The Haar: A Horror Novel

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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... Muriel McAuley has lived in the Scottish fishing village of Witchaven all her life. She was born there, and she intends to die there.

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. Do I think David’s work is grossly overlooked? Absolutely. Look at his body of work thus far; ‘The Forgotten Island,’ ‘Night Shoot,’ ‘Dead Girl Blues,’ Maggie’s Grave,’ The Perfect Victim,’ and ‘Satan’s Burnouts Must Die!’ I would call all of these Indie Horror Masterpieces. Sodergren fully embraces the DIY Self-Publishing model and the level/caliber of books he’s given us are second to none. And I’m not going to include our co-written novel ‘The Navajo Nightmare’ as I think that would be too biased, but I will say, his opening salvo that makes up the story is simply one of the best Splatter-Western stories released in that genre over the last few years. 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.There is gore in this, and for someone like me who loves the gore, it’s the best kind of gore. Sodergren does a fantastic job of describing true horror, some absolutely gruesome things happen in this story…and I could not get enough! Besides the gore, there is so much love shown in this story. For someone like me, the gore and the love make it the perfect masterpiece of literature. 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

The HAAR by David Sodergren is my first read by the author. I'm glad that I choose The HAAR because it is a little on the weird side, it's quite gory in parts, it's a lot of fun, and it's a surprisingly touching story about love and loss. A cemetery. Ambitious crane shots and Steadicam work reminiscent of Halloween. A young girl in a gothic crypt. Mario Bava-esque lighting. 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. I received my copy of The Haar as part of my Abominable Book Club Bare Bones subscription so this is my first time of reading David’s work, and it is an impressive novella of folk horror and love that can outlast death. 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.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.