Return to Neverbury

by Chris Lynch

Somewhere on the coast of England, Neverbury is a little quaint seaside town with the kind of problems that a lot of quaint little English seaside towns have these days... magicians, lawyers, creeping horrors, changelings, folk music purists, portals to hell, idle gods, ghosts, militant amateur cycling clubs, and a serious problem with something called "Big Chicken".

There are the gods above and the great thing below... praise them all.

Genres: Horror

230 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 31, 2025

About the author

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

Reviews

[Sharron Joy Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are back to Neverbury, the quaint seaside town that is soaked in supernatural shenanigans. Every variety of haunted and damned thing lurks here hidden under the facade of a seemingly harmless English village. Morbidly macabre and gorgeously gruesome, here are ten stories exploring the dark underbelly of normality.

Amidst the horror there is the darkest humour and an almost whimsical feel as the horror sneaks up on you, feeling almost normal in this place. The residents are quirky and they look after their own.

This is such an entertaining read, each story a little glimpse into the weird and uncanny where ancient gods and demons live in suburbia, alien creatures stalk the woods and witches keep order. This is the second book in the series and I cannot wait for more from this small provincial village that harbours eccentric characters and the darkest horrors.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s no secret that when Chris Lynch’s first Neverbury book, Welcome To Neverbury, was published, it became my book of the year in a heartbeat.

The combination of creepy folk horror and comic writing that created a twee, forgotten old British seaside town with deep, deep secrets hit all my dark comedy buttons in the ways in which the likes of The League of Gentlemen and Inside No. 9 probably should have, but never quite did – probably because of their reliance on grotesques to make the point.

Neverbury shied away from those grotesques, and its people felt like people – just people in a place where Weird Stuff happened.

Having the delicate combination of shudders and laughs read by the intensely versatile Terry Cooper in the audio version lifted the writing to new levels of believability, highlighting the anchoring details that proved the reality of the town, so that the horror and the comedy both came along for the ride, sliding into your brain easily, and refusing to leave for perhaps longer than you’d have liked.

*Shudder.*

Now Lynch and Cooper are back with Return To Neverbury, which isn’t so much a sequel as simply more of the good stuff, finding new entry points to the life of Neverbury and the Neverburyans and exploring the dark sides behind them all, from an antiquarian book dealer with Something in the cellar, to a serious alternative to the boy scouts, to a lawyer called upon to turn exorcist, to a visiting social worker with a very particular set of skills, and a cycling club with deeply historical antecedents.

The hallmarks of Lynch’s Neverbury shine through more clearly in the second book, the hooks polished more sharp and shiny, and the same dedication to both situational and human realism that made the first book’s shudders up the spine work so well is very much in evidence here.

There are believable people in Neverbury, acting like the people you know, and it’s that that makes the horrors work – if the people are believable, why would the things with which they have to deal be anything beyond the bounds of reason – however many tentacles or teeth they may have?

That means you get dark mages with pet Things, pensioners with a horrifying white worm infestation, carnivorous forest spirits AND the humans prepared to sacrifice the town’s children to them, fae-like zombies and their girlfriends curdling milk and relationships with equal gusto, demons forbidden from swearing when they possess teenage girls, supper clubs with a horrifying cost, and possibly, just possibly, the Actual Devil.

And you believe in them all.
Sure, you know you’re buying fiction, but like the best horror fiction over the centuries, once you start Return To Neverbury, you’re locked in, and you’ll let it affect you on a visceral level.

The sheer number of pop culture riffs and references Lynch manages to squeeze into these stories deserves a hat tip in and of itself, and there’s a dedication to solidly effective writing and never letting a good gag go unpolished here that you can only appreciate as a reader or listener.

You’re in expert hands if you like either folk horror, comedy, or a twisted combination of the two. There are riffs here that will make you think of everyone from MR James to Lovecraft to Poe, alongside more recent sources of a good shudder like the Hammer movies, the Exorcist, and The Menu.

If asked for my personal favourites among the tales here, I could almost name them all. Terms and Conditions Apply, It’s What’s Inside That Counts, Be Prepared, Rites of Way and My Wife’s Friend – the joyously transgressive modernised folk horror tale which acts as the collection’s final bite – would certainly be among them.

That’s half the collection in a handful of heartbeats, between which it would be impossible to choose.

Lynch has a powerhouse gift of blending his sources, his humour, and his dedication to unnerving the pants off you that only shows evidence of picking up punch in this collection.

And Terry Cooper works his vocal cords off to provide genuine distinctiveness to a village full of characters, from ageing, disabled pensioners to spotty young legal oiks, to confirmed bachelors with a bicycle pump and helpful women with a history.

That vocal dexterity helps underpin Lynch’s written realism and sell the prospect of the creepy village through the relatability of its inhabitants.

Return To Neverbury is an early candidate to become my book of the year for 2026. Give it a try – it might well become yours too.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

The unknown is terrifying, but the unknown can also be confusing. Every story in this book straddles the line between sharing juuust enough details to be understandable and leaving enough unseen to the reader that they can fill in the gaps with their own horrific imagination. However, it fails as often as it succeeds.

Of these stories, quite a few are *so* sparse on the details that I finish them wondering what the hell was going on, more than I am particularly scared.

And when stories aren't finishing without quite enough having been revealed that you can understand what's going on or the nebulous threat that is being presented... they are being cut off suddenly before the twist ending can be explored. So many of these stories could have done with a few extra pages of content to round them out.

Some of them feel like they end right in the middle of the action and you never get the resolution you thought was the point of the story. It seems to be that the point of the stories is "Neverbury is weird and horrible", which, cool, but often I want to know what happens! And I don't understand why we aren't allowed to.

[BookswithLydscl | · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Not quite as wholly brilliant as book one but still delightfully twisted and dark.

[Horror Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This followup to the very awesome Welcome To Neverbury continues its absolutely fantastic blend of horror/comedy. As in the previous book, the author takes us on trip through the weird bizarre town of Neverbury and its many terrors lurking underneath the small English town exterior.

The settings of these interconnected stories are innocuous at first glance. A used bookstore, a flower shop, a bicycling group are just a few. But it doesn't take long for unexpected and horrific things to show themselves. But that's the norm for this town and each one digs under the surface to reveal dreadful secrets and people who are not who they might appear to be.

There's still a sense of surprise though because some of these tales take an "out of left field" twist at the end that you won't see coming. Sure, a haunted house seems like just another trope, but once you realize what's haunting it, it gives the story an extra punch.

And it's not just the cosmic entities waiting to snatch a victim in it's bloodthirsty tentacles you have to worry about. The residents like things a certain way here and you're best off not rocking the boat!

Put together, this book and the first is an engaging, often bloody, often funny, and always compelling look at a weird small English town. I highly recommend it.

I received an ARC of this book from the author. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.

[Em Barton · Rating 4 out of 5]

📚ARC📚

✨ 4.5

“There was strength, beneath the rust.”

This was such an incredible follow up, I thoroughly enjoyed the first and this did not let me down.

It was brilliant diving back into this world and finding out more stories from the small town of Neverbury.

Chapter Three: It’s What’s Inside That Counts really stood out for me, there was something about it that I’m sure I won’t forget anytime soon, it’s wriggled its way into my brain.
Also, there was a cheeky little mention for my home town which caught me completely off guard! 😂

Honestly, I really hope we get to revisit this strange town again in the future.

A huge thank you to the author for reaching out to me about this sequel and sending me a copy via Booksprout.

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic return to Neverbury, the writing feels tighter, the atmosphere creepier and the humour genuinely got a fair amount of laughs out of me. As with the fist book, this is a collection of horror stories that are all set in the fictional town of Neverbury, it’s an odd place where the unusual is ordinary and the rules of the rational world don’t apply. If you read the first book you know what to expect and if you’re yet to read this one, I’d highly recommend that you do!

[Rubin Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having enjoyed the first book very much, I wanted this to be as good. It just wasn't.
It's enjoyable, but it lacked something.
It wasn't helped by the dozen or so spelling mistakes, missing and or additional but wrong words.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bit of a mixed bag, but even the worst stories are an easy three or four stars. And the very best are brilliant, hence the five star rating. The peddlers and Frank's Farm will live with me for a while.

[Steve Riley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn’t have quite the same charm as the first book and leaving to much to the imagination ,and really needed to be proofread properly - so many errors that were jarring enough to take me out of the moment. Would buy a third if it was more like the first and properly edited before being released.

[BERNARD ANDREWS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Witty dark and twisted

Very enjoyable short stories based in this wonderful creation of an extremely dark corner of England. Lots of lovely subversion of Englishness and British horror.

[Sass · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t think it was as strong as the first one. It felt less subtle and leaned more into horror. I was hoping we’d see some of the earlier characters again, like Mabel, but unfortunately we didn’t.

[M D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this immensely, it was not as immediate as the first book in the series, but once the rhythm of the stories had settled it was a cracking read.

[Holly H · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have never read a book with so many typos before

[jackie portman · Rating 5 out of 5]

please do more

I fancy a trip to Neverbury the place seems right up my street…. Please tell us there’s a book 3