Longbarrow

by Mark Morris

"If you run round the church seven times in an anti-clockwise direction, you'll wake the Seven Sleepers. Then, if you look through the keyhole of the church door, you'll see the Devil walking up the aisle towards you..."When David Wisher's mother inherits a house in the peaceful Yorkshire village of Longbarrow, David feels he is coming home. For he's seen the house in his dreams. And when he eventually arrives in Longbarrow, he finds a place touched by the stories and beliefs of the past. There's old Jonas Dyer, whose mystical visions have driven him to the verge of madness; Mr Toot, who uses magic to cure all ills; the little men, too small to be human, who are said to come out of the river; and Black Shuck, a ghostly dog with glowing eyes, whose appearance heralds approaching death. Most extraordinary of all, there's the legend of the Seven Sleepers, defeated in an ancient battle and trapped throughout the centuries, their evil powers dormant.Redcap, Uther, Vinegar Tom, Gerennius, Shuck, Pyewackett and Cullen. Together they spread terror, pestilence and destruction. And now, because of David's unwitting actions, they are stirring once more...

Genres: Horror, Fantasy

442 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 26, 1999

About the author

Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Mark Morris became a full-time writer in 1988 on the Enterprise Allowance Scheme, and a year later saw the release of his first novel, Toady. He has since published a further sixteen novels, among which are Stitch, The Immaculate, The Secret of Anatomy, Fiddleback, The Deluge and four books in the popular Doctor Who range.

His short stories, novellas, articles and reviews have appeared in a wide variety of anthologies and magazines, and he is editor of the highly-acclaimed Cinema Macabre, a book of fifty horror movie essays by genre luminaries, for which he won the 2007 British Fantasy Award.

His most recently published or forthcoming work includes a novella entitled It Sustains for Earthling Publications, a Torchwood novel entitled Bay of the Dead, several Doctor Who audios for Big Finish Productions, a follow-up volume to Cinema Macabre entitled Cinema Futura and a new short story collection, Long Shadows, Nightmare Light.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morris spins up another spooky tale here with Longbarrow, one that starts off as rather a slow burn but at about the halfway point turns into a splatterpunk romp. The story features David Wisher (12 yo) and his mother Susan. Susan's husband committed suicide several years ago, but due to insurance, she and her son still live in the big house in London while she works part time to pass the time. Longbarrow starts slowly, with Morris building the characters of David and Susan in some detail (including the back story on her husband, etc.), their friends, and so forth. Things pick up when on day, Susan gets a call from a lawyer. It turns out her husband's great aunt left her an old mansion in the town of Longbarrow.

So, Susan and David head out to Longbarrow to check it out. While it is a grand old place, David had had dreams about it before they even saw it. After some deliberations, they decide to sell the house in London and relocate. Alongside the typical trials and tribulations presented in detail, David making new friends, cleaning up and refurbishing the old mansion, Morris introduces some more strangeness. The odd man Mr. Toot who runs a five and dime in town and seems to know quite a bit about David and Susan; he also cures David of his asthma with some strange rite in the nearby woods. "He has always done things like that" Susan's blossoming love interest (a local handyman) tells her. Tombstones start to bleed and the local church starts having human blood come up through the floor.

Obviously, this is connected to the legend of the 'seven sleepers'. Sometime in the town's past, a legendary white mage lived in the environs. He took on seven apprentices but they all had evil in their heart. After a dramatic battle, the mage magically put them all to sleep, but if they ever awaken, look out! Well, you guessed it, David and Susan seem to be 'fated' to have something to do with the legend, and once the seven sleepers awake, this turns into a splatterpunk romp.

I like Morris' style and he can do some mean foo. Longbarrow has a vast array of characters such that it is difficult at times to keep track of who is who. He was definitely going for something epic here and once again, this reminded me of It in the good/evil showdown with some kids playing key roles. Good stuff! 4 legendary stars!!

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this novel in 1997, when it was first released.

I wanted to refresh myself with the story and I'm glad I read it again.

Small Town Good vs Evil - with similarities to the characterisation and structure of King, the imagery of Barker, the myths/legends of Masterton.

The story takes it's time to hit it's groove, but in no way is the story boring. I was engrossed throughout the 450 page count.

A real treat from the 'Paperbacks from Hell' era.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Morris wins again. Consistently in the top 5 British horror writers of the last 25 years

[Anthony Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ancient-Evil-Awakened-In-Remote-Rural-Location is my favourite trope in horror fiction and, whilst this book slots nicely into that category, I was a bit disappointed in it, mainly due to pacing issues. Nothing of any importance happens until (literally) half way through the 440 pages, the first half of the book spent setting up the characters in far more detail than is required. As a result, the unleashed horrors feel rushed which is a shame as they had a lot of potential.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book begins rather slowly - it takes a little while for things to really start happening. But once the "Seven Sleepers" wake and start doing their thing, the story really rattles along.