If you enjoy serious analog horror like Magical World of Ania or more tongue in cheek analog horror like My Milwaukee, then Richard Littler’s Scarfolk is definitely for you. If you enjoy the eeriness of those old Public Service Messages from 1970s Canada or Great Britain that are so beloved on the internet then you’ll probably hate yourself if you still haven’t gotten into Scarfolk.
Part haunted town, part 70s dystopia, Scarfolk refers to Littler’s fictional British town which is by turns nightmarish and hilarious. There are even undertones of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy type of humor in the town’s faux “reference material” and “artifacts”.
Around 2012 Richard Littler began mocking up some fake 1970s public health posters and government pamphlets for schools and general consumption. He presented them with an enjoyably twisted slant that perfectly captured the vaguely menacing, often insulting approach of such material.
Littler took to posting them on his Facebook account, where positive feedback encouraged him to start a blog devoted to his dark-humored artifacts of the nonexistent town of Scarfolk, “a town in North West England which is just west of northern England” as the author describes it.
The blog featuring Scarfolk memorabilia was launched in February of 2013 and steadily grew in reputation, especially among analog horror fans who enjoyed Littler’s blogging approach to similar material.
After toying with the idea of a mockumentary about Scarfolk’s unwholesome history, Richard instead released a book in 2014. That book, titled Discovering Scarfolk, was a hit and was followed up in 2019 with The Scarfolk Annual. A fictional fold-out map followed in 2021 but a prospective television series fell through.
Like a Lake Wobegon on the edge of Hell, Scarfolk, its oddball residents and sinister laws & regulations come to life and stay in the back of your head. You may think it’s impossible to beat the eeriness of those old videos of Public Service Messages narrated by Donald Pleasence in the 1970s, but Scarfolk material will prove you wrong.
It’s a place where civic posters and pamphlets offer instructions like “For more information, please reread …” and where some of the holidays and observances are the “Child Smoking Competition” and “Clown Exhumation Day.”
A place where the government frequently reminds citizens about getting another booster shot to fight rabies, and where the biggest fast-food franchise is Quimby’s Surgical Remainders. (Menu items include Biopsyburgers and Tumour Melts)
There are even Think Tanks (in this case actual tanks) that drive around Scarfolk targeting anyone who has thoughts counter to what the government wants them to think.
If you prefer an underlying mystery to hold your A.R.G.s together, Discover Scarfolk features investigations into the disappearance of one David Bush’s wife Joy and his children Joe and Oliver as well as the creepy circumstances involved.
So why delay? Buy the Scarfolk books or check out the Scarfolk blog HERE. And if you need more information, reread this blog post.
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Balladeer's Blog 
Okay these are legit creepy. They belong in an episode of “Black Mirror” or something.
I definitely agree! And I used some of the milder posters here to avoid spoiling some of the more heavy-hitting ones.
Great posts as always. I have never heard of “Scarfolk” before, but it definitely does sound intriguing. The concept of this book reminds me a lot of classic movies set in iconic towns that I love. For instance, it brought to mind Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”. Tarantino’s period piece paid a powerful tribute towards the city of L.A. and its beauty. It captured Los Angeles during the time of the Manson Murders in the 1960’s. One of Tarantino’s greatest movies.
Here’s why I loved it:
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (2019) – Movie Review – The Film Buff (huilahimovie.reviews)
I appreciate it! I’m looking forward to your review of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.