Discovering Scarfolk: a wonderfully witty and subversively dark parody of life growing up in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s

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Scarfolk is a town in North West England that did not progress beyond 1979. Instead, the entire decade of the 1970s loops ad infinitum. Here in Scarfolk, pagan rituals blend seamlessly with science; hauntology is a compulsory subject at school, and everyone must be in bed by 8pm because they are perpetually running a slight fever. "Visit Scarfolk today. Our number one priority is keeping rabies at bay." The parodies are so accurate you'll never look at the real thing in the same way again....A 'Must Read'."

Scarfolk Council Scarfolk Council

Parents and teachers assumed that the booklet was based on psychological research but it had no scientific basis whatsoever. The booklet's medically untrained author was one of the dinner ladies from the council canteen before she was fired for attempting to slip strychnine into bowls of blancmange. Darran Anderson (June 2014). "The Creeping Terror of Childhood". The Honest Ulsterman . Retrieved 14 October 2014. Littler currently resides in Germany, but he grew up in the North West of England. He lived in Radcliffe near Bury until 1976 (when he was six) whereupon his family moved to Timperley, a small suburb south of Manchester. At various times Timperley has been home to Caroline Aherne, Chris Sievey (of Frank Sidebottom fame), and Ian Brown and John Squire of The Stone Roses. Littler admits that growing up there, as well as in Radcliffe, has made a direct impact on his work.While the illustrations achieve that Orwellian body with Kafkaesque aftertaste, it's the written accompaniment that brings the Monty Python flavor notes, and this is not nearly as successful. The tragic conspiracy/horror of Daniel Bush and his children is slathered Pythonesque absurdity, and this absurdity spreads to the narrator's asides as well, outside of Scarfolk. It mars the presentation and makes the work like those extra-rich desserts that you can never finish. The clever perfection of the parody images, combined with the Pythonesque word play and riffs on the stranger aspects of British culture, are a masterpiece in absurdist horror."

Northern Soul chats to Richard Littler about Scarfolk, online Northern Soul chats to Richard Littler about Scarfolk, online

As the country moved toward collapse, social unrest and inevitable casualties increased. The paranoid state began anonymously exterminating citizens who so much as hinted at insurrection. Average (and the vast numbers of below-average) people were killed in street clashes between opposing factions and there were spates of frightened suicides. a b c Simon Usborne (17 April 2013). "How to wash a child's brain: Designer Richard Littler creates fictional world based on terrifying public service films – Features – Films – The Independent". The Independent . Retrieved 14 October 2014.great job again hunter — currently reading “the face that must die” by ramsey campbell — their lives could have paralleled — overbearing mothers/absent fathers etc etc — it does make one so thankful to have been dropped off (either via the stork, aliens or a higher supreme being) in a loving home with for the most part “sanity” or if not that — a lot of good humor Scarfolk University, for example, was given four million pounds to develop a computer that could record the brainwaves of hundreds of Real English Wine drinkers and then convert those brainwaves into sounds and images. Once the heart had been placed in its new host body, over which a medi-legal incantation had been recited, the object would become imbued with the personality of the deceased. However, there were often side effects, for example not being able to say certain words such as 'artichoke', 'help' and 'please kill me, I did not give my consent for this', to name but a few. The humour of Scarfolk is often very dark indeed, and Littler has only occasionally balked at mining his youth for laughs. I primarily study the ancient world. I only live in the modern one! Ancient rulers were heavily into “sacred” roles and patterns. These took the form of rituals, at first to help remember, but later because the underlying science/knowledge associated with those patterns/roles was for the most part forgotten. However, even the rote repetition of traditional roles and patterns produced predictable results. This must be why we are so reluctant to discover the origins of our belief systems. It’s not much, but it’s all we’ve got. Superstition is preferred to chaos, and those that rule the world exploit it to the max. Enlightenment of the masses is not the policy of the upper classes! Peace in the 3rd World is not the “foreign policy” of the 1st World.

Discovering Scarfolk - Penguin Books UK

A folded map entitled Scarfolk & Environs: Road & Leisure Map for Uninvited Tourists was published by Herb Lester Associates Ltd on 2 November 2020. Scarfolk was initially presented as a fake blog which purportedly releases artefacts from archive of the fictional town council, Scarfolk Council. Artefacts include public information literature, out-of-print books, record and cassette sleeves, advertisements, television programme screenshots, household products, and audio and video, many of which suggest brands and imagery recognisable from the period. Additionally, artefacts are usually accompanied by short fictional vignettes that are also presented as factual and that introduce the town's residents. The public information literature often ends with the strapline: "For more information please reread." In actual fact, all the subjects’ brains produced exactly the same image: An electrified cage containing a baby monkey whose mind had been destroyed by medical experiments, systematic torture and the jarring sound of a toy mechanical bear mercilessly beating a drum 24 hours a day.Anorak (25 April 2014). "Inside Scarfolk: An Interview With The Mayor Of Dystopia UK, Richard Littler". Anorak.co.uk . Retrieved 14 October 2014. It's not surprising to learn that author Richard Littler is a graphic designer; all the illustrations here (many of which are also featured on the blog) are beautifully executed to the very last detail. The story, though, leaves something to be desired. The silliness that made me laugh out loud at the beginning soon overstayed its welcome; the book is too focused on the graphics to allow the plot to develop into anything you'd care about or be scared by. This is reflected in the blog, which started out as just images but now includes a lot more description around them. It's obvious the popularity of the images has forced the creation of a narrative and not the other way around. Beverley Turner (25 April 2013). "It's time to toughen up kids. Start terrifying them 'Scarfolk' style – The Telegraph". The Telegraph . Retrieved 14 October 2014.