The Corn Mother

The novella is an exploration of the world and dreamscapes of an imaginary lost near-mythical film, "of the whispers that tumble forth from the corn mother’s kingdom” - a place and story where fact, fiction, reality and dreams blur into one: 1878: A villager is forced to flee from their home after rumours begin that they have cursed the crops. Their vengeful spirit, known as the corn mother, is said to visit those responsible in the night, bringing ill fortune and an all-encompassing sense of guilt. 1982: A film called The Corn Mother begins to be made. Although the plot is fictional it closely resembles the story of the fleeing villager. The film is completed but never released, with all known copies disappearing after its production company collapses. 1984: A lifelong quest begins to find the near-mythical film. 2020: All mentions of The Corn Mother begin to disappear from the world, calling into question if the film ever existed. * * * “A fascinating and truly inventive novella… This is an original and significant piece of work, not only in its novel, singular and successful approach to folk horror and ‘imaginary’ films but in the creation of its own self referencing folklore.” Grey Malkin, Folk Horror Revival * * * “A gripping read, and cleverly told, with pop culture references and current affairs of the time seamlessly interwoven with the fictional story.” Kim Harten, Bliss Aquamarine * * * The book is released as part of the A Year In The Country project, which since 2014 via the posts on its website, artwork, music and book releases has explored the wyrd, eerie and re-enchanted landscape, folk horror, the further reaches of folk music and culture and the spectral parallel worlds of hauntology. As with the A Year In The Country project as a whole, the novella's structure is inspired by the cycle of the year. Following the number of seasons, it is split into four sections; has 52 chapters (which could also be considered scenes or episodes), the same number as there are weeks in the year; and relating to the number of days in a non-leap year, each chapter’s text contains no more than 365 words. * * * "A Year In The Country make excellent music and excellent books about all things dark rural, folk horror, liminal England and hauntology." Stuart Maconie, Freak Zone, BBC Radio 6