Quaint Folk, by Bitter Karella
The Book
Synopsis:
From the outside, it looks like Jessica has the perfect life. She's a stay-at-home mom, married to a man with a respectable job, raising a son they adore. Her family is as wholesome as all-American pie. But deep down, Jessica knows there's something wrong with her; she knows she can't escape her past. When her husband’s job has them move abroad, Jessica thinks this is her chance for a fresh start. On the remote island of Hasenhurst, the modern world can’t get in. The people there grow their own herbs, make their own jam, and mind their own business. They believe in folk tales and the power of dreams. They tell visitors, we’re a quaint, quiet people. The right sort of family would do well here. Jessica is determined to be the right kind of person for a family―and a life―like this. But as she tries to befriend the townsfolk and learn their ways, she soon realizes that beneath the town’s cozy idyll, something sickly-sweet and rotten lays buried ...
My Review
Bitter Karella is a name whose writing I associate with the concept weird horror, so I was quite excited when Quaint Folk was announced, especially with the Wicker Man appearing among the comps; it didn't disappoint. We have an unsettling piece of folk horror that is not shy of dabbling with the weird, using a charming small-town location as the perfect scenario to slowly build a story that intentionally keeps the line between real and supernatural blurred.
A family from the US moves to the remote island of Hasenhut because the father got a work there, something about tech and bring modernity to Hasenhut; not like Jessica cares much about what it is, she's just there to be the ever-caring wife and mother. At the same time, she wants to understand their child, Sandy, struggling with their non-binary and witchy identity. A whole family that feels out of its comfort zone in a place like Hasenhut: a charming town of simple people, all excited about Tigglestide and keeping everything in order to avoid Round Robin's punishment. What could go wrong?
Karella makes the story revolve around Jessica and Sandy, two people that don't fit into the neatly organized community of Hasenhut; while it looks charming from the outside, through their experience, a sense of creeping dread is introduced, slowly building an atmosphere that screams "there's something wrong". However, the response from each one is different, as we can see a Jessica that is almost getting freedom, breaking that gender role attached to being "mother, wife", while Sandy's storyline is a bit more ambiguous, understandable as we get to know their background.
The writing is perfect to embrace the growing weirdness, slowly introducing imagery that eventually will play a role in the plot; the ending might be divisive, but I think, in retrospective, that it fits perfectly this kind of story.
Quaint Folk is another great weird horror novel, a perfect choice if you are looking for a different take on folk horror that is still darkly satirical at moments; Bitter Karella cements their name as a staple of the weird genre.
The Author/s
Bitter Karella
Bitter Karella is the writer and horror aficionado behind the microfiction comedy account @Midnight_pals, which asks what if all your favorite horror writers gathered around the campfire to tell scary stories. When not writing twitter jokes, she also dabbles in cartooning and text game design. Her horror text games, available on itchio, include Night House, All Visitors Welcome, Toadstools, and Santa Carcossa Nights.