At the Bottom of the Garden: A Dark History of Fairies, Hobgoblins and Other Troublesome Things

Diane Purkiss traces the darker history of fairies and related beings from ancient and medieval traditions to modern claims. The book considers how stories of goblins, hobgoblins and other troublesome figures expressed fears surrounding birth, death, sex and the boundaries between human and otherworldly realms.

Its chapters examine Scottish witch-trials, the uses of fairies in early modern belief, literary figures such as Shakespeare’s Puck, and the changing tone of Victorian fairy culture. Purkiss also discusses the Celtic revival, the Cottingley fairy photographs and modern ideas linking fairy encounters with alien abduction. Across these subjects, fairies emerge not as harmless woodland decorations, but as unsettling figures repeatedly reshaped by literature, folklore, belief and popular imagination.