It's not quite correct to say that the religious right in the U.S. is "quite silent" about C. S. Lewis's THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA.   Generally speaking, the religious right loves those books and promotes them at every opportunity. They also love C. S. Lewis's THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, which consists of letters of advice from one demon to another. Step into almost any religious bookstore in the U.S. and you will see what I mean. http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books/332928011/ref=pd_ts_b_nav

The religious right has no objection to supernatural themes as such. The objections to J. K. Rowling's works are based on the way she handles those themes, not on the themes themselves. But that is a matter for another thread.

I'm still hoping to hear from someone who knows the ballad tradition of New England.

Kent