This collection of thirteen linked short stories is set in the fictional village of Barrowbeck on the Yorkshire-Lancashire border and chronicles the fortunes of the inhabitants over 2,000 years, from the first settlers, Celtic farmers who have been driven from their homes by Anglo-Saxon invaders, to the near future, when climate change has changed the valley for ever. But this is no pastoral idyll. Throughout a sense of menace and foreboding pervades, the atmosphere of disquiet and unease unsettles the reader, and an eerie tension is maintained throughout. Each story, however ordinary it appears at the start, soon descends into the darkness, with some fantastical but strangely convincing twists. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, although horror, in any form, isn’t my usual reading matter, and yet here I fell under the spell. Brilliant writing, expert pacing, and psychological insight make this a book to savour.

I can’t really say this is a book to ‘enjoy’. It’s unsettling and creepy, told in chapters across time. There’s no real explanation for the events. Some of the chapters caught the imagination more than others. many thanks to NetGalley for an arc of this book.

I was completely engrossed by the plot and couldn’t put this book down. The tension built perfectly, leading to a jaw-dropping conclusion.

Andrew Michael Hurley is very good at taking ‘folk horror’ and viewing it through a contemporary lens. He has shown that previously in the novel "Starve Acre", which I thought was fantastic. However, "Barrowbeck" is a very different proposition, not being a novel per se, but being constructed of around a dozen interlinked tales, each progressing through time and building a picture of the land and people of Barrowbeck.
Each of the stories that make up the book are distinctly different in content and style, and demonstrate Hurley’s ability as a writer, but together impart an almost palpable, underlying feeling of unease and disquiet. He does this very well.

The only story that I found didn’t fit was the final chapter. The purpose of this was obviously to draw the strands together and to impart a framework to support the rest of the stories. In this it is successful, and I had no problem with the near-future sci-fi feel of this chapter either. However, the shoehorning of a worldwide environmental story into what had previously been a *very* local story didn’t quite work for me – it is the intense, parochial, claustrophobic nature of the stories that makes this book quite outstanding and this was somewhat lost in the final story. But I can’t let the slight misjudgement of a chapter (even if it is the final one) detract from the wonderful nature of the whole. Possibly the best book I have read this year.

Barrowbeck is an evocative collection of short stories set in the aforementioned remote valley. It shows slices of people’s lives from the beginning of time in the age of gods and goddesses, to the future where the world is seemingly collapsing. Like the author’s previous book, Starve Acre, this collection has a touch of folk horror. But there are also elements of fantasy, historical fiction, family drama, and even science fiction. I would say this is the author’s most ambitious book so far! The stories are more unsettling than scary, hinting at something otherwordly while exploring superstitions, dreams, grief, and hope.

My favourites:

“The Strangest Case (1792)” - A father is accused of killing his daughter who he believes had been possessed
“After The Fair (1899)” - A girl visits a magical traveling fair that faces protests from disbelievers
“Natural Remedies (1938)” - A woman offers a childless couple a gift, but with a cost
“Autumn Pastoral (1995)” - An art appraiser visits a gloomy house filled with peculiar paintings
“A Valediction (2041)” - Two environmental inspectors travel to the flooded valley, now left with remnants of everything that came before

A quietly forbidding collection that offers visions of life and hopes amidst the rubble, Barrowbeck is the perfect addition to your horror reading list.

Although different from his previous work, the short stories are interconnected and fans of previous work will enjoy!

The term 'folk horror' is perfect for the north of England. Perfect too, for this exceptional writer who has mastered the art of folk horror.

Barrowbeck is a fictional village that nestles in a valley around the border between Lancashire and Yorkshire. It is isolated and doesn't have many visitors or tourists. This is partly down to the location as the valley is dull and the location of the fells blocks a lot of the sun. Perhaps there is something else darker and more sinister that keeps people away.

This book is a collection of thirteen stories all set in Barrowbeck. It crosses a broad timeline from the early settlers to the modern day and beyond. Each tale shows chilling and sometimes disturbing events, sometimes ambiguous but always unsettling. Hurley has the ability to make this strange place atmospheric and creepy yet very human, looking at grief, mortality, fear and the desire for children.

Where the author excels is in his description of Barrowbeck. There is a wonderful sense of place, an eerie tone set in the landscape where one can imagine what the rare traveller experiences as they pass through. And describing the colour of an eye as gooseberry green...love it. A very talented and creative author although I have to admit, I do prefer the novels.

Hurley has once again created a fictional environment which creates a world of ominous foreboding juxtaposing the natural and human worlds. Told through the centuries, Barrowbeck explores the toll that the inhabitants have on the land around them, exploring the original synchronicity of land dwelling to the contemporary greed for ownership, and beyond into the future.

The cyclical nature of the book provides a key observational tool and critique of the environmental damage that society is bringing to the natural world. Brimming with folklore and whispers of mythical beliefs, the land of Barrowbeck will reflect that which has been seeded within.

I devoured this dark collection of connected tales, set in the haunting Barrowbeck, a place steeped in ghosts. The stories ranged from hundreds of years ago, up until the near future, and were all standalone, but also interlinked. And all possessed sinister undertones. It almost felt like reading a serious account of The League of Gentlemen, set in the fictional and horror-filled Royston Vasey. Hurley's prose was blade-sharp and his characters deeply unnerving. Brilliant stuff!

These are atmospheric short stories connected by the place they are set. We discover the peculiarities of Barrowbeck, valley, village and town, over the centuries as strange happenings occur to strange people. Some of the stories point to a menacing ending, and some are open-ended and puzzling. I have to say I didn't love this as much as Starveacre but it is still a chilling read and the writing is of course very good. I was reminded of Tales of the Unexpected and Inside No 9.

3.5 stars as it didn't quite grab me as much as I hoped.

I have read everything Andrew Michael Hurley ahs written, but his more recent books haven't lived up to the promise of his earlier work I feel. I found The Loney distinctly underwhelming, and that is the case with Barrowbeck too, and in the same sort of way.

The problem with both books is the lack of a chill factor, for me. This author specialises in what I think of as a particularly British kind of horror, based to a degree on whimsy, and dark forces relating to the land, to animals, to the fabric of a bygone way of life that our modern day ignores at its peril. But Barrowbeck just isn't particularly creepy, and all that we are left with is a bit of whimsy.

Barrowbeck is a valley in north Yorkshire, and the book is in fact a series of thirteen short stories only very loosely connected, other than by virtue of all being set in Barrowbeck. From the time of its first settlement following a Viking raid on a coastal farming community, to the near future when it has been devastated by flooding thanks to the effects of climate change, we are invited to see the river that runs through the valley as a malevolent force casting a dark shadow over the inhabitants of this place. Many of the stories, though not all, have a watery connection. A few of them are properly unsettling - Sisters is one, An Afternoon of Cake and Lemonade is another. And the last story, A Valediction, set in 2041, is terrifying not for the point of the story but by virtue of the vision it paints of what our world, ravaged by climate change, might look like in a very short time from now. As I write this review, reports are emerging of a year's worth of rain falling in Valencia, Spain, in the space of a few hours causing devastation, and the changes imagined in this story are scarily easy to imagine becoming reality.

So, in summary - underwhelming on the whole, but with flashes of the old Andrew Michael Hurley to keep you going.

Think a mix of 'Tales of the Unexpected' and Edward Rutherfurd's brilliant sagas of one place through time, such as 'Sarum'. But not half as good.

We get no sense of the place of Barrowbeck, and no continuity of characters - neither names nor characteristics. Instead we have a disjointed collection of rather disappointing stories, for the most, often leaving the reader wondering why it was written or what happened to round it off. The book starts in prehistory, then leaps to Medieval, then leap to the 19th century (really, no tale set in the rich Tudor times?) then plenty of 20th and 21st century stuff. One or two stories are quite clever, but overall it seems the author had an idea for a random collection of stories and saw this as the vehicle to peddle them. I wanted to be able to picture Barrowbeck and see the characters and their descendants develop. They all seemed very two dimensional and forgettable.

Sorry, it didn't work at all for me. A very disappointing read.

Thank you to NetGalley and John Murray Press for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A collection of short stories set in a Northern village from ancient times to the modern world. The eeriness of the writing was unsettling and disturbing and I struggled to finish.

‘Barrowbeck’ evoked a parson’s egg response in me: the writing is excellent and puts the reader in the characters’ (uncomfortable) shoes in the eery, harsh and remote environment of the village of Barrowbeck but I did wonder how Andrew Michael Hurley would pull together these vignettes. I loved the opening story of how Barowbeck came about, the tale of the hibernating sisters and the drama of the new doctor. These tales encapsulate that what goes around comes around and that we are guests on this earth.
I enjoyed the writing, being nudged out of my comfort zone, and will seek out other titles by this author.

Andrew Michael Hurley's new book is a collection of stories linked through the town of Barrowbeck. Starting with the first story around the time of the Viking invasion and finishing in 2041, each one jumps several years into the future with the only apparent connection (apart from the final two) being that they are all set in Barrowbeck.
There are some misses in the collection, but most are up to the standard of Hurley's previous three books. Each story creates an eerie atmosphere while knowing when to stop so as to leave the reader wanting more.
I really enjoyed this book and any release from Hurley is always welcomed.

Not for me at all, sadly....a collection of short stories regarding the people living in the imaginary Barrowbeck through the centuries. It's always hard to build and develop characters in such a short timescale...but beyond that I found some of the stories quite unremarkable, with some having seemingly no ending whatsoever....many thanks for the opportunity to read and review.

“Wean them off this drivel about sorcery. Such things belong to the centuries of the past, not ours. They work among the marvels of science every day at the will, and yet they talk of goblins.”

I have enjoyed Andrew Michael Murray’s “Starve Acre” and I was very excited to read this one. When I started reading Barrowbeck, I didn’t know it would be an anthology of short stories. Even so, I enjoyed the eerieness.

The stories come in chronological order, and the first story is about how it all started. When the marsh-folk escaped and found a new home by the river in Barrowbeck. From marsh-folk they became valley-folk and settled. But as their old shaman warned them – they owed this new start to the gods and would be forever their servants.
As the years go on, we follow different characters and different stories.

Each of them have one thing in common – the unsettling vibe and the price that comes with living in Barrowbeck. A daughter and a mother are sharing the same vivid dreams. The Sicilian man that visited and brought bad luck. Fear of witchcraft. One girl was murdered in the woods in a very peculiar way. A choir where the fallen soldiers decided to join in the singing. A travelling fair with animals so small, you can keep them in the palm of your hands. One child being born by spawning from a flower.

All the stories have something unique in them, and although the stories themselves are very different to one another, the same theme continues throughout the book. The stories move on with the times. We go from shamans and witchcraft, to trials for murders, to doctors and mental health institutions. The last story is set in 2041, and features technology and the village flooded. Whilst we think it’s the effects of global warming, it brings the question of whether it could just be the wrath of the gods.

I really enjoyed every single story. It’s true, some stories left a bigger impression than others, and some I will remember more than others. What I found intriguing is that we never get an answer. We don’t really know what is going on. And I think that is the case with everything eerie and all things we cannot explain. There will always be room left for personal interpretation and it’s certainly a great book that can prompt a lot of discussions. It’s certainly worth giving it a go!

Barrowbeck by Andrew Michael Hurley is a collection of short stories set in the fictional Yorkshire village of Barrowbeck, which serves as the central character of the book. The stories span from ancient times to glimpses of the future, offering snapshots of life in different eras, from whimsical and historical to speculative. As with previous books, Hurley excels at creating an eerie, claustrophobic atmosphere, enhanced by the village’s isolation, and he sustains this mood throughout. However, many of the stories felt more like snapshots of circumstances rather than fully developed narratives. While stories like The Strangest Case, and Autumn Pastoral, stood out for their intriguing elements, others like To Think of Sicily, After the Fair, and A Celestial Event fell flat for me. While it is categorised as folk horror, not all of the stories fit that genre, which was slightly disappointing. However, I still enjoyed the book overall and would recommend it.

Huge thank you to NetGalley UK and @johnmurray for sending me an arc!

Barrowbeck, Andrew Michael Hurley’s latest novel, is a haunting and atmospheric tale set in a remote valley on the Yorkshire-Lancashire border, where ancient forces stir beneath the surface of daily life. Known for his mastery of quiet horror and gothic landscapes, Hurley once again weaves a story that blends the eeriness of rural isolation with deep human emotion and the inevitable clash between modernity and ancient history.

Barrowbeck itself is as much a character as the people who live there—a village steeped in centuries of tradition, where the natural world and the supernatural overlap. Hurley captures the oppressive sense of place with vivid descriptions, drawing readers into a landscape where every hill, stone, and river feels alive with dark energy. The valley’s inhabitants have long made uneasy peace with these forces, but the gradual erosion of these unspoken understandings is at the heart of the novel’s creeping tension.

The story follows several villagers, each of whom faces a unique personal crisis, all linked to the valley’s mysterious and malevolent undercurrent. A father, tormented by the belief that his daughter has been possessed, embodies the fear of losing control over one’s loved ones to forces beyond comprehension. The childless couple, torn between a moral decision that will alter their lives forever, reflects the pain of unmet expectations in a place where tradition weighs heavily on personal choice. The widower, awaiting the impossible return of his wife, and the man plagued by apocalyptic visions both grapple with loss and existential dread.

Hurley expertly ties these individual narratives together, creating a tapestry of interconnected lives whose struggles reflect the broader themes of the novel: the fragility of human existence, the hubris of progress, and the unseen, often forgotten, forces that shape our world. As new developments threaten to disrupt the ancient rhythms of Barrowbeck, the villagers’ sense of control begins to unravel, revealing the dark truth that they are merely guests in the valley, temporary tenants in a place ruled by something far older.

The novel’s pacing is deliberately slow, building an almost unbearable tension as the characters’ lives spiral toward inevitable confrontation with the valley’s ancient darkness. Hurley’s prose is understated but richly evocative, immersing readers in the bleak beauty of the rural landscape while deftly exploring themes of isolation, faith, and human frailty. There is an undercurrent of melancholy throughout the novel, as it becomes clear that the people of Barrowbeck are not only at odds with the valley’s supernatural forces but also with time itself. The modern world is encroaching, and with it comes the loss of the old ways and the consequences of forgotten histories.

What makes Barrowbeck particularly unsettling is Hurley’s refusal to offer easy explanations for the strange occurrences. The supernatural is ever-present, but it remains elusive and inscrutable, much like in his previous works, The Loney and Devil’s Day. The novel’s horror is subtle, relying on atmosphere and psychological dread rather than overt scares, which may not satisfy readers looking for more traditional horror tropes. However, for those who appreciate slow-burn, character-driven stories with a strong sense of place, Barrowbeck offers a deeply immersive experience.

At its core, Barrowbeck is a meditation on change—both personal and communal—and the toll it takes on those who resist it. As Barrowbeck’s two-thousand-year history draws to a close, Hurley suggests that progress, no matter how well-intentioned, comes at a price. The novel’s ending is as ambiguous and haunting as the forces that inhabit the valley, leaving readers with a lingering sense of unease long after they’ve turned the final page.

In conclusion, Barrowbeck is a beautifully crafted, quietly menacing novel that cements Andrew Michael Hurley’s place as a master of modern gothic fiction. His exploration of human vulnerability against the backdrop of a timeless, almost sentient landscape makes for a compelling and unsettling read. Fans of Hurley’s previous works, as well as readers who enjoy slow-building horror with deep psychological and emotional layers, will find Barrowbeck a deeply rewarding and atmospheric novel.

Barrowbeck is a book of short stories about the fictional town of barrowbeck.

They move from historical to present day and then the future. Each story catapults you into the eeriness and loneliness of being in a remote area between Lancashire and Yorkshire.

I know the area well as I grew up in Lancashire and the authors writing really encapsulate the feeling of the area. I really enjoyed the emotions that it evoked.

For me short stories usually leave you on a cliff edge. And these stories were the same. It leaves you feeling that something is unfinished.