It’s just one of the old ways, you know. If you transgressed, it was against them, not against the people.

What are the old ways?

Well, let’s say they’re the things that are—handed down. Maybe they’re not the most convenient ways, but they suit us.

After seeing it recommended in every folk horror list, I finally read Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon and... I was pretty disappointed. Maybe I had too high of expectations, but the first two-thirds of the book barely ratcheted up any tension and then when the 'horror' came in the final act it ended up feeling fairly unearned. There were definitely aspects of it that worked well; but I largely feel like it was an idea that worked better than its execution. I don't know anything about the writer, but this book also came across as very anti-woman.

TL;DR The Wicker Man did it better.