Scratch Moss cover art

Scratch Moss

 Preview
This Season's Biggest Deal

£0.99/mo for 3 months + £10 Audible bonus

Auto-renews at £5.99/month after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Get this deal
Offer ends on 28 December, 2026.
More purchase options

Scratch Moss

By: David Barnett
Narrated by: Will Edgerton
Get this deal

Auto-renews at £5.99/mo. after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 28 December, 2026.

Buy Now for £15.50

Buy Now for £15.50

This Season's Biggest Deal | £0.99/mo for 3 months + £10 Audible bonus

£5.99/mo after 3 months - terms apply. Cancel monthly
Summary
 'An agile and compelling storyteller' Nick Cutter
1865. Coal lies beneath Scratch Moss Manor and Sir Henry Brody is determined to get to it. But something else lurks below, something dark and evil.

1905. Reverend George Ackman has never known such godless people as those of Scratch Moss. But if not God, what do they believe in?

1945. Arthur works for the Coal Commission, visiting privately-owned pits ahead of their nationalisation. On his visit to Scratch Moss, he finds only misery and death.

1985. The miners have lost. Thatcher reigns supreme. And in the shattered community of Scratch Moss, rumours resurface about Red Clogs, a terrible presence in the land below.

2025. Divorced, fifty-something writer Joe returns to his hometown of Scratch Moss for the funeral of his father. Soon the memories of Joe’s teenage years, and the horror that blighted the community, come flooding back…

A devastating, five-timeline tale centred on a community first invigorated, then devastated by the coal mining industry in the most original folk horror novel of the year.©2026 David Barnett (P)2026 W.F. Howes Ltd. Fantasy Gothic Horror Scary
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
All stars
Most relevant
Folk horror at its best. Twist after twist, great characters, wonderful plotting, brilliant narration. Off to get the next in the series.

Excellent!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Left me feeling a bit shell shocked and numb - which is the highest accolade I can give! I’m a big fan of British horror and this book felt like a breath of fresh air for the genre. The dance back and forth through history to piece together the story and little well written asides that pierced my heart woven into our shared culture and a tale that felt not beyond the impossible. Horror takes on a whole new level when it is close to your own ancestry and identity. I guessed parts of the plot early on but that didn’t matter, I took delight in the clues the author dropped and became invested in the characters to the point I shirked my responsibilities so I could listen through to the inevitable and emotional end. Narrator really suited the book, gentle tones adding to the poigniancy of the story. I’m off to find more by the author and hoping for the same narrator.

Folk horror at its finest.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Easily the author's best novel, a brilliant story made all the better by the narrator

Fantastic narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved this book. Always a full explanation of the mystery and a really satisfying ending. Can’t wait for the characters for the three books to come together in the next one.

Fantastically detailed story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Thoroughly enjoyed this: narration, story and the ability to keep me riveted, which isn’t easy. Recommend 100%.

Fabulous

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews