Arriving through the dark and sodden mists and across the bare, barren fields comes ‘The Black Meadow Archive Volume 1’, a follow up of sorts to the compelling and essential ‘Tales of the Black Meadow’, which charted the mysterious happenings and events in the Black Meadow area of the North Yorkshire moors via the work of the missing Professor R Mullins. Mullins’ papers, found after he had disappeared without trace, were the basis for the wyrd and eerie snapshots of such Black Meadow based entities as ‘The Rag And Bone Man’ and ‘The Meadow Hag’, truly chilling and disquieting reportages from what appeared to be a Tarkovsky styled ‘Stalker’ type tear or rend in the area’s dimensional fabric. Both’ Tales of…’ and its bewitching accompanying soundtrack by The Soulless Party are crucial reading and listening for those with an interest in both the folk horror or hauntological domains and are best enjoyed and experienced together. Now author Chris Lambert, also known for the follow up ‘Christmas on the Black Meadow’ as well as the excellent ‘Wyrd Kalendar’ book and accompanying album, has sired this new archive, replete with evocative illustrations by Nigel Wilson, John Chadwick and Folk Horror Revival’s Andy Paciorek. So, come, let us traverse this new mapping of the meadow for just a short while. But do stay on the paths…
This new publication draws from the government’s Brightwater Archives; reports, interviews, legends and hearsay from this spooked countryside collude to build a picture of a place that has long been a site of occult and deeply strange occurrences. The missing in action Mullins features, as do tales of unnatural creatures and incidences that stretch back from medieval times (‘Lair of the Coyle’) to the modern day, including an explanatory and insightful chapter that features none other than Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett and his singular visit to the meadow. Elsewhere, and across the ages, we are introduced to shape shifting horse people (‘Legend of the White Horse’) in a beautiful fairy tale-esque sequence, the vengeance of a giant, brutal supernatural entity that seeks retribution for his stolen farm produce (‘The Ploughman’s Wrath’) and an emotive and touching story of grief and loss in ‘The Maiden of the Mist’. Indeed, one of Lambert’s strengths is his ability to move from the terrifying and grim to the darkly comic, as well as the heartfelt and appropriately sentimental, with apparent ease and certain skill.
The stories themselves are sequenced into relevant sections pertaining to groups of myths or site specific events; we have the ‘Heather and Bramble’ compilation, which includes a number of blood filled folktales such as ‘The Blackberry Ghost (whereupon a bullying older child receives a gruesome comeuppance from the land itself) and ‘The Heart of Blackberry Field’ (a recount of a sacrificial feeding of the local harvest with a truly disturbing twist). There follows a ‘The Mysteries of Flyingdales House’ compendium which recounts such happenings as ‘Dead Man on the Moor’, a chilling account of occult protection and the acute danger that the meadow’s mist holds, as well as the extended poem ‘He Took Her Hand’, which ends with the hanging of an innocent man and a lover’s final disappearance into the black meadow itself. The sub-section on ‘Creatures from the Meadow’ is particularly haunting and effective, introducing murderous meadow hags, witches and spectral supernatural entities; we also find such preternatural beings amongst ’20th century Encounters’ – the story of the grotesque ‘Ticking Policeman’ is one that will linger with the reader long after putting the book down.
‘The Black Meadow Archive Volume 1’ then is a necessary addition to any bookshelf that holds other Black Meadow publications, or to those who have an interest in the worlds of Hookland, Scarfolk or A Year In the Country, who enjoys the wyrd fiction of Robert Aickman or the work of Nigel Kneale, or that has a predilection towards the paranormal and the disturbing. Special mention must go the beautiful illustrations which compliment the tales and add a striking visual dimension to these horrors, this reader is reminded of the ghost story books of his youth where the artwork was equally as memorable and disturbing as the text itself. And, as with the previous collection in this series, there is an accompanying album by The Soulless party that marries gorgeous electronics with several of the tales from the book; experience them together for a truly immersive journey. Spend some time exploring the Black Meadow then, but do stay clear of the mist…
Review by Grey Malkin
You can now buy the book here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Meadow-Archive-1/dp/1688953167
And the album here:
https://thesoullessparty-cis.bandcamp.com/album/the-black-meadow-archive-volume-1
by Mia Newholm
Folk Horror Revival & Urban Wyrd Project ⨘ 