‘Barrowbeck casts a real spell – or is it a curse?’ Mail on Sunday
‘Thrilling, unsettling, ominous . . . like a knock at the door on a dark evening’ Irish Times
For centuries, the inhabitants of Barrowbeck, a remote valley on the Yorkshire-Lancashire border, have lived uneasily with forces beyond their reckoning. They raise their families, work the land, and do their best to welcome those who come seeking respite. But there is a darkness that runs through the village as persistently as the river.
A father fears that his daughter has become possessed by something unholy.
A childless couple must make an agonising decision.
A widower awaits the return of his wife.
A troubled man is haunted by visions of end times.
As one generation gives way to the next and ancient land is carved up in the name of progress, darkness gathers. The people of Barrowbeck have forgotten that they are but guests in the valley. Now there is a price to pay. Two thousand years of history is coming to an end.
‘Hurley’s achievement is, like American craftsman of the weird H.P. Lovecraft before him, to put humanity in its place’ Northern Soul
‘Hurley is the master of contemporary British folk horror’ Dazed
‘Thrilling, unsettling, ominous . . . like a knock at the door on a dark evening’ Irish Times
For centuries, the inhabitants of Barrowbeck, a remote valley on the Yorkshire-Lancashire border, have lived uneasily with forces beyond their reckoning. They raise their families, work the land, and do their best to welcome those who come seeking respite. But there is a darkness that runs through the village as persistently as the river.
A father fears that his daughter has become possessed by something unholy.
A childless couple must make an agonising decision.
A widower awaits the return of his wife.
A troubled man is haunted by visions of end times.
As one generation gives way to the next and ancient land is carved up in the name of progress, darkness gathers. The people of Barrowbeck have forgotten that they are but guests in the valley. Now there is a price to pay. Two thousand years of history is coming to an end.
‘Hurley’s achievement is, like American craftsman of the weird H.P. Lovecraft before him, to put humanity in its place’ Northern Soul
‘Hurley is the master of contemporary British folk horror’ Dazed
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Reviews
Barrowbeck casts a real spell - or is it a curse?
Hurley's well-crafted tales have an unsettling, ominous quality, like a knock at the door on a dark evening - a stranger arriving at the hearth, thrilling the listener with stories from another world . . . made even more chilling by the parallels drawn to our own troubling times . . . Hurley's growing body of work consistently immerses readers in a strong sense of place, and Barrowbeck is no exception. The land utself becomes a persistent character, defined by the cold, the darkness, the remote setting and an ever-present sense of doom.
Has all the beguiling oddness of a fairy tale . . . Turning a circle from prophecy to portent, from massacre to deluge, Hurley's achievement is, like American craftsman of the weird H.P. Lovecraft before him, to put humanity in its place. Unlike Lovecraft, however, who set the species against the caprices of beings both unknown and unknowable, Hurley affords Homo Sapiens the grace of agency . . . The prevailing darkness is leavened, too, by the striking beauty of his imagery . . . Hurley demonstrates the undoubted breadth of his craft
Hurley is the master of contemporary British folk horror . . . [as] pleasurable to read as much for its beautiful descriptions of natural landscapes and weather as it is for its horror elements . . . truly disturbing