#BookReview ‘The Haar’ by David Sodergren

About the book…

“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.

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.

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.

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.

Just because her husband went to sea and did not return does not negate her marriage contract and, as her neighbours and allies dwindle from single figures to a solo one, the sea throws up an interesting and horrifying resolution to the Mexican standoff between Muriel and Patrick Grant.

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.

What is seen as her weakness-age, her sex, being alone-becomes her strength and whether what comes from the haar is wish fulfilment, an ancient prophecy or something from beyond the stars is irrelevant as the greed, lust for power and need to dominate literally turn these despicable individuals inside out.

Chock full of scenes which will not disappoint hardened horror fans, who couldn’t appreciate a novel which begins with the line-

‘Muriel Margaret McAuley was 84 years old the first time she saw a man turned inside out-by a sea monster’.

About the author…

David Sodergren lives in Scotland with his wife Heather and his best friend, Boris the Pug.

Growing up, he was the kind of kid who collected rubber skeletons and lived for horror movies. Not much has changed since then.

Since the publication of his first novel, The Forgotten Island, he has written and published a further five novels, from slashers to gialli to folk horror to weird westerns. He is currently working on several more novels, including a trilogy of violent revenge stories to be published in 2022.

Links-https://paperbacksandpugs.wordpress.com/

Twitter  @paperbacksandpugs