“The Devil’s nebulous presence is evoked so palpably in this novel that sometimes I hardly dared look up while reading, for fear of seeing him smiling at me from the chair next to mine,” wrote Jake Kerridge in the Literary Review.

In Starve Acre, her third novel, published in 2019, Juliette and Richard live on a moorland farm and mourn the death of their young son. Juliette seeks comfort from a group of occultists, because what harm could have come from that? A film version, starring Morfydd Clark and Matt Smith, was released in cinemas in July in the United States and September in the United Kingdom. Its director, Daniel Kokotajlo, used various techniques to make the film look like it was made in the 1970s, like the Kneale plays that he and Hurley admire. “We spent a lot of time working on how to capture that feeling,” he told the BBC. “We watched a lot of old horror films and strange British TV shows. This was partly due to the lighting and I also found some amazing old lenses from the 1970s which created a bit of distortion on the picture looked fantastic.” He considers Hurley to be the contemporary heir to authors such as the famous Victorian ghost story writer MR James.

Why scary stories are booming

“Legendary director Wes Craven said: ‘Horror films don’t create fear, they release “fear”, and I think that goes a long way to explaining the growing popularity of the horror genre in the book world, and why some of these books, like Starve Acre, have been adapted into excellent films,” says Yassine Belkacemi, editorial director of John Murray Press. “Horror is an effective prism for writers to explore our world, our ears, our subconscious, when the reality of politics, current events and everyday society can be overwhelming. In the United States in particular , which are going through an extremely polarizing time on many subjects, the world of horror, ironically, seems to have been a genre for exploring the country’s greatest fears, whether it’s the work of Shirley Jackson, Stephen King. or Jordan Peele.”

Starve Acre completed what Hurley saw as a loose trilogy about landscape and the responses to it. The new book, Barrowbeck, further cements his reputation as Britain’s scariest author, but also marks something of a departure. It is a collection of 13 linked and chronologically arranged short stories – some of which began as stories on BBC Radio 4 – about life in a valley in the north of England. “Some stories are folk horror, others are more fantasy and science fiction,” says Hurley. The collection begins with the tale of the establishment of a settlement in the valley in the distant past and ends with a play set in the near future, when the valley has been ravaged by climate change.

“I enjoyed writing this story, even though it’s quite depressing to think about what our future might look like,” Hurley says. “I’ve read a lot of apocalyptic novels about environmental disasters – for example The Death of Grass by John Christopher. An incredible book. It’s a genre of writing I’d like to revisit.”

His next novel, due to be published late next year, also breaks new ground for Hurley, with an urban rather than rural setting. The central character finds himself in a ruined seaside town out of season, reminiscent of summer vacations from years ago. However, it’s a safe bet that this seaside vacation won’t be all about ice cream, sandcastles and innocent fun in the sun.

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