By Tony Jones 
Katherine Clements – Turbine 34
The superb ‘Turbine 34’ closes out the ‘Northern Weird Project’ in style
Turbine 34 by Katherine Clements is the sixth and final release in The Northern Weird Project, by Wild Hunt Books. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series and highly recommend checking out all six novellas. The overall project, published across 2025, involves authors who are living and writing in the North of England. These are a mixture of the supernatural and the strange, stories which have a powerful sense of local setting and history.
The series also features Matt Wesolowski (Don’t Call Mum), Stephen Howard (This House Isn’t Haunted But We Are), Jodie Robins (The Off-Season), Gemma Fairclough (The Retreat) and Neil McRobert (Good Boy).
Turbine 34 is a superb addition to the set, which I devoured almost as quickly as I did number five, its predecessor, Good Boy. The range of stories in The Northern Weird Project is top quality, with the publishers cleverly saving two real bangers to close out the series in style. This is an ambitious and original sequence of stories which deserves to pick up lots of media attention, and not just from genre sites. I would also consider publishing them as a set, as all are in the region of one hundred pages or shorter and combined would make an impressive, meaty tome.
Whilst all the novellas have a strong sense of location, Turbine 34 is particularly vivid in describing the West Yorkshire Moors which has recently had a controversial new wind farm built upon them. Set a few years in the future, an unnamed environmental scientist is tasked with evaluating the impact of the farm on the surrounding moor. Whilst England roasts through another recording breaking hot summer, the scientist is particularly interested in the ancient peat bog upon which the turbine is built, spending a few isolated days gathering samples. As the scientist is the only character in Turbine 34, the novella details the disturbing series of events when she is camping in the shadow of the turbine.
Although presented in a naturalistic and wild manner there is often a threat or danger lurking in the manner Katherine Clements presents the Yorkshire Moors. Although an experience fieldworker, the scientist is disorientated by the isolated location, and there are a few Blair Witch style moments where she believes there are people or worse lurking outside her tent. She quickly realises that something about the turbine alters the immediate area, which is brilliantly described, although the latest in modern technology it is presented like an ancient monolith or threatening god towering over its empire. I have seen these beasts up close, the noise they make, and I would not particularly fancy camping in the shadow of one.
The story is all about disorientation, confusion and reality blending into the past. To say much more of the story would head into spoiler territory, but I found it to be a moving, moody and powerful piece of writing which is accompanied by a superb flashback sequence. This trip back to the final year of secondary school raised the story from very good to excellent and is blended beautifully into the narrative. The angst and trauma in this flashback sequence literally jumps from the page.
The scientist only has her thoughts for company and reflects upon her academic journey into becoming a scientist, effectively how she eventually ended up at the turbine. She was an excellent hard working pupil, who loved Biology, but attended a school with low aspirations and became besotted by a Biology teacher who recognised the potential in her, calling her Oxbridge material and boosting her confidence. The teacher invited her (only her) to the moors to collect samples for Biology lessons and you can guess which direction this heads into. I found this duel narrative into the scientist’s past to be incredibly powerful, sad, intense and ultimately moving.
Apparently Turbine 34 was inspired by a real-life proposed wind farm in the North of England and is a very fine piece of writing which effortlessly blends Folk Horror with a thoughtful environmental message which allows the reader to draw their own conclusions without being heavy handed. Although I did not know the name of the scientist, aged in her fifties, over less than one hundred pages I was drawn to her and the emotional turmoil she was forced to relive, some of which is explored through the terrific and unexpected ending. Highly recommended.
Tony Jones
Turbine 34 by Katherine Clements
PART OF THE NORTHERN WEIRD PROJECT
In the near future, England is experiencing the hottest summer in living memory. An unnamed environmental scientist is tasked with evaluating the impact of a controversial new wind farm on the West Yorkshire moors. Camped out alone by the base of Turbine 34 – the most remote of the new turbines, built on an ancient peat bog – she spends her days gathering samples. But when she discovers signs of the devastation caused by the construction, she begins to see things – things that shouldn’t be there. She has dedicated her life to protecting the moor, but will it protect her?
Inspired by a real-life proposed wind farm in the North of England, Turbine 34 is for readers of Dark Matter and Wuthering Heights with a dash of folk horror.
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