Ritual Reads

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29/05/2026

👻🦇🎃 This is a must-have for any horror fan - a history of horror throughout the ages, exploring fact and fiction!

📚 FOLKLORE FRIDAY: GrimoiresThe word grimoire comes from the Old French grammaire — grammar, a book of letters. And in a...
29/05/2026

📚 FOLKLORE FRIDAY: Grimoires

The word grimoire comes from the Old French grammaire — grammar, a book of letters. And in a world where literacy was rare, a book of any kind was already a little magical.

Grimoires — books of spells, rituals, and magical instruction — have a history stretching back to ancient Egypt. The Greek Magical Papyri contain spells blending Egyptian, Greek, and Jewish magical traditions from as early as the 2nd century BCE.

The Key of Solomon, one of the most famous medieval grimoires, claims to be wisdom written by the biblical king himself. It circulated in manuscripts across Europe from at least the 14th century, copied by hand, passed secretly between practitioners.

The most dangerous book was the one you weren't supposed to have.

Which fictional grimoire would you most want to (carefully) open? 🔮

📚 AUTHOR SECRETS: The InklingsOn Thursday evenings, a group of Oxford academics would gather — sometimes at Tolkien's ho...
28/05/2026

📚 AUTHOR SECRETS: The Inklings

On Thursday evenings, a group of Oxford academics would gather — sometimes at Tolkien's house, sometimes at the Eagle and Child pub — and read their work aloud.

The Inklings included J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Owen Barfield. They argued fiercely about religion, myth, and literature. They changed each other's minds.

Lewis credited Tolkien with persuading him back to Christianity. Tolkien credited Lewis with persuading him to finish The Lord of the Rings when he wanted to abandon it.

The Lord of the Rings. Abandoned. Rescued by a friend at a pub.

The writing group has a richer history than anyone gives it credit for. 🌙

27/05/2026

🧌🗡️ Your next read if you loved Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman! ✨

🌾 GENRE EVOLUTION: Folk Horror RevivalSomething happened to horror in the 2010s.It went back to the fields.The Witch (20...
26/05/2026

🌾 GENRE EVOLUTION: Folk Horror Revival

Something happened to horror in the 2010s.

It went back to the fields.

The Witch (2015). The Ritual (2017). Midsommar (2019). A wave of films — and a corresponding wave in fiction — returned to the oldest fears: isolation, ritual, community that closes ranks.

The countryside. The forest. The village that has its own rules and doesn't care about yours.

Critics called it "elevated horror." Folk horror fans called it a homecoming.

The term folk horror itself was popularised by the British academic Adam Scovell in the 2010s — though the tradition runs back to the 1970s trilogy of Witchfinder General, Blood on Satan's Claw, and The Wicker Man.

What's your favourite folk horror novel? 🌙

25/05/2026

🦇🗡️🧙‍♂️ I can not get over how beautiful these books are, and the short stories are some of my favourites. A must-have for anyone who wants a quick read or a beautiful book for their shelf ✨

🕯️ CRAFT CORNER: Landscape as CharacterIn the best Gothic fiction, the landscape does not just exist.It participates.The...
24/05/2026

🕯️ CRAFT CORNER: Landscape as Character

In the best Gothic fiction, the landscape does not just exist.

It participates.

The moors in Wuthering Heights feel inseparable from the novel’s emotional weather. The fog in Dickens can become atmosphere with a point of view. Hill House is not only a setting, it behaves like an antagonist.

When you write a place, give it intention.

Ask:

→ What does this place want?
→ What does it hide?
→ What does it remember?
→ How does it change people who live there?

A setting with a mood shapes everything: reader expectations, character choices, the temperature of each scene.

What setting has felt most alive to you on the page? 📚

22/05/2026

🦉🌬️👻 Obsessed with Folklore or Mythology? Then these books might be your next read ✨

🌿 FOLKLORE FRIDAY: The Green ManCarved in the stonework of medieval churches across Britain and Europe, the Green Man is...
22/05/2026

🌿 FOLKLORE FRIDAY: The Green Man

Carved in the stonework of medieval churches across Britain and Europe, the Green Man is one of folklore's most enigmatic figures.

A human face — almost always male — disgorging leaves from its mouth, eyes, and sometimes ears. Foliage emerging from every opening. A face that is also a forest.

He appears in churches from the 12th century onward, sometimes hundreds of times in a single building. His meaning is disputed: a pre-Christian nature spirit absorbed into Christian architecture? A symbol of resurrection and rebirth? A reminder of humanity's connection to the natural world?

No one commissioned him with an explanation. He was simply carved, again and again, as if the carvers couldn't help themselves.

The Green Man feels ancient because he is — and because whatever he represents, it hasn't stopped being true.

Where have you spotted him? 🌙

20/05/2026

👀 Secret book covers ✨ Stephanie Garber is just one of many authors who like to create hidden covers.

I'd love to learn what your favourite hidden cover is. 🥰

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Whitchurch
SY131EQ

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