Scratch Moss
Scratch Moss is a small village in the heart of Lancashire coal country. Once a thriving community, its relevance declined years before 2025, when 53-year-old writer, Joe Collier, comes home for the first time in 40 years to attend his father Terry’s funeral. His mother’s behaviour is peculiarly erratic, but Joe assumes this is grief. Within days another tragedy strikes, and Joe turns to Ellen, someone he remembers from school. She talks about the strange occurrences and that no one ever leaves Scratch Moss, which feeds into a disturbing sense of inevitability that Joe senses from the townsfolk.
Readers wind backwards incrementally to a sacred burrow on Brigante land in ancient Britannia. The first jump is to 1985, where the coal pit closes for the last time. Everyone is employed there, including Terry Collier, hailed as the town hero. In 1945, Terry’s father, Arthur Collier, a rep from the National Coal Board, puts the plan to nationalise coal to Lord Brody, the owner of the pit—a vast expanse of spectacular grade, highly-sought-after coal. In 1905, Reverend George is sent by the Catholic diocese to his first posting in Scratch Moss. In post-industrial 1895, the Brigante land is purchased by the Brody family who build Scratch Moss Hall and open a coal mine on their land. Everyone prospers from the high-quality coal and the riches it brings, but there’s a heavy price to be paid.
As we are drawn forward, through the same years, macabre scenes become more explicit and frightening as details around the same incidents develop further. The woods breathe evil. Ghosts, ancient gods and rumours of sacrifice abound. Will Joe face his own destiny in Scratch Moss? Barnett’s tale is a persuasive one, a folklore horror that pulses with life. This will keep readers guessing until its wildly unexpected ending.
