Lucie McKnight Hardy – författare

A sinister folk horror debut about one family’s devastating loss and their remaining daughter’s fascination with dark practices, perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson and Andrew Michael Hurley.Summer, 1976. Following the accidental drowning of her sister, sixteen-year-old Nif and her family move to a small village on the Welsh borders to escape their grief, but rural seclusion offers little relief from their pain and the villagers are far from welcoming. As her family unravels, Nif finds solitude in collecting talismans from the surrounding countryside, her very own form of witchcraft. That is, until she meets Mally, a local teenager who shares her morbid obsessions. As the oppressive heat shows no sign of relenting, Mally reveals his own secret rites, and Nif risks being consumed by his darkness.Set against the backdrop of sun-soaked English countryside and steeped in folk horror heritage, Water Shall Refuse Them is an atmospheric coming-of-age novel simmering with unsettling violence that will keep you hooked to the very last page. “Expertly juxtaposing folk horror and everyday reality, this impressive debut conveys an atmosphere of imminent menace.” - The Guardian

Iris has never left the big house in the country she shares with Mammy and the servants. When The Ladies arrive, she finds that she must appease her dead relatives. Other stories in this collection explore themes of motherhood and the fragile body, family dynamics and small town tensions, unusual traditions and metamorphosis.Dead Relatives and Other Stories is the highly anticipated, no-holds-barred short story collection from Lucie McKnight Hardy, and readers can expect more of the suspense and trepidation evident in her debut novel, Water Shall Refuse Them.Not for the faint-hearted, Dead Relatives invites you behind closed doors, and will leave you wondering if it's better that they're kept shut and firmly locked.

The haunting new folk horror novel from Lucie McKnight Hardy'A sophisticated, chilling tale' Guardian'[A] claustrophobic folk horror . . . Expect figures looming in the shadows and whisperings in the night' Sunday Times Style'Lucie McKnight Hardy is one of the best writers of the uncanny around' Alison Littlewood'A modern classic of the folk horror genre' Johnny Mains'Beautifully written and absolutely gripping' Alison Moore'[A] cleverly constructed literary ghost story, exploring truth and perception in the eeriest of manners' Rachelle AttallaThings were looking up for Astrid Aspden and her partner, Kit, until their house flooded. With Astrid's first solo art exhibition just weeks away, her paintings are ruined and excitement has turned to despair.She is thrown a lifeline when her best friend Flora invites her to stay in a run-down chapel she and her partner, Sim, are renovating in the Brecon Beacons. As Astrid and Kit settle into their new surroundings to salvage her work, they soon learn about the unsettling history of the chapel and what lies beneath the nearby reservoir.As the weeks go by, tensions simmer between Astrid and Flora as sour memories flare up from their teenage past and deep wounds are laid bare from an ill-fated school trip to Florence. Her relationship with Kit begins to fray as the chapel and the surrounding hostile beauty of the valley begin to intrude on their lives.Astrid throws herself into her work but the longer she spends in the chapel the more she begins to notice things: handprints on her paintings, shadowy figures reflected in the reservoir and voices whispering in the night. As the darkness of the Welsh valley closes in on Astrid, will she be able to run from the looming horror or be consumed by it?Whether it is the past, the otherworldly, or the truth - they all haunt this menacing and claustrophobic novel.