Book Review: ‘The Dark’ by Amanda Mason

It’s officially spooky season and it’s time for horrors of all kinds. A British, seaside folk horror? Yes, please!

‘The Dark’ takes us to 1971 and Rosie is pregnant and new to town, left behind while her partner works out at sea on a remote oil rig. Through the blackouts caused by the miners strikes, the haunted feel of her new, old house, and the strangeness of the village, it’s not long before Rosie begins to struggle with being alone in her new life.

With unexplainable noises and strange shadows plaguing the house, the dark and isolation of the house and village begins to take over Rosie’s mind, and leaves her to wonder if she just might be going mad.

The fear of the dark is often seen as something relegated to childhood, but in ‘The Dark’ the dark is a presence that everyone has cause to fear. It isn’t a modern darkness, it’s a complete and utter darkness of a blackout and the rural superstitions of the British seaside that fuel the darkness.

The horror of this novel is a slow and steady creep, building as Rosie gets more enmeshed in fear and grief and loneliness and she becomes further restricted by her pregnancy. The dread grew with every chapter and the web woven across the village got stickier by the day.

It’s not just Rosie effected by the darkness and the growing fear of the Hob and what lies inside. The Hob is a folktale creature of a brownie- type spirit that pose a threat to those who offend it, but also possess the ability to those in need, in exchange for a gift. I’m a big fan of this type of foray into fae and spirits, with close ties to old English lore and it works so well in the fear and uncertainty of the 70s in the North of England.

‘The Dark’ is a dark and unnerving folk horror tale with a sharp look at the reality of being a woman in an isolated and unfamiliar locale.

Thank you to Bonnier for the review copy. All opinions remain our own.