Scarfolk

Description

Scarfolk, which is forever locked in the 1970s, is a satire not only of that decade but also of contemporary events. It touches on themes of totalitarianism, suburban life, occultism & religion, school & childhood, as well as social attitudes such as racism and sexism.

Scarfolk was initially presented as a fake blog which purportedly releases artefacts from the town council's archive. 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 which are also presented as factual and introduce residents of Scarfolk. The public information literature often ends with the strapline: "For more information please reread."

Media controversy

On 31 January 2014 the newspaper London Evening Standard published an article by Charles Saatchi which accidentally included the cover of a Scarfolk book called "Eating Children: Population Control & The Food Crisis" instead of the intended Jonathan Swift publication A Modest Proposal (1729).

Reception

Scarfolk has received positive reactions from the public and media in the United Kingdom and abroad. GQ Magazine called it one of "The 100 Funniest Things in the History of the Internet". Reviews and interviews with Littler have appeared in publications such as Creative Review, The Independent, The Telegraph, Stylenoir, and The Honest Ulsterman; and have been featured by popular online sites such as Boing Boing and Dangerous Minds.

Design Week called Scarfolk "a queasy, unsettling provincial place".

Discovering Scarfolk

A book called "Discovering Scarfolk," which tells the story of a family trapped in the town, was published in October 2014 by Ebury Press. It is a guide to all aspects of Scarfolk and covers the "frenzied archive of Daniel Bush, whose sons 'disappeared' in Scarfolk in 1970." Scarfolk was created by writer and designer Richard Littler. It was originally based on the website Scarfolk Council.

Publication

Ebury Publishing's editorial director Sarah Lavelle acquired the British English, Commonwealth English, and Europe English language rights for Scarfolk Council from literary agent Juliet Pickering at the literary agency Blake Friedmann. In an interview with British magazine The Bookseller, Lavelle stated "Richard [Littler]'s created an extraordinary world where every image prompts a double-take – it's clever, it's dark and it's very funny. I grew up in the same era and it's all terrifyingly real to me."

In a guest blog for The Daily Telegraph, author Littler said "Discovering Scarfolk attempts to guide you through the darkness by making light of the contradictions and it promises not to unnerve you. Well, not too much anyway."

Reception

Boing Boing's co-editor Cory Doctorow said "[Discovering Scarfolk] looks to be absolutely genius." Digital Arts reviewed Discovering Scarfolk favorably with "We've seen so many blogs turned into books that it should probably be its own genre, but Discovering Scarfolk is one of the few to stand on its own and deserve to be more than a ill-conceived Christmas present." Starburst gave Discovering Scarfolk nine out of ten stars calling it "a hilarious novel filled with so-creepy-it’s funny illustrations and a relentlessly silly back story."

In his review of The Advisory Circle's From Out Here (2014), musician DJ Food remarked both From Out Here and Discovering Scarfolk define "a good portion of the visual stimulus associated with the Hauntological genre."