Scratch Moss

by David Barnett

It's bad when the heart is ripped out of a community... it's worse when it loses its soul.


1865. There is coal under the fields of Scratch Moss Manor and Sir Henry Brody is determined to get at it. But there is something else in the ground as well, something dark and evil

1905. A more Godless set of people the Reverend George Ackman has never known than the people of the northern town 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. But something is amiss in Scratch Moss, with a disturbing number of deaths at the mine and children going missing in the tunnels.

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 the former mining community of Scratch Moss where he grew up, 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.

Genres: Horror, Fiction

Kindle Edition

Expected publication September 1, 2026

About the author

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

Reviews

[Dutchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creeptastic! Scratch Moss is one town that I will be taking a hard pass at visiting.

Joe hasn’t set foot in his childhood town of Scratch Moss in years, only to return home after his father dies to help his mother with the arrangements. The town itself was once a prosperous mining town, but in 1985 the mine shut down leaving everyone struggling for work. Nothing much has changed since then. Joe was hoping to get things squared away and head back to London. Unfortunately, his mom begins to act strange, and Joe’s memories start to resurface that cause him to start looking into his past. The story then shifts to 1985 during Joe’s childhood and keeps moving backwards all the way to 1865 when the mine was being built. Let’s just say it’s imperative to make sure you know where you’re digging your mine. There’s a ton of folklore attributed to the town of Scratch Moss specifically one that involves missing children.

I really enjoyed how the timelines went backwards to see where it all began. I liked that I was shown how everything progressed as opposed to just told. The timeline jumps all felt fluid and seamless.

This is my third Barnett novel and it did not disappoint. The book does fall in the same universe as Withered Hill and Scuttler’s Cove but can be read as a standalone. I absolutely can’t wait for the next one to come out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced copy and exchange for an honest review

[Catherine McCarthy]

I adore folk horror, especially when set in the UK because it's so easy to make a strong connection to the land and characters. This was no exception, as hailing from a coal mining town myself and also being able to vividly remember the devastating strike back in the 80s meant that Scratch Moss felt like coming home. So many little details tweaked such vivid memories, and that's always a bonus.
Scratch Moss has a few time changes and also several POV changes, but that didn't disrupt the flow as far as I was concerned.
Overall, I would describe this as solid folk horror genre fiction, and would definitely recommend it to those who enjoy that particular genre.

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great, I’m a big fan of folk horror and it delivered. Although in the same universe it was a completely different vibe from Withered Hill and Scuttlers Cove, with the mining village setting. I really felt sorry for some of the characters and lore building was very well done.

I really enjoyed this and I can’t wait get my hands on the next one!

Thank you NetGalley and Canelo for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Faye Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of David Barnett's folk horror novels, so I'm slightly biased here, but Scratch Moss was another incredibly easy 5 star for me. I loved both Withered Hill and Scuttler's Cove, and seeing a connection between those two books and this upcoming one at the end of Scuttler's Cove made me extra excited to read Scratch Moss. You can definitely read them all as standalones though, but as soon as I read one of them, I wanted to read all the books in this connected universe!

Having loved those two books so much, I had high expectations and Scratch Moss definitely didn't disappoint! The book starts with Joe Collier in the present day, coming back home to Scratch Moss for his father's funeral. The tension is high from the start, and then each Part of the book goes back in time to a different point of Scratch Moss's history. This really cleverly pieces together the whole story for us as readers, before moving forwards through the time periods again until we get back to the present day. It made for a really addictive story, full of suspense, and I just didn’t want to put the book down! 

And after the incredible ending, I got to the Afterword, which teases the next book. It left me very excited for that one. I can't wait to see what happens next in this connected world!

Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley but this is my voluntary and honest review.

[Alicia Maskley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of Scratch Moss via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.7 stars, rounded up to 4.

I really loved the timeline structure of this book. The multi-thread approach was creative, and it kept me reading to see how everything would come together. Of all the timelines, Terry and Arthur’s were easily my favourites. The horror, too, absolutely delivered. Some of the gore caught me off guard, and it was true to its folkloric genre.

I struggled with Joe Collier’s timeline, only because I found Joe as a character somewhat grating. And while I appreciated what his arc was trying to do, it ended up being my least favourite part to read. The story felt repetitive at times, especially early on, so I'd encourage readers who might struggle with that to just push through because it does get more layered the deeper you go (pin intended).

Another minor thing, I found elements of the romance off-putting... not necessarily bad, but misaligned with what I personally wanted from the story.

About halfway through, it became fairly clear where things were heading, so the ending didn’t really surprise me. Still, the execution was solid. Overall, Scratch Moss was a good folkloric horror. I’m genuinely curious to see how the author’s other books connect within this shared universe.

[Zarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Scratch Moss is a story about the titular town and its secrets. The story starts with Joe Collier, a formerly successful writer who was born in Scratch Moss and sent away to Leeds as a child after his father murdered one of the other townspeople, returning home for his father’s funeral. He struggles to remember the events of the night that led to his father’s act of violence and the strangeness surrounding Scratch Moss. We follow many different perspectives through five timelines and learn about the secret behind Scratch Moss’s previously thriving mine.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. I intended to read about 10% of the book per day but ended up reading the whole thing in 2 days mostly because I was so curious about Scratch Moss’s history and why Joe’s father murdered someone. The beginning of the book is especially strong. Scratch Moss itself does not initially appear threatening but you know something must be wrong with it because no one wants to go there and the people who live there act as if they have some collective secret. Without giving too many spoilers, I found the horror/supernatural element of this book satisfyingly creepy, specifically in Part 1 before you learn too much about it. I was genuinely creeped out when Joe first goes to the Little Woods with Shep; the author does a good job of building tension in that particular scene. However, when you find out more about the horror aspect, the danger feels a little less dire. [Major Spoilers] The direct threat is human, targets a specific group of people and only one per year, and seems so easily delt with (e.g. two Red Clogs simply leaving Scratch Moss with little to no fanfare and the Red Clogs have no superhuman abilities – two of them are beaten to death with bare hands, two of them kill themselves with household objects, two of them die in fires).

[Minor Spoilers] I appreciated that the horror was so easily dealt with in some ways because the solution required one person to be selfless to, at the very least, temporarily keep the town safe. Arthur, for example, talked a big game about how wrong the townspeople were for “letting” things happen, but he was just as complicit as they were once he decided to stay in Scratch Moss. [Major Spoilers] Terry is also complicit until his son is taken to the mine and the mine is shut down, at which point there isn’t necessarily anything to gain from child sacrifice. No one was willing to sacrifice potential profit to put an end to the terror and I would have been interested in learning more about how Brody convinced the townspeople to accept this burden. In my opinion, although this was a major theme in the story, the townspeople’s’ complicity in the horror was not well developed or explored, specifically why they, collectively, would agree to this in the first place despite it bringing prosperity to mainly one family.
Aside from the horror aspect, two characters stood out to me as well characterized: Terry, Joe’s father, and George, a bishop from Scratch Moss’s past. Terry is someone who seems tired from having to work in the mines and yet it is the only livelihood he has ever known so when the mine closes, he has no choice but to fight. He is one of the few characters who goes from resigned and complicit to selfless and determined. George is one of the more interesting characters; he is someone who truly feels like an outsider in Scratch Moss even though there are other outsiders throughout the story. The narrative does not necessarily tell you how to feel about him but he is one of the few characters who is determined and willing to go to extreme lengths to do what he believes is morally right, unlike the residents of Scratch Moss. As someone who is not religious, I found him to be hypocritical and reprehensible. He is horrified by the lack of Christianity in Scratch Moss and thinks of its people as backwards before he even encounters the horror aspect. [Minor Spoiler] It was unclear to me if the author intended for his disgust toward the people of Scratch Moss to be ironic [Major Spoiler] considering the Abrahamic god has also demanded human sacrifices. Despite his hypocrisy, George does try to resolve the conflict of the story [Major Spoilers] but he also fails miserably. I would be interested to know how readers who are Christian perceived him.

The book has the same timeline structure as Cloud Atlas but instead of going from the past to the future and then back to the past, it goes from the present to the past and then back to the present. In my opinion, this does not work very well because you already know the fate of most of the past characters from the previous section(s). I was engaged for the most part going from present to past because you are given information about what is happening in Scratch Moss, but on the way back to the present, you basically already know or have enough information to guess everything that will happen. Even though the last half of the book is predictable, I was still actively engaged, hoping to learn more about the entity under Scratch Moss.

In my opinion, this book suffers from poor characterization aside from the two aforementioned characters and somewhat repetitive, simplistic writing. The story is told in third person limited (such that you are basically reading in first person with knowledge of the character’s feelings and thoughts) with alternating POVs. The major POV shifts occur in each part and each character differs in time period, age, and education. Despite this, there is no shift in narrative voice. This is most obvious between Arthur, Terry, and Joe (grandfather, father, son) who all have different backgrounds and personalities. Joe is supposed to be a somewhat successful writer and yet his inner syntax and vocabulary do not differ from his father’s, who is and has only ever been a miner, nor grandfather’s.

Joe is probably one of the more poorly written characters in the book aside from the women. He struck me as a self-insert character due to his utter lack of personality traits and flaws. He basically does nothing the whole story until the end except ask people questions. Otherwise, he is defined by inaction. He has a crush on a girl named Ellen in childhood and says nothing about it to her, which is fine. However, he gets passive aggressive toward her when he thinks she is seeing other boys and because he likes her this is presented as understandable. Despite not having seen each other in 40 years and having no chemistry, they begin a relationship (which Ellen initiates). [Major Spoilers] His mother demands Shep be put down and he does nothing, even after she dies a few hours or less (the next page) later. He doesn’t even call the vet to see if Shep is still alive. He essentially has no reaction to his mother’s gruesome suicide at any point during the story. Joe basically takes no action, seems to have no strong feelings, nor have any conviction throughout the entire story. We are not shown at any point how strong his determination and will are. [Major Spoilers] And yet, he manages to go all the way to London, live there for a period of several days or weeks, and not commit suicide as Red Clogs. Terry and George, who are both driven by strong conviction and characterized as having steel wills, are barely able to resist the voice in their heads. Terry has to be put on suicide watch in jail. George feels compelled to kill by the god. Joe simply goes to London. Sure, there is a voice in his head saying “Kill yourself,” but the narrative does a poor job of describing that he feels he should do so. He simply resists the voice and conveniently wakes up from the god’s control before he can actually go through with suicide. I found this unbelievable given his previous lack of any personality.

I found the “romance” aspect of this book a bit grating since it does not add anything to the characters or the story. Both Ellen and Nora are 2D characters who are indistinguishable from each other and are only present to 1) provide information to the POV character and 2) act as a poor romantic interest for the POV character. The relationships are instantaneous and not at all developed and the story would have been better without them.

The writing style did not quite work for me; I thought the word choice and syntax were a bit juvenile for lack of a better word and many descriptions of Scratch Moss and the mine are repeated between different characters. Sometimes the same adjectives are used in two adjacent sentences to describe the same thing. Several times, characters’ feelings, reactions, and thoughts are over-explained. For example, characters will remark to themselves that “something” is wrong with Scratch Moss or they “don’t know why” or “what” something is unnecessarily. You either already think something is wrong with Scratch Moss because of how other characters behave or because you already know from reading a good portion of the story.

[Spoilers] There were several aspects of what happened throughout this book I struggled to understand.
First, why wouldn’t the townspeople just imprison Red Clogs in a jail cell each time it’s chosen and prevent it from killing itself? I may have missed it, but does the quality of the coal suffer if a child isn’t killed?
At the end of the book, Joes thinks his mother must have killed herself to prevent herself from causing harm to the community and at the funeral, Elsa makes a comment that Mary was selfless when she realized she was Red Clogs and thus killed herself. But Mary knew about Red Clogs and that someone else would become it if she killed herself which doesn’t seem very selfless. It seems like she could have just told someone who knew about Red Clogs and asked them to keep her locked up especially since the mine was closed so there’s no detriment to the local economy if a child isn’t sacrificed. Otherwise, if Red Clogs willed her to kill herself, that doesn’t make much sense to me considering she wasn’t trying to leave Scratch Moss.
Speaking of Red Clogs and suicide, it doesn’t make much sense for the god in the mine to compel the Red Clogs to kill themselves if they try to leave Scratch Moss. Why wouldn’t he just compel them to stay in Scratch Moss?

Despite my issues with this book, I found it enjoyable for the most part. I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys the horror aspects of books like The Fisherman by John Langan and Nowhere by Allison Gunn.

[Chewable Orb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scratch Moss by David Barnett
5 🔮🔮🔮🔮🔮orbs
Est. Pub. Date: March 5, 2026
Canelo Publishing

Flying through the smog of withered ash….

💡 Orbs Prologue: An iridescent sheen glistens off my wings as I sit perched high above Scratch Moss’ long-abandoned mine. Humans often think I am a bringer of bad luck, but fortunately for me, the folks of Scratch Moss view me as a lending hand to those recently deceased. My likeness is stamped on their gravestones with hopes of guiding deceased family members' safe passage in the nether realms of the unknown. Sweeping my wings with a graceful force, I glide towards the mine, inspecting… From the shadows of century-old trees, a man walks solemnly towards this area. Joe Collier, I presume. A man, an author, who escaped this town, and yet now he is back, mourning the death of his father, Terry Collier, a hometown hero. They often say that people can never truly leave Scratch Moss, for the century-old superstitions act as an invisible barrier to the outside world. Cocking my head towards a patch of undergrowth, I witness the concerning look that sits squarely on Joe’s tired face. He is contemplative in remembrance of a time of his youth, when the evil child-snatcher known as Red Clogs haunted the children of Scratch Moss.

🧐 A small glimpse: An author past his prime reenters a world that he left far behind in the small mining community of Scratch Moss. An air of uncomfortableness greets Joe Collier, one that speaks of unfinished business and undiscovered lore. In David Barnett’s latest folklore masterpiece, readers will dive headfirst into the deep end of a pool filled with quicksand, unable to escape the realities of the peculiarity of those who call Scratch Moss home. Barnett transforms the pages into a time-traveling machine, offering centuries-old backstory as to the history that haunts Scratch Moss. This is no ordinary town. A flux of wealth and stability has been blessed upon its residents, but at what cost? What evil lies beneath the surface?

👍 Orbs Pros: The prose! Wow! I am firmly convinced that David Barnett is simply a master of the folklore horror genre. Barnett’s innate ability to conjure the creepiest of vibes while maintaining emotional depth in the characters is awe-inspiring. The story draws on an unabashed primality, centuries-old horror macerated in a brine of seafoam, or the smells of the dankness of an underground cave. Barnett’s use of the environment always succeeds in making me feel truly invested in the time and place…as if I am a resident as well, succumbing to the demands of ritualistic behavior to provide a safety blanket for generations to come. Creepy! While there are elements of downright splattertastic horror sprinkled within the pages, Barnett employs a more subtle tactic of an unknown god or entity not to be trifled with. For what is scarier than a myth of sorts? The terror of something we cannot actively see or touch adds another complex layer of panic.

👎 Orbs Cons: None, I think Barnett nailed this one!

Must Read! This is fantastic! Terrific job by David Barnett. For fans of the horror genre, this is one not to be missed.

💡 Orbs Epilogue: Flapping my feathery wings, I descend deep within the dimness of the tunnels. I am in search of a worm to abate my insatiable hunger. Further down, I swoop close to the brownish-black coal-coated walls, often sensing lifetimes of sweat and blood left by the men of Scratch Moss. Landing abruptly, I come upon some glowing torches that have illuminated a blocked-off passageway that plunges further downward. Strange dolls made of cornhusks line the area, adding a sense of foreboding. In my birdlike mind, I can’t help but think these poppets are placed to confuse or placate whatever lies beneath the soil. My beady eyes stare into the void, and I hop yet closer, crunching upon small bones lining the entryway. Bones of what? From the mouth of this forbidden tunnel, a thunderous wave of hot, steamy air rises through the shaft and attacks my beak, clearly a warning for me to turn back. A tilt of my head changes my periphery slightly, and I recognize a pair of clogs, coated in a wine-red hue. Blood? Worn by whom? Riding a nauseating wave of stench through which I entered, I spot Joe at the lip of the entrance. My guttural cawing reaches a frenzied pace in my attempt to warn him, yet to no avail. Joe starts his methodical descent… and one must wonder if I will ever see him again…

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

[Callum Gracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC from netgalley for this. (minor spoilers)

A bit of preamble to this. Firstly; I'm a big fan of the BLU (Barnett Literary Universe) and enjoy the push of regional folk horror that's happening right now.

Secondly; the more I read this, the more I started to notice things from my own childhood. Rabbit Rocks? Why, I grew up playing on those rocks, and going down Deep Pit. Hindleshaw was surely a placeholder for Hindley and Bickershaw, and Platt Fields was sure Platt Bridge. Between that and the mentions of Wigan, it came as less of a surprise when I got to the Afterword and saw that Mr Barnett grew up in the same area as me! Ince. And so it's a complicated relationship I have with this, because it's not a slice of life that's often portrayed in literature - certainly there aren't that many books about mining communities, and those books that cover the Northern Working class tend to either be unbearably grim, or we're the comic relief. This, I can say with 100% authority on the matter, was a very realistic portrayal of working class life in this region, and that is another positive mark for this. I found it touching, warm and funny. I grew up in a coal mining community, lived in pit houses on cobbled roads all my life, and married a coal miners daughter.

Onto the novel itself - its very much in Barnett's wheelhouse here, we've got ancient evils, buried deep, long hidden mysteries and the like, told through a sort of Russian doll/nested narrative (I suppose a bit similar to Cloud Atlas) only it runs from current day to ... a long, long time ago. It tells the story of a town blessed with coal, and cursed for that abundance, and how it impacts its residents through the generation.

The folk horror elements and the story itself is enjoyable and unsettling. I couldn't help feel that it actually needed to be longer (which I suppose is no criticism) but the plot honesty RATTLES along. So much happens within the first ten pages it caused whiplash, and it doesn't really let up from there. Whilst this can be good, for me it left some of the characters feeling a bit two-dimensional or samey, effectively becoming vessels to tell the nested narrative of this towns history rather than feeling like fully fleshed characters (in some instances).

I also couldn't help but feel that there was a missed opportunity here. Each segment throughout history is written in largely the same narrative style - despite being told from different voices - and I honestly think you could skip to any segment and you wouldn't really be able to tell when it was set by the narrative alone, and so for that it lacks some of the atmosphere and descriptive power that Barnett has shown in his previous works.

The horror, whilst effective, does become a bit repetitive really. There are a lot of opportunities and great ghost stories and local legends, however the narrative does start to tell more of a "chain" event throughout, without ever really expanding or exploring beyond that, and so it becomes a bit of an explanation of the continuity of this ancient evil, with characters and setting falling second to that. Overall, enjoyable, and David B is an instant read for me now (and nice to see an Incer publish), but I would have loved this one to slow down a bit, be a bit more indulgent, and explore some characters who, at times, really resonated with me.

[W.M. Parslow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first heard about Scratch Moss when I was at an author event with David Barnett in Oxford. He was discussing Scuttler’s Cove, which I had recently finished, with Elizabeth Garner, daughter of Alan Garner. I thought that the idea of a folk horror in a post-industrial landscape was a really intriguing one and, as a recent discoverer of David Barnett’s folk horror through both Scuttler’s Cove and Withered Hill it immediately gained a spot on my ‘books to look forward to’ list. Now, being a fan brings with it certain worries every time a new title is released, namely ‘what if it’s not very good?’. Thankfully, Scratch Moss is very, very good indeed.

Set in the eponymous ex-mining village, Scratch Moss moves its folklore from the more typically arable and rural settings that Barnett has used in previous books (farming and the forests in Withered Hill, fishing communities in Scuttler’s Cove). Here, the entity is one born of darkness, smoke and fire. It lives among the coal, and I did appreciate Barnett’s link between this particular force of nature and the physical origins of coal itself.

Another key aspect to the narrative of Scratch Moss is rooted in 20th-century history. Anyone who reads the book and is unfamiliar with the battles that were waged between the mining communities and Margaret Thatcher’s government in the 1980s may miss out on some of the details, but Barnett’s world-building and storytelling is strong enough to account for this. As with every other town and community that was built around a coal mine or colliery in the north of Britain, Scratch Moss has suffered. That said it has not suffered as much as others, but there are reasons for that which unfold as the book does and which I will not spoil here.

Another facet of the story is generational or shared history, and trauma. Our key narrator is Joe Collier, who escaped the town as a child and is returning to bury his father. As soon as he has arrived however, things start taking a dark turn (again, I’m not spoiling things here but one scene in particular had the same effect on me as the loaves in Withered Hill). We get to experience this thread of familial shadow through the novel’s structure. Multiple timelines is not uncommon in Barnett’s work, but in Scratch Moss he employs what I’m going to call a boomerang structure. We travel back through time, but then we return.

Overall, Scratch Moss is a darkly atmospheric and creepy slice of English folk horror for the 21st-century. I devoured the second half in one late night sitting and now I’m hungry for more. If you like feeling goosebumps shiver up and down your arms as you read of an evening, you need to get hold of this title when it comes out in March.

I was given a free copy of this book via NetGalley. This review is my own, honest opinion of the book.

[Si · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘There are older gods’, said Mrs Maxwell. ‘Especially in Scratch Moss. Darker gods. Dirty gods.’
.
.
When Joe returns to his home town of Scratch Moss for his father’s funeral, the mining town seems much the same as when he left, same faces he knew as a kid, same routines with the same rituals. When he steps foot back into the town he feels the presence of the place wash over him and old memories long forgotten come to the surface. Memories of murder and monsters that have come back to haunt him.
.
.
I know I only read David Barnett’s first two books in his folk horror universe late last year but I’ve been itching with coal dust and anticipation since finding out the third was well on its way, and even more itchy when I found out there was a chance of getting an early copy with Net Galley and so with the helps of the old gods and the new, this review copy landed in my inbox. *I must remember to sacrifice a local charva later*.
And I can happily say this was phenomenal, think Stephen Kings IT but in a mining town version of Summerisle, where the only thing creepier than the creatures of old are the locals who would sacrifice you if it meant next years harvest will be a bountiful one.
Told through several timelines, starting off in the modern day then jumping back generationally and culturally hundreds of years. This works well for the folk horror genre as the origins slowly peel away like the layers of an onion, adding tension and apprehension as you go, before making your way back to the modern day and facing the repercussions of the sins of our fathers. Fantastic story telling.
And most of all I love how these stories so far are interlinked, even if it is just with a mention of a place name, or a cameo of a character that we met in a previous book and I look forward to where this leads in the future because you can feel it in your bones that it’s building to something juicy and feral.

[Sam Ashurst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sold as a new kind of folk horror, shifting from rural to post-industrial with a coal-black creep, Scratch Moss travels back in time before lurching forward again, pulling strings across five different timelines. Gone are the usual woodland rituals, replaced by suburban secrets - ancient promises buried deep beneath profitable soil.

Okay, so this one is special - earning a locked-in place in my 2026 Top 10, which is pretty exciting this early in the year. Scratch Moss is gripping from sentence to sentence, with Barnett’s structural control ensuring that even the timeline jumps don’t kick you out of the story, with characters to care for, and nightmarish set-pieces to survive in every section.

Compelling, layered heroes, disturbing, despicable villains, and lore that feels like it's been uncovered as opposed to made-up, it’s an almost perfect folk horror experience. HOWEVER…

This is my first David Barnett book, and I read the whole thing excited to immediately stack his other tomes onto my TBR pile - until a completely unnecessary epilogue operated like one of those MCU post-credit scenes, bringing a surviving character from a different book into the narrative, to vaguely set-up separate sequel. I understand that Barnett has a following, but this book is so good it’ll bring new readers in, so it seems pretty bonkers that the editors would include such a big spoiler for an entire back catalog book!

Don’t do what I did, read everything Barnett's written before this one (I don’t want to be specific, as that’ll just spoil things further) - and Scratch Moss is out in March, so you’ve got time!

Epilogue aside, this is still a masterpiece - an essential read for every horror fan. Loved it!

[Katrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Upon the death of his father, after four decades away, failed writer Joe Collier returns to his hometown of Scratch Moss to help his mother with the funeral arrangements.

A former mining town, Scratch Moss’s glory days are long behind it. His vague childhood memories seem accurate, yet he immediately feels ill at ease as old familiar faces approach him offering their sincere condolences, despite his father having been in jail for murder.

To make matters worse, his mother begins to behave strangely, adding to the tension of an already painful situation. Slowly, however, Joe’s memories of the past start to come back, and the story truly begins.

Scratch Moss opens at full throttle with a grim, foreboding atmosphere, before easing into a measured pace that allows Barnett’s world-building to take centre stage.

The story unfolds across several different time periods, executed in a very clever way. You can see the ending coming, and that makes the climax feel a bit underwhelming, however, the middle sections are engaging enough to keep you reading.

I found Scratch Moss to be a very solid page turner, and I’m inclined to check out Barnett’s other novels on the back of it.

Worth a look.

With thanks to Canelo for the ARC.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is for an ARC copy received from the publisher through NetGalley.
A once successful author whose career is now floundering, Joe Collier is returning to the small town of Scratch Moss where he grew up because his father has just died; a father who spent decades in prison for murder. When he arrives in the former coal mining town, he's dismayed to see his mother acting strangely, and surprised that the locals call his father a hero. What's more, he sees them putting straw effigies of children in the nondenominational church as they worry about a local legend called Red Clogs coming back. Joe soon discovers there are deep seeded secrets in Scratch Moss even beyond the memories he's forgotten about for so long.
David Barnett may just be the new king of British folklore horror. This novel is carefully plotted, starting modern day but going back to various earlier time periods to unspool the important epochs of Scratch Moss's history. Though the story goes back in time, and then forward again, the mysteries of Scratch Moss and Red Clogs are revealed in a very organic and easily understood manner. And the epilogue brought such a smile to my face as it revealed just what greatness we can expect in the realm of Barnett's folk horror in the future.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scratch Moss starts off strong, building the mood of the town of Scratch Moss. You quickly get that sense that something isn't right. The mystery builds and you are eager to find out what is happening in this town. Up until about half way through the book I didn't want to put it down.

The pace slows down for me rapidly when the multiple timelines are introduced. The writing is still excellent but I feel the story repeats itself often in order to introduce and explain the different timelines. This is great for readers who may have missed plot points or who are listening via audiobook. However, it felt overly repetitive for me.

I will continue to read books by David Barnett because his writing is atmospheric. I just hope he steers away from this 5 timeline format for the next one. 4 stars rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Conni Guffey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Folk horror done right.

Scratch Moss is a tiny town that lives and dies by its coat-mining industry.
Everybody knows there's something wrong in this town, but no one is willing to talk about it.
No one leaves. Very few enter.

Children disappear.
There is talk of a demonic entity called Red Clogs.
But the town flourishes, so nothing is done. The parents in the community make straw effigies and place them in a church that only opens its doors for funerals or town meetings.

Five timelines...from the present all the way back to the mid-1800's (and beyond)...tell the tale of a town that lives and dies by the coal that comes from the ground.
And the god that must be paid homage to in order for prosperity to continue.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐

I do like a bit of folk horror, and this story certainly had its moments.
I really enjoyed the going back along the timeline of Scratch Moss, having all its dirty secrets revealed.
Finding out exactly how complicit people had been.
At times , for me, it lacked atmosphere.
Other times , it nailed creepy on the head.
A tad predictable at the end, but non the less enjoyable.
It definitely peaked my interest enough to want to read the other books by the author.

Thanks to netgalley for the free digital copy.

[Steph Child · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read both Scuttler’s Cove and Withered Hill, I was delighted to have an early copy of this book from NetGalley.

David has once again made the sleepy corners of England creepy, taking the mundane of everyday live and making it extraordinary. Every twist was a shock, and every shock came with a sense of urgency to find out what happens in the end.

I particularly liked the structure of the book, the flashbacks and the deep dive into the folklore. I’m already looking forward to his next book.

[Joseph Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

* A ARC was provided by the publisher through Net Galley*
Scratch Moss started off slow and I was figuring it would be a slow burn type horror, then got hit by the scene with the drill. It turns out to be a story within a story six times over going backwards and then forwards to give an amazing ending. After reading this I have added Scuttlers Cove and Withered Hill to my 2026 reading plans and look forward to any more of the overall story that was hinted at in the end.

[Book Talks with Rosie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and Camilo for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first David Barnett book. Being a horror reader and specifically enjoying folklore inspired novels, I had heard of his previous books and was very excited to get into this one.

Scratch Moss tells the story of a mining community that was prosperous, but at a cost. We follow 5 timelines and uncover the secrets of Scratch Moss and the darkness that lives in the land.

The premise of this book is so interesting, and got me hooked immediately, but what made the book great is the storytelling. The way Barnett tells this story is so clever, taking us through different times, following different characters but with always a common thread pulling us along. Even without the horror elements, it was so interesting to see the lives of people living in mining communities, and the impact of government decisions on their lives.

I really enjoyed following our different characters, and even if we had less time in the past times than the more recent parts, I think they were my favourite. The lore building was really outstanding, giving us information in each timeline which slowly unfolds into something bigger than expected.

I loved my time reading this book, there were moments where I was genuinely scared, and I kept talking about what was happening to people around me because I couldn't stop thinking about it when I wasn't reading it. This has made me really excited to read Barnett's other works, especially as they seem to be all in the same universe.

[Jennifer Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was probably one of my top five for the year. Multiple timelines, historical folklore, tension, loss. It has everything I look for in a folklore horror, and Barnett delivers a solidly done story full of well fleshed characters and rituals. I can’t wait to pick up his next and carry on again.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

another excellent addition to the Withered Hill series! Creepy folklore set in the north! I loved the way it moved through the different timelines, revealing a little more each time, weaving the stories together to form a horrible, horrible picture! already looking forward to the next one!