Books like The Wicker Man and Harvest Home

March 30, 2012 2:06 PM

I'm interested in fiction books reminiscent of The Wicker Man and Harvest Home. Horror or mystery stories of strange nature cults/paganism/mystery religions...Not so much stories of Da Vince Code or Name of the Rose but more the former two titles.
posted by snap_dragon to religion & philosophy (15 answers total)

Rosemary's Baby?
posted by milk white peacock at 2:20 PM on March 30, 2012

About 50% of Lovecraft's stories have some degree of this. Start with The Shadow over Innsmouth.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 2:28 PM on March 30, 2012

If you're open to reading YA fiction, The Deptford Mice trilogy by Robin Jarvis (particularly The Crystal Prison) are right up your creek. Not to mention absolutely terrifying.
posted by pickingupsticks at 2:32 PM on March 30, 2012

T.E.D. Klein's novella, "The Events at Poroth Farm" (collected in the book Dark Gods) or the expanded, novel-length version, The Ceremonies, is exactly what you want.
posted by infinitywaltz at 2:54 PM on March 30, 2012

Phil Rickman's "Curfew"?
posted by mittens at 3:19 PM on March 30, 2012

I read one many years ago, wish I could remember the name and find it. It was set on an estate in the wine country of France, and involved the re-enactment of the ritual murder of the Lord of the manor by his gay lover on Lammas, an old Pagan feast on Aug. 2. The death of the King or Lord was supposed to restore fertility to the fields and crops, which were failing. It took place in the early 60s.

There was an ostensibly Catholic priest who really kept to the old Pagan ways, as did the villagers. The heroine was the bride of the Lord, and in trying to find out why he was shot down in the forest while hunting by an arrow, she slowly uncovered the whole bizarre old cult and story. It related back to King Rufus and the Fisher King legends. In the end she went away with another man she had fallen in love with, but feared for her child if the crops ever failed again, even though she was now far away in America.

If any of this sounds familiar to anyone and you remember the book, please let us know. It certainly would fit with the kind of book the OP is looking for.
posted by mermayd at 4:50 PM on March 30, 2012

Stephen King's Children of the Corn.
posted by mattholomew at 6:54 PM on March 30, 2012

Ooh! The Magus by John Fowles.
posted by Kloryne at 10:39 PM on March 30, 2012

Some of Arthur Machen's stories, particularly The White People (apparently the inspiration for T.E.D. Klein’s The Ceremonies, recommended above) and included in the collection The House of Souls; and perhaps also The Shining Pyramid and The Red Hand.
posted by misteraitch at 1:06 AM on March 31, 2012

Somehing Nasty in the Woodshed fits your criteria. I have to add that I found it to be more misogynist and weaker than the first Mortdecai book, however.
posted by Jorus at 3:00 AM on March 31, 2012

Pretty much anything by Dennis Wheatley will fit the bill.
posted by low_horrible_immoral at 12:27 PM on March 31, 2012

Flicker by Theodore Roszak. I will say nothing more.

Jago by Kim Newman is a great big baggy book about cults and music festivals and all kinds of stuff.
posted by Sidhedevil at 3:11 PM on March 31, 2012

Anne Rice's The Witching Hour series. I can't quite explain why but I enjoyed these books in much the same way I enjoyed Harvest Home.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 3:27 PM on March 31, 2012

Also:

The Thrall's Tale

Daughters of the Witching Hill
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 3:57 PM on March 31, 2012

Ancient Images, Ramsay Campbell. And maybe The Claw.
posted by gonzo_ID at 5:02 AM on April 6, 2012