A group of female historians go into the woods to investigate a local legend. A group of seventeenth-century soldiers go into the woods to shelter from battle. Very few of either group will emerge ever again. Ideal for fans of ghostly tales across two timelines.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.

Dr. Alice Christopher has spent her career trying to unravel the secrets of Moresby Wood and the 15 men who went missing in the woods in 1643. Finally given funding, Dr. Christopher leads a group into the woods, ready to tease out the secrets…or so she thinks.

The Dark Between the Trees is a creepy, atmospheric horror story, with dual mirroring storylines set centuries apart. The setting of the story screams tension and oozes with creepy crawlies. Sadly, a DNF for me

The overall plot and characterization of the book was lacking for me. I loved the dual timelines and the mirroring of the movements each group takes, but it almost made the book feel unoriginal BECAUSE they took the same steps. If that makes sense. It just wasn’t engaging and I struggled though most of the book before I DNF’ed. I mostly just stayed as long as I did for the atmosphere. Likewise, having large groups in dual timelines made it impossible to remember who is who, who thinks what and made it impossible to connect to any single character.

I really wanted to love this one and I’ll try to pick it up again, but I just can’t make myself do it yet.

The Dark Between the Trees follows two parties: a band of Parliamentarian soldiers from 1643 that, upon being ambushed by unknown assailants, flee into the nearby Moresby Forest, foreboding and mysterious, for shelter. Fast forward some 300 years to present day where we meet our second party, a group of five women dedicated to discovering once and for all, what really happened the Parliamentarian soldiers. Together, the five women set out into the intimidating depths of Moresby forest, ready for anything...

Or so they think.

Overall, I was impressed with this read! Enough to give it a 4 star rating. The atmosphere throughout this read was constantly cold and tense; it left me wondering if I should be looking over my shoulder as often as the characters do. I have never read anything by Fiona Barnett so I had no idea what to expect, but I'm glad that I requested this one! The comparison to movies such as 'The Ritual' is what made me request this one. I LOVED that movie for its dread-inducing atmosphere and that's exactly what I got here. I found it to be a little too slowly paced for me, but that's just me.

I think anyone that shares my similar interest in horror movies and creature features should pick this one up.

The one negative that I have to point out, and what ultimately led to me giving this 4 stars, is simply the amount of characters you had to keep tabs on. For me, personally, there were WAY too many, and I found that, because of this, I had a hard time connecting to, and ultimately, caring for any of the characters.

This book comes out on October 11th, 2022.

The Dark Between The Trees weaves two stories together over centuries…two very creepy stories. The subtitle “Getting Lost is Safer than Being Found” is a clue although neither is a good choice.

Dr. Alice Christopher has spent her career studying Moresby Wood and the disappearance there of a group of soldiers in the 1600s. Local legends abound involving a vanished family, a witch, and an entity that may or not assume the shape of an animal. Now Dr. Christopher, relying on old maps and the words of the sole survivor of the expedition, takes four women with cutting edge tech gear into the woods to find the soldiers’ bones and discover why they never left. This will not go well.

Captain Davies was ambushed, lost men in a firefight, and escaped into Moresby Wood in 1643. His experiences are described in alternating chapters with those of the Christopher party. Those experiences begin to be startlingly similar to what Alice and her team see now.

Full of horror and dread, The Dark Between The Trees is a terrifying trip into a dark, imaginary world. In both old and modern times, rational thinking slowly devolves into hallucination. Whether this is caused by ghosts, a witch or Moresby Woods itself, it doesn’t matter. Just don’t read this thriller alone at night and…if you happen to be in a forest, don’t look behind you. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Solaris and Fiona Barnett for this ARC,

This is creepy and tense, and most definitely not a pleasant walk in the woods.

I do like a creepy woods, where all technology stops working two foot in.
I liked how a group of females tried to follow the path of a group of males.
I have to be honest though, beyond two, I couldn't tell who was who with the females.
The book builds up the tension nicely, maybe because the "monster" isn't in your face the whole time.
Enjoyable.

I found this book to be creepy, yet intriguing. The description caught me with the 1700s and the description of Moresby Woods, but I have to be honest, I had a bit of trouble following all the characters out of the gate. A first chapter that focused on how they team came together…with a little more on each of the five women might have helped there, but the story dives right in. That aside, this is a really creepy and scary read, and I LOVED IT!

I recommend this book to everyone who was intrigued by the word “Creepy” and/or the description of the book. You won’t be disappointed…and you won’t sleep if you’re reading it late at night.

This is what I love about horror: a creepy setting, rising sense of dread, and simple but driven characters. I was a big fan of the Ritual (the movie) for its simple plot, forest, and villain so while this story doesn't quite reach its level, this is still a great read.

What I liked:
- The setting. I love a mysterious wood with an unseen creature and questions about how it came to be. The addition of two different times (present and hundreds of years ago) was a nice touch, in my opinion, and made things interesting
- The characters didn't grab me but for a horror story, they were solid. They had different motives and distinct personalities and while I didn't care if they lived or died, I could empathize with their situation and motives
- The monster isn't constantly in your face, which I love. It has limited "screen time" and most of what it does happens outside the characters' view

What I didn't like:
- The ending fell flat for me. It felt like a few mysteries were still left unanswered (which I think was the point) but left it not just feeling unsatisfying but incomplete
- I would have preferred we stick to maybe 3-4 POVs instead of the numerous members of the group. Alice had an interesting POV (because she was frustratingly stubborn) but the men and other women all blended together
- The story could get very slow at times and while there's nothing wrong with this slow burn, I found myself hoping something exciting would actually happen when it never did. However, this wasn't a major issue in the book

Overall, a great read for horror fans who love: stories set in the forest, a sense of mystery and exploration, fans of the Ritual or the Descent, and a clean horror that doesn't rely on discomfort or immorality to creep you out. I would recommend this to other horror fans.

[This book was kindly provided as a free e-arc and I greatly appreciate it.]

Goodreads link (because it never seems to work on NetGalley): https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4667023497

The Dark Between The Trees is like a fairytale woven for adults. Something you would expect to hear told around a campfire with chiggers bitting your ankles and shadows lurking between the trees at your back. If you like atmospheric settings, folklore and horror then this novel is for you. Told in alternate timelines both taking place in Moresby Woods, a place said to be the lair of a witch and the hunting grounds of a creature of mists and shadows called the Corrigal. According to murky history a group of seventeen Civil War soldiers went into Moresby and only two came out to tell the tale of their horrifying encounter with the supernatural and of the terror that hungrily hunted them down one by one. Fast forward to the modern day, where a group of five women researchers dare to venture into those same haunted woods on a mission to find out exactly what happen to those soldiers hundreds of years ago. But sometimes legends are better left alone as the women will soon find out, as they too will come face to face with the darkness between the trees. Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for providing the ARC for review. .

The Dark between the Trees by Fiona Barnett

1643: A small group of Parliamentarian soldiers are ambushed in an isolated part of Northern England. Their only hope for survival is to flee into the nearby Moresby Wood... unwise though that may seem. For Moresby Wood is known to be an unnatural place, the realm of witchcraft and shadows, where the devil is said to go walking by moonlight..

Today, five women are headed into Moresby Wood to discover, once and for all, what happened to that unfortunate group of soldiers. Led by Dr Alice Christopher, an historian who has devoted her entire academic career to uncovering the secrets Moresby Wood.

First time read by this author . I don't usually read gothic horror type books , but the plot of the book drew me in . I enjoyed it , but like another reviewer felt it was a little confusing working out who was who in the book.
Having said that , and it wasn't meant as a negative , I would look out for her other title to read.

I love gothic books so I was hooked on this right from the second I read the blurb and it didn't disappoint. Creepy, tense and atmospheric with a gripping and unpredictable storyline. I couldn't put it down.

The Dark Between The Trees by Fiona Barnett is an interesting, compelling story.
It is a riveting and powerful novel, maintaining the reader on their toes until the end.
An amazing gothic folk-thriller, that had me flipping the pages on my Kindle till very late at night.
With fully-fleshed characters, brilliant writing and a story that is perfectly executed.
This book was so gripping right from the beginning.

Rebellion/Solaris,
Thank You for this approved eARC!

Dr. Alice Christopher has always been intrigued by what happened in Moresby Woods in the 17th century, when 17 soldiers, fleeing for their lives, enter the woods, long rumored to be filled with witches and even the devil himself. Only two of those men were ever seen alive again, their stories of a dark presence and a landscape that kept changing around them dismissed as the ravings of madmen. Now Alice and a small group of women have entered those woods carrying metal detectors, and all the modern day equipment available to make sure they are not lost, looking for answers to a mystery nearly 500 years old. Cummins is a formidable story teller, she holds nothing back in her stories, studies in fear and myth

Darkly atmospheric but lacking in characterization. Not knowing (or even really be able to differentiate between) many of the characters made it difficult to be invested in them when things went wrong. The ending was a bit of a let-down - it seemed like the author didn't know where to go with it so just stopped writing.