Back in the day, I watched and fell in love with a little movie called Local Hero. It always felt like a love letter to Scotland, which is part of why I love it, but I’ll readily admit that I never imagined it as a horror story. It seems that David Sodergren did.
Just as in Local Hero, The Haar focuses on a small Scottish town crumbling under the weight of a billionaire American businessman who wants to develop the land. A few of the Witchhaven locals choose to fight to the bitter end, but one by one, their resolve withers away, or is stripped away by the goons intent on doing the bidding of their billionaire boss.
Muriel McAuley proves to be the final girl standing, although at her age, girl is probably not the best description. One day, while out walking the coast she loves, Muriel finds a strange creature and nurses it back to health in her bathtub, with the help of some blood. When the thing takes on the image of her husband Billy, who was lost at sea years prior. Muriel gets the chance to say goodbye on her own terms.
How she gets to that goodbye is equal parts heartwarming and brutally violent. Make no mistake about it, The Haar is a horror story, but it is one with a heart, one where love is eternal. Sodergren is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. His ability to sprinkle humor and real emotions in among the horror is an absolute joy to read. The Haar is a book that is going to stick with me for a minute, making it an easy 5-star read.
5 stars out of 5
I really don’t need another book added to my TBR pile, but here goes *adds*