The Empty Cradle by Lisa Rookes is folklore-infused horror at its finest

What happens when the dream of a family turns into something dark and uncanny? The Empty Cradle by Lisa Rookes blends psychological suspense, folklore, and magical realism into a story that unsettles you in the best possible way.

The novel follows Amy, who has been going along with her husband Joel’s dream of starting a family—even though she’s never been completely sure motherhood is what she wants. Joel, more than Amy, is the one determined to have a child. But when she discovers he’s having an affair with her best friend, Amy flees to a dilapidated cottage in a Yorkshire village. Originally, she had bought the cottage with plans to flip it as a short-term rental, not to make it a home. Yet once she’s there, she begins to imagine that maybe she could create a life for herself in the village—if only the unsettling occurrences around her would stop.

Isolated and vulnerable, Amy is drawn into a local women’s book club that quickly becomes more than just a friendly gathering. Mysterious offerings appear on her doorstep, strange figures circle her home at night, and—despite her history of infertility—Amy discovers she’s pregnant. The women of the village are thrilled. Perhaps too thrilled. What exactly do they want from Amy, and from her unborn child?

One of my favorite aspects of this novel is the setting. I’ll admit, living in a small Midwestern town where we don’t even have a café or pub, I’m always a little envious when I read about these picturesque English villages—even when they serve as the backdrop to a horror story! Beyond the surface charm, Rookes taps into the folklore and traditions of the land, weaving them into a suspenseful narrative that makes the village feel alive, watchful, and steeped in a history outsiders can’t fully grasp.

I was also drawn to the magical realism elements. (If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know this is my soft spot!) Here, they’re eerie and evocative: the offerings left for faeries, Amy’s inability to leave the village’s boundaries, even grotesque touches like pregnant women vomiting frog spawn. The line between myth and nightmare is constantly shifting, keeping both Amy and the reader off balance.

The character of Sam, Amy’s new friend, especially stood out to me. She reminded me of someone I once knew—outwardly kind and helpful, but ultimately controlling beneath the surface. Sam’s desperation for a child makes her sympathetic, but it’s never clear how far she’s willing to go. She doesn’t necessarily want to steal Amy’s baby, but she—and the other women—need Amy for something that ties directly into the town’s curse. That ambiguity is what makes her so compelling.

If I had one critique, it’s that I wanted more clarity on the source of the curse. The novel gestures toward faerie lore while also referencing the devil, which felt a bit muddled. Faeries, after all, stem from the indigenous beliefs of the British Isles, while the devil came later with Christianity. Some scholars even suggest that legends of “Little People” were based on real ancient tribes who lived on the Isles before being driven out, their memory eventually transforming into myth. That background could have deepened the book’s already rich folkloric atmosphere. The changeling explanation introduced near the end felt too abrupt for me, given how complex this thread could have been.

Still, The Empty Cradle delivers a chilling, atmospheric read that blends folklore with modern fears about motherhood, belonging, and trust. It’s one of those stories where the village itself becomes a character—beautiful on the surface, but with roots sunk deep into something ancient and unsettling.

Have you read The Empty Cradle or other novels that combine folklore with psychological suspense? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

An advance reader copy of this book (ARC) was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Related Content

• Ep 145: Lisa Rookes – The chaos and glory of a writer’s journey (Nadine Matheson)
• Lisa Rookes on the inspiration behind The Gallows Tree (Northbank Talent Management)
• Horror Book Reviews: The Village by Lisa Rookes (Dark Horror Tales)
• Holmfirth author’s new novel inspired by festival celebrating the end of the Great Plague (The Yorkshire Post)

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