Et in Arcadia Ego: The Very British Landscape of Folk Horror

Acknowledging folklore as central to folk horror and how it is perpetuated through mass media is something that neither folklorists nor screen studies scholars are yet exploring in great depth. Although folk horror and 'wyrd' media are still relatively new categories, the British landscape is invariably noted as a key factor in creating eerie atmospheres onscreen. Robert Macfarlane notes that, rather than offering picturesque backdrops, the English landscape is "constituted by uncanny forces, part-buried sufferings …a realm that snags, bites and troubles...". This paper examines to what extent the use of landscape and themes of 'unearthing' characterises film and television as British, folk horror as a peculiarly British genre, and the British landscape as a character in its own right.