that the lino print art in the bound, physical version would work much better than it did in pdf format on my phone.

If I can impart any wisdom learned it is this: if you come across a hill side with a circle composed of large, carved stones; a deserted forest with flashing, twinkling lights; a rocky beach with a green colored tide; or a strange woman with unearthly eyes perhaps you should turn and walk the other way.

This is a collection of classic horror, starting with a 1870 tale by Sheridan Le Fanu and ending in 1975 with L.T.C. Rolt. (There’s also a Shirley Jackson story published in in The New Yorker in 2014, forty years after her death.) The stories are a little old-school in style for my taste, but perfect for connoisseurs of the traditional genre.
Because each story is accompanied by a new illustration by the editor, it is probably best purchased in hard copy rather than ebook. A nice gift for the literary horror fan.

With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
At publication, I will post my review plus the blurb on my blog.

This is a good enough anthology but as with all anthologies from this period there is a certain treacle-like quality to the prose and expanding of the story.

Nothing to get excited about but probably worth a read if you like this form of writing.

This is a nice collection of folk tales generally from the UK, organized in chronological order. Overall I liked this collection, and as is typical of an anthology, enjoyed some stories more than others. It was interesting to see the way writing changed over time- things like the lengths of the short stories, the amount of dialogue, and the focus of the stories. This would be a great Autumn read!

This is definitely a bookshelf type of book. It’s difficult to judge an anthology because you always have some stories that are stronger than others, but these were all enjoyable enough. This feels like the type of anthology that’s meant to be leather bound and displayed on a shelf as much as it’s meant to be read, and I’m considering doing just that when it comes out.

It doesn't actually feel like fall as I write this on the last day of August on a crisp 92-degree day, but Starbucks insists it's pumpkin spice season, and this book definitely offers some autumn/Halloween atmosphere.

Let me say first that the nature of anthologies makes it hard to assign a rating. This one contains 16 short stories, and naturally some are better than others. The selection by Richard Wells worked very nicely for me and I his decision to arrange them roughly chronologically added to the enjoyment. It's a bit of a trip through folk fantasy/horror writing history from 1896-1975, and the evolution is interesting.

Wells' own illustrations are excellent and fit the atmosphere perfectly.

As for the stories, none of them are duds. There is a lot of variety. Many have a Celtic setting or feel in common, but that's not a bad thing. The style and language in the older ones may be a bit difficult for some, but those who enjoy that sort of thing (like me) will be very happy. If I personally were to rank the stories, the first ("The Dark Nameless One" by Fiona Macleod) and the last ("The Man in the Woods" by Shirley Jackson) would be right at the top. You can never go wrong with Shirley Jackson.

Finally, and this may be the bets compliment I can give an anthology: most of the authors were new to me, but I now plan to seek out more of their work.

Thank you to Richard Wells, Unbound and NetGalley for providing an advanced reading copy.

This is an excellent collection of spooky stories for the spooky season. Half of the stories are more than 100 years old and the other half are more recent than that, but still not modern. I love that about the book. Some of the authors were already known to me and some weren't, but I'd not read any of the stories before. The book has an overall Celtic feel and the terrific foreword was written by Sinead Gleeson, herself an editor of a few short story collections. Each story is preceded by an artwork by Richard Wells and they complement the stories quite well. Although the subtitle references 'horror' this is not a gory, blood and guts kind of collection. I'd say it's more spooky and creepy, which is another thing I liked about it. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it. It's a perfect companion to a dark autumn night.

Tales Accursed: A Folk Horror Anthology was sent to me as an advanced reader copy. I love everything horror and folk horror is one of my favourite so I was super excited to delve into this.

The collection was beautiful and so were the illustrations. They felt just like a twisted storybook and I really liked the vibes I got from that aspect of the story.

However, to call this a “horror” anthology and not have anything overly spooky or creepy about it for me was just a massive let down. I know that folklore uses elements discreetly to build some tension but there was never really a point any of the stories that I felt scared or even unsettled.

The writing was gorgeous but I do think there are so much better folk horror stories out there. I think discreet horror stories when they are so short only work when there is a shocking unsettling story that shows up at least once.

I rated the stories as follows:
The White Cat of Drumgunniol 3 stars
The Dark Nameless One 1 star
No-Man's Land 4 stars
The Hill of Trouble 1 star
Ancient Lights 4 stars
The Country-Side 4 stars
The Hand of Glory 3 stars
The Temple 3 stars
Morag-of-the-Cave 5 stars
Wailing Well 2 stars
Celui-la 3 stars
Lisheen 2 stars
Woe Water 3 stars
Quieta Non Movere 3 stars
The Shouting 2 stars
The Man in the Woods 2 stars

Overall, I loved the linocut illustrations. The tales in this anthology definitely are similar enough to go together in a bind up like this, but perhaps too similar for my tastes. There were at least (maybe more) stories where a sacrificial temple with monolithic stones was present. Many of the themes of the stories overlapped...someone hears of a tale and doesn't believe. Then they go to investigate and it spells trouble in the form of the supernatural, and oftentimes, they are only saved by religious beliefs or by someone of the cloth. Many of the stories are quite old (more than 100 years), it would have been nice to see some that were a bit more modern, or that offered a bit more variety to them. Morag-of-the-Cave was my favorite story of the bunch and I think that one will stick with me for a long while. The rest, not so much. Many were just recounts of superstitions and tales that had been passed down without much explanation or resolution and felt more like the beginnings of a story or an idea for a story rather than a fully fleshed out tale.

3.5 Stars

Tales Accursed serves up a decent slice of folk horror, though it's not without its bumps. This anthology brings together a mix of stories that tap into the eerie vibe of rural legends and superstitions.

The collection's strength lies in its atmosphere. Most stories nail that creepy, isolated feeling that's key to good folk horror. There's a nice variety of settings and time periods, which keeps things interesting.

However, like most anthologies, the quality can be a bit hit-or-miss. Some tales really shine, while others feel a bit underdeveloped or predictable. The pacing also varies, with a few stories dragging in places.

Overall, Tales Accursed is a solid pick for folk horror fans. It's not groundbreaking, but it delivers enough chills to make it worth a read. Just don't expect every story to knock your socks off.

It might be time to rethink those holiday plans to head out to the country! Wells has expertly curated a great collection of folk horror stories that span more than a century. The sixteen tales are presented chronologically, and spanning from the 1870s to, well, Shirley Jackson it is interesting to see so many of the concerns and styles of literary folk horror persist throughout time. These aren’t high-action, contemporary folk stories, and in fact some are near bucolic, as they are constantly exploring the tensions between modernity and the past, between the cosmopolitan and the rural. Religious authority, and how Christian faith is constantly acquiescing the more ancient pressures is another clear anxiety, and yet the modern man, filled with confidence and ego and a disrespect for tradition is constantly punished for that hubris. From goblin lairs to castle ruins, from ocean caves to hidden forests, and from one ancient stone circle to another and yet another ancient stone circle, always just up the hill a ways, these stories show that the new age of progress and skepticism doesn’t impress forces older and devoted to darker pursuits.

There was a variety within the stories, even as the circled many repeated themes and narrative styles. It would have been nice to broaden the range of story a little, especially as more occult concerns became prevalent in the mid to late twentieth century and beyond, and narrative structure and pacing and literary aesthetics have certainly expanded if not changed over the last few decades. I appreciate that most of the stories in this collection are already in the public domain and hence free to include, but I would have liked a few more contemporary stories just to highlight the unbroken continuity of tradition, as well as showing ways in which it has evolved and grown. The included stories are a lot of fun, I appreciated each story, to be honest, but know going in that more than half are from pre-1930, and stylistically or tonally there is not an enormous range here. If you approach this collection looking for contemporary folk horror or hoping to see experiments or variations on the expected then you will be sorely disappointed. However, if you approach with appropriate expectations, hoping for a strong collection of classic and strongly thematic folk horror, then you will have a good time.

It is also worth adding that each story is preceded by an original piece of art, a linocut print created by the editor. These are all really well done and definitely add a lot to the collection as a whole.

(Rounded up from 3.5 stars)

I want to thank the author, the publisher Unbound, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.