The Haar: A Horror Novel

Product Information

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.

David Sodergren - Fantastic Fiction David Sodergren - Fantastic Fiction

Speaking of ugly, what about portraying the youth of Scotland as murderous thugs hired by the Ugly Americans to rob and kill their elderly folk... A blood-drenched love letter to Lovecraft, handled with impressive authority and confidence."
James Fahy, author of The Changeling series
NIGHT SHOOT Hello, I’m gonna keep this short because since I last updated my blog (umm, in 2020), WordPress has changed how it works and I have neither the time not the inclination to figure out its new quirks and eccentricities. However, I have published three new books this year, so here they are!Muriel McAuley is one of the most delightful elderly heroines I’ve met in literature, yet at the same time she has a terrifying amount of gumption and unwillingness to give in. Muriel has lived in the remote Scottish village of Witchaven her entire life – she literally knows nothing else and has no desire to go to a new place, especially at 80+ years old. 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. Watching these Video Nasties has forced me to develop my own mantra, which I repeat over and over under my breath for the first 10 minutes of every film. It goes,

Review: The Haar by David Sodergren – Escaping in Paper

The story had a good premise. After all, who isn't a wee bit afraid of a fog bank and what may lurk therein... But, if you look at that synopsis closely, you’ll see Sodergren says this is a gore-soaked folk horror fairy tale, and that’s just what we get. We get a looming fog, the haar, that sweeps in one day and brings something from the ocean. Muriel saves it, connects with it and gets to experience some of life’s moments again. Things and memories she thought long since buried, returning and reinvigorating her. A blood-drenched love letter to Lovecraft, handled with impressive authority and confidence."James Fahy, author of The Changeling seriesRevenge Of The Boogeyman might not be the worst Nasty, or even the most boring, but it’s without a shadow of a doubt the laziest. Barely running 75 minutes including the slowest moving end credits on record, approximately half of the running time is footage from the original Boogeyman. The idea is a good one – Lacey, played by a returning Suzanna Love, goes to Hollywood where she is courted by producers who want to make a movie out of her life. A supernatural slasher running amok in early 80s Tinseltown? Sounds good! A cemetery. Ambitious crane shots and Steadicam work reminiscent of Halloween. A young girl in a gothic crypt. Mario Bava-esque lighting.

Book Review: The Haar by David Sodergren | Steve Stred – The

in Interviews Losing the Armor for an Interview with the Filmmakers of My Dreams Have Been Dark of Late 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. But then, I can’t help but feel he’s having a go at us, the horror film fans too. Only someone with absolutely no respect for his audience whatsoever could release a product as slipshod and unfinished as this as a ‘sequel’ to a well-liked original. It’s as if he’s saying that horror fans will literally watch any old garbage, whether it’s recycled footage from two years prior or just some low budget junk he shot with his friends by the side of a pool. It’s insulting. The story itself follows Muriel as she struggles to comprehend how this place she loves with all of her heart is being ripped away from her. She doesn’t have many years left and just wants to enjoy them in the home she’s lived in for decades.

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!!... 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. 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.

The Haar by David Sodergren | Goodreads The Haar by David Sodergren | Goodreads

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.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. Muriel is a resilient and resourceful octogenarian deeply connected to the land. Her husband, Billy, has disappeared at sea and she misses him every day. Despite her age, she refuses to submit to the greedy and rich. Her unwavering determination is respectable and proves you can’t get everything by throwing money at it (although the cynic in me whispers that this is another fairy-tale element of the story). The first victim is a homeless man living in a haunted crypt. I guess you could say that that is his own fault. The next guy is the Mexican gardener, Ben, the only character in cinema history to be given an extended laziness montage. Honestly, a full sequence showing him sleeping on the job, fishing, eating and just generally doing no work, before being seduced by the bored rich housewife and killed. Thanks for sharing your review. Sodergren’s been on my TBR for a while, and this mention just bumped him up quite a lot. Think I’ll start with this one. Thanks again for the recommendation!