{"id":529,"date":"2018-02-05T14:19:36","date_gmt":"2018-02-05T14:19:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hebulstrode.co.uk\/?p=529"},"modified":"2019-10-02T09:32:19","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T08:32:19","slug":"the-supernatural-charm-of-the-english-countryside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hebulstrode.co.uk\/?p=529","title":{"rendered":"The Supernatural Charm of the English Countryside"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It seems that there is scarcely a patch of earth in rural England that does not bear some trace of the lives of its former occupants, and one cannot help, at times, but feel that something of them lingers, lending the landscape a sense of the uncanny. Dotted about here and there are the remains of the monuments of prehistory and distant antiquity, their original names and functions lost with the passing of the people who built and used them, but beneath the soil, unseen to the eye, lies so much more. Some of those things that lie below were put there for a reason, whereas others were lost by their owners and, for one reason or another, never retrieved.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the finding of such artefacts, the finder kindles a physical and tangible bond with the past, although the original owners can never be known, at least directly. These crafted pieces of metal, stone, and pottery may speak to us through their form of their past function, significance, and role, but of the specific personalities of the men and women who held them in their hands, they say but little. It is into this void of the unknowable that supernatural fiction dares to tread, with M.R. James providing many fine examples, with two of my favourites being Oh, Whistle and I\u2019ll Come to You My Lad<\/em>, and A Warning to the Curious<\/em>. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In both instances, an object is found and taken by the finder, who soon discovers that retribution is not long in coming. In the first tale, it is a bone whistle protruding from a former graveyard upon a crumbling cliff edge that summons up the guardian spirit, whereas in the second it is the theft of an ancient Saxon crown from a burial mound that does the same. However, the nature of the spirit in A Warning to the Curious<\/em> is somewhat unusual, for it is not connected, directly, to the former wearer of the crown that lies buried in the mound, but rather to a now extinct family of guardians, entrusted to watch over and protect the place of burial. The message of these tales is clear: do not take that which was placed in the ground for a purpose. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For some reason, which I cannot explain, I find this inadvertent release of the forces of psychic chaos somehow satisfying, and it is a device that I have employed in my latest tale Epona<\/em><\/a>, a blend of Victorian gothic ghost story and folk horror, the title of which derives from the Romano-Celtic goddess of that name. If the reader should be curious to see what enfolds, then please click here, or on the picture above. Epona<\/em> <\/a>is also available, alongside three other tales, as part of my anthology Uncanny Tales<\/em><\/a>, either as a paperback<\/a>, or on Kindle<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

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