Diving deep into the chilling intersection of nature, isolation, and myth, these landscapes, snow-covered forests, barren tundras, and remote villages become more than just settings—they embody ancient, mysterious forces tied to forgotten legends and hidden truths. As we explore these stories, we’ll delve into books and TV shows that evoke the same sense of eerie wonder, where folklore, superstition, and the harsh winter elements create a haunting atmosphere of dread. From supernatural creatures to ancient curses, these tales from the frozen wilds remind us that in the most desolate places, the old gods and creatures of folklore still roam.
Set in a desolate, snow-covered Estonian village, November (2017) is a visually haunting folk horror film where witchcraft, demons, and pagan rituals collide. As a young woman navigates her bleak existence, the film delves deep into the dark, surreal elements of folklore, using a mixture of black-and-white imagery and stunning visuals to tell a story of love, loss, and the supernatural forces that haunt the land.
What to read after November: The Lonely by Andrew Michael Hurley – “If it had another name, I never knew, but the locals called it the Loney – that strange nowhere between the Wyre and the Lune where Hanny and I went every Easter time with Mummer, Farther, Mr and Mrs Belderboss and Father Wilfred, the parish priest.
It was impossible to truly know the place. It changed with each influx and retreat, and the neap tides would reveal the skeletons of those who thought they could escape its insidious currents. No one ever went near the water. No one apart from us, that is.
I suppose I always knew that what happened there wouldn’t stay hidden for ever, no matter how much I wanted it to. No matter how hard I tried to forget….”
What to watch after November: The Third Day (2020) – Sam and Helen arrive at a mysterious island near the British coast at different times and both of them experience strange and unexplainable events during the course of their journey.
Set in 15th-century Alpine Austria, Hagazussa (2017) is a slow-burn (you know I love them!) psychological horror film about a woman living in isolation, plagued by hallucinations and creeping paranoia. Drawing heavily on folk horror traditions and hysteria, the film examines the thin line between reality and superstition, with themes of witchcraft, guilt, and the psychological decay of its protagonist, all set against a cold, unforgiving mountain landscape.
What to read after Hagazussa: The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson- Imanuelle Moore is a biracial teenager living in Bethel, a repressive, Puritan-like society steeped in supernatural beliefs. Marginalized due to her mother’s scandalous past and her father’s execution, Imanuelle struggles to fit in. The story follows her as she becomes embroiled in a conflict between powerful undead witches in the nearby Darkwood and the religious authorities, led by the tyrannical Prophet. As the tension escalates, Imanuelle grapples with her growing disillusionment with Bethel’s brutal, misogynistic practices disguised as religious righteousness.
What to watch after Hagazussa: The Handmaid’s Tale (2017-) Set in a dystopian future, a woman is forced to live as a concubine under a fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship.
A chilling Irish folk horror film, The Winter Lake (2020) follows a troubled young man who returns to his childhood home in a remote rural area. When he discovers a dark family secret buried beneath a frozen lake, the film unravels into a haunting exploration of trauma, repressed memories, and the destructive power of the past.
What to read after The Winter Lake: Pine by Francine Toon – They are driving home from the search party when they see her.
The trees are coarse and tall in the winter light, standing like men. Lauren and her father Niall live alone in the Highlands, in a small village surrounded by pine forest. When a woman stumbles out onto the road one Halloween night, Niall drives her back to their house in his pickup. In the morning, she’s gone.
In a community where daughters rebel, men quietly rage, and drinking is a means of forgetting, mysteries like these are not out of the ordinary. The trapper found hanging with the dead animals for two weeks. Locked doors and stone circles. The disappearance of Lauren’s mother a decade ago.
Lauren looks for answers in her tarot cards, hoping she might one day be able to read her father’s turbulent mind. Neighbours know more than they let on, but when local teenager Ann-Marie goes missing it’s no longer clear who she can trust.
What to watch after The Winter Lake: Terror in the Woods (2017-) – They went to discover the great outdoors, but something discovered them first. “Terror in the Woods” features real stories of people who embarked on a wilderness adventure only to be scared out of the woods by unexplained phenomena.
In the remote countryside, Lamb (2021) tells the unsettling tale of a childless couple who discover an unusual creature born from one of their sheep. As they begin to raise the half-human, half-animal being as their own, the film weaves a haunting narrative of grief, motherhood, and the unnatural, set against the vast, empty Icelandic landscape.
What to read after Lamb: The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner -In the twilight of a polluted planet…
— He rejoiced at the sight of flies in a world where everything was dying out.
He had 600,000 dollars in the bank, but worked as a garbage-man, and lived in a slum tenement in the heart of a rotting city.
He had started a movement that could save the Earth… but was forced to go into hiding to save his own life!
A terrifying apocalypse of the future…
What to watch after Lamb: Teacup (2024-) – Strange things are happening on the Chenoweths’ secluded Georgia farm. Their animals are spooked and restless, and their young son has wandered into the woods and come back confused and somehow changed. Stranger still, a mysterious man in a homemade gas mask has arrived and is spray-painting a blue line along the ground. All this leaves a disparate group of neighbors forced to band together in the face of an unknown and deadly threat.
Set in a small, remote town in the Pacific Northwest, Antlers (2021) is a harrowing tale of a troubled teacher and her brother, a local sheriff, who uncover the dark secret of a young boy’s family—suffering under the influence of a terrifying creature. The film combines psychological horror, supernatural terror and indigenous folklore, using the harsh winter landscape to amplify its themes of trauma, abuse, and the primal forces lurking in the shadows of the natural world.
What to read after Antlers: The Grip of It by Jac Jemc – Julie and James settle into a house in a small town outside the city where they met. The move—prompted by James’s penchant for gambling, his inability to keep his impulses in check—is quick and seamless; both Julie and James are happy to leave behind their usual haunts and start afresh. But this house, which sits between ocean and forest, has plans for the unsuspecting couple. As Julie and James try to settle into their home and their relationship, the house and its surrounding terrain become the locus of increasingly strange happenings. The architecture—claustrophobic, riddled with hidden rooms within rooms—becomes unrecognizable, decaying before their eyes. Stains are animated on the wall—contracting, expanding—and map themselves onto Julie’s body in the form of bruises; mold spores taint the water that James pours from the sink. Together the couple embark on a panicked search for the source of their mutual torment, a journey that mires them in the history of their peculiar neighbors and the mysterious residents who lived in the house before Julia and James.
What to watch after Antlers: The Enfield Haunting (2015) – An 11 year-old Janet terrorized by the paranormal activity permeating every room – or so she’d like everyone to believe; especially Mr. Grosse, the doting researcher who goes to great lengths to protect her from the strange, dark forces.
A chilling and atmospheric folk horror film, Starve Acre (2023) tells the story of a couple who move to a remote farmhouse in the English countryside to escape the pain of their son’s mysterious death. As they uncover the dark secrets of the land they’ve inherited, the film delves into themes of grief, ancestral curses, and the disturbing power of folklore. The desolate, frozen countryside becomes a character in itself, amplifying the terror that begins to consume the couple.
What to read after Starve Acre: When Ghosts Call Us Home by Katya de Beccera – When Sophia Galich was twelve, she starred in her older sister Layla’s amateur horror movie Vermillion, which recorded raw footage of her very real reactions to scenes her sister concocted in their old Californian house on the coast―Cashore House.
In the years after the film’s release, Sophia’s relationship with her sister became more strained, while her memories of the now-infamous house fueled her nightmares. Vermillion amassed an army of fanatical fans who speculated about the film’s hidden messages, and it was rumored that Layla made a pact with the devil―her soul in exchange for fame and arcane knowledge. Sophia dismissed this as gossip…until Layla disappeared.
Now, Sophia must study the trail of clues Layla has left behind, returning to the very place where it all began. As she gets closer and closer to Cashore House’s haunted heart, she must once again confront the ghosts of her childhood. But the house won’t reveal its secrets without a fight.
What to watch after Starve Acre: The Mire (2018) – In an early-’80s Polish town, a prostitute and a youth leader are found killed, but the police’s handling of the case makes two journalists suspicious.
Folklore carries so many mysteries and miles and when it’s enmeshed with our day-to-day modern life, its clear that its terror is inescapable. From witchcraft and demons, to haunted homes that change by the day, to found footage and fame, there’s a little horror heap for everyone in the Frozen Wilds.
NightTide Magazine 
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