Strathmor Forest: An atmospheric, slow‑burn rural Scottish folk horror with true‑crime investigative protagonists

by D. Ann Hall

“Dense, freezing January fog and a cottage with a bloody past — a documentary crew travel to a remote Scottish cottage to revisit a decade‑old massacre — what they film becomes the last evidence anyone may never see.”


Emily : I came for the story — everything else was an inconvenience. The villagers’ warnings were colour for the camera until teeth found a friend in the dark and the footage I trusted went blank. Guilt is a kind of frost; it settles heavy when you watch someone die for what you wanted.


Douglas : I've spent a career carving truth from noise. Now that truth snarles back at me from between the trees. If anything could be called a crime scene here, it's the Forest o' Strathmor old as war, full of names it won’t let go.


Their stubbornness makes them reckless. Their choices make them prey. To survive they must unpick a decade of silence — and accept that sometimes the story you chase costs more than a career.


A chilling Scottish folktale plus modern true-crime thriller; perfect for fans of atmospheric horror, folk horror, and page-turning suspense. Buy Strathmor Forest now and step into the dark heart of the Highlands of Scotland.


For fans of : Literary horror / atmospheric folktales / regional folklore / slow-burn dread / creature horror and survival dread / dark folkloric horror / myth-driven horror / eco-horror / ambiguous supernatural threat / isolated-cabin horror and true-crime crossovers / The Ritual — Adam Nevill / The Loney — Andrew Michael Hurley / In the Woods — Tana French / The Fisherman — John Langan / Bird Box — Josh Malerman /

"Compelling a terrific, claustrophobic setting."
Review Me
"Very much enjoyable in a primal, scary‑campfire way."
Discovery Reviewer
"The opening paragraph set me in the right headspace immediately." Book Reviewer

169 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 17, 2026

About the author

I've always been enthusiastic about great stories, there is nothing better than getting lost in another world. Telling stories is something I've done my whole life. I've an interest in the paranormal - got a bit of a crush on the old vampire, world history - especially ancient Egypt and generally anything with a bit of a mystery to it. It's a big universe, anything is possible.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was concerned that the Scot dialogue might make reading this book more difficult but that wasn’t the case at all. It helped that the author added a guide to various words at the beginning of the book but I found it easy to follow the dialogue as I read.
That said, this is a good horror story. It has elements of ancient Pictish and Native American folklore as well as a deadly ancient creature. There is a lot of old school creature feature elements in the book but it’s presented in a different slant that makes it fresh.

[Debi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The suspense and thrills in this book were highly engaging. While the inclusion of Scottish Doric language was noted, the contextual clarity of the sentences rendered the provided translation guide unnecessary. The narrative effectively generated a compelling "creep factor," prompting a desire for immediate completion, despite its concise 32-page length. As an advance copy recipient, I can confirm that D. Ann Hall's work met expectations. This author is highly recommended for individuals who appreciate a well-crafted thrilling story.

[The Book Ssirren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn’t bad overall. I’ve never read anything like this before but really enjoyed the suspense that this book offered. For being smaller in pages, it was as one could expect with so few. I thought this was pretty well written.