The Haar

By: David Sodergren

Narrated by: Mhairi Morrison

"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

Contains mature themes.

©2022 David Sodergren (P)2024 Tantor

Wow!

I was very impressed with how much I love this story. I expected one thing and got another in the best way. Definitely worth the read if you enjoy gore and a good storyline

Very good

This was a very good story. A bit of a cozy horror but a bit graphic and gory for that title.

So good, so weird, so wholesome?

Very good if you like Scottish grannies, eldritch sea monsters, and people getting what they deserve.

Narrator sounds like AI

The story is charming and fun, although drags a bit at times. My biggest issue is it was hard to know I liked the story because the narration was so awkward. She sounds like AI that doesn’t understand pacing and inflection. I had to listen on 1.2 to get her to sound human.

A dark horror romance about loss and mortality

So, the best synopsis that I can give you for this book without spoiling too much is if took the plot from The Shape of Water, but swapped out the humanoid fish monster with The Thing. This story really worked for me, and I do NOT like romances at all. But it's very sweet, it touches a lot on loss and mortality, and overall I really loved it. I also think the narrator did a fantastic job, she was great. If you're looking for a dark Lovecraftian romance, this is the book for you. Even if you're not looking for any of those things, I'd still recommend the book anyway. It's just great overall. The story, the characters, all of it. 8/10.

The protagonist

Just a real “good for her” story, you know? About a little old lady and her sea creature friend.

So-So

Well, I liked the eviscerations that were hand-delivered by our friendly neighborhood monster, and I enjoyed the sweet justice that was meted out to the most deserving.
I found much of the story to be somewhat tiresome, and I wasn’t keen on the ending.

Gruesome!

Solid story but I couldn’t get very immersed in the world. Very gore oriented horror. Not exactly my cup of tea.

The Shape of Haar

The Haar is a book that I really wanted to like, but unfortunately, its strong initial setup fails to pay off in satisfactory ways. The story is very blunt, without much suspense or nuance to the events that take place. It relies heavily on gore and sex for what ends up as more bland 'not scary' scenes undercut by a flat, atonal narrator. It's ending drags out for far too long and without much payoff. All in all, I can't really think of any part that's going to stick with me about it. Still, it wasn't too boring to where I cut it early, and as current standards are for the genre, it wasn't atrocious. It just didn't do anything with it's setting or characters that really meant anything. Two stars.

gory romance novel

struggled to finish it. boring, and much too drawn out... not what i was expecting given the good reviews i red about it.