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

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All promotional literature was designed and printed by the Scarfolk Advertising Agency, who, it was later revealed to the surprise of all clients concerned, had been working not only for the Conservative, but also the Labour and Liberal Parties. Scarfolk designs often play with the modernist aesthetic of actual Penguin covers, like these three above. Collectors Weekly: Have people mistaken your designs for real artifacts? This book is brilliant, bonkers, funny, and utterly disturbing in equal measures. The concept is good, and the alternate reality of 1970's England is just outside the bounds of what would happen, but tangible enough to make it seem possible.

Discovering Scarfolk - Richard Littler - Google Books

The ice-cream van man came between 3 and 4 a.m. His van blared out the haunting Swedish Rhapsody numbers station. The ice-cream van man wore a clown mask to disguise the horrific burns on his face because he didn’t want to frighten the children. It didn’t work. He used clothes pegs to hold the mask on because he was missing an ear. He lived in a nondescript building in an electrical substation and no one knew his name. Some observers have detected a kinship between Scarfolk and the musical genre of ‘hauntology’, as exemplified by the Ghost Box record label. It’s a link that Littler himself can understand. Indeed, he describes the unmade screenplay that he cannibalised for the blog as ‘hauntology-themed’. See also: Scarbrand pie filling; minor meat cuts; Mr Liver Head; recycling surgical waste; the Eating Children book.This is a rather comprehensive tourist guide (for those tourists who have NOT been quarantined), featuring all of Scarfolk's attractions, such as the police flea market which sells forensic evidence, Scarpark, where all foliage is constructed of the finest British concrete, the Outsider's Zoo and Slaughter Gardens and the Scarfolk Drop, a popular destination for despondent visitors, it is open more than 7 days a week, 367 days a year. (Please avoid the Kill Bush underground station which was recently closed due to poltergeist activity.) The conceit is that Scarfolk can never leave the 1970s, even though the rest of the world passes by normally. Perhaps this happens in a neighboring parallel universe, who knows. In practical terms, it means the present day can occasionally leak into the 1970s and vice versa, which is a way to contrast changes in social attitudes and ideas of the past 40 or 50 years. Collectors Weekly: Do you think of Scarfolk as an alternate version of your childhood? Littler: I like the clean lines and simple typefaces of modernism, and I’ve come to appreciate the aesthetic of Brutalist architecture. But it’s not just the period design I’m drawn to—I’m also interested in the pre-digital age and the idea that everything from that period is physically decaying.

Discovering Scarfolk - Penguin Books UK Discovering Scarfolk - Penguin Books UK

The Let's Think About... booklet was published by Scarfolk Council Schools & Child Welfare Services department in 1971. It was designed for use in the classroom and encouraged children between the ages of five and nine to focus on a series of highly traumatic images and events. This book is a veritable laugh riot for those of you with the proper sense of humor AND for those of you who are chomping at the bit waiting for a Welcome to Night Vale book.I've always really enjoyed the Scarfolk Council blog ever since I've discovered it from some source or another, Ian ‘Cat’ Vincent was born on Imbolc-Groundhog Day in 1964. He is a lifelong student of the occult, and a former professional combat magician and curse-breaker. His writing and talks on Forteana and magic can be seen at catvincent.com, tinyurl.com/catvtalks, and occasionally in Fortean Times. He lives in Yorkshire, England with his wife, the artist Kirsty Hall.

Scarfolk Council Scarfolk Council

Two of the album covers Littler produced for Scarfolk. Collectors Weekly: What’s your typical method for creating Scarfolk graphics?At the end of the decade, the council decided that because of a small handful of troublemakers, the whole town would have to be punished: Everyone would have to resit the 1970s. The Scarfolk blog draws on a particularly late 20 th Century aesthetic, one which Littler has grown to increasingly like during the time he’s been using it. Enter The Opportunity Doorway scheme, which has been designed specifically for you. It won't dig into your housekeeping allowance and you won’t have to worry about reading anything complicated; however, a head for heights is recommended."