Loosely based on the novel Ritual by David Pinner, The Wicker Man follows police sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward), who travels to the remote Hebridean island of Summerisle upon receiving an anonymous tip about a missing child. He becomes increasingly suspicious of the townspeople, disturbed by the peculiarity they display in the lead-up to their May Day celebrations. Though much of the pagan practices in The Wicker Man are rooted in exaggeration (e.g., wicker men sacrifices), the film is seen as a definitive entry in folk horror for its inclusion of elements from ancient Celtic practices.

Fleeing war in their native South Sudan, a young refugee couple, Bol and Rial (Sopé Dìrísù and Wunmi Mosaku), seek asylum in England following a treacherous journey. When an apeth (night witch) haunts them in their new home, the couple struggles to make a fresh start. Filmmaker Remi Weekes drew from Sudanese folklore and Dinka mythology to create his apeth, a masculine entity similar to a witch; though in this case, witchcraft doesn’t necessarily mean the use of spells—it can also mean the misfortunes that humans inflict upon one another.

In 14th-century Japan during the Nanboku-chō period of civil war, a mother and daughter-in-law duo (Nobuko Otowa and Jitsuko Yoshimura) survive by hunting lost samurai wandering through their swamp and looting their armor. When their neighbor, Hachi (Kei Satô), returns from the war, he challenges the strength of their relationship. Onibaba is based on the Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist folktale “Yome-odoshi-no-men” (The bride-scaring mask of Rennyo) about a mother who torments her daughter-in-law to test her faith as a follower of Rennyo (1415–1499), a Buddhist monk and the eighth head priest of the Hongan-ji Temple in Kyoto. Filmmaker Kaneto Shindô also incorporates a Hannya mask from Noh theater that represent Onryō, vengeful feminine spirits in Japanese folklore, not to be confused with the flesh-eating demon hags of the film's title.

In 17th-century India along the Malabar coast, folk singer Thevan (Arjun Ashokan) narrowly escapes slavery from Portuguese soldiers only to be driven by a yakshi into the ramshackle mansion of the menacing lord Kodumon Potti (Mammootty). Unsettled by the manor, Thevan soon discovers that Kodumon is a descendant of a powerful sorcerer who was gifted, by the goddess Varahi, a chathan (goblin), who the lord controls. Director Rahul Sadasivan drew inspiration from Kerala folkloric figures like the yakshi—feminine forest spirits—and Chathan (also known as Kuttichathan in child form), mischievous goblins known for harnessing mystical powers, to impart this atmospheric tale of oppression, power, and greed.