This was such a fun one! I loved the multiple POVs and inclusion of folk horror and supernatural elements. I for sure will be recommending this to friends.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this book!!

I LOVED this book! It was a bit slow in the beginning but then boom I was hooked!! I finished it in one sitting! My first by this author but will not be my last!!

The old ways are still alive in the Cornish coastal town of Scuttler’s Cove.

Scuttler’s Cove is the second book in what I am calling The Barnettverse - the first being the recently released Withered Hill, and effectively revolves around two women. Merrin Moon and Jen.

After receiving the news that her mother is dead, Merrin packs up her life in London and the relationship that is going nowhere. Returning to Scuttler’s Cove, Merrin finds out that her mother has sold off her estate to some equity fund, and whilst she has left some money to Merrin, she discovers that half of her fortune has just disappeared.

As Merrin fits back into the life that she left as a teenager, she reestablishes relationships that she left behind. However, she also realises that things are not as it seems at Scuttler’s Cove as she begins to uncover secrets about both her and her mother.

Jen is a career girl who becomes embroiled with a city financier, Justin, and his upper crust friends. Their relationship leads to a proposal of marriage and a new house built on the vale of Nans Avallen, overlooking Scuttler’s cove. The plan is for her and Justin to live there for the summer in the exclusive development with his friends.

However, things take an unexpected turn when Jen’s husband is tragically killed in a car crash and she is seriously injured. It falls to her husband’s former friends to pick Jen up and help rebuild her life.

As Jen and the gang carry on with the plans that they had to move into the housing development that she was going to set up with her husband, old things begin to stir in Scuttler’s Cove.

The two women are drawn together in friendship when Merrin moves into the exclusive development,owned by a local farmer who has had to provide social housing as part of the tenet to develop the land of Nans Avallen.

Moving the setting to Cornwall, Barnett carefully weaves Cornish folklore into the story to build an ominous plot. Throughout the story Barnett steadily builds the tension, teasing bits of information about Scuttler’s Cove and the lore behind the town. Mixing some scenes of horror reminiscent of the great Guy N. Smith, social commentary about the lack of housing for local inhabitants of rural communities, and old time creepy folk horror, Barnett builds an effective horror story.

Throughout the story, the plot can seem to be predictable, particularly the ending. However, Barnett performs a magic trick of totally diverting your expectations which was really unexpected.

Whilst some people may find the pacing to be slow at first, stick with it and you will be rewarded with a satisfying slice of horror.

Thank you net galley for letting me read this book.

The setting in this book has really thinking about a town off the coast and horror. I throughly enjoyed reading this book and the beach atmosphere really had me in the la push area in twilight. Or in the goosebumps adult version on Netflix kinda that eerie feeling. I really liked Merton and Jen’s character. Thank you bet galley for giving me the chance to read this book.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I found the story to be very slow and a bit repetitive. I found some parts to be simply filler, with pages and pages of nothing happening except for meeting up at the pub or having cocktails on a patio with a bunch of rich Londoners. I felt hit over the head with the point that many beautiful towns in the UK have been made unaffordable for the locals, due to Londoners buying up property as holiday places and in turn forcing property prices sky-high.
It feels to me, like the most interesting part of the story, old sleeping gods of the land and sea, became secondary to all the antics going on in this little town of Scuttlers Cove between the locals and the rich Londoners.

However, I did really enjoy Merrin's, Jen's, and Tarran's characters and that is what kept me reading.

I received an arc from NetGalley. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Scuttler's Cove by David Barnett

After her mother's death, Merrin Moon, a former inhabitant of Scuttler's Cove, returns to her hometown. The picturesque town has become a retreat for the wealthy and breathed new life into the community. However, disturbing superstitions are woven deeply into Scuttler's Cove's history. Strange happenings transpire within the land that Merrin and her rich neighbors inhabit. With a single, enigmatic apple tree in its center, the property begins to retell a tale of horror. Only the proper tributes will satisfy the craving. Can those involved decipher the harrowing complexities in time?

Having completed David Barnett's second novel, I am now a dedicated fan of his work. His portrayal of ominous surroundings, such as the darkness of dense forestry or crashing ocean waves upon the shoreline, results in an ever-changing opponent who challenges the reader's animalistic instinct to survive. For who can attempt to control the environment? Nature does what it wants, lending to catastrophic outcomes without remorse. The ocean has no feelings, or does it?

The fragile connections among the elite crowd unfold like a captivating episode of "The Real Housewives of Orange County," full of drama and intrigue. A slowburning romance sputtered with uncertainty, always lingering, leaving the reader in a constant state of wonder. A sprinkling of hints nudging the reader ever so slightly. Important information was withheld until the right moment to keep me engaged throughout. As the moments unfolded, a series of faint explosions echoed in my mind, each revelation igniting a spark of understanding.

Horror with a slight fantastical twist is right up my alley. I adore David Barnett's worlds, possibly because I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and am transported back to the fear of a menacing forest. His writing style transports you to a raw, instinctual realm that captivates the senses. For such an entertaining read, I recommend this and give it 4 out of 5 stars, with a slight lean towards 4.5 stars.

Many thanks to Canelo for the ARC through Netgalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion.

337 pages

5 stars

This is a gripping and fast paced horror story. The Cornish town of Scuttler’s Cove is by the sea. Steeped in folklore and mystery its idyllic setting is much wanted by the incomer summer rich folk who snap up land and cottages at exorbitant prices.

Unlike the other towns along the Cornish coast, Scuttler’s Cove is blessed. But, with what? By what? This book has a delicious mix of folklore and horror. The town must honor the traditions. What are the traditions?

I cannot praise this creepy read enough. Just the right amount of deception, tension and terror to make a great well paced and descriptive little horror story. And even creepy crawlies make their entrance !

The main characters are well drawn and played out. The incomers have a big secret. All play their part extremely well. I was a little disappointed at the end, but it did not dampen my enjoyment of this novel. Very well done, Mr. Barnett. I will be looking at your other works.

I want to thank NetGalley and Canelo for forwarding to me a copy of this great book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions cited in this review are solely my own.

Wow. David Barnett is officially in my list of favorite horror authors; Scuttler’s Cove is a masterful work of modern folk horror, and I absolutely loved this book!

Merrin Moon returns to her small seaside town of Scuttler’s Cove after her Mother dies, and finds the town transformed into a tourist attraction where the wealthy buy summer homes. But under the surface, the town’s inhabitants are clinging to the old ways… ancient, dark ways. As Merrin and out-of-towner Jen work to unravel the mysteries that abound in this sleepy seaside town, they realize that they may actually be connected to the darkness beneath Scuttler’s Cove.

Scuttler’s Cove is pitch-perfect folk horror for our modern world; the dangers of both the new and old collide in this story that explores the dark cycles that span generations, and what it could take to break them. This book is mysterious and creepy and wonderfully atmospheric. There’s a constant sense of dread that unspools through the story, which is one of the things I look for in folk horror. It’s not all atmospheric, though; there are some really scary moments throughout this book, and the entire final act is edge-of-your-seat tense.

I loved this book so much, I immediately borrowed Withered Hill from the library to read the author’s first scary novel. Please, please keep writing folk horror, Mr. Barnett; I will read anything you publish in this genre!

I would recommend Scuttler’s Cove to any fans of folk horror, especially authors like Andrew Michael Hurley or Adam Neville; you will not be disappointed!

Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

I really loved this book. I loved the setting, I loved the folklore, I loved the depth of the characters.. it was just a perfectly unsettling read.

It's classed as a horror and it is in some aspects, but nothing too abhorrent. The steady thrum of foreboding and the chill that sits with you throughout, kinda knowing what's coming, but not truly until the end is somewhat magical.

All credit where it's due, David has done a really great job with this book! I'd highly recommend.

Thank you, David Barnett and NetGalley, for the ARC. I leave this review voluntarily and happily. Also, thank you publishers for your hard work!

This is the second book I've read by this author, and it definitely was another strange read. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first one, but I still enjoyed it. That said, the pacing was medium, and as you read the book, it picks up and shows down. This book definitely is filled with lore and interesting things i wasn't expecting. I think the lore is a huge part of what draws me into this author books. The detail and how I thought out it always is. Not only that, I enjoy the characters. I want nothing more than the best for them. They are characters you can root for. This book had me from the start and only sunk its claws deeper the further I got into it. There are some triggers like death and nudity, but nothing is truly horrific.

What if you had no choice for how your life was going to end up? What of you didn't even know the choices you were making were in motion of something far bigger than you knew? Merrin moved back home because her mother died and she needed a new start. Once she got there, strange things started happening. People from london have moved nearby and things only get stranger. What's going on in her hometown, and is there something far more dangerous happening? Can it be stopped, or will things continue on as they have?

Reading this authors work, it only has increased my interest in folk horror, and i want more of it. It's so interesting to me. The way he writes them it's so different from both his books I've read so far. i can't wait to see what he's going to do next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for an ARC of Scuttler's Cove.

Withered Hill lives rent free in my head, so when I saw another title from this author I requested it right away and I was not disappointed! I loved the mounting dread I felt as a worked through the book. I also often think supernatural elements take away from an otherwise well-crafted storyline but the author adds such a richness to the story with the way he weaves in these details. I will definitely be looking forward to more from David Barnett!!

4.5 stars

Before I begin, I just want to say this book was provided to me from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book takes you on a ride! I loved this book from the start. It hooked me immediately. I love a good horror story. Mix in a little bit of folklore, with modern times, and some of the worst rich people I’ve encountered in literature in a long time, and you have a recipe for some good stuff!

Merrin Moon has to come back to her childhood town of Scuttler’s Cove after the sudden death of her mother, Lizzie. Merrin has been away in London for over a decade, but she doesn’t really know when she hasn’t been back. Something has kept her away all of these years.

Scuttler’s Cove is an old seaside town, with history and tradition dating back centuries. The town is on a constant upswing, with rich people buying up land at houses at an incredible rate. The town is flourishing! Enter Jen, her husband Justin, and their group of some of the worst young rich people around! They’ve purchased houses on the top of the cliffs overlooking the sea. The area is called Nans-Avallen, and at the center of it is a giant apple tree, that has a real tendency to draw people towards it, perhaps in a supernatural kind of way?

I don’t want to spoil anything else about this book. It’s a fast, extremely satisfying and twisty read. If you like old tales passed down through generations, crazy town folk, and power hungry rich people, this is the book for you!

Thanks to the publisher and author for the privilege in reading this ARC, the following are my own thoughts. Before spotting this on NetGalley I hadn't heard of David Barnett, and like David had an interest of British Folklore so I have given it a go. His previous book Withered Hill scored very well so high hopes for this one. A folk horror based in a small fishing village called Scuttler's Cove, I liked the cover and once you start reading you will understand why it has a crab on the front, I am not telling you why though that would be a spoiler. Lets just say a modern day new small housing estate of high end properties attracting second home owners in conflict with village traditions and folk lore causes tensions with the old traditional ways of working paying homage to old gods of the land and the sea. It soon comes apparent that 'mankind' interfering with a natural order of life and our wretched ways of destroying and perverting anything that we touch as greed reveals the darker side of humans and conflicts with nature and the old ways.
Tension soon prevails, superstitions are revealed, murder, is in the air, something ancient lies slumbering under the ancient apple tree and beneath the oceans we have caused it to rise. A great twisty read with depth of atmosphere and surprises, what more do we want, a well crafted novel with delicious creepy folk horror

I came for the crab on the cover, stayed for the folk horror that meets the moment. This book really is really timely in its commentary but also a very effective atmospheric horror tale (in other words; the commentary isn't so blunt that people who read for escapism will not be able to enjoy it).

It didn't feel nearly as long as the 273 pages long my reading app says it was, this is a testament to how well paced the story was, especially as it was kind of slow burn with a sense of unease that builds up one fragment at a time from the very beginning. Normally slow burn and atmospheric are 2 words that I wouldn't use to describe anything I enjoy (except maybe atmospheric death metal which I apparently enjoy) thanks to my lack of a functioning attention span but Barnett's writing style was so compelling and smooth that I never even stopped to think about it.

The imagery was great and unobtrusive in its introduction in the story.

Merrin and Jen were really easy to root for and to get invested in.

I received an eARC of this book through Netalley.

I massively enjoyed this coastal folk horror by David Barnett! I haven’t read Withered Hill yet but I’m checking it out STAT!

Wow, just wow. I hope that David Barnett is my new go to for Folk Horror, because currently it is Andrew Michael Hurley and he doesn't write enough lol .
Anyway, both great folk horror writers. I was lucky enough to read this one and Withered Hill and was extremely impressed by both. I hope this author stays in this vein of writing as it's my favorite sub genre of horror.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading this book. The bright, beachy atmosphere with a looming undercurrent of something dark and sinister kept the tension high throughout most of the story. I found myself itching to read more when I wasn’t actively reading it. I really liked Merrin and Jen’s characters. They felt well thought out and developed. Overall, a solid horror story!

Wow. I feel so lucky that I’ve gotten to read two books by this author in under a year! Scuttler’s Cove is just as good as Withered Hill. Both in the folk horror genre, but still very different. This one had some heart in it, which I quite enjoyed. The town, the characters, the folklore elements are all so amazing. There is a nice feminist message here that fits nicely, not shoehorned in. I can’t wait to read more by David Barnett!

Thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for the eARC.

(I received this book from the editor and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)
An entertaining folk horror with a fairy tale’s heart, Scuttler’s Cove is my first book by David Barnett and I think it will not be the last.
At first, I thought the novel would be folk horror 101, that is to say, city girl comes back home to a small village, her family has secrets, people in town do not really trust her, things go crazy… and I was not wrong, but I was also not expecting the magnitude of what was coming.
I was not very fond of the nameless character, though. I know it was somehow necessary for the story, but I felt out of place and rhythm compared to the other characters. Speaking of, I love me some city folks being obnoxious and playing with things they do not understand.
All in all, a very quick reading with an irregular rhythm and a background that is worth exploring.

Happy to say this novel was another gem! Scuttler's Cove takes you on a wild ride of mystery, intrigue, and horrific folklore brought to life! From the POV of several characters, this book draws you in and grips you from start to finish! The story follows Merrin and Jen and their journey to Scuttler's Cove in Cornwall, a majestic seaside town with a deep rooted history that will change both women's lives forever.
A war between myth, monsters of men, and the very fabric of the laws of nature collide in this epic tale!
I think anyone who is a fan of The Harr, with a dash of clash of the titans then you will definitely enjoy this book by David Barnett!