While writing Hailstone King, I became fascinated by the “Black Dog”. In East Anglian folklore, the legend of “Black Shuck” tells of a giant hound that haunts the countryside, seen as an omen of disaster. My dad would refer to the “Black Dog” when talking about his struggles with mental health. “It’s just the old black dog, my son,” was one of the last messages I received before he took his life in 2019. In the winter of 2020, I wrote a poem that later became Barking Dogs. “The resolute slog throws sand in your eyes”—I guess I was down kinda bad lol.
Shortly before his passing, my dad had become a regular at a local spiritualist church. He asked me to join him for ‘healing’ at the church one evening. Upon entering, the waiting room had a classic 70s British gentlemen’s club interior. Everyone inside was familiar with each other, but sat fidgeting, making Norfolk small talk. Two by two, people were called into the next room; a large blacked out gymnasium looking space, with a handful of hospital-like beds dispersed in the room. My turn was last, and by this time, a lil bored , I lay on one of the beds for…my first ever helping of …*spiritual healing*. Afterwards my dad asked how my experience was. I confessed I’d just fallen asleep and remained a spiritualism-sceptic. He insisted it would’ve been a more potent encounter had I been with one of the more *experienced* healers lol.
For the video, the cast embodied their own ‘dog’—a physical manifestation of each character’s demons and trauma, all gathered in the hope of being “healed” on the other side. I’m deeply grateful to
@caterinadanzico ,
@5eirian ,
@genvv , and
@tiamayhockey for embracing this task with such sensitivity and skill. Huge thanks to Katie and Kat
@node_tv and the entire crew for helping bring this vision to life.
Barking Dogs Seldom Bite was a vessel for exploring the broader conversation of mental health- our depleting sense of community, and the way in which society fails to support us. In the UK, one person dies by suicide every 90 minutes. Suicide is the leading cause of death among men under 50, and for young women under 24, the suicide rate has seen the sharpest rise since records began.
