The Haar: A Horror Novel

I went into this blind and got much more than I expected from this. What I thought would be a run of the mill creature feature turned out to be gory, infuriating, tragic, and moving.Muriel and her friends want nothing more than to be left in peace and to live the rest of their quiet, humble days in the place where they had spent their entire lives. Billionaire Patrick Grant wants a pretty place to build a new golf course and the word "no" is a foreign concept to him. Seething from the injustice of it all and sore from over 80 years of life, Muriel stumbles upon a curious life form as she takes a rare walk by the sea. The haar, a thick, dense sea fog, is what seems to have revealed it. What follows is a time of wondrous discovery, fond memories, and a slow spiral into violence and death.This gets a rare five stars from me because it completely pulled me in, connected me with the characters, and left me satisfied and/or deep in thought long after the ending. I loved the imagery of the Scottish countryside vs the stark contrast of the cold machinery and loud construction (destruction). Muriel's point of view feels natural, but often leaves us wondering what is real and what is not. We genuinely worry for her sanity and well being and want so badly for her to make it through a situation that we know is hopeless and impossible. Anytime that makes me this deeply invested is an A+.

A great story that really speaks to the human condition. The characters are living and colorful and the story paces itself very well. Great horror read!

Light spoilers in the second paragraph. This book was beautiful! Blood, gory, sickening and a beautiful love story. The scene involving dental damage forced me to take a break, and I didn't even know that kind of horror was a problem for me! Muriel was so strong and so brave, even before she befriended an unstoppable sea creature that would do anything for her. My only complaint is not having an explanation about the next town over and it's dark end. What happened there?

I agree with another review on here where the reviewer wished this book was better in every way. The premise is great, the Scottish town and Muriel and her life are described with such detail and love. I can tell a lot of heart went into writing this but I do wish it was just...better.Characters are very black or white. They lack any sort of depth or nuance. We get insight into Muriel but every other character seems to just be a caricature. You have the "man who's always been in love with his best friend's girl", you have the "evil, greedy businessman", you have the "rich, entitled businessman's son who reeks of nepotism" . Almost every character falls neatly into a predictable archetype that you've seen dozens of times before. The book just seems very flat and elementary which leaves the reader longing for depth and color to this promising world the author has presented to us.All in all, great gore. Wish there was more of it. A solid read if you want to kill a book in a night and get transported to a seaside Scottish town but don't expect to get blown away by the read.

I want to preface that the rating I want to give it is more of a 3.5/5. The story is good, but the climax/ending felt a bit rushed, making me feel like it was a bit short. I also felt there were a couple character inconsistencies and cartoonish characters, but it was fun. It makes me think of it more like goosebumps for adults, and if you're an avid reader it can be read over a weekend.

I was fully expecting the body horror, totally not expecting to be so wrapped up in the darkly romantic love story and to be so inspired by the main character. This book is creepy, very gross, and at times even funny. More than anything, it’s beautiful in a weird and macabre way. It’s almost nothing like The Shape of Water, but it made me feel the same way if that makes sense? Man, I don’t know… I just know that I loved this story and I will probably need a few more hours to fully process it in all its wonderful, beautiful, gross, weirdness. Hats off David, it’s a good one.

From the first page I was hooked and could not put it down till I was done. I can't say I've ever said a horror novel was beautiful but this one absolutely was. It was gory and intense but touched my heart at the same time. I literally clapped when I was done because it was just so amazingly well done. Can't recommend enough. Horror at its best and most lovely.

This book was bizarre, yet heartwarming in a morbid kind of way. I didn’t love it, but did not hate it. I can’t say that I knew what to expect going in, but it wasn’t this. Overall, I would say I am satisfied with the book.

A bit too short for my taste. You could call it a creature feature with heart. The monster reminds of The Thing as do the deaths in the story.If anything, my only real complaint is that it has a very low death count. Yet each death is as gruesome as the last.P.D: Love your elders.

The HAAR by David Sodergren is my first read by the author. I'm glad that I choose The HAAR because it is a little on the weird side, it's quite gory in parts, it's a lot of fun, and it's a surprisingly touching story about love and loss.The story is about Muriel McAuley, an old widow who wants to be left alone but a big corporation is buying up all the land of the Scottish coastal town she grew up in to build a golf course. The million-pound offers to buy her property are now turning into threats. Muriel then finds a sea creature with unique powers and it becomes a game changer.The characters are mostly solid, especially our heroes. The bad guys, mainly the villains, do become what you might think of as "typical", but they really didn't need that much fleshing out. The story is all from Muriel's pov with the villains playing a smaller role. The story is more about Muriel trying to stay where she belongs, to spend the rest of her life with what remains of her friends, to die where she was born. Most of all, to heal from the loss of her husband. The story is a reminder: don't take advantage of life, of the ones you love the most because no one is exempt from the final destination.The HAAR is a fun fast read. I highly recommend it.

Great book. Easy read, finished it in a day. It's a cracking yarn, both splatter gore and high romance. Great combo. Recommended.

Bel libro, l'ho letto tutto d'un fiato.

The Haar and The Forgotten Island are my favorite books by David Sodergren.They're entertaining, I laughed out loud a couple of times, the conversations or the way the characters are thinking can be truly funny. There is gore, there are some surprising creatures. In both of these books.In The Haar, the main character is an elderly lady. She lives right next to the ocean. She has lived there many years. Her husband (passed away some years ago) built their house himself.Some company wants to buy the little village. They pay everyone to leave. The elderly lady doesn't want to leave, no matter how much money they offer her. Lots of neighbors have already left.The elderly lady is a bad asș woman. She meets 'someone' (not entirely human) who can help her fight this horrible company that keeps harassing her. I don't want to give away any spoilers. Just read the book without knowing too much about it in advance.It's horror, with a little bit of humor, romance, fantasy. It's very entertaining. You will love the grandma.