Monday 18 March 2019

In The Night Wood by Dale Bailey


Deep in mourning and drifting apart, Charles and Erin Hayden leave their American lives to settle in the remote Yorkshire mansion Erin has inherited. Charles buries himself in researching the life of Caedmon Hollow, Erin's ancestor and the long-dead author of a mysterious Victorian fairy tale. Erin numbs her grief with pills and alcohol and unspoken recriminations. But something is stirring in the primeval forest surrounding Hollow House, something evil and long-forgotten. And Charles and Erin must go into the forest if they want to stop it collecting an ancient debt.

I enjoyed In The Night Wood, even though it's not the type of book I normally go for. It's a modern-day ghost story that's as much about grief and obsession as it is about the wildest and darkest roots of English folklore. With its sparse prose and dreamlike pace, In The Night Wood is both wonderfully atmospheric and quietly absorbing.

Recommended For: People who prefer their ghost stories to be unsettling and spooky rather than outright scary 

Read On: Other books about creepy forests include The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert and Uprooted by Naomi Novik.

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