The Haar: A Horror Novel

Product Information

For all the inhumanity of the creature’s biology, however, this critter from the fog rivals Muriel in its complexity. He’s endearing, even when he’s begging to get a good feast from human blood and flesh. Surprisingly, Muriel starts a kind of romance with the creature when it takes the form of her long-gone husband, Billy McAuley. This romance might be weird, but it’s entirely heartfelt and gorgeous. I even found myself rooting for each moment this new Billy gets to give Muriel the closure she never had in life. Now, I haven’t forgotten about that ‘gore-soaked’ aspect either. Expect the brutality and bloodbath that David is known for. Think ‘Maggie’s Grave’ and you’ll have an idea, and while this one doesn’t have as much as most of his books, it works perfectly to highlight the horrors and events Muriel is living through. Then there's the cliche yelled from a police blow horn at an 80-something year old widow: You are surrounded! Come out with your hands up!!... The main problem with this book is that it takes it simple premise and makes it formulaic to the point of becoming boring. While the setting of an old mansion on a cliff by the ocean in beautiful Scotland is a fantastic setting, the stalking and the kills are dull and devoid of any tension. Likewise, the villains are just the generic deformed cannibals we see in so many slasher movies, and there is nothing interesting or threatening about them. Even worse, their father, who aids them by killing people to feed them, makes no sense as to his motivations or actions. He wants the main group out of his house so they won't be killed and eaten, but then goes out of his way to kill people to feed them, but then at some point he just decides to leave the remaining few to their impending doom and just drives off a cliff, and it's so out of nowhere and jarring that it comes across as ridiculous.

My favorite thing about this book is the well-built tension. It doesn't launch you right into the middle of the action, it takes its sweet time making the reader feel comfortable and settled before things begin to go awry. The characters are mostly solid, especially our heroes. The bad guys, mainly the villains, do become what you might think of as "typical", but they really didn't need that much fleshing out. The story is all from Muriel's pov with the villains playing a smaller role. The story is more about Muriel trying to stay where she belongs, to spend the rest of her life with what remains of her friends, to die where she was born. Most of all, to heal from the loss of her husband. The story is a reminder: don't take advantage of life or the ones you love the most because no one is exempt from the final destination.The book becomes even worse in regards to the characters, because there's barely any likable ones in this bunch. Almost every single character is so absolutely odious in one way or another that it becomes irritating to read, and I know many people say slasher genre victims are supposed to be unlikable so the viewer/reader can root for the killer, but I disagree; I don't want to root for any killer, I want to care about the people who are in danger, I want to be invested in their fates. When they're this painfully unlikable, I don't look forward to them getting killed, I just put the book down because it's so annoying to read. it's why it took me literal weeks to get through this book. 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. 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 author is clearly skilled at his craft. The writing was very strong throughout the novel with descriptions that allowed me to picture the horrific events in vivid detail. The narrative built slowly towards the ending, which had a satisfying climax. While this book did not personally scare me, there was enough tasteful gore towards the end to satisfy my horror palate.In classic horror trope fashion, NIGHT SHOOT has the perfect set up for everything to go horribly wrong. Some amateur film students go on location to film a movie at an abandoned mansion. 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. It is too bad that the one interesting aspect of the story, the monster found in the fog by the old woman, was overshadowed by the inane nonsense of the rest of the story. It's set in a small Scottish seaside fishing village that's under threat of a billionare land developer. He's throwing crazy money at the residents to buy them out but eighty-four year old Muriel ain't budging. No amount he offers could entice her to give up her home, the one that her 12 years gone husband built just for her, where all her best memories reside.

If there was ever a story I wish I could erase from my mind only to read over and over again…it would be this one! It is the perfect love story with a Cthulhu twist, and although I don’t foresee anything like this happening to me, it has really made me think about my own relationships in my life. It’s a wonderful piece about humanity and what we are as creatures in this vast world. I have never felt so small and meaningless in this world, and yet my heart has never been so full.

Oliver is an important business man. We know, because he is waiting on a ‘ call‘ about the ‘ deal‘. While out dancing at a nightclub, he has to take a call. The next day he has to be at the office early, and then comes home late. In another, better film, Oliver would be having an affair. Here, it’s just bad characterisation. His wife is no better. The story is about Muriel McAuley, an old widow who wants to be left alone but a big corporation is buying up all the land of the Scottish coastal town she grew up in to build a golf course. The million-pound offers to buy her property are now turning into threats. Muriel then finds a sea creature with unique powers and it becomes a game changer.

That’s kind of literally all that happens in the book. Other than the obvious plot of being forced out of their cottage homes and such. It really is just about a woman not wanting to give up her house, still trying to process the loss of her husband, and constant repetitions about how she’s not afraid of death. Which confuses me all the more about the ending unless I’m interpreting it wrong? This one is a wild ride. I think the ending will be divisive for readers; it will either work or it won’t, and I lean toward the latter. But the rest of the book is so strong and I enjoyed reading it so much that I’m OK with the end. Muriel Margaret McAuley was eighty-four years old the first time she saw a man turned inside-out by a sea monster. You might think it would bother a woman of her age, but, as Muriel was fond of saying, she had seen a lot in her eighty-four short years. I mentioned that it feels like the flattening of Witchaven feels inspired by Trump’s infamy in pissing off the Scottish residents of Aberdeenshire for that godawful golf course. While those incidents are very marked by Trump’s buffoonery and corruption, the novel plays these elements straighter with a more sinister edge. The book’s corrupt American billionaire, Mr. Grant, is just fine slipping into even more dangerous and dark deeds to get what he wants. 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.Sodergren’s many hours watching movies continues to pay off and he framed the scenes fantastic and injected a bit of humour at a few key spots, which upped the emotional attachments to the various characters. That main character, Muriel McAuley, is by far the best part of the book. Sodergren dedicates the novel to his grandmother, and it’s clear he took much inspiration from what he knew to create Muriel. Mrs. ( not Miss) McAuley feels like someone I would meet. I wouldn’t be surprised if one day she stepped out from this novel into the real world. Her fierce yet loving personality can only be endearing to the reader, and her desperation to keep her home and see her missing husband’s face one last time creates a pathos that will stay with you for a long time. 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!