Cunning Folk: A Folk Horror Thriller from the Author of No One Gets Out Alive and The Ritual

My word, this was good. A young couple and their daughter move from the city, deep into the English countryside. Next door lives a 'tetchy' older couple who don't appear keen to roll out the red carpet. Maybe not the most exciting premise you've ever heard but Nevill conjures a living nightmare for his central characters who have no idea of their neigbours 'interests'. Genuinely unsettling, at times quite scary (and that's on the back of 40+ years reading horror novels and watching horror films) and utterly convincing. This author goes from strength to strength - I just hope that should this be turned into a film it's set in the south west of England and given the care and attention it deserves. I've been a fan of folk horror since before I'd heard the term and this feller is the very best the literary genre can offer.

There's something almost comical about the kind of petty neighbourly disputes that fill the broadcasting hours of those channels that specialise in reality TV. He wouldn't fix his fence, so she chopped the heads off his sunflowers. In Cunning Folk, though, it escalates. What if those nightmare neighbours next door had occult leanings, what if they could put a curse on you...That's the situation for Tom, Fiona and little Gracey when they move in next door to the Moots. Yes, Tom has a lot of work to do on the property, something which he and Fiona have put themselves in a dire financial situation to purchase, so the garden was never going to be a priority, even if the bizarre Magi and Medea Moot next door insist it must be dealt with. Of course, their property, and their garden is pristine, and they simply can't live next door to the mess.Perhaps, if Tom had known he was living next door to cunning folk, practitioners of folk magic, maybe he wouldn't have let his dog poop on their lawn.There are some lovely touches in this novel. A couple of early chapters are narrated from four-year-old Gracie's point of view as she explores the mysterious wood at the bottom of the garden, and her unique world view skews what she sees. It's a delightful use of an unreliable narrator to show us the world according to her.The novel, in the first two thirds, anyway, straddles the line between truly horrific, and bizarrely amusing. The Moots themselves are painted as looking and acting ridiculous. The dispute is at first, overblown over nothing, and Tom's reactions petty. But damn, does it get serious. There's an even that happens in the last third so shocking, I ended up speeding through the rest.One thing I really like about Nevill's work is that he puts characters in these awful situations, and he keeps applying the pressure. But he's great at closing the door on the escape route. Financially, Tom and Fiona can't get out of the situation. Any other solution would be extreme, and we very nearly get there.The relationship between Tom and Fiona becomes incredibly strained as the animosity between the neighbours grows, and Nevill portrays the divide well through his use of both Tom and Fiona as narrative perspectives. So we see what Tom experiences, and additionally understand how Fiona could legitimately interpret it differently.I love being in the worlds Nevill creates. He knows when to dwell on a scene, when to build something up, and when the pace really needs to rise. Another great read.

Always awesome imagery,new spin on concepts and actually yes quite scary . Always read this authors novelsGreat horror writer

I so wanted to love this book. The blurb sounds good. The book cover is great. And I have read The Ritual by the same author which was off the scale brilliant! Sadly, this book ended up being a damp squib, for me anyway. For one thing, the characters you are supposed to like are irritating, weak and unrealistic, somehow. And when the author attempts to speak through the mind of a little girl, it starts to get really silly. And really annoying. Which means any tension and horror fly out the window. The baddies in this book could have been awesome. Instead, they are almost comical, coming across as the sort of evil old couple you might get in a teen novel. All in all, too much waffle and not enough tension. Hate having to write a poor review, but as a writer myself, we all have to take it on the chin sometimes.

You have to hand it to Adam Nevill. He is on top of the world these days. Two of his novels have been adapted into fairly decent movies (even though the essence of those novels was twisted and adjusted ... the overall feel was kept alive.)Ever since he became Adam L. G. Nevill and has gone all Neo-Pagan English Countryside, folklore, dark entites rising from the earth with the Fairies, Sprites, Sprogs, ... wellie boots, mud, hedges, trees, gardens and insane "old money" families, it has become a little ... odd.He has dropped the cool Adam NeVill dropped "V" logo .. and has gone all pipes, stew and whispers in the dark.Witchcraft basically, of the very English kind is what he is into these days. I love his style of writing, but these last couple of novels are short, overly flowery (literally) in the case of "Cunning Folk" and a little bewildering. (bewilderness?).Great stuff but I am confused. Its a long way from the first 6 novels, that is for sure. Still high quality though.

This was a very different kind of horror story, one steeped in old English folk lore. Dark witchcraft, a cursed property, haunted woods, old gods and depraved "cunning folk". Into this maelstrom step a young family, delighted to be living in an English rural idyll. Full of hope and optimism, until they meet the neighbours from Hell. Seriously creepy and very original.

A real family in a really hopeful situatiion which soon turns out to be their worst nightmare. Superb horror equal to Stephen King. Also read by Adam Nevill is The Ritual, Banquet for the damned and The Reddening. I would really recommend Adam Nevills books they are quite unexpected.