Author: Andrew Michael Hurley
Published: 2019
Genre: Folk Horror / Nature & the Supernatural / Literary Fiction
Setting: Yorkshire countryside, modern day
⭐ Why It Matters
From the author of The Loney, Starve Acre is a modern folk horror tale about grief, possession, and ancient forces buried in the soil. It’s quiet and literary, but deeply unnerving — a novel where landscape and legend are inseparable, and sorrow opens the door to something far older than ghosts.
👥 Main Characters
- Richard Willoughby – A reserved academic trying to grieve and rebuild his life after the death of his young son.
- Juliette Willoughby – Richard’s wife, emotionally shattered by their loss, increasingly drawn to spiritualism and the supernatural.
- Ewan Willoughby – Their son, whose death haunts every moment of the novel.
- The Beaconsfield Group – A spiritualist circle that Juliette joins in search of contact with the dead.
- The “Hare” – A strange, resurrected animal that may not be what it seems.
📚 Plot Summary
🔹 The House Called Starve Acre
Richard and Juliette live in a rural home steeped in legend. The land surrounding it — Starve Acre — is rumoured to be cursed, and associated with a legendary oak tree said to be the site of ancient punishment and power.
Their son, Ewan, died unexpectedly — and possibly unnaturally — after a period of disturbing behaviour.
🔹 Grief and Obsession
Richard buries himself in academic research, trying to rationalise the strange events around Ewan’s death and the Starve Acre folklore.
Juliette turns to the Beaconsfield Group, who promise to contact Ewan’s spirit. She becomes increasingly distant, haunted, and obsessed with signs and visions.
🔹 Unearthing the Past
Richard begins to excavate the field behind the house — where the ancient oak once stood — and discovers the bones of a hare, buried upright.
Shortly after, the hare is mysteriously reanimated, behaving not like an animal but like a possessed vessel.
Ewan’s disturbing presence seems to grow stronger in the house — a voice, a shadow, a malevolent energy.
🔹 A Horrific Return
The novel builds toward a final, chilling act of resurrection and horror, when Juliette, desperate to bring Ewan back, allows something ancient and wrong to return in his place.
The ending is ambiguous, but strongly suggests that grief has opened the door to a primal force, and the resurrected “Ewan” is not the boy they lost — but something else entirely.
🧠 Themes & Takeaways
- Grief as Gateway – Both parents respond differently to loss, but neither can escape its reach.
- The Land Remembers – Starve Acre is haunted by its own history, and that history pushes back.
- Folklore vs Rationalism – Richard’s academic scepticism is steadily worn down by the irrational, the mystical, and the terrifying.
- Children and Evil – Ewan’s behaviour before his death suggests that something ancient was already working through him.
- Nature as Living Entity – The earth holds secrets, and digging too deep can uncover horrors better left buried.
