The Faces of Folk Horror in Serbian Horror Fiction. The Case of Dejan Ognjanović’s novel Zavodnik

Abstract

The article examines the articulation of the folk horror subgenre in contemporary Serbian horror fantasy, drawing on an analysis of Dejan Ognjanović’s novel Zavodnik. It begins by outlining definitions and identifying the origins of the subgenre, which is most commonly understood within the framework of cinematic horror, although it also possesses notable literary manifestations. Moving beyond a narrow conception that confines folk horror to British cinema of the 1960s and1970s allows for a broader understanding of the phenomenon – one that incorporates contemporary engagements with the legacy of pre-Christian Slavic culture, as well as the anthropological dimension of horror fiction. The subsequent section focuses on Serbian literature, in which this convention emerges from two distinct sources: the Western tradition of horror and the indigenous folk heritage, including nineteenth-century literature inspired by that tradition. Zavodnik is examined thrugh the lens of Adam Scovell’s “folk horror chain” and the novel’s deployment of motifs derived from Slavic demonology. The article concludes by proposing an interpretation of the novel – and of folk horror more broadly – as a literary diagnosis of the civilizational crisis characteristic of the contemporary world.