If you thought horror was just seeing your ex with their new partner at Oxxo, think again. There’s a subgenre that makes slashers look like your drunk uncle’s Christmas jokes: folk horror. Yes, those kinds of movies that make you say, “I’d never go to that village even if they paid me,” while you nervously munch your popcorn questioning your entire existence.

Because here we’re not talking about killer clowns or nuns with Kiss makeup, but about real people, with real beliefs, doing truly horrible things in very real ways. And that, dear reader, is the true horror: realizing that your hippie vegan neighbor could actually lead a cult that ends up sacrificing you in a pagan festival with flower crowns and craft beer.

WHAT THE HELL IS FOLK HORROR AND WHY SHOULD YOU FEAR IT?

Folk horror is basically what you get when you throw your grandma’s superstitions, the pre-Hispanic rituals that whitexicans worship in Tulum, and collective ignorance into a blender. It’s the kind of horror that arises from what people believe, and how their traditions and customs can justify a murder in the name of some god that probably doesn’t even exist. Spoiler: it never does, but they’ll kill you anyway.

It’s a subgenre that reminds you living in the city has its perks. Worst case, you get mugged here. But in some isolated village, they might invite you to dinner with rabbit and psychedelic mushrooms before burning you alive inside a giant wicker man. Thanks, folk horror, for reminding us that Mexico City isn’t so bad after all!

WHERE DID THIS MADNESS COME FROM?

As always, the British had to invent a term to describe their love for rural stories where people die horribly while singing old songs in Yorkshire accents. The first time someone used “folk horror” was in the 1965 novel The Magus, but it was cinema that popularized it thanks to the film The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971). Imagine a bunch of kids finding a demonic claw and starting satanic rituals. Basically, just another day at any Montessori preschool in Roma Norte.

Then came The Wicker Man (1973) with Christopher Lee and his classic 70s politician haircut, where they burn a policeman alive inside a giant wicker effigy because, you know, traditions!

MOVIES THAT WILL MAKE YOU LOSE FAITH IN HUMANITY

If you want a folk horror marathon that will destroy any trust you had left in people living in cabins, here’s the ultimate list:

The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971). Kids, a demonic claw, rituals. All good.

The Wicker Man (1973). Christopher Lee + pagan cult + fire = classic.

Children of the Corn (1984). Because nothing is scarier than religious kids with machetes.

The Blair Witch Project (1999). People running through the woods with an ending more confusing than a calculus exam.

The Witch (2015). Satanic rabbits and crazy Puritans.

Midsommar (2019). When your trip to Sweden ends worse than a trip to Acapulco.

Fisherman’s Tale (2024). Mexican folk horror, because we also know how to sacrifice people to sea deities.

WHY DOES IT SCARE US SO MUCH?

Because folk horror doesn’t need ghosts. It shows you that real terror is people who justify any atrocity with the phrase, “That’s how it’s done here.” It’s the fear of the other, of the different, of that group that decides you’re the chosen one to fertilize the earth with your internal organs. And no, there’s no hero coming to save you. No guns, no cops, no cool shamans. Just you, your fear, and a fate sealed by customs older than WiFi.

So the next time someone invites you to a spiritual retreat on an isolated ranch, remember these words: run, bitch, run.