The Haar: A Horror Novel

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Every new Sodergren is my NEW favourite, as he somehow continually outdoes himself with each subsequent book. Maggie’s Grave has all of his qualities that I’ve come to know and love, such as strong yet flawed female protagonists, a real sense of place and, of course, balls to the wall, no holds-barred HORROR. And plenty of WTF moments! Just when I think Sodergren can’t possibly go any further, can’t go any darker, he does. And I love him for it. Since the publication of his first novel, The Forgotten Island, he has written and published a further eight novels, including the gore-soaked folk-horror Maggie's Grave and the romantic and disturbing The Haar. The best damn horror book I’ve read in a while! I devoured it in 24 hours and even stayed up until 2am cos I just. couldn’t. stop. And I never do that!! I didn’t like it. According to the Afterword, the author set out to write a slasher. In that respect, he definitely failed. If Night Shoot were a horror movie it would be a modern day Hammer movie with a student film crew trying to liven up hoary gothic house plots, not a slasher. Which goes to show that you can have the best instructions and the finest legos but still make a pile of crap! Blending the fast-paced gore, casting, and structure of ’80s slasher and final girl films with the dread-inducing mystery of more gothic haunted house tales, this horror tale keeps you guessing, laughing, and peeking through your fingers when it gets gory.

David can write characters of any age and in any situation and manages to bring us different types of horror with every single one of his novels. The line between progress and demolition of the past is wonderfully explored in the way that the modern thinking is to throw money at everything, whilst the old ways, as exemplified by Muriel, is to be resilient, resourceful and do her best to survive. The story had a good premise. After all, who isn't a wee bit afraid of a fog bank and what may lurk therein... Perhaps the most surprising element of this novel, however, is its monster. Usually, in Sodergren novels, the monster feels entirely like a force of nature, inhuman in its rage and desire to desolate our protagonists. The one exception is Maggie’s Grave, which gets a mention in this novel. Would you fall in love with a murderous sea creature that only has your best intentions at heart? Honestly… I might. This story for all its gore and injustice was surprisingly… adorable. 😆 I absolutely love Muriel as a character. She is so righteous with a hard edge and very relatable. A well-rounded character who I wanted nothing but the best for. And I think Avalon gave that to her in the most romantically disturbing way. 🥹🖤 🌊

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What I liked: The story follows 80+ year old, Muriel McAuley, life long resident of the Scottish fishing town Witchaven. This was where she was born and raised, met and married her husband and continued to live when, years ago, his fishing boat was found, but no signs of Billy were ever found. Now, a billionaire American is buying up all of the land and houses, building a massive golf course and resort, but some residents are holding their ground and refusing to sell. Muriel being one of them. I don’t fear death… but they do.” Muriel McAuley has lived in the Scottish fishing village of Witchaven all her life. She was born there, and she intends to die there. But when an overseas property developer threatens to evict the residents from their homes and raze Witchaven to the ground in the name of progress, all seems lost… until the day a mysterious fog bank creeps inland. THE HAAR To some it brings redemption… to others, it brings only madness and death. What macabre secrets lie within… THE HAAR Romantic and deranged, THE HAAR is a gore-soaked folk horror fairy tale from David Sodergren, author of The Forgotten Island and Maggie’s Grave The Haar by David Sodergren – eBook Details

There are only 47 residents in the small Scottish town of Auchenmullan, where there is nothing to do, nothing to see, but a solitary grave near the top of a mountain. The faded inscription reads “Maggie Wall buried here as a witch”, but sometimes, the dead don’t stay buried...

Revenge Of The Boogeyman might not be the worst Nasty, or even the most boring, but it’s without a shadow of a doubt the laziest. Barely running 75 minutes including the slowest moving end credits on record, approximately half of the running time is footage from the original Boogeyman. The idea is a good one – Lacey, played by a returning Suzanna Love, goes to Hollywood where she is courted by producers who want to make a movie out of her life. A supernatural slasher running amok in early 80s Tinseltown? Sounds good! Muriel Margaret McAuley was 84 years old the first time she saw a man turned inside out-by a sea monster’. Muriel McAuley has lived in the Scottish fishing village of Witchaven all her life. She was born there, and she intends to die there. Muriel has strong ties to the land and the sea, that resonate through her life with, and without, her husband Billy for whom she gave up a potential career as an illustrator, a fact she constantly reminds the scumbag-no other word for it-developers , she is a Mrs not a Miss. The haar is a freezing fog that comes in from the sea and has arrived when Witchaven is under siege from an American billionaire who is cajoling, bullying, and worse to get the last remaining, elderly villagers to sign their lands over to him, so that they can be bulldozed into a designer golf course.

Oh dear! There may be spoilers. 2 stars. I'm sorry, but I didn't find this story the least bit plausible or entertaining... The characters were well developed, especially given the length of the novel. I particularly appreciated the inclusion of some queer representation with a lesbian relationship prominently displayed at the beginning of the novel.A cemetery. Ambitious crane shots and Steadicam work reminiscent of Halloween. A young girl in a gothic crypt. Mario Bava-esque lighting. What I didn’t like: The main bad guy and his son, aka The Grant’s, I think were a little underutilized in the sense that I felt they loomed but their dirty work seemed too detached. It’s hard to really say everything and remain spoiler free, so I think once you’ve given this one a go, you’ll understand. Night Shoot was my first experience with David Sodergren. And you know what? It was a good one! In his afterword, Sodergren gushes over his love of slasher films, and explains that he set out to try to filter that appreciation into this book by “embracing the trashiness”. Well, I’m here to say he accomplished his mission. And I mean that as a compliment. Sodergren has a gift for storytelling, for pacing, character development and for not filling space with useless words. He puts down what is needed and does it effortlessly. Throw in the amazing artwork that keeps the stylistic aesthetic of his debut and Night Shoot fires on all cylinders.

Desperate students take desperate measures to finish their film project before their time is up, a rare opportunity to shoot in Crawford Manor impossible to ignore. Sneaking their way in to the maze-like halls, they attempt an overnight stay to soak up the atmosphere and hopefully make significant progress, yet the secrets of the manor begin to stir in the dark. Losing their lead actress is the least of their problems when hideous figures make themselves known, survival soon becoming the priority. Often I’m a little self-conscious when I post a gushing review for the latest Sodergren book, I’m falling into fangirl territory here, but I’m truly in awe of how he manages to consistently churn out these unique, fast-paced and, most importantly, FUN horror novels. I always have a blast when reading them - he is the master of combining creepy, disturbing shit with laugh out loud moments. I don’t know how he does it, he must be a wizard! I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I thank David Sodergren for giving me the opportunity. I love battle-for-nature stories with revenge. The Haar was excellently paced, an easy read to breeze through, and stirred in me rainbow of emotion. I was angry then happy then disgusted then sad then infuriated then exuberant. Haha, really everything under the sun. ☀️

Muriel’s presence makes the horrifying elements all the more terrifying, and, often, those horrifying elements come from other human beings, not the strange creature from the fog. Setting is everything when it comes to horror movies and of course, they wind up in a creepy old castle with only one rule: everyone and everything has to be out by 8 pm. But anything that can go wrong in a horror movie, not only goes wrong but goes from bad to worse to holy-hell-let’s-get-the-f***-out-of-here!