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Duncan Ralston

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The Midwives Kindle Edition

by Duncan Ralston (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.5 320 ratings

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An Edge-of-Your-Seat Folk Horror Novel from the Author of Woom.

On tour with his latest book, true crime writer Martin Savage discovers one of his most dangerous subjects has escaped. The so-called "Witch Hunter," a delusional murderer of women and their unborn children, holds a deadly grudge. He'll stop at nothing to get his revenge, and destroy everything Martin cares about.

With nowhere to run, Martin and forensic psychologist Sheila Tanner flee to the town he left when he was a boy, after his mother was locked away in a psychiatric facility. A town hidden deep in his past, where no one would think to look for them.

But things are not what they seem in Barrows Bay. The idyllic island holds terrible secrets. An ancient evil lived here long before the first Irish settlers crashed upon its shores in a coffin ship. An evil wearing the innocent faces of elderly midwives who've delivered every child in the Bay for two hundred and fifty years.

Martin and Sheila think they’re safe in his childhood home. But Martin’s mother has plans for them. Plans that require sacrifice. And sacrifice requires blood.

Print length

421 pages
Language

English
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Publication date

February 24, 2020
File size

3236 KB
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B083VZJ7ZB
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Shadow Work Publishing (February 24, 2020)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 24, 2020
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3236 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 421 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #66,719 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #10 in Occult Occultism
- #66 in Occultism
- #123 in Occult Suspense

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4.5 320 ratings

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Duncan Ralston

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**New standalone horror novel PEDO ISLAND BLOODBATH available now!**

Author of the cult smash-hit Woom and Ghostland and more than 15 other books that aren't the cult smash-hit Woom or Ghostland. His debut collection was blurbed positively by the legendary Jack Ketchum. His latest, Pedo Island Bloodbath, has been nominated for a 2024 Splatterpunk Award for Best Novel.

Photo © Josh Silver 2015

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Paperbackstash

Creepy fairy-tale vibe horror

Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2020

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Ah, the joy of parenthood – and the darkness of it…

Admission: I wasn’t sure before going in if this one would do it for me or not. Burned out by so many witchcraft stories being cheese-coated regurgitation, the Midwives is a refreshing change of pace that did not suffer from the same curse. Its fate instead was complex and eventually riveting; I ended up reading it in two sittings.

Witchcraft plays its role in the story, but with enough polish to stand out and flourish. Toss in a serial killer who livens up the story – especially when combined with a humorous town pariah – excellent results. Compelling characterization is where The Midwives excels past the mark, especially having Martin be the flawed man he is. Sheila is a worthy tag-along who brings feminism in to a storyline where the small town is dominated by these women who still embrace somewhat antiquated views on womanhood.

Ruby as the mother is particularly fascinating with her manic moods and the mysteries of her pursuits. Even the town itself, aptly named Barrow’s Bay, becomes a small character on its own. The remote, island type towns suits the ambience of a creepy horror story.

It’s not a first person, so we get to hop around in a few heads, but Martin leads the majority of the tale, as he should. He’s not the only focus, but he is the shining example of the opposite end of the point of faith.

A disconsolate landscape of human misery, horrible things happen – truly. Faith is mentioned as a manipulative weapon to allow much of this darkness to come to pass and hold the town in its grip; blind faith and behind-the-scenes manipulation. By a saving grace, faith becomes a symbol of hope for transformation for more than one character. The story may open with a long-standing tradition grounded in horrible origins, but it ends by showing that you can continue to evolve past your roots.

Having faith in who you can be, not just who you are, or origins of who you once were.

Violence and gore aren’t shied away from, particularly in the prologue that almost did border on cheesy, but everything happens for a reason – and some of these reasons may eventually surprise you with subtle magic. It’s brutal, but it gets your attention and makes a lasting impression. Five stars, and I don’t give those lightly to horror novels any more.

A horror story absolute, it remains true to the fairy-tale lore for witch tales of old. These aren’t women in gingerbread houses molding traps to snare wandering children, but they’re not far off from it either. If you want a modern day, twisted fairy-tale type of story that is both dark and gripping – this is the one.

5 people found this helpful

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Gunlord

Solid and gory horror

Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2021

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The Midwives by Duncan Ralston. I'll give this 4 stars. In a small island town off the eastern US coast, Barrows Bay, a group of elderly ladies who seem like nice, harmless midwives seem to dominate the town and its citizens through evil witchery, sending animals and perhaps even demons to terrorize people who don't obey them...especially young pregnant women, whose babies are occasionally sacrificed to provide the midwives with life and power. Our protagonist is Martin, who escaped the cursed town years ago and became a true crime writer. However, one of the serial killers he wrote about, Jimmy Barclay escaped from prison and is hunting Martin and one of Martin's ex-girlfriends, Sheila, so the two of them are sent into witness protection in Barrows Bay, as it seems to remote for Jimmy Barclay to reach. However, there Martin and Sheila fall under the sway of his mother, Ruby Savage, who was once sent away to a mental hospital when he was a child...and the true reason why, as well as Martin's past with her, has to do with the final confrontation he'll have with the mysterious midwives and the source of their evil power.

This is a pretty solid read. After an opening prologue/"catch" about the midwives terrorizing a pregnant girl, it starts pretty slowly with Martin complaining about his writer's life and seducing groupies, but the serial killer pursuing him keeps things interesting until he meets up with Sheila and runs to Barrows Bay to hide from the escaped James Barclay. Once he gets there, there's plenty of creepy shenanigans with the Midwives' power, all of which is described pretty well and energetically, with (mild spoilers so readers know what they're getting into) graphic violence involving suicide and murder by rampaging animals, as well as one stomach-turning scene involving eating a baby! I thought it was gross but also very scary, but sensitive readers might want to be forwarned. Aside from that, when Martin starts confronting his past, he becomes much less annoying and much more likable, so that was good. You also get to see the true nature of the evil inhabiting Barrows Bay; the unveiling of that mystery is pretty well done IMO. My only problems were a handful of grammar errors, like I think a misspelled word and a repeated word here and there, and also that the ending was kind of saccharine for my tastes. Still, it's often fun for a gory ride to have a happy ending, so that was alright by me and I was happy to have bought this book. Again, 4 stars.

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Holly Hummel

Made Me A Fan!

Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2023

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Midwives has made me a Duncan Ralston fan. The story was absolutely excellent along with fantastic writing. The novel has a small town with a strange past, a serial killer, and a writer that may just not want to know about his past. Is running from his present to his past such a great idea..? Find out for yourself🙂

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Mylene

To my fellow Torontonian

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2020

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Duncan, please don’t tell me you based Barrows Bay off some small town in Ontario OR I WILL NEVER LEAVE THE BIG CITY AGAIN!!!!!

Wow! Your stories just keep greeting better and better. I’m really enjoying the way you tell a tale. Like Ghostland, the reader is intrigued by the first chapter, and then the story slows right down. Next thing you know you are flipping through pages to get to the ultimate crescendo. Awesome. I completely enjoyed my trip to Barrows Bay and I recommend that others read your novels. They are creepy, thrilling, and most importantly, completely unique.

Last comment.... it was great to mention Francois Vallaincourt’s effort on the book cover because as far as marketing material is concerned, this really sells your story. That is the face of one of the Midwives you described (I kept thinking Mavis for some reason) and it stayed with me for the entire book.

4 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Adam

Duncan Ralston delivers

Reviewed in Canada on October 2, 2022

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Great horror story with a few gory scenes.

Morgan K Tanner

Perfectly creepy!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 2, 2020

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Having thoroughly ‘devoured’ The Midwives (which is certainly an intentional pun) I feel compelled to write about just how damn great it is. Ahem, so I will.

This novel of folklore, macabre practices, a killer on the loose looking for revenge, a writer with a troubled past, supernatural terror, body possession… OK that’s enough for starters. This story has so many horrific parts to it that it may seem that Duncan Ralston tried to throw everything into the mix to see what sticks.

But it doesn’t come across like that at all. This novel is such a well written piece with believable characters, a fully fleshed out supernatural world with just enough information to keep you hooked and keep you guessing, and a great and fast-paced narrative that never lulls in its pursuit of the reader’s soul.

Martin Savage is a writer who shot to fame with his true crime book about a murderer of pregnant women. This killer, James Barclay, is serving his time for these horrific crimes. But, wouldn’t you know it, he escapes. And who does he come looking for? That’s right, the guy who he trusted to give his side of the grisly story to, only for this writer dude to manipulate his words in order to sell more books.

Oh, Martin!

Yeah, Barclay’s pretty angry about this.

But let’s back up. Before all of this we’re treated to a gripping prologue in which a young mother with her minutes-old baby is fleeing from some hideous, evil old crones. She’s pursued by these midwives who delivered her son, claiming she must give her baby up to them. She’s obviously very reluctant to do this, but that’s what happens in this sinister little town. Its certainly not the kind of place with a flourishing tourist trade. Even in the short prologue you get the idea that this strange place doesn’t like outsiders too much. The midwives take the child, and murder the mother.

Anyway, where were we?

Martin hears of the killer’s escape and is advised to get out of town. Sheila, a psychiatrist who also knew Barclay professionally, and Martin intimately, is also on the killer’s hit list. The pair escape together and head for the remote island where Martin grew up and quickly left when he had the chance; Barrows Bay. Martin’s pretty sure no one else knows about this place. He hopes so anyway.

This town is run by the Midwives. At first they seem like just a group of cantankerous old crones. But after Martin and Shelia arrive, the pair learn more about the secrets this place is hiding. They’ve already killed at least one baby, remember?

I don’t want to say too much more about the plot. But Barrows Bay is portrayed as a fascinating yet creepy as hell place. The origins of it and its first settlers are presented, as well as the curse on the place, and the ritualistic cannibal feasting that goes on. Oh yeah, there’s that, too.

But what was great is that none of this was just info-dumped in there. Martin has vivid memories of his childhood but also lots of gaps. As the story unfolds he finds out more than he bargained for, and so does the reader.

There are many stories where people are stranded in a remote location and eventually try with everything they have to escape. Most times you are deriding the characters for their stupidity or bemoaning plot holes that just wouldn’t happen.

But here, Martin and Sheila’s motivations for being there are 100% believable. There’s a killer on the loose, isn’t there? When they realise that not all is what it seems they try their very best to leave, but the supernatural elements of Barrows Bay prevent them, and do it pretty brutally, all told.

I have to admit that I didn’t warm to Martin initially. He’s a little full of himself, derides his readers for being idiots and appears a little privileged with his fame. But after learning of his upbringing, all is forgiven. The chemistry between him and Sheila is great and realistic. There’s tension there, a constant rock between them.

This is pretty close to perfection for a horror novel. The elements are scary, the plot always leaves you wanting to find out what happens next, and the characters enhance it all, especially the bad guys. It’s also a perfect length meaning no scenes seem too short or drag on. It’s all just great stuff.

So dare you take a trip to Barrows Bay? I think you definitely should.

Dirk Kok Australia

Thoroughly Enjoyed it.

Reviewed in Australia on July 30, 2022

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I've had this book with narration sitting in my library for ages and kept
skipping past it for no particular reason. Having just listened to it, I'm so satisfied with it I feel i have to encourage others to check it out. Far better than I imagined ... Thanks DR

MarkMJ Green

A must have for fans of horror fiction

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 2, 2020

Verified Purchase

For the residents of Barrows Bay, the very first thing they see, is the old, wrinkled faces of The Midwives, pulling them from the warm safety of the womb. For an unlucky few, the very last thing they see is those same faces, ushering them toward the grave.

True Crime writer, Martin Savage was born on Barrows Bay, his mother, Ruby, is the head Midwife; known not only to Martin as Mother but to all the residents.

Fleeing from an escaped serial killer; a murderer of pregnant women and their unborn children, who was also the subject of one of Martin’s books, Martin and forensic psychologist Sheila Tanner head to the isolation of Barrows Bay, seeking shelter and safety. But perhaps their destination is even stranger and more terrifying than the horror they are seeking to escape?

I’ve reviewed Duncan’s work before, and each title I’ve read I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, however, there is something different about The Midwives.

You see, not only has Duncan once again written a fantastic story, it feels different from his other works somehow

Special, perhaps.

The Midwives is a story that Duncan has been working on for a long time now, in one form or another, ever since he was a teenager. It’s one of those titles that every writer has where they know there’s a story there, but it just doesn’t quite come together, so it gets shelved. Then, years later, they go back to it and if they are lucky, it turns into something wonderful.

Such is the case with The Midwives.

The story grabs you from the start as it opens with a young woman, having just given birth and fleeing with her newborn child from sinister figures that are relentlessly stalking her.

From there, we get introduced to Martin and those around him. The story gently holds your hand and pulls you along, but that friendly grip is a deception. The grip tightens and before you know it you are being dragged along, racing to keep up. For a while, you are allowed to slow down and catch your breath, before the grip tightens once more and you’re dragged headlong into events. When the final act hits, you’re not so much pulled toward it, as you are shoved headfirst into the mayhem.

Basically, once the story has grabbed you, there is no letting go. The pace seems steady at first, a slow build with the omnipresent threat of serial killer Barclay looming here and there to remind you of his presence. But even without that threat, you know there is something very strange going on in Barrows Bay.

Moments of quiet storytelling, suddenly broken by acts of violence, before settling down again, giving the reader time to recover and collect their thoughts until that final act when all the characters collide.

Woom, will most likely always be my favourite title of Duncan’s, but I know it’s not one that I can recommend to everyone. The Midwives though feels like something I can recommend wholeheartedly. Yes, there are moments of violence as well as the omnipresent threat of being stalked by a serial killer and running into danger, as well as away from it. Some of the violence, particularly where it refers to a pregnant woman or a newborn baby may turn a few folks away, and I get that. But it’s never done just for the sake of it. It’s not there explicitly to be shocking, it’s all part of the narrative. So if you can handle that, then get yourself a copy of The Midwives.

I’ve said this near the start, but somehow, The Midwives feels special. Maybe because it’s something that Duncan has been working on since his childhood, or maybe because it truly is a fantastic story.

Probably both.

It’s one of those titles that not just avid horror fans, but those with only a passing interest should pick up and read. Even if your only dip into the ocean of horror fiction is the likes of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, James Herbert etc. and you’ve never wandered away from those names, you really do need to add this to your reading list.

It sometimes feels cliché to reel off nothing but praise for a title, to give it a 5/5 without any criticism, but sometimes, like now, it’s warranted.

2 people found this helpful

Mrs C L Lewis

brilliant

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 12, 2023

Verified Purchase

An excellent story with great characters , this was my first book by Duncan Ralston but definitely won’t be the last

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