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Barrowbeck

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Barrowbeck

By: Andrew Michael Hurley
Narrated by: Gabriella Pond, Matt Jamie
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About this listen

 PRE-ORDER SALTWASH NOW: THE DISTURBING NEW NOVEL FROM ANDREW MICHAEL HURLEY


'Barrowbeck casts a real spell - or is it a curse?' Mail on Sunday

'Thrilling, unsettling, ominous . . . like a knock at the door on a dark evening' Irish Times

'Impeccable and beautifully drawn . . . Hurley has been rightly lauded in British folk-horror circles' Big Issue

For centuries, the inhabitants of Barrowbeck, a remote valley on the Yorkshire-Lancashire border, have lived uneasily with forces beyond their reckoning. They raise their families, work the land, and do their best to welcome those who come seeking respite. But there is a darkness that runs through the village as persistently as the river.

A father fears that his daughter has become possessed by something unholy.
A childless couple must make an agonising decision.
A widower awaits the return of his wife.
A troubled man is haunted by visions of end times.

As one generation gives way to the next and ancient land is carved up in the name of progress, darkness gathers. The people of Barrowbeck have forgotten that they are but guests in the valley. Now there is a price to pay. Two thousand years of history is coming to an end.

'Hurley's achievement is, like American craftsman of the weird H.P. Lovecraft before him, to put humanity in its place' Northern Soul

'Hurley is the master of contemporary British folk horror' Dazed©2024 Andrew Michael Hurley Fantasy Genre Fiction Gothic Horror Literary Fiction Scary

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Critic reviews

Barrowbeck casts a real spell - or is it a curse?
Hurley's well-crafted tales have an unsettling, ominous quality, like a knock at the door on a dark evening - a stranger arriving at the hearth, thrilling the listener with stories from another world . . . made even more chilling by the parallels drawn to our own troubling times . . . Hurley's growing body of work consistently immerses readers in a strong sense of place, and Barrowbeck is no exception. The land utself becomes a persistent character, defined by the cold, the darkness, the remote setting and an ever-present sense of doom.
Has all the beguiling oddness of a fairy tale . . . Turning a circle from prophecy to portent, from massacre to deluge, Hurley's achievement is, like American craftsman of the weird H.P. Lovecraft before him, to put humanity in its place. Unlike Lovecraft, however, who set the species against the caprices of beings both unknown and unknowable, Hurley affords Homo Sapiens the grace of agency . . . The prevailing darkness is leavened, too, by the striking beauty of his imagery . . . Hurley demonstrates the undoubted breadth of his craft
Seamlessly brings together the mundane and the uncanny . . . what we're reminded of is the eternal truth, whether with supernatural dimensions or not: there's nowt so queer as folk (John Self)
Hurley is the master of contemporary British folk horror . . . [as] pleasurable to read as much for its beautiful descriptions of natural landscapes and weather as it is for its horror elements . . . truly disturbing
Impeccable . . . Hurley has been rightly lauded in British folk-horror circles . . . Hurley expertly draws universal themes across the tales, giving the small, focused narratives a wider and more profound power. There are elements of pure Wicker Man-style folk horror here, as well as hints of cosmic horror and the supernatural . . . the remoteness and unique feel of the northern valleys is drawn beautifully on the page . . . the sense that the land has a spirit of its own lends this book a heft and meaning. A fascinating book in terms of subject matter, style and execution.
Barrowbeck joins that fascinating canon of fragmented novels that explore a particular landscape through the passage of time . . . There is a deeper sense of darkness . . . a satisfying sense of continuity to the whole, a narrative arc that rewards the reader's involvement and careful attention . . . Hurley's instinctive feel for language, his acute observation of the natural world and sure grasp of the tradition in which he is working make this dank little village a curiously seductive place to get lost in
All stars
Most relevant
A real mixed bag of Barrowbeck tales here. There is a fair amount of dread and terror in these tales which I really enjoyed but unfortunately matched in some cases by a fair amount of tedium too. Some just meander along and were challenging to finish. I think that the lack of consistency is a shame as ordinarily, I really enjoy Mr Hurley's work. I would be interested to find out what he thought of the 'hare' in the film adaptation of Starve Acre. Jim Henson springs to mind!

Anyway, back to the book. I like the fact that, as short stories they often didn't end 'neatly' and left a lot of room for speculation and afterthought.

As for the narration, I own and have finished all of Mr Hurley's books in audioback format. Of the principal three narrators used to date, I would say that Matt Jamie's performance in this book is the best, followed by Richard Burnip and then Gabriella Pond. Unfortunately, I had real difficulty engaging with Ms Pond's narration. I found it to be very flat and lacking sufficient expression and unfortunately, during the stories she narrated, my interest and concentration wandered off somewhere and I repeatedly had to skip back.

The quality of the production isn't the best. Rather on the 'lo - fi' end of the scale which in 2024, is a shame.

Anyway, please make up your own mind and if you like Mr Hurley's previous work then I would definitely have a listen.

If you go down to Barrowbeck today....

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This is a great premise for a book, a story about a place over time and the weird and odd events that happen to its inhabitants. But for whatever reason, I just couldn't engage with it. It didn't help that the book had two narrators, neither did a bad job at all, but I found that quite jarring.
I have enjoyed all of Andrew Michael Hurley previous works, but this I felt was a bit of a misfire. Perhaps I wasn't in the right head space for it. I think I'll give it another listen in a few months, see if I missed something.

Book four misstep?

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an interconnected series of stories set in Barrowbeck, spamming from its first settlement to its ecological destruction. Hurley expertly balances the question of whether these events are supernatural or psychological from start to finish, delivering several haunting ideas and images along the way.

a classic folk horror anthology reminiscent of Garner and M R James

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Really good storytelling about a dark, damp, spooky valley over time. Great performances from the readers (except one pronounced ‘clough’ incorrectly). It has a background theme of climate change and what we can expect in the flood-prone valleys if we don’t change our ways. It’s set on the Lancashire/Yorkshire borders somewhere near Todmorden/Hepstonstall/Hebdon Bridge (Calderdale), but the fictional valley is way wetter, grimmer and more miserable than any of those lovely towns.

Satisfyingly spooky stories with a climate message set in a dank northern valley

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The stories and characters really developed and stuck with me. I was so disappointed when the end credits came I had to listed to them all again if not to try and connect stories somehow. The whole production and narration were fantastic.

Had to listen to it again immediately after

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