“When the solstice sun rose, it drew Uliksi into the world. A spirit that turns the predator into the prey.” I’ve been thinking about this book since I first read it years ago. The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion is a horror novella by Margaret Killjoy, the first in her Danielle Cain trilogy about a demon-hunting band of anarchists. It was first published by Tor.com in 2017 and I received it as part of a Pride Month giveaway bundle a couple of years later. For some reason, I never reviewed it on this blog or continued the series, but the imagery in the book of a carnivorous deer demon hunting down those who abuse their power stuck with me, as did the ethical questions that the characters who summoned it wrestle with. When Margaret Killjoy recently announced that she had recorded audiobook editions, I figured now was the perfect time to revisit the series. Continue reading Review of The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion
Tag: Margaret Killjoy
Folk Horror in Literature
Something ancient has been awakened in the woods…. This premise encapsulates the essence of many folk horror stories. I have briefly touched on folk horror before in my review of the YA folk horror anthology The Gathering Dark, but as this deeply rooted subgenre of horror experiences another wave of popularity, I figured it was time to dive into it more deeply and give you a few recommendations through which to explore the genre.
In my earlier post, I defined folk horror as “any horror tale that draws on regional folklore,” but this is a bit of a simplification. As with the Gothic, folk horror is difficult to nail down and define. Works in this category tend to deal not just with folklore but also with folk religion, customs, and rituals. In Western literature, this often involves elements of some pre-Christian pagan practice that has persisted in isolated communities despite the pressure to Christianize. Works of folk horror may draw on real life folklore, beliefs, and practices from a particular culture or region, or they may feature a fictional community with lore of the author’s own creation. Common themes and tropes in works of folk horror include a rural setting, a supernatural entity associated with the natural environment, and worship of or sacrifice to this entity. Continue reading Folk Horror in Literature