Sodergren has a great feel for pacing, building up main character Elspeth so that she feels completely relatable, even when she is at her most vulnerable. I loved the moments in the book that are edging on meta, taking digs at bad horror movie tropes (What’s with all the unnecessary nudity and showering?) and really hammering home all those points we love and love to hate about watching horror on the screen. Night Shoot is basically Urban Legends 2: Final Cut and Dark and Stormy Night smushed into a Scottish blender. Which sounds fun actually, but it’s told so cynically and by-the-numbers that the fun is spoiled. My biggest issue: the deaths come way too fast and there’s no mystery. Early in we see enough to predict the whole plot. My favorite part of horror books and films is the tension in the atmosphere when me and the characters both don’t know exactly what the hell is happening. 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! 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

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I thank David Sodergren for giving me the opportunity. 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.

David Sodergren has always had a very specific and direct prose, excelling in the descriptions of things from the most mundane to the most extremely visceral. It’s impressive to see how his writing has grown and refined over his career, though it has always felt mature and sophisticated. His writing has never been pretentious and it never insists upon itself. The same is true for The Haar, but it stays interesting and smart enough to keep an academic entertained. I think one of the most impressive aspects of this novel is the basis of Muriel. The dedication of the book is for his grandma Connie who, “would not have liked this book at all.” He goes on to state in the afterward that the character isn’t solely based on her, but there are elements of her life that he worked into the character, which really gives it a personal feel and elevates it just that much more. “File:Fingals cave Staffa Iona Scotland deepInside.jpg” by N2e is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. 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. 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. Which brings me to the gnarly gore. This is a very bloody book. Things get very twisted in the final act, so stay with it! It’s worth the ride after a relatively slow start. And the setting really adds to the sense of dread and the effectiveness of the story. It’s basically the mansion in Resident Evil crossed with the house in The People Under The Stairs. Lots of creepy rooms, hidden passages, and nasty surprises. 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.

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. 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 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.

See a Problem?

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.

slasher horror ταινίες της δεκαετίας του '80; Αν δεν έχετε διαβάσει Sodergren, μάλλον όχι, γιατί αμφιβάλλω αν γράφει κανείς κάτι παρόμοιο. Ο Sodergren αποφάσισε πως αφού δεν το έχει κάνει κανείς άλλος, θα το κάνει ο ίδιος. Αγαπάει αυτό τον κινηματογράφο και, γνωρίζοντας τις αδυναμίες του, δηλαδή πόσο ταλαιπ��ρημένος είναι, τι θέση έχει στην συνείδηση του κοινού (πράγμα για το οποίο είναι σε μεγάλο μέρος υπεύθυνες οι ταινίες που αναβίωσαν το είδος στα τέλη των 90s), γράφει ιστορίες βουτηγμένες στο αίμα, με εκκωφαντικές θηλυκές τσιρίδες και νεαρούς που πάνε να φάνε το κεφάλι τους. 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. 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!

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Night Shoot reads like the slasher films I grew up loving. But the good ones, not the cheesy b-rated horror films. I have never read another horror novel that pulled off describing the murders (in such graphic detail, which I love!) while still managing to keep the murderer a hidden mystery. David sure does have a way with words! 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. 🥹🖤 🌊 Night Shoot blends together elements of popular horror subgenres to create a narrative that felt classic, yet fresh. Crossing a haunted house story with a slasher narrative, this novel has something for just about every kind of horror reader. Muriel really is the best character he’s created yet and the relationship and tenderness we get to see and experience was second to none. I’ll be raving about this book until his next one comes out, but this shows why Sodergren is so good and hopefully now, he’ll stop being overlooked.