A while back I tabled at the zine/comic/small press fest aka FLUKE! here in Athens, and during my day I met Candice Bailey because she was sitting right next to me. Howdy neighbor! So glad that happened. An avid writer, her compilation zine Crossroads: Folk Horror in the United States was a hit at the show [of course it was because it’s awesome!], and it was a true delight to see folks excitedly engaging and chatting about folk horror. She and her co-editor really captured something special with this…
With a new issue on the horizon [in October because helllll yeah the best month to drop new spooky stuff] Crossroads is something I most definitely wanted to feature here on the website. And I was lucky enough to have Candice sit down and answer some questions about her work[s]. So, without further ado, I turn this over to Candice and Crossroads: Folk Horror in the United States.
My name is Candice Bailey, and I work with co-editor Scary As Folk on the zine Crossroads: Folk Horror in the United States. I’ve also been writing as “Rowan Lee” since 2020 on my folk horror blog, The Harvest Maid’s Revenge. Scary As Folk and I were inspired to make Crossroads by the fertile zine culture that has sprung up in the UK over the last seven years, with publications like Hellebore, Weird Walk, Hwaet!, Shuck, and many others that center around folk horror, folklore, landscape, and the occult in Great Britain. We are huge fans of those zines but also wondered why there wasn’t an equivalent publication focused on the US. After dancing around the idea for a year or two, we decided to just make one ourselves.
The first issue, which came out in March, is called “The Long Decade” and focuses on the 1970s as a pivotal decade for the emergence of certain folk horror themes in US society and pop culture. This was also an important era for UK folk horror, so we were interested in showing how the themes manifested in a uniquely American way while expressing similar underlying anxieties. We were incredibly lucky to get so many talented writers and artists onboard for a completely unknown project. Their eagerness to be involved speaks to the popularity of folk horror with US audiences and the desire for this approach to the genre. I have to give a special shoutout to graphic designer Christine M. Scott who did such a terrific job helping us nail the look and feel of the final product.
What draws you to this genre? Was there something specific that was the catalyst for your interest?
I’ve always loved The Wicker Man and the way it makes you question whose side you’re supposed to be on. Really good folk horror does that. It lures you in by promising the embrace of a supportive community or a respite in nature from the hectic modern world, and then it betrays you by revealing the dangerously regressive views driving you toward a tragic conclusion. In this way, it’s the perfect genre for our current moment, when nostalgia for “simpler times” is being used to bait unhappy people into joining reactionary movements. That’s why I’ve been so fascinated by the popularity of the genre over the last 10-15 years, because it says so much about where we are now and what scares us the most.
What feeling were you looking for when compiling this book?
We’re trying to maintain a tricky balance, I think. I don’t want Crossroads to come across as a patriotic endeavor, like we’re showing off how great the US is. We’re obviously turning a critical eye on the United States’ violent history of colonization, genocide, and slavery while also highlighting the promise of a place where different cultural belief systems can be in conversation, often shaping each other – for better or worse. We hope, when all is said and done, that we’ve been able to elevate the stories of marginalized voices and show how invaluable their contributions have been to American culture. It’s not all about Puritans and imported European folklore, even though that is certainly a part that can’t be ignored either.
Was there something you were surprised to learn when bringing this all together?
I don’t know about surprises, but I’ve learned so much! Right now, we’re working on our music-themed second issue, “The Devil Has the Best Tunes,” due out in October. Even though I’m a huge music lover, my taste trends more towards indie pop/rock/electronic, so I don’t have as much familiarity with music that’s more on the “folk” end of the spectrum, either in style or themes. Working on this issue has been a huge learning process, and it’s fun being exposed to stuff that’s new to me, such as dungeon synth, black metal, and horrorcore hip hop, as well as gaining a deeper appreciation of the blues and murder ballads.
After reading so many submissions, how has your own understanding of folk horror changed after all this?
Not as much as you’d expect. It’s been nice to see that most of the writers pitching to us are already sort of on the same page in how they think about the genre. Our definition is relatively loose (horror caused by the folk as well as horror caused by folk beliefs), so there’s room for writers to make their own interpretations while still adhering closely to established themes of the genre like isolation, superstition, and ritual.
What is the future looking like for continuing volumes? Any open calls for submissions?
The work on issue 2 is well underway, with writers and artists all lined up. We’ve already decided that issue 3 is going to be about landscape – the folk horror of place. Hauntings, sacred sites, and whatnot. Beyond that, we’ve got a few special projects in the works that I don’t want to say much about right now. We’ll put out the call for the landscape issue in autumn of this year, but we’re always open to hearing article ideas or talking with potential artists via our email address: crossroads.folkhorror@gmail.com.
How can the community purchase a book?
We have our own online shop where you can directly purchase issues from us, but we’re closing temporarily as we prepare issue 2 for publication. We expect to re-open for pre-orders in September. There may be copies of issue 1 floating around at Peculiar Parish online or at Treadwells in London as well as some local Athens spots. Stay tuned.
Because cemeteries are a huge focus here on the website, what would you like engraved on your tombstone?
I’ve heard stories about people putting “He tried” or “She tried” on their headstones, so it might be cliche at this point but I really like that idea. The older I get, the more I try to stop putting so much pressure on myself to get everything right. “She Tried,” or “She did her best.” Sometimes that’s all we can really expect from ourselves.
Thank you so much for sharing here on Southern Cemetery! I really appreciate all of the work folks put into their creative processes and I encourage you to support zines and independent authors/pubs whenever you can. Please visit the site soon to pre-order the next Crossroads. And I’ll be sure to post on social media once that opens. Let’s keep the arts alive.
I share interviews because I want to support other folks who are trying to engage local and/or regional communities with history, connection, photography, etc. I’ve been lucky enough to have been supported (and still supported) by friends, family and organizations that like what I do, and I want to pay that forward! This is one of the ways I do that.
If you’d like to be considered for your own Spirited Conversation then feel free to send me an email: southerncemeteryseries@gmail.com but please note that I do require experiences to be accepting to all walks of life. Or death.
