I have a secret: I don’t just write books; I write the films I wish I could watch.
I’m a genre fanatic, and I’ve spent my life devouring the rich, intricate horror of Guillermo del Toro, the unsettling rituals of A24’s folk horror, and the sheer scope of epic fantasy. I know there’s a hunger out there for stories that are not just magic, but myth—stories where the legends are real, and their price is paid in blood and bone.
If you’ve watched these films and felt that same dark thrill, then I wrote Folklore and Flesh specifically for you. It’s a novel for readers who understand that the most beautiful magic is often the most dangerous. Here’s a look at the cinematic DNA that fueled every dark corner of this book.
The Dark Imagination Hook: Where My Worlds Collide
The greatest dark fantasy films don’t just show you a new world; they prove it was always there, hidden just beneath the surface of our own.
When I watch Pan’s Labyrinth and Spirited Away: I see the power of mythic creatures whose beauty is matched only by their menace. I captured this essence in Folklore and Flesh. Like Ofelia or Chihiro, my protagonists are plunged into a mythic ecology where every creature—from the ancient, moss-covered guardians to the shapeshifting monsters—is rendered with a vivid, imaginative design. I wanted the impossible to feel tactile and terrifying, honoring the best of Del Toro and Miyazaki.
When I watch The Lord of the Rings: I crave scope. While my book doesn’t follow a fellowship across a continent, I poured the same dedication into world-building and deep-seated lore. The mythology in Folklore and Flesh feels ancient and earned, suggesting a world that stretches back through eons of human belief and forgotten gods.
The Primal Terror: The Land Demands A Price
The modern Folk Horror movement has shown us that the most profound terror comes from being outsiders on sacred, malevolent ground.
When I watch Midsommar and The Witch: I understand that isolation and pagan rituals strip away every layer of modern civilization, leaving us exposed to primal forces. My book is steeped in this unsettling atmosphere. I explore remote locations where ancient beliefs are not history but living law. There are no cheap jump scares; only the slow, suffocating dread of realizing that the gods of this place are demanding a sacrifice—and you are the chosen offering.
When I watch The Green Knight: I appreciate a mythic journey that is more psychological than physical. In Folklore and Flesh, the quest similarly forces my main character to confront the very nature of their reality, often blurring the line between hallucination and damnation.
Based on your taste in literature, I think we could be good friends. Sign up below for emails and free eBook giveaways.
The Visceral Horror: When The Flesh Betrays You
The title promises flesh, and I made sure the book delivers on the most intimate kind of terror: the body breaking down, transforming, and betraying the soul.
When I watch The Thing and Raw: I’m gripped by the anxiety of physical betrayal. In my book, the myths literally seep into the characters. Ancient curses manifest not as ghosts, but as grotesque, painful physical transformations. My characters find their bodies mutating, stretching, and reshaping into something feral and unknown—a truly terrifying blend of the biological horror of Raw and the uncontrollable, agonizing metamorphosis seen in The Thing. The price of magic, it turns out, is the agonizing loss of yourself.
Folklore and Flesh is a dark, imaginative epic that speaks the language of the greatest genre films. It is a story for those of us who seek the horror in mythology and the grotesque beauty in magic.
I poured my soul (and all my favorite terrifying film influences) into this book. Pre-order your copy of Folklore and Flesh today and prepare to surrender to the old gods.
Thank you for visiting with me. For more Poetry or Literature related content, visit my blog at The Ritual. Copyright Mind on Fire Books.
A Dark Fiction Collection of Folklore and Body Horror
Folklore and Flesh is a masterwork of dread operating at the convergence of two primal anxieties: the terror of the isolated environment and the fear of the body betraying itself. In exploring these tensions, we must consider what makes us human or drone. This is Folk Body Horror: a fusion of ancient cultural dread and grotesque physical transformation.
In this collection of dark stories and poetry, the boundary between myth and matter collapses. The tales explore the uncanny territory where ancestral lore ceases to be a cautionary story and becomes a biological instruction manual for corruption.
This collection binds 10 creative short stories and a dozen visceral poems.
Leave a Reply