From the author of Starve Acre, one of my favourite folk horror novels, comes a collection of genre-bending short stories, all focused around the fictional settlement of Barrowbeck in Lancashire, taking us from pre-historic times right up to the present and beyond. There are some standout tales here - especially those that take place in the future, leaning into dystopian and science fiction - and the concept of charting the progress of a community's prospects over centuries of change is a fascinating one. But I couldn't help but feel this didn't quite come together as intended. Hurley's scene setting and imagination are strong, but the pieces feel a touch disparate, and made the reading experience more arduous than I was expecting. There's certainly plenty than many readers will find to love here, but this just wasn't quite for me.

DNFed after the first story. The writing style wasn't quite for me and the book didn't capture my interest. I'd definitely recommend anyone who is into literary horror give this a shot!

A collection of short stories, previously heard on the radio in slightly different versions. I liked this, but it’s less cohesive than I hoped - the idea of linked stories all taking place in the same area over thousands of years offers plenty of opportunity for resonances and echoes throughout, but that doesn’t come into play as much as I might have liked. It’s also curiously lacking in a sense of place - I didn’t come away thinking I knew this area or how the location of one story was related to another. There wasn’t one individual story that I disliked, but somehow as a novel it is less than the sum of its parts. There is some great writing here, and a sinister and ominous mood throughout (which counts as praise round my way), but I think it is better served by being parcelled out over a long period if time and interspersed with other books rather than being read in one go.

I like Andrew Michael Hurleys books but I didn’t enjoy Barrowbeck as much. I’m not a big fan of short stories. When I was offered this book to read I was so excited I didn’t even read the synopsis. I thought some of the stories were better than others and overall I liked what I read.
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and share this book.

Like many readers I have a To Be Read pile of books and try to work through it methodically. However, every now and again a very special writer brings out a new tome and that goes straight to the top of the pile. So it is with Andrew Michael Hurley. ‘Starve Acre’, ‘Devil’s Day’ and ‘The Loney’ are among my very favourite books of recent years, so I approached ‘Barrowbeck’ with great excitement and expectation. Mr. Hurley did not disappoint. He is a very fine craftsman and a master of the horror genre - not out and out gore fest because it is mostly what he doesn’t specify that grips you and stays with you. A good story, interesting characters and then leave the reader wondering and imagining whatever is going on. Makes the hair on the back of your neck twitch with fear and fright of the unknown. Rather like M.R. James of yesteryear. ‘Barrowbeck’ is a collection of stories about a community/place somewhere along the Yorkshire-Lancashire border; think of Mytholmroyd but bleaker. The stories move from ancient times to the Middle Ages and through to the future but leave you wondering what it is about the place. Is there something out there? Is it something inherent in the land or the air? Wonderful stuff.
I highly recommend ‘Barrowbeck’ as a work of literature and urge readers to soak up the earlier books.
I received a review copy via NetGalley and offer this as a free and fair assessment. Many thanks to NG and, especially, to Mr. Hurley. I can’t wait for the next one.

I was very excited to have the opportunity to read the new release by Andrew Michael Hurley. I've loved every one of his books & Barrowbeck did not disappoint. Written about the same location, but over hundreds of years, it's a timely reminder that we are but caretakers of whatever place we find ourselves living.

Written as a series of vignettes over time in the harsh northern landscape of Barrowbeck, Hurley leads us through the strange and eerie happenings that have afflicted the town over the centuries. Something is not quite right with the place. Maybe it never was, but as we're brought up to date & beyond in the near future, it seems that the townsfolk still haven't learned to respect the land they're caretaking & the river gods are not happy at all. Highly recommended.

Oh how I longed to love this new novel from Michael Hurley. I’ve loved all his previous novels but unfortunately this one didn’t quite hit the mark. It had all the usual Hurley features ; slow burn unease, folk horror etc but just as each story got going it jumped to another time period. This just left me frustrated.

Well written but not for me unfortunately.
I actually didn’t have a clue what was going on, something supernatural apparently but the book jumped around so much that I got completely lost and I didn’t hear enough about any of the characters to really care what happened to them, but nothing much did seem to happen and the things that did were a bit bizarre like the tiny tiger!

From water we are born, to water we return.

I cannot shout enough about this book - loved it. I must admit I’m yet to read Starve Acre, but read (and also loved) The Loney back in 2018ish.

Barrowbeck is broken into short stories/chapters each taking place in Barrowbeck, years apart. If you like everything handed to you on a plate and tied up with a bow, this isn’t it. That’s part of the genius ~ you’ll go where your mind takes you (in my case, to the depths). Drenched in foreboding and you are consumed by this unsettling sense as you read each story. Each character’s POV starts off with relative normalcy for it only to be turned on its head. So many times I found myself saying, “sorry, WHAT?!”

I see this as a capsule of an epoch: how it begins, the tumultuous custodians, and what comes thereafter. I am a big fan of the mysticism elements, almost biblical connotations of this force the people of Barrowbeck are subject to. Much in the way ‘the land remembers’ in many folk stories, the water will flow in Barrowbeck.

“…always remember that they were custodians here. No. Servants. Dewin corrected his translation of the word the gods had used. Servants. Though in what way, he did not know.”

It’s dark, it’s eerie, it’s delicious. Read it!

*3.5 stars*

A collection of tales from the fictional hamlet of Barrowbeck, a remote valley encircled by fells on the Yorkshire/ Lancashire border.
The inhabitants are used to hardships given the geographical location, where at certain times of the year the sun would be completely blocked out. However, they farmed the land and got on with life as best they could. But there’s something about Barrowbeck that has a claustrophobic feel to it, and an eerie darkness about it.

The lives of Barrowbeck’s inhabitants down through the ages, are told by various characters right from the founding of this settlement up until 2049. Each short story is quite strange or odd in some way, and reserved for a particular period in time.

As with any collection of short stories, some stood out more than others, and it was definitely a bit hit and miss for me. Loved some of them, others not so much.

Andrew Michael Hurley’s debut novel The Loney achieved a sort of “cult” success following its publication by Tartarus Press. Its subsequent “mainstream” edition crowned Hurley as the king of English folk horror, a position cemented by Devil’s Day and Starve Acre (a film version of which will soon be hitting the screens).

In this context, Barrowbeck is both a continuation of Hurley’s trajectory and, in some ways, a departure from the genre with which he is associated. The volume presents a baker’s dozen of stories, which expand on pieces Hurley wrote for the BBC 4 radio series “Voices in the Valley”. The featured stores are all linked by their geographical setting – the fictional valley of Barrowbeck somewhere between Yorkshire and Lancashire. The stories follow a chronological order, starting with a “prehistoric” opener, which more or less sets the mood for the volume, and ending with a sci-fi-tinged story set in 2041.

Throughout, Hurley plays with different genres, upending readers’ expectations. In some of the pieces, we get a clear glimpse of Hurley’s trademark folk-horror (“Autumn Pastoral”, “The Haven”), in others there’s a greater emphasis on character studies tinged with the macabre (“An Afternoon of Cake and Lemonade”, “Sisters”) while others are unexpectedly poignant (“Hymns for Easter”). It is also interesting to see Hurley, in a way, experimenting with historical fiction – indicating a new avenue which his writing could take (there was already an indication of this in the story he contributed to the anthology The Winter Spirits).

This is a very strong collection which, thanks to its eclectic approach may well win Hurley fans beyond the horror community.

4.5*

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2024/07/barrowbeck-by-andrew-michael-hurley.html

This was unusual but interesting and well written. Each chapter is set at a different time in the ‘life’ of a remote village, from its founding. As with previous novels from the author there is a sense of menace and otherworldiness. With something so ambitious, I felt some chapters worked better than others, but overall it was enjoyable and memorable.

With thanks to NetGalley and John Murray for the arc.

This was such a good read. Telling the story of the valley of Barrowbeck on the Yorkshire Lancashire border this is more of a collection of short stories, woven together through a shared history and strong sense of place.
I’ve read several of Hurley’s works before and I think this may be amongst my favourites - coming a close second to Starveacre, although it lacks that book’s shock factor. Hurley is becoming adept at creating an underlying sense of unease, creepiness and the uncanny in his writing, and although some of these ‘short stories’ work better than others, overall the whole makes for an eldritch, page-turning read. Perfect for fans of Daisy Johnson (whose book ‘Fen’ this really reminded me of), and writers such as Benjamin Myers whose books are closely tied to the landscape they are situated in. Highly recommended.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6604121616
This is another wonderful book from Hurley - I’m really hoping that the release of the film version of Starve Acre will create enough interest in his work to persuade a publisher to reissue his short story collections, which I can’t find anywhere! One of Hurley’s consistent themes is the interaction of people with a particular landscape through time, and the final story feels like an elegy for lost places.

An excellent collection of linked short stories. Unnerving, thought provoking, and sometimes down right creepy, Hurley shows again why he’s such an exciting name in British Folk-Horror.

Excellent new book from Hurley, composed of linked short stories which form a mosaic-like overall picture rather than a complete novel as some readers may expect. Some stories are clearly stronger than others (‘Autumn Pastoral’ is one of the best things he’s written) but the book overall is remarkably consistent. Will recommend to existing fans of the author and new readers alike.

Hurley changes things up a little in this collection of linked short stories set in the village of Barrowbeck from its founding right up until the mid 21st century. The stories themselves do differ in mood, however there's enough of a sinister undertone throughout to satisfy any fan of folk horror.

The stories themselves never outstay their welcome and on a couple of occasions they didn't feel long enough. Barrowbeck is peppered with memorable and intriguing characters, so I did feel slightly frustrated that my time with them was over faster than I would have liked but that was the only real annoyance with this book. Hurley's gorgeous prose and striking visuals more than made up for it.

Barrowbeck is likely to please established fans of Hurley and a decent starting point for any readers wanting to try the author.

Recommended.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

On the surface Barrowbeck could be seen as a series of 13 short stories set over the centuries, each imbued with folklore and simmering tensions. However I read this as one story of the main character, the village of Barrowbeck, and how humans changed its life over centuries. As with Hurley's previous books which I have really enjoyed, especially The Loney, I found his scene setting and descriptive writing to be superb. I could see the village very clearly in all its states from first settlement on the banks of the River Arfon through to its destruction by flooding due to quarrying. This is a book that merits very close reading to consider how the human characters interact with the landscape, climate and each other. Each time period has characters who are a little bit 'different' who seem perhaps to have more of an understanding of the land and, perhaps as a result, have some particular skills, aptitudes or attitudes more in tune with Barrowbeck than those who live there unthinkingly. The book Barrowbeck is a fable and the author, Andrew Michael Hurley is a master storyteller. Thank you to John Murray Press for an ARC of this title.

Hurley has once again brought his particular blend of folkhorror and setting in this latest offering. The place - Barrowbeck - itself is really the main character here and the book is comprised of 13 short stories stretching across 2000 years of events in this area. I really enjoyed this format and the stories themselves. Highly recommend.

Wasn't sure what to make of this book really. It sounded intriguing so I was willing to give it a go. Overall I think it worked well and the short story format was a good idea, It did suit the overall narrative. It's not a love but I did like it