Hellebore #11: The Animal Issue

Hares that are witches in disguise, ravens with prophetic powers, sacrificial wrens representing the god-king. Animals are often included in folk horror narratives because of their symbolic traits, or because of the folk beliefs surrounding them. Historically, animals have been understood as objects of cult worship, deities or devils incarnate, witches’ companions, omen bringers. They’ve also been re-imagined as hybrids, chimeras, and cryptids.

In this issue we tell tales of hares, moonlight, and madness, of half-glimpsed uncanny felines and the demon king of cats, of monstrous serpents with an appetite for destruction, of seemingly unassuming yet all-powerful toads. From the Isle of Man to the flatlands of Suffolk, the animals in these stories rise from the forest, from the field, from the waters, to re-enchant the landscape of these isles.

Edited by Maria J. Pérez Cuervo. Words by Elizabeth Dearnley, Timothy Grieve-Carlson, Justin Hopper, Mark Offord, Maria J. Pérez Cuervo, John A. Riley, Kristof Smeyers, Katy Soar, and Elizabeth Sulis Kim. Art direction by Nathaniel Hébert. Art contributions by Lorenza Daprà and Isabella Mazzanti.