We’re lost, so we must argue.

81. The Dark Between the Trees – Fiona Barnett

Moresby Wood is a place now surrounded by fencing with a haunted history that includes Roundhead disappearances, a family that disappeared and whose teen daughter was rumored to have become a witch, and a beast that has scared people since before Christianity came to England. So, of course, there are academics who want to get their hands on it when their research curiosity can no longer be satisfied without going in. Dr. Alice Christopher, who is obsessed with all the legends and what’s really -maybe- going on in there, especially with regard to the disappearance of one particular party of soldiers who were ambushed and fled into the forest with only one deserter returning. That deserter is where the best account of what’s going on in the woods came from besides local legends that tend to change over time.

I enjoyed this story for the most part, it had a classic era, or the classic era, for British folk horror stories – the English Civil War, and so I essentially pictured all the soldiers except the blowhard Thatcher (quite the name choice for invocation) essentially as the ones from Witchfinder General, like Nicky Henson’s Swallow more so than Ian Ogilvy’s Richard, they’re a bit more cautious and functional than gallant. And some of them are just plain scared. This is paralleled with the expedition looking for those same soldiers of academics and park rangers, which reminded me of The Descent with the deception of Juno and the descending into this is not going to work out well arguments and bickering. I mean, they both have arguments and bickering, but the group of women do not also have guns and old superstition, at least some of them are trying to convince themselves they aren’t superstitious and that’s not why they’re freaking out about how wrong these woods are.

I can’t say I enjoyed the ending, although that also reminded me of The Descent. There’s the confusing ending and the escapist ending and either way it just doesn’t seem to end well, but I think that split worked better in The Descent because here it’s two different members of the party and it just ended up unsatisfying. But before getting stuck with that ending, I was very keen to figure out what was going on and continue reading.

 

Hen Wen looks for Roundheads in the fake couch forest. It’s a little easier to get out of, but they might be there behind the fake caribou, you never know.