A gore-soaked folk horror fairy tale? Sounds awesome. And what is that wretched creature on the cover? Freaky! Great review!

The Haar by David Sodergren | Goodreads

So many points I could raise, but in short it’s just like a very cheesy 80’s action film, full of cliche and hammy writing. Parts were just so clunky. 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. 🥹🖤 🌊A cemetery. Ambitious crane shots and Steadicam work reminiscent of Halloween. A young girl in a gothic crypt. Mario Bava-esque lighting. One night, the mist comes to the village and brings something with it that will change everything. Especially for our main character Muriel, a lonely elderly woman that will not give up her home, her memories and her identity.

The Haar: A Horror Novel: Sodergren, David: 9798800159837

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. I did not expect David to give me another amazing unexpected story, yet here we are. When you have been loving every book by an author, you are scared that the next one might not meet your expectations. The Haar starts as a story about a greedy American arsehole who is trying to destroy the small coastal fishing town of Witchhaven, Scotland, and slowly turns into a story about love, self-preservation, and the human condition. Oh dear! There may be spoilers. 2 stars. I'm sorry, but I didn't find this story the least bit plausible or entertaining... 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 Haar is a self-published, indie horror novel that is sort of like if The Thing met The Shape of Water, and had a healthy serving of Scottish folklore thrown in. The novel centers on the little Scottish town of Witchaven and an 80-something year old widow woman, Muriel... Muriel is left hopeless – until, after a particularly dense fog (called a “ haar“), she finds a mysterious blob on the beach. Little does Muriel know, saving this blob will not only spell her salvation, but a new hope for her future. Because it’s another one of those films that begins with a dynamite sequence of horror and then flails around like a fish out of water for the rest of its runtime. But let’s enjoy the good while it lasts.