Whether it’s whispered around a campfire, or passed down across generations, folk tales have often been the spark that ignited much of our love for stories. They give us brief glimpses into different times and different cultures, and it’s always a treat for me to find these threads woven into works of fiction today. It has even inspired me to reimagine my favourite Sri Lankan folktale in my latest book, Island Witch.
In my new novel, set in 1880s Ceylon, Amara, the daughter of the local demon priest, is caught in the cross currents of her traditional beliefs and the new colonial ideas that have been brought into her coastal town, while being bullied and called a “witch” herself. When a series of attacks starts plaguing the men in her village, she must figure out who is behind them before her father is accused of these crimes. However, she’s been having dreams which eerily predict these attacks, and can’t shake the feeling that all this is tied into to when she woke up, dazed and confused, to the sound of her mother’s mysterious cries. Island Witch is a reimagining of Mohini, Sri Lanka’s most popular ghost, famously depicted as the local Woman in White.
This list of books spans across many genres and hails from different corners of the world, but they all draw inspiration from popular myths, lore, and folk tales.
Midnight is The Darkest Hour, by Ashley Winstead
In the religious town of Bottom Springs Louisiana, the Low Man, a vampiric figure, is attacking residents, leaving the townsfolk afraid that they would be next. Ruth Cornier, the daughter of the local preacher, finds herself at crossroads when a battered skull is discovered in Starry Swamp, surrounded by mysterious carved symbols. Along with her best friend, Everett, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks, Ruth delves deep into the town’s secrets in attempt to solve the crime, a feat that will garner them many enemies along the way. Atmospheric and creepy, with lush imagery of swamps and the ever present undertone of religious panic, Ashley Winstead effortlessly weaves lore into a page turning mystery.
Gods of Jade and Shadow, by Silvia Moreno Garcia
Set in Mexico in the 1920s, the story follows Cassiopeia Tun, the granddaughter of a small town patriarch. Cassiopeia’s mother eloped with Cassiopeia’s dark-skinned father, disgracing the family, but had to return to home when her husband died. Cassiopeia is ordered to work as the family maid, and her future seems bleak until she opens a locked chest in her grandfather’s bedroom, and releases an imprisoned Mayan god of death, Hun-Kamé. Hun-Kamé sends Cassiopeia on a life-changing quest— one which features demons, evil spirits, sorcerers and flappers dancing the Charleston.
The Nesting, by CJ Cooke
Despite his wife, Aurelia, committing suicide in the very same place, Architect Tom Faraday resolute in his decision to finish the high-concept, environmentally friendly home he’s building in Norway. When Lexi Ellis takes the job as nanny to Tom’s daughters, she falls in love with the picturesque landscape and the two young girls. But she can’t shake the feeling that something feels off in the isolated house nestled in the forest along the fjord— unexplained, muddy footprints inside the house, Aurelia’s diary appearing in Lexi’s room, but most disturbingly, one of the girls keeps telling Lexi about how she sees the Sad Lady. Lexi starts to believe that Aurelia didn’t kill herself after all, and that perhaps her death was the result of a sinister spirit in the fjord.
Sistersong, by Lucy Holland
Based on the traditional folk ballad of ‘The Two Sisters,’ this story takes place in magical ancient Britain in a time where Saxons battle with individual holdings, and a new religion is competing with old magic. The three siblings, Riva, Keyne and Sinne, each possesses their own form of magic as they take on diverging paths, all while the Saxons draw near.
American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
A classic in it’s own right, American Gods is a fantastic interpretation of what gods spanning various myths and lore would look like in modern society. The story starts with the main character, Shadow’s, wife dying in a mysterious car crash days before his release from prison. On his way back home, he meets Mr Wednesday, who introduces him to a world quite unlike he has ever seen, while they embark on a journey through the heart of America.
The Witch’s Heart, by Genevive Gornichec
This reimagining of norse myth features the witch, Angrboda, who possesses the power to divine the future. But when Odin, the highest of the Norse gods, demands her power for himself, she turns him down. In return, he punishes her by burning her three times on the pyre. Thankfully, Angrboda escapes, leaving her smoldering heart behind. She takes refuge in the forest, when a man shows up and offers her heart back—so igniting the love story between Angrboda and Loki, the son of the very god who tried to kill her.
***
