Harrow Lake by Kate Ellis

Warning, this book contains some (relatively explicit) violence and references to child abuse.

US cover                                     UK cover

Welcome to Harrow Lake. Someone's expecting you . . .

Lola Nox is the daughter of a celebrated horror filmmaker - she thinks nothing can scare her.

But when her father is brutally attacked in their New York apartment, she's swiftly packed off to live with a grandmother she's never met in Harrow Lake, the eerie town where her father's most iconic horror movie was shot.

The locals are weirdly obsessed with the film that put their town on the map - and there are strange disappearances, which the police seem determined to explain away.

And there's someone - or something - stalking her every move.

The more Lola discovers about the town, the more terrifying it becomes. Because Lola's got secrets of her own. And if she can't find a way out of Harrow Lake, they might just be the death of her.

First, although it doesn't have anything really to do with the book, I adore the proof copy I received. It's designed to look like a VHS tape, playing into Nolan's position as a filmaker and the old fashioned aesthetic in Harrow Lake. I wish they could carry that over to the actual book, but of course it would be very difficult to display.

Secondly, what an amazing, creepy, horrifying story. Lola's story starts out vaguely normal but quickly turns into a proper horror story. Creepy relative, dark spooky house, strange town...very Supernatural vibes. I really enjoyed it.

However, while the mundane stuff is solved...we find out who stabbed Nolan and what happened to Lola and Lorelai...there's never any explanation for the supernatural parts. Was there really a Mr Jitters? What was up with the jitterbugs? Who was in the church that night? I understand that explaining that stuff might have taken away from the mystery, but I always think it's a little bit sad when a supernatural book backs off on the super.

The mundane side more than makes up for it, though. The increasing creepiness of Nolan, the friendships between Lola, Carter and Cora, the mystery hanging over everything. I wish I could really watch Nightjar. It sounds fantastic and exactly my type of story.

Definitely read this. It's so worth it.



Outside, the town looks different. There are a few cars parked along Main Street, but it's dark now, and the storefronts are all asleep. There isn't a soul around. Only those bent old-lady streetlights burn through the darkness. Harrow Lake is a held breath.

I clutch my skirt to hurry down the steps and almost tear my dress when something crackles between my fingers. It's the sketch I stole from the record room, still tucked inside my pocket.

The shadow-form of the weeping willow looms up ahead. I walk faster, almost level with it. A breeze keeps catching in the willow's branches, drifting through them like thick fingers, making its leaves rustle and sway.

There's no breeze.

I ignore the thought and face front, straight towards Main Street. But I strangle a shriek when something tugs at my dress. I whip around - I've wandered close enough to the willow for its outer branches to catch my skirt. I back up a step, two. Someone is waiting in the hollow of the willow's branches, I'm sure of it.

'Who's there?'

No answer.

He's coming...

I picture Mr Jitters inside that stifled, hollow space. An enormous praying mantis, grinning his awful grin.

Impossible.

But when you're alone in the dark, impossible things grow bones and flesh.

Don't be ridiculous, Lola. I expect more from you. It's Nolan's voice now. God, how I wish it was real.

Except I'm not imagining the low sound coming from within the willow's overhang. Like a door creaking open...

I bolt, the chattering rhythm of my foorsteps chasing me, only growing fainter when I reach the lane to Grandmother's house and the woods swallow the sound.

It's only as I'm going upstairs that I notice the picture is gone from my skirt pocket - as though long fingers reached out from the dark recess of the willow tree and plucked it out.

I took the sketch because I wanted Carter to see me.

I guess someone did. Just not him.