"Witch-Bottle" is a book that keeps you at the tip of your seat from beginning to end, and that leaves you thinking about the boundaries between reality and imagination, reason and superstition.
Fletcher does an excellent job in creating an atmosphere of mystery and horror, and Daniel's character is a complex and credible protagonist.
In short, "Witch-Bottle" is a must read for lovers of the genre of horror and mystery.
In conclusion, "Witch-Bottle" is an excellent choice for lovers of the genre of horror and mystery, which will provide them with an intense and captivating reading.. I recommend you read it if you haven't.

This was way too drawn out for me, it took ages to get to the creeps, so my interest started waning quite early on. It was definitely atmospheric, but there were a lot of unnecessary details. I just wanted to get to the spooky parts, when they did arrive it was enjoyable but fleeting.

I really enjoyed this book. I don’t tend to go for dark novels as I mainly read at night. But I made an exception for this one and I’m glad I did. It was exciting. Very well written. The plot was great. Highly recommend

In his horror novel "Witch Bottle" Tom Fletcher tells the unsettling story of Daniel, an aspiring fantasy writer, who left his wife and little daughter to live in a remote part of Cumbria working as a milkman, when the marriage didn't work out.

While he has to deal with the sometimes unreasonable demands of his customers and the strange moods of his boss, Daniel is having eerie visions. During the night he's haunted by a hooded giant, who seems to follow him around and turns up at the most unexpected moments. At the same time, he stars dating Kathryn, who runs the local La’al Tattie Shop and is a part-time witch. Lately, her services have become increasingly popular. Other villagers complain about disturbed sleep and ghostly visits, too. These apparitions seem to coincide with increased business for a company called Fallen Stock, which disposes of dead farm animals, and whose menacing lorries are seen on the roads everywhere. Their drivers appear to know more than they tell. When Daniel confides his nightmares to Kathryn, she provides him with a witch bottle, which contains a protective ward. In return she asks him to deliver her products on his regular rounds. As he tries to overcome his personal trauma as well as his recent problems, Daniel finds out that he seems to be at the center, if not the cause of all the problems. But is Kathryn really being helpful or is she making things even worse?

"Witch Bottle" is more in the tradition of gothic horror than the usual splatter novel. It's a book about psychological trauma in way that the intense wrongness its main character experiences might be a consequence of his troubled past and failed career as a writer. Subtly mixing his description of a depressing reality, when he depicts in detail Daniel's rounds as a milkman, with the supernatural, Fletcher unfurls an atmospheric horror that slowly creeps into your guts. With every chapter we learn more about some part of Daniel’s world, whether it a story from his past, the introduction of an acquaintance, or a continuation of his present life ending each segment with something more like an anticlimax than a cliffhanger. Still a feeling of permanent menace prevails.

Like in many good horror stories, a lot is left to the imagination of the reader. The sinister ending of the novel quickly turns into something otherworldly and comes kind of suddenly, but not completely without resolution.

I truly enjoyed this book. Tom Fletcher writes a highly readable prose and crafts his story expertly. I can recommend "Witch Bottle" without reservation.

Once Daniel had a family - a wife and child - and a career, somewhere in a city vaguely 'down south', but now he's living alone, working as a milkman in the rural north-west of England. His job is undemanding, monotonous, but he likes the lack of pressure, and being out driving round the countryside. Recently though odd things have begun to happen - Daniel's seeing ghosts, and it seems like many of his customers are too, and although Daniel's girlfriend can help out with a 'witch bottle' to keep phantoms and nightmares at bay, it seems to be just a stop-gap measure. There's also the mystery surrounding the men driving the Fallen Stock vans, ostensibly they're collecting dead animals from the farms for safe disposal, but Daniel feels they're up to something far more sinister.
It's a synopsis that feels full of dread and suspense, but for my taste it took just too long to get round to the creepy bits. The detail about milk rounds and the quirks of the customers would have been all very well in a different sort of book but here they just seemed drawn out, and unnecessary. When the story eventually gets round to Daniel's nightmares, and the ghostly presences appearing all over the neighbourhood, the chill factor cranks up a notch or two, but it was too little, too late for me.

Set in the grim north of England, this book follows the daily grind of Daniel, a man who's milk round is interuppted only by the occasional visit to a cage and its enticing owner.
The book opens with a scene of such visceral imagery I will admit it took me a day or two to process it and return to the book. And I am very glad I did. The plot is simple enough but beautifully told in exquisite language. Daniel begins to see a ghost haunt him and his dreams to the point where he can no longer sleep. Many of his milkround customers also begin to see visions of dead loved ones. Enter the cafe owner, Kathryn, a witch, who provides solutions in the form of the titular witch bottle. But not every one is happy with the bottles, and the very sinister Fallen Stock men soon begin to threathen everything.
Excellent secondary characters and descriptive passages litter the pages of this book which is, on the face of it, a ghost story
But as you read on, the levels to the writing subtly reveal a commentary on depression and anxiety. Throw in a failed marraige and a dead baby sibling, Daniel struggles with his mental health throughout. The ghosts, and human-flesh-eating giant that threatens to invade this world are well drawn allegories for the fears and worries of Daniel, but also for the world at large.
The book feels like a deeply personal story, and all credit to Tom Fletcher for writing it in such a way.
Terrifying yet moving, this is a truly great story.

Thanks to Netgalley.co.uk and Jo Fletcher Books for a free copy in exchange for this honest and fair review.

Deeply unsettling. I loved it! A true modern gothic novel. Daniel is a recluse, who dreams of finally writing the fantasy novel he wishes. Alone in the world after the death of his brother and divorce from his wife his only acquaintance is his boss Bean. Daniel starts to have nightmares which he knows deep down aren’t just nightmares. But its not just nightmares troubling him. His haunted. With the help of a local farmer Kathryn he tries to find out the origins of the hauntings he’s having. I would highly recommend this book. A terrifying slow burn read that will keep you in suspense throughout. .

Daniel is an aspiring writer turned milkman who struggles to form real relationships with others and prefers his own company. Life gets complicated though when a witch in town recruits him to deliver her Witch Bottles to her clients.

I liked the gradual characterization of Daniel and Kathryn, especially as the author developed their relationship and interactions with each other. I did find some of the dialogue a little formal and unrealistic for how two people of their age would talk to each other. Some of the personality traits also felt a little strange. For a dude that's so skeptical of others he really took the whole "I'm a witch" thing in stride.

The plot was unique and interested me from the start but it took a while for the story to pick up. This is definitely a slow-burn read that gradually builds the suspenseful and eerie atmosphere. Definitely worth a read!!

Quite an unusual book! It’s described as horror - but it’s not of the slasher/blood variety – it’s atmospheric horror which I think crosses over into dark magical realism at points.

The protagonist is Daniel, currently living as a Milkman in rural Cumbria after the collapse of his former life. The milk-round with its routine seems fundamental to his being able to function. He is clearly only just surviving -shown, for example, by a lack of self-care and his withdrawal from society. The setting, with its desolate nature and dereliction is perfect, and an echo of Daniel himself.

Part of his routine is buying his lunch from Kathryn, who turns out to be a local witch (I hadn't heard of a ‘witch bottle' before reading this, but they are real things). I wish her part had been larger and, thinking back, she seemed to be the only character who had any positivity in her life. We get a glimpse of other characters in the rural community too, which serve as a reminder of the neglect some people experience, especially as they age.

I think, ultimately, it is a book about psychological trauma. The intense wrongness you feel throughout could be a manifestation of Daniel’s past traumatic experiences. There is one particular recurring grotesque image (first appearing at the very beginning) that you could read as a consequence if PTSD is not treated (i.e the intensity increases).

I had a few isolated niggles very early on – an inconsistency and maybe the odd isolated spelling/grammatical error, but that might have only been in my early copy. It was only an initial thing though, before the slow building creepiness took over.

So, a strange imaginative work, and one which put me in mind of folk tales, or dark fairy tales. I wish it hadn’t ended so abruptly, but that has to be a good sign doesn’t it? (meaning I wanted to read more).
It was hard to choose a rating, but the originality, the quality of writing, and the time I spent thinking about it helped me decide.
It is quite unique.

This book started out well enough. The giant was interesting and I had high hopes for this book. But then the dream was over and the book... The book began to drag and drag and drag. I eventually gave up reading it because the plot would not move. It was just telling, telling, telling...
By 35% I was bored and jumped to the ending. Sadly, this didn't do much for the book. Dissapointing, because I actually was looking forward to this one, because the blurb sounded actually very interesting and the cover was so beautiful...


I received a fre ARC by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A unusual, disconcerting and creepy tale of village life and the hidden menace just beneath the surface. The novel takes it time to show us the uncanny and it benefits from this approach. The plot unfolds through Daniels job as a Milkman and the cast characters he encounters, with flashbacks employed to inform the reader of Daniels past.
Tom Fletcher is a new discovery for me and the moments of brilliance in this novel will be bringing me back for whatever tale he weaves next.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the early copy.

I found the writing to be clunky and the story all over the place. Daniel wasn't a character I understood well or enjoyed reading about (I do like well-written villains or grey characters).
The premise about being a milkman in a rural town and getting to know a witch sounded great, but the execution is rather poor in my opinion.
I can't recommend this book.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Daniel went through a lot of tough things. His baby brother died then he left his wife and daughter. He moves to a remote area of Cumbria in North West England and starts work as a milkman.

He meets a lot of different characters on his rounds and then he meets Kathryn, who is a witch and owns the local shop.

The book has 3 subplots which are all from Daniel's viewpoint. There's his childhood then his relationship with his wife before ,during and after the birth of their daughter. There are present-day scenes, too.

Witch Bottle is very descriptive and atmospheric. I got a real sense of community and rural daily routines. The Fallen Stock driver was quite creepy.

It was my first book in this genre and I do find it unique, it's just very haunting and surprising in some parts.

Thanks to Tom Fletcher and Quercus Books for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.

The way this book starts, it's obvious that the core of this story is unusual and surreal. And there is very much a dark and unique thread twisting its way through the narrative, set against a character's life that is mostly mundane to the point of being boring.
Contrast between the paranormal and the normal can be used to great effect, but I really felt that the normal parts of this guy's life were emphasised way too much. Something creepy or odd would happen, but then there would be a long section of of him doing his day job and hating every minute. And then there were some sections of backstory that were either far too detailed to serve the story well, or which appeared to have no real bearing on the character's present situation. It slowed the pace to the point that the book didn't really get going until about 75% in.
I also feel the witch character was criminally underutilised. She was the one creating the witch bottles the novel is named after, but was not much more than a bit part. Readers who expect a witch to be central to this book will be disappointed.
Overall this is a strange but rather bleak book. It is atmospheric, but the slow pace makes for gloominess more than suspense.

This is a remarkable horror story with a superb worldbuilding! I really connected with Daniel’s voice. While the tone of the book is pretty bleak, there’s some dark humour to offset the gloom. I enjoyed his musings about his co-workers and customers. The setting is vividly illustrated and I could easily imagine the different people on his route. There are also flashbacks to his marriage, the birth of his daughter, and his childhood. He admits that he has a tough time connecting with other people. It’s only later that we find out why. It’s a deeply sad story and shows how trauma can affect the way people live.

While I wish Daniel’s relationship with the local witch, Kathryn, is explored further, I liked their interactions and seeing her point of view. I would have loved to know more about her witchcraft. Her belief in magic lends credence to Daniel’s disturbing visions. I found the notion that there is something wrong that we can feel but cannot see to be truly frightening! But the scares doesn’t just come from the supernatural. The book weaves the horrors of war and climate change into the larger narrative, merging fantasy and reality. It makes for a haunting and poignant read.

This is a a story with an air of menace throughout - and I loved it! It's dark, unsettling and liable to take you on a very dark journey! It certainly kept me on the edge of my seat and was really unsettling and I think that's why I couldn't put it down once I'd started.

It really explores the human emotion of loss, of grief, of loneliness and of self preservation. Those times when you need to take yourself off and be by yourself, and when you push others away in your times of need as you're in fear of hurting those you love. The main character, Daniel, a milkman, is just one of those people who has faced tragedy in his life, and while trying to get his life back on track he encounters a local witch who he comes to see as a ray of light in these darker times, but she's involved in making 'witch bottles' which are supposed to protect people from nightmares and harm....not all those in the area are as understanding as he is of 'witchy' ways so more strange things begin to happen and there seems no escape from them.

This is a really different read - there's a lot of time devoted to the milk round he is on as it becomes his life. Out on the road by himself, spending too much time in his own head and the strange things he encounters along the way. It's not a scream out loud horror, but it's one of those really unsettling reads that you never quite know just where it is going to take you.

The more you learn about Daniel and his past, the more you begin to understand his current state of mind. I sometimes even wanted just a bit more shock from the story as it was often a bit of a slow burn. That didn't distract from the overall feel of the story as it was just so different from my recent reads, and nothing prepares you for the twists and turns along the way!!

I really did enjoy the contrasts of his normality - the daily milkround - alongside the darker struggles he faced daily. Seeing how those traumatic events from his past had taken their toll on him was the chilling aspect of the story.

A haunting, dark and twisty story!!

Witch Bottle is terrifying and deeply unsettling modern gothic horror with an intoxicating infusion of normal, quotidian moments woven into the story alongside the chilling, supernatural ones. Since he walked out on his family, Daniel has lived a solitary, soulless life in a remote part of Cumbria… he doesn’t have his hair cut, he never shaves and seldom showers. Instead he dreams about the fantasy novel he will one day write and immerses himself in the routine of his daily milk round. Daniel once had a baby brother but he died a long time ago, and his marriage didn’t work out. So now he’s alone and the only demand on him is coping with unreasonable customer demands and the vagaries of his enigmatic depot boss Bean, who doesn’t just look like a runner bean but is also ‘tall, flat and tough.’ But things are changing. Daniel has started having nightmares, seeing things that can’t possibly be there… like the naked, emaciated, stinking giant which voraciously consumes flesh and bone, and which Daniel knows instinctively is a ‘real thing’ happening ‘somewhere beneath the surface of the world.’

And it’s not just at night that bad things are happening to him… more and more locals are seeing ghosts, and who are the increasingly numerous, creepy and threatening Fallen Stock men who collect heaps of animal corpses from ‘the shadiest corners’ of farm yards? Shaken and unnerved, and with a deepening inner knowledge that ‘something terrible approaches,’ Daniel opens up to local white witch Kathryn from the La’al Tattie Shop. She can’t discern the origins of his haunting, but she can provide him with a ‘witch bottle’ to protect from unwanted spirits if, in return, he will deliver her products on his rounds. But not everyone is happy to find people meddling with witch bottles and things are about to get a whole lot worse… This is a compulsive and engrossing work of literary horror complete with a rich, immersive atmosphere and a creeping sense of claustrophobia Fletcher portrays so well. The tension throughout rises palpably with each page turn and the evocative landscape is as beguilingly bleak as it is compelling. This is a menacing, slow-burn, imaginative read and one I highly recommended.

In Witch Bottle we are introduced to Daniel. Daniel is an everyman...a nobody. He is a man who has lived and lost, a mundane and relatable enough character. But as the story progresses strange things begin to happen to and around him. Nightmares, hallucinations, odd behaviours and so much death....


Witch Bottle is most defintely a slow burn. The creepiness and sense of dread slowly build as you continue to read. I will admit there were times I considered giving up on this one but I am glad I didn't.

Fletcher does an outstanding job creating a juxtaposition between reality and the supernatural. As you read you will be drawn into his atmospheric and spooky world and begin questioning your own grip on what is and isnt real.

If you are a fan of more folk style or atmospheric horror then I highly recommend you give this book a shot!

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is a strange little story about a milkman and a witch. Really different and perhaps a little more 'literary' than a lot of horror writing. Great atmosphere and characters and a very worthwhile, dark and creepy read.

My thanks to Quercus Books/Jo Fletcher Books for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Witch Bottle’ by Tom Fletcher in exchange for an honest review.

Daniel has left his old life behind and aspires to be a fantasy writer while undertaking the easy monotony of working as a milkman in a remote area in the northwest of England. It demands little of him though some customers can be unreasonable.

Then Daniel starts having nightmares and visions of a naked giant with a black bag over its head. Deeply shaken he opens up to a local witch. She is unable to discern the origins of his haunting, but provides him with a witch-bottle, a protective ward. In exchange he is to deliver her products during his milkman rounds. However, the idea of meddling with witch-bottles seem to upset some of the locals, leading to unpleasant consequences.

This premise sounded ideal for me, especially as ‘Witch Bottle’ is described as a literary horror in the tradition of ‘The Loney’. Still despite this, it was quickly apparent that I just wasn’t engaging with Daniel or his situation. I set it aside for a bit and then tried two more times from the beginning with no improvement. I resisted DNFing and did finish.

Fletcher uses stream-of-consciousness for Daniel and the occasional chapter for local witch, Kathryn. It’s a narrative form often utilised in literary fiction but I struggle with it.

Daniel flips between his daily life, reminisces about the past, especially the traumatic breakdown of his marriage, and of course the nightmare visions of the present.

When Kathryn came into his life I was intrigued but towards the end his increasingly grotesque visions just left me feeling confused. There was also a lot of detail about his daily routine as a milkman that disrupted the building of the overall atmosphere for me.

As a result, I found its pacing uneven; as if two narratives were striving for dominance: the extremely weird visions and the mundane life of a rural milkman.

I am aware that literary novels can be challenging and this novel proved a struggle, though clearly it has appealed to other readers yet ultimately it just wasn’t one for me.