Considering the quality of James Brogden’s fiction in the horror world, he flies too far under the radar and surely deserves to be more widely read than he probably is. My favourite is the sprawling and majestic Bone Harvest, which features in my Horror DNA Top Ten Novels of 2020, a fiendishly well-structured novel. If you are into ancient cults, conspiracies, and gardening (don’t ask!), this is a book you need to dig into.

Brogden’s fiction often falls into the broadish area of Folk Horror, with further top tips being Hekla’s Children (2017), The Hollow Tree (2018) and The Plague Stones (2019), all of which were published by Titan. Interestingly, his latest, The Strandling, has been self-published after failing to find a traditional home. This is surprising, as in way of comparison there is no noticeable dip in quality from his earlier work, even if it is not as broad in scope as Bone Harvest. Let’s not be snobbish about self-publishing either. Adam Nevill, one of the best horror writers in the world, chooses to publish by this route with his own Ritual Limited brand and has been highly successful doing things his own way.

The Strandling ticks many of the Folk Horror boxes you might expect to find in a James Brodgen novel, featuring powerful landscapes, the threat of nature, isolated communities, atrocious weather, superstition and a story which harks back to the folklore of the old ways. The setting is a major strength of the narrative, a small northeast of England seaside town, which has seen better days, struggling to recover from its Covid-19 hangover, with tourists still in scant supply.

Main character nineteen-year-old Megan Howatt longs to leave Salwick, but is stuck looking after her sick father whilst working in the Dry Dog local pub. To make things worse, their home is dangerously close to a crumbling cliff edge, with her troubled father unwilling to consider rehousing. In this novel, the threat of nature takes more than one form, doubling down on Megan’s continual family problems.

The story is confidently built around the conflicted and feisty Megan (especially when backed into a corner), whose closest friend is Lou, the colourful owner of a beach-side cafe, and Kelpy, the huge black dog she rescued from the sea as a puppy. After a particularly violent storm, bad luck befalls the village. Firstly, a flock of sheep is torn apart and then the disappearances begin. A local farmer quickly accuses Megan’s dog of being the culprit and tempers rise. The Strandling’s weakness is even though it is a well-paced and exceptionally easy-to-read novel, it contains little in the way of surprises. This is in regard to the true killer, the origins of the dog and a character introduced early in proceedings, as it is blatantly obvious there is something off about this person. Also, there are just not enough characters in the story to allow for the springing of any significant twists.

Once the killings start, the reader jumps inside the head of the culprit, which are a skilful combination of startling, graphic and stylish deaths. One of the strongest aspects of the novel is the manner in which the supernatural powers awaken in Megan after the huge storm. The story dances towards, but wisely holds back, on the locals branding the teenager a witch, but more could have been made of this fascinating development. The clash of a modern teenager readily embracing the old ways could have been explored further, as comparisons are alluded to with the legend of a local witch, Mad Annie.

I also found myself reaching for Wikipedia to investigate the folk and myth elements which are neatly interwoven into the story, threading back to Norse mythology. The local coastal area is so vividly described, I wondered whether this village was real or imaginary? In the past I have visited Whitby, the largest nearby town mentioned in the story, with a point of reference, but James Brodgen’s descriptions of the cruel weather will do little to boost local tourism!

The Stranding is a very tight and cleverly paced supernatural horror novel which I sped through over a couple of days. The main character (and dog), setting and descriptions carry the story with the supernatural simmering in the background.