Book Review: CUNNING FOLK by Adam Nevill

CUNNING FOLK by Adam Nevill (Ritual Limited, September 123, 2021) Paperback, 336 pages. ISBN # 9781838378912 

Synopsis on the Goodreads website . . . . .

Money’s tight and their new home is a fixer-upper. Deep in rural South West England, with an ancient wood at the foot of the garden, Tom and his family are miles from anywhere and anyone familiar. His wife, Fiona, was never convinced that buying the money-pit at auction was a good idea. Not least because the previous owner committed suicide. Though no one can explain why.

Within days of crossing the threshold, when hostilities break out with the elderly couple next door, Tom's dreams of future contentment are threatened by an escalating tit-for-tat campaign of petty damage and disruption.

Increasingly isolated and tormented, Tom risks losing his home, everyone dear to him and his mind. Because, surely, only the mad would suspect that the oddballs across the hedgerow command unearthly powers. A malicious magic even older than the eerie wood and the strange barrow therein. A hallowed realm from where, he suspects, his neighbours draw a hideous power.

My Five-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . .

     When I am in the mood to read folk horror steeped in local research the writings of Adam Nevill instantly come to mind. He rarely disappoints in this respect. With CUNNING FOLK he introduces an entity straight out of the cosmic horror playbook and this mesh of folk horror and cosmic horror is spot-on. 

     Terrifying. The dread is palpable. You will fear for these characters. Not for the squeamish. Nevill's ability to make even a mundane forest seem threatening is brilliant. This is a novelization of a screenplay that never came to fruition, and it is an extremely visual read. I loved this story. 

     Maybe my favorite Nevill novel so far, with stiff competition coming from THE RITUAL. Never mind, I think CUNNING FOLK is better. Read them both, and then decide for yourself.