This was a solid read! I really did enjoy this book. It was pretty fast paced and engaging.

A solid 4 star book in my opinion!

Quickie:
Folk horror. Pagan customs. Clashing timelines. Unexpected and subtlety sapphic. Brilliant ending.
For fans of The Village, The Ritual, Apostle, and/or Midsommar.
I do hope Ari Aster makes a movie adaptation of Withered Hill.

“Summary” (no spoilers)
The extremely relatable Sophie needs to get her life together—and get a job—and to stop drinking.
The stars start aligning for her: she meets a man and chances upon an easy job. She ignores the corn dolly that keeps appearing, the strange warning messages, and the pentagram in an unexpected place.
Sophie doesn’t quite know how she ended up in Withered Hill. The townsfolk are odd, their traditions even odder. Sophie has been given a riddle she needs to solve. Until then, she’s imprisoned in Withered Hill.

Personal thoughts:
Withered Hill is a dream you can’t quite remember. It slips through your fingers while you mold a new life. Your previous life fades from memory.
David Barnett has graced us with a haunting story. Reading Withered Hill is a purifying journey that continues to goad your soul.

Thank you NetGalley and Canelo for the ARC opportunity! What an entry into the folk horror world by David Barnett. I wouldn’t wish Owd Hob on my worst enemies!

I can’t express enough gratitude to NetGalley, author David Barnett and Canelo Publishing for the ARC copy of Withered Hill, set for publication on September 25, 2024.

Buckle up, kids, because Barnett is about to take you on a romp with this one. The story of our protagonist, Sophie Wickham, is told back and forth: Outside (Countdown to Days to Withered Hill) and Inside (where days bounce around events that happen in Withered Hill).

Sophie is a 32-year old single woman living in London whose friend circle has dwindled, has no career to speak of, and lives largely isolated from everything but financial woes and a drinking problem.

When she wakes up one day in the woods, naked, covered in scratches, and with no memory and stumbles into the village of Withered Hill, her whole worldview begins to change.

How did Sophie get to Withered Hill? Will she ever be able to leave? What secrets must she learn about her past? And what secrets will she learn about Withered Hill?

I can’t say enough good about this folk horror story. The non-chronological story telling layers extra thrills as the story is constantly evolving and giving the reader more ends to tie together. The chapters are quick and snappy and the writing is dynamic, keeping the reader in the present of each section that’s being told, then jumping them to a completely different section of the story’s timeline, weaving a rich narrative in which the author presents tiny details that culminate into a twist ending I was not able to predict.

Drawing on superstitions, folklore and hints of the supernatural, Barnett tells a story that is at times deeply unsettling but still rooted enough in reality that in its most terrifying moments the reader stops to ask themselves if they, too, could one day stumble out of the woods into their own Withered Hill.

This book is a gem for folk horror. David does a stunning job blending atmosphere, surrealism, and a hauntingly unique narrative to tell this story. I was hooked from the first chapter and refused to put it down until I finished it.

The atmosphere of Withered Hill is so thick and immersive that you can almost feel the damp moss underfoot and hear the rustle of unseen creatures lurking in the trees waiting for you.

There’s a real cinematic quality to David’s writing. The comparison that kept coming to mind would be The Village meets Midsommar with a dash of Black Mirror.

Withered Hill will keep you guessing and questioning everything. For anyone who appreciates folk horror or simply enjoys a story that challenges and surprises, Withered Hill is a must read. There’s even a bit of sapphic romance in here. I loved every moment!

Thank you some much Canelo books for the privilege to read Withered Hill early!

In this book we follow Sophie both in and outside of a town called Withered Hill. Inside Sophie hears that she is allowed to leave and is in no way a prisoner, however she is not able to leave right now. Outside we follow Sophie in the days leading up to her arrival in Withered Hill.
Mostly I was along for the ride and enjoyed it, but toward the end of the book I felt like it was dragging on a bit. I did really enjoy the folk and horror aspects of the book.
The ending of the book was a bit underwhelming for my taste and that did influence my rating quite a bit.
3.5/5 stars

Sophie awakens in Withered Hill, naked and with no memory of how she arrived. Trapped in this eerie place, she is told she cannot leave until she is deemed ready. But what must she do—or sacrifice—to prove her worth?

The story alternates between two timelines: Sophie’s life before Withered Hill, where she watched from the sidelines as her closest friends moved on with their lives while drinking herself into oblivion. Then her time within Withered Hill, a place filled with strange traditions, hidden meanings, and the journey toward self discovery.

This narrative evokes the unsettling atmosphere of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village mixed with the disturbing folk horror of Midsommar. A truly polarizing read that will leave you unsettled. I was captivated by Sophie’s journey and intrigued to see how her story would unfold in this twisted, folksy horror tale.

Thank you Netgalley for this advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

An unsettling and bizarre story - fantastic folk horror that really settles itself well into the genre. I found the timeline to be a bit funky. I do understand past and present but felt the back and forth of “days in Withered Hill” to be unnecessary and confusing.

I decided to read the first few paragraphs of this book as soon as I downloaded it and I didn't stop until I was finished. I loved this, it was well-paced, suspenseful, and gripping. It is split into two worlds - outside (with each para prefaced with Days to Withered Hill) and inside (with each para stating how many days Sophie had been in the village). This allowed the reader to take a breather from the strange goings-on in the village of Withered Hill, and be immersed in the regular life of a woman living in London, who drinks too much, has little care for herself or her friends, and drifts from temp job to temp job, with a murky past.

I couldn't predict what was happening at all, and at no point did the pace slacken. It was so visual, I couldn't help but imagine it as a movie like The Wicker Man, and I hope to see it on the big screen (or as a Netflix series) someday.

Another great read! David Barnett mentions people were surprised to hear he was writing a horror novel but he NAILS it. The story is well paced with some deliciously creepy scenes sprinkled throughout. The book waffles between WTF moments amid a fairly standard horror trope.

In this book we have Sophie who’s living a somewhat unsatisfying life in London. She drinks heavily and leads a life that doesn’t seem to fulfill her in any way. After starting a strange new job things get intense. The book is written as a dual timeline showing Sophie in various stages, from before she arrives at the mysterious Withered Hill to her first days in the odd town. Throughout, we also get snippets of her time later in Withered Hill and even though the time jumps are non linear, Barnett does a fantastic job at weaving a well written tale.

Sophie isn’t the most lovable character and we learn more about her past in bits. Honestly, none of the characters are particularly affable but they were well written and multi dimensional.

This isn’t a book that’s easy to see the path it’s taking. We wade through some deep weirdness until the pieces slowly begin to fall into place. It’s hard to figure out which characters, if any, are on the side of our protagonist. I loved the ending. Unexpected and took the book into some fantastically weird folk horror territory.

If weird books that unfold slowly are your jam then I’d definitely give this one a go. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this one. I hope Barnett continues to push out horror in the future because his mind clearly has some deep, dark pockets that made for an awesome horror story.

Folk horror at it's best. You will think you have this one figured out a few times, but you won't. I enjoyed the folk lore behind it, and the unique story line. I think this book will do very well. I highly, highly recommend.

Literally read this is two days because I couldn’t put it down!
The story was so intriguing from the get go with an interesting main character.
The setting and atmosphere were weird and a bit creepy with some odd people . Everything about this is strange and it keeps you turning the pages wanting to know what’s going on
Would recommend to folk horror lovers

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! Did this book keep me guessing. If you like folk horror, Midsommar, and/or the game “The Excavation of Hobb’s Barrow,” this book will be right up your alley. The vibes are great and there are some really spooky scenes too. The ending is quite a shocker with some disturbing implications. The perfect addition to your spooky season!

“𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦?”

The small Lancashire village of Withered Hill seems to be of another world, drenched in Pagan traditions. When Sophie stumbles into the village, naked, alone and without any memory of who she is or where she came from, she soon realises that she is being kept prisoner, unable to leave Withered Hill until she is deemed ‘ready’. But who is preventing Sophie from leaving the village, and what must she do to earn her escape?

✨ 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪✨

@davidmbarnett ‘s Withered Hill was my first ever ARC and wow did I love it! Not only is it set in my home county, but right from the first page you’re thrown into Sophie’s story, equally as confused as she is. As you piece together the story from snippets of Sophie’s time before and after entering Withered Hill, the suspense continues to build with an eerie and unsettling sense of foreboding throughout the whole novel. The twisty narrative kept me hooked all the way through, never really knowing what would come next. The ending was completely unexpected, leaving me with yet more unanswered questions and a story that will play on my mind for a long time.

Preorder: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Withered-Hill-unsettling-British-horror/dp/1804367516

📖total read time: 6hrs 53mins

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This is my favorite book I’ve read this year. If you like folk-horror, or want to try it out I would totally recommend. The book is laid out with different timelines, and I think it was done in an engaging and successful way. Legit loved everything about this book. BRB, must commune with nature.

Withered Hill was FANTASTIC. All capitals. A wild ride. The dual storylines were written perfectly and both resolved in a crazy, satisfying way. One of my favorite folk horror stories for sure. We have a hot mess character, hell bent on ruining her life. She was a unique, interesting main character to follow and I kind of loved her POV. My jaw hit the floor at the end, it was soo good. Can’t wait for other horror fans to read this one!

Enjoyable and eerie tale in the classic folkhorror vein. This worked so much better that a lot of the similar stuff I’ve seen recently – respecting the genre’s conventions and leaving the reader with an unsettling feel rather than overt horror.

This is a very good addition to the 'Folk horror' subgenre. It had some nice creepy elements that were done quite well, however I personally didn't find it particularly horrific overall. The story kept my attention with an abundance of dark pagan rituals and supernatural mysteries, though things did get a bit repetitive at times.

The plot follows different timelines of the character Sophie Wickham. It plays out in a non-linear fashion so as to keep us sort of in the dark while we learn about Sophie's life both outside and inside the town of Withered Hill.

I did enjoy this book, although it's not one I would read again. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys folklore. Also anyone who liked 'The Wicker Man' or 'Midsommar' would find a lot to like here, as it very much had those vibes.

This is a horror novel based on English folklore. We follow a non-linear timeline of our main character, Sophie, who is a lush, the last of her friends to seemingly want to do anything productive in her life. This story goes back and forth in time, time spent in London and time in Withered Hill.

I found this story very creepy and unsettling. Within the first few chapters, I truly felt scared for Sophie, I didn’t know what was coming next! There were parts of this book that reminded me of other things I’ve seen, like the movie Midsommar, the show Lost, or (very specific) the show True Blood, the episodes featuring the character Maryann Forrester… I don’t want to give anything away, but if you know, you know!

This author did a great job of holding the readers attention to the very end.. I could not have guessed that ending. It’s a child’s nightmare brought to life. I loved this, and I definitely will recommend it to anyone looking for a quick spooky read for Halloween!

Thank you Canelo and NetGalley for providing an advanced readers copy of this book for an honest review.

Thank you to Canelo and NetGalley for this ARC of 'Withered Hill' by David Barnett.

This is English folk horror at its finest. It takes the atmosphere of the likes Ramsay Campbell's earlier works and The Wicker Man and brings it into the social media age of the 21st century.

We follow Sophie Wickham (was that a nod to The Wicker Man!?) through her life via multiple time jumps and storylines as she battles with her family history of tragedy, her own destructive personality, and tangles with an ancient force and its acolytes based in rural Lancashire.

Throughout the folk horror narrative the very real context of the destruction of the environment globally is the thread - technology aside - that really anchors the story in today's news cycle. It's cleverly done.

The structure and pacing is very well done. The different timelines all click eventually and just as I thought the author was going to lose me an a couple of stars towards the end he very cleverly pulls everything together again.

This would make a superly twisted and twisty series for TV, let's hope someone picks it up.

I highly enjoyed this. Very haunting and tense. At first, I was a bit put off by the time line jumps, but it really aids in story development and the speed with which you figure things out. It's not a mystery that you automatically know the answer to.