What do you think?
Rate this book
Scratch Moss
Not yet published
Expected 5 Mar 26Coal 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.
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.
- GenresHorror
352 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication March 5, 2026
291 people want to read
About the author
David Barnett
145 books105 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 29, 2025
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.
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.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
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]
[Minor Spoilers] [Major Spoilers]
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] [Major Spoiler] Despite his hypocrisy, George does try to resolve the conflict of the story [Major Spoilers] 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] 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]
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.
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.
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]
[Minor Spoilers] [Major Spoilers]
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] [Major Spoiler] Despite his hypocrisy, George does try to resolve the conflict of the story [Major Spoilers] 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] 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]
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.
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.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
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.
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.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
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…
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!
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…
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!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
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.
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.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
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.
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.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
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.
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.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
* 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.
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.
December 29, 2025
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.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
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!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews