This is creepy and tense, and most definitely not a pleasant walk in the woods.

I do like a creepy woods, where all technology stops working two foot in.
I liked how a group of females tried to follow the path of a group of males.
I have to be honest though, beyond two, I couldn't tell who was who with the females.
The book builds up the tension nicely, maybe because the "monster" isn't in your face the whole time.
Enjoyable.

I found this book to be creepy, yet intriguing. The description caught me with the 1700s and the description of Moresby Woods, but I have to be honest, I had a bit of trouble following all the characters out of the gate. A first chapter that focused on how they team came together…with a little more on each of the five women might have helped there, but the story dives right in. That aside, this is a really creepy and scary read, and I LOVED IT!

I recommend this book to everyone who was intrigued by the word “Creepy” and/or the description of the book. You won’t be disappointed…and you won’t sleep if you’re reading it late at night.

This is what I love about horror: a creepy setting, rising sense of dread, and simple but driven characters. I was a big fan of the Ritual (the movie) for its simple plot, forest, and villain so while this story doesn't quite reach its level, this is still a great read.

What I liked:
- The setting. I love a mysterious wood with an unseen creature and questions about how it came to be. The addition of two different times (present and hundreds of years ago) was a nice touch, in my opinion, and made things interesting
- The characters didn't grab me but for a horror story, they were solid. They had different motives and distinct personalities and while I didn't care if they lived or died, I could empathize with their situation and motives
- The monster isn't constantly in your face, which I love. It has limited "screen time" and most of what it does happens outside the characters' view

What I didn't like:
- The ending fell flat for me. It felt like a few mysteries were still left unanswered (which I think was the point) but left it not just feeling unsatisfying but incomplete
- I would have preferred we stick to maybe 3-4 POVs instead of the numerous members of the group. Alice had an interesting POV (because she was frustratingly stubborn) but the men and other women all blended together
- The story could get very slow at times and while there's nothing wrong with this slow burn, I found myself hoping something exciting would actually happen when it never did. However, this wasn't a major issue in the book

Overall, a great read for horror fans who love: stories set in the forest, a sense of mystery and exploration, fans of the Ritual or the Descent, and a clean horror that doesn't rely on discomfort or immorality to creep you out. I would recommend this to other horror fans.

[This book was kindly provided as a free e-arc and I greatly appreciate it.]

Goodreads link (because it never seems to work on NetGalley): https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4667023497

The Dark Between The Trees is like a fairytale woven for adults. Something you would expect to hear told around a campfire with chiggers bitting your ankles and shadows lurking between the trees at your back. If you like atmospheric settings, folklore and horror then this novel is for you. Told in alternate timelines both taking place in Moresby Woods, a place said to be the lair of a witch and the hunting grounds of a creature of mists and shadows called the Corrigal. According to murky history a group of seventeen Civil War soldiers went into Moresby and only two came out to tell the tale of their horrifying encounter with the supernatural and of the terror that hungrily hunted them down one by one. Fast forward to the modern day, where a group of five women researchers dare to venture into those same haunted woods on a mission to find out exactly what happen to those soldiers hundreds of years ago. But sometimes legends are better left alone as the women will soon find out, as they too will come face to face with the darkness between the trees. Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for providing the ARC for review. .

The Dark between the Trees by Fiona Barnett

1643: A small group of Parliamentarian soldiers are ambushed in an isolated part of Northern England. Their only hope for survival is to flee into the nearby Moresby Wood... unwise though that may seem. For Moresby Wood is known to be an unnatural place, the realm of witchcraft and shadows, where the devil is said to go walking by moonlight..

Today, five women are headed into Moresby Wood to discover, once and for all, what happened to that unfortunate group of soldiers. Led by Dr Alice Christopher, an historian who has devoted her entire academic career to uncovering the secrets Moresby Wood.

First time read by this author . I don't usually read gothic horror type books , but the plot of the book drew me in . I enjoyed it , but like another reviewer felt it was a little confusing working out who was who in the book.
Having said that , and it wasn't meant as a negative , I would look out for her other title to read.

I love gothic books so I was hooked on this right from the second I read the blurb and it didn't disappoint. Creepy, tense and atmospheric with a gripping and unpredictable storyline. I couldn't put it down.

The Dark Between The Trees by Fiona Barnett is an interesting, compelling story.
It is a riveting and powerful novel, maintaining the reader on their toes until the end.
An amazing gothic folk-thriller, that had me flipping the pages on my Kindle till very late at night.
With fully-fleshed characters, brilliant writing and a story that is perfectly executed.
This book was so gripping right from the beginning.

Rebellion/Solaris,
Thank You for this approved eARC!

Dr. Alice Christopher has always been intrigued by what happened in Moresby Woods in the 17th century, when 17 soldiers, fleeing for their lives, enter the woods, long rumored to be filled with witches and even the devil himself. Only two of those men were ever seen alive again, their stories of a dark presence and a landscape that kept changing around them dismissed as the ravings of madmen. Now Alice and a small group of women have entered those woods carrying metal detectors, and all the modern day equipment available to make sure they are not lost, looking for answers to a mystery nearly 500 years old. Cummins is a formidable story teller, she holds nothing back in her stories, studies in fear and myth

Darkly atmospheric but lacking in characterization. Not knowing (or even really be able to differentiate between) many of the characters made it difficult to be invested in them when things went wrong. The ending was a bit of a let-down - it seemed like the author didn't know where to go with it so just stopped writing.