Cover Image: The Moor

The Moor

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Member Reviews

Disappearing children, the moors of England, a ghost story told around the fire. The Moor is a spooky story that is familiar but full of enough twists in its 200 or so pages that it's still exciting and worth reading.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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The Moor by Sam Haysom was an honest to goodness page turner for me. The pace of the storytelling was perfect. The atmosphere and location was wonderful and terrifying. I would love to read more from this author.
Thanks to NetGalley and Unbound digital for the advance copy.

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Wow! I don't even know if I can describe what the heck it is I just read!

It's reminiscent of a really good ghost story, with enough creepiness and horror mixed in that it will keep you up at night.

The length puts this more in lines of a novella, (my ebook came in at 171 pages) but there isn't a word wasted. Told from multiple POV's with jumps from past to present, The Moor sucked me from the start and never let go. Based on the subject matter, there was a lot of potential for this story to go sideways, but its so well written that I didn't have one single eye roll!

The first half of the book creeps along nice and slow, building up the tension at just the right pace until BAM! now you are right in the thick of it, and there is no looking back. While I am not a fan of books that portray animals getting hurt, for some reason I was able to overlook it here. Maybe because more of it was talked about versus having to read how it happened. Another reason I think is because it had a purpose, as sick as that sounds.

If you aren't a fan of creepy campfire stories, this probably isn't for you. There is a solid mystery here, but it's intricately woven in with the stuff good old horror stories are made of.

I do hope there is more on the way from this new author--I'm a big fan and want more!!!

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This book was everything I expected and more. When a group of friends go on a camping trip and share ghost stories around the fire, everything seems ordinary. That is, until friends start disappearing and help is miles away. This book was absolutely horrifying, so suspenseful and heart-pounding in parts, I had to put it down just to catch my breath. The writing was phenomenal in the sense you really experienced the story. I love to go camping and this book reminded me of camping trips going up, but after reading this book, I may just think twice before my next excursion.

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In the summer of 2002, a group of 13-year-old boys go on a camping trip in Rutmoor National Park as a way to make quiet, retiring new schoolmate Tim Stevens feel more welcome. Accompanied by Tim's dad, they set out to walk and climb their way across the park. Rutmoor has a reputation for strange occurrences, some of which, as Mr. Stevens tells the boys one evening around the campfire, are rumoured to be caused by the ghost of a beautiful red-haired witch found hanged nearby in the early 19th century. Next morning, Gary, the prankster of the group is missing from his tent, along with all his things. Is this a joke, revenge, or something more sinister?

Culminating in a dramatic dénouement 13 years later, The Moor gives us each boy's perspective of the events on that fateful camping trip, interspersed with news cuttings of disappearances, deaths, and animal mutilations that occurred in the area between 1951 and 2015.

While the moments of tension in this novel are very well done, I found the narrative style simultaneously so weighed down by superfluous details and so vague in its more action-based scenes that it just seemed to lumber along. This unfortunately robbed the story of much of its efficiency for me.

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The book begins with newspaper clippings spanning several years that show why Rutmoor National Park may well be a place to avoid. Over the decades there have been quite a few deaths and disappearances. Sometimes bodies are found.. sometimes people just vanish without a trace.
The story moves back and forth between the present day, when someone (I was not sure who at first) recollects a camping trip in Rutmoor over a decade ago and the events of that trip when he, along with a small group of 13 year old boys and one of their dads were spending a weekend walking through Rutmoor and camping there. The story is occasionally interrupted by further news clippings concerning mutilated pets. This all added to my confusion a bit and I wasn't sure I wanted to keep bouncing back and forth between the present day and that long ago weekend. It wasn't until I was over 20% through the book that it began to pique my interest, and what had begun as a slower build up than I normally enjoy held me captivated. I'm glad I stuck with it. I think you will be too.

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3.5*

In 2002, four teenage friends - Gary, James, Tom and Matt - join their schoolmate Tim Stevens and his father on a hiking trip at Rutmoor. The moor has a history of strange deaths and disappearances, which are possibly linked to a legend of a witch who had been killed in the area. On the first night out on the moor, both Gary and Mr Stevens recount these tales with relish - only for the nightmares to turn into reality when mutilated animals appear at the campsite and the boys start to go missing. Their story alternates with a present-day narration which sheds light on what happened during that fateful trip.

Haysom's debut novel starts off with a decidedly "Blair Witch Project" folk-horror feel to it. Their are twists along the way but - without giving anything away - I can assure you that it remains squarely within the realm of horror. At first I felt that the writing and dialogue - though well-crafted - was not particularly distinctive. Yet, the plot drew me in and the characterisation is varied and interesting. The different points of view and shifts in timelines are deftly handled - initially rather confusing perhaps, but things soon fall into place, making for a gripping horror read.

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This isn't a book that I would normally rave about, so.....yeah, I'm not about to start here. Truth is that I've read this story many times in all its different incarnations. Yet, I was glued to the pages! Mr. Haysom did an excellent job of keeping me curious. The big bad in this story is something that I wish he'd spent a bit more time on, but again...The strangulation scenes were just freaking scary as hell. I would like to come back to this author and see how he develops. Like I said the story had me "by the throat." But, I'd like to let a few books build up, and then see how it goes. The man has potential. I wasn't quite sure if he was going for Y.A., or scare the bejeezum outta me, adult. I do like clear delineation. All in all, it was a great story. My thanks to Unbound publishing and Netgalley.

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A weekend camping trip for five boys all goes terribly wrong in The Moor.

Strange disappearances, animal mutilations, tales of witches haunting the woods. What is truly happening? Is it really the ghost of Emily Brown or something far more sinister?

We have Before chapters, After chapters, and sprinkled throughout are news paper clippings which is something I always love.

The ending, for me, delivered!

A lovely combination of mystery and horror. Not too graphic but spooky and suspenseful in all the right ways. Sam Haysom is definitely an author I'll keep my eye on. 4.5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley, Unbound Digital, and Sam Haysom for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to read when I received my copy of The Moor from NetGalley. It was shelved as both a mystery and a horror novel, and being a fan of both, I requested it. Thankfully, it’s a richly atmospheric, fun little book that kept me reading into the wee hours of the night, eager to see what was going to happen next.

The story centers around the mysterious disappearance of two young boys and their teacher on a camping trip. Alternating between past and present, the three survivors struggle to reconcile their identities with flashbacks of the true story, littered with newspaper clippings of other mysterious disappearances throughout. The hybrid time lines manages to not be confusing- admirable, considering how often it weaves back and forth, and rather compelling. I constantly found myself wondering what was just around the corner.

Genre wise, the novel definitely swings more to the horror end of the spectrum, which I personally found enjoyable. The full ‘scope’ of the monster, so to speak, isn’t truly revealed in that we never learn what exactly it is, but perhaps that’s the true fear in all of it. He’s a monster, he has fangs, and his behavior is downright awful.

If it seems like I don’t have much to say, it’s because truthfully I don’t. I enjoyed the book, and I think it’ll be a great beach read. There wasn’t anything I really disliked about it, but there also wasn’t anything I really loved besides the setting, the endless rain peppering an English moor that is so evocative of classic Gothic horror. The fear could have been turned up a little bit more, but I recognize that as someone who frequently indulges in horror content, my threshold may be a bit higher than it is for the average reader.
!

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I really enjoyed this book! It took me less than a full day to read it and as a parent of 4 kids that is no easy feat. I just had to know what was going to happen next. I enjoyed the parallel narratives between present and past. These were characters that I cared about and wanted to know what was going on with. I look forward to reading more from Sam Haysom and highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a good creepy story.

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In 2002 five teenage boys, Gary, James, Tom, Matt, and Tim leave for Rutmoor on a hiking trip with their leader Mr. Stevens but not all of them make it out alive. What begins as a ghost story around the campfire turns into something much more terrifying. It begins with strange noises in the night and mutilated animals on the trail but then one of the boys goes missing. Stranded halfway between civilization and isolation, the boys trek on in hopes of finding their friend or reaching help...but there is something on the Moor...and it’s hungry.

The Moor begins with several news clippings dating back to the 1950's revealing a history of animal mutilation, missing children, and dead bodies on the moor. The novel then jumps to present day (2015), as James one of the survivors of the Rutmoor hiking trip recounts the events of that fateful trip and prepares to return to the moor. The novel shifts between several different POV's as the frightening events of the Rutmoor hike unfold while past news clippings continue to reveal past incidents. The Moor is characteristic of classic boogeyman tales in which a horrific monster with a hunger for children and small animals returns to a location every so many years to feed and then disappear again. This is a quick, entertaining novel for fans of monster horror. My only complaint with this novel is that the writing style felt geared towards a much younger audience at some points. I think many of the characters, being early teen boys, would be more relatable to a younger audience and might be better marketed as the YA genre instead.

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A very well written atmospheric read that combines different genres in an engrossing way, The Moor starts as a ghost story that turns into a horror novel and closes with an unexpected twist. It tells the story of a group of teenage boys who go for a hike in a national park. First, they tell ghost stories around the campfire. Then, they go to sleep in their tents. In the desolate landscape. Alone. What could possibly go wrong? One by one, the boys start disappearing and the only grownup seems unequipped to deal with the situation. It would be a pity to give away what happens next, but the story goes back and forth in time. Two of the boys are taking a trip in 2015, so they obviously survived whatever happened but what about the rest of the party? Also, what do the newspaper clippings that appear throughout the book have to do with anything? I must say that I couldn't read several of them dealing with animal torture. Yes, I had no trouble reading about teenagers being murdered but, hey, that's just me. The characters are a little stereotypical, but once the novel reaches its conclusion, many things make sense and the story blew me away. A terrifying and quick read.

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An engrossing book that I had a hard time putting down. The twist near the end really threw me. Definitely did not see that coming. I would read other books by this author.

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3.5 Stars for keeping me reading and making me squirm. Atmospheric and creepy. I was expecting a ghost story or serial killer, but got more than I bargained for.

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Really enjoyed reading this novel from Sam. The storyline veered from where I was expecting, but kept me hooked throughout. A great suspenseful horror

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A group of boys sets off on a camping trip with the father of one of the boys. Mr. Stevens is a mild-mannered man who seems to know his way through the wild moors. The boys are excited, but nervous too, the ghost stories they tell around the campfire are rooted in truth. Many people have disappeared or been found murdered out there. And when there worst nightmares begin coming to life and the boys begin to disappear, where can they turn for help? A super creepy story (there are some parts that will be difficult for animal lovers), this has the potential for a sequel.

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