The Lost Village

That's why Alice Lindstedt - a documentary filmmaker - is at Silvertjärn, to find out how the old mining town's entire population disappeared in 1958. Including her grandmother's entire family. But more than just the mysterious disappearances, Alice and her small team want answers for the stoned woman found in the town square, and the only survivor; a healthy baby found in the abandoned school over 50 years ago. There's another person in Alice's team who has an even closer connection to Silvertjärn, a connection that causes strife between everyone's sanity and the "ghosts" that had laid dormant in the half-century since the mass disappearance... Wow. That is all that comes to mind when I think about how to describe The Lost Village, just wow. While I love horror movies and scary stories, the few horror novels that I've read have not left me satisfied, but Silvertjärn did not disappoint! Firstly, all of the characters - those who made it to the end and those who didn't - were well-rounded and all had their own motivations for going on the documentary excursion. One person went to carry on what a family member had started, one came along as an apology, and another to find answers to their life, but all of them went for love, whether it be familiar, platonic, or romantic. Now, don't get me wrong, the care and attention that went into creating this novel is palpable on its pages, but it is a horror novel through and through. Sorry fellow romance addicts, there's not much to find here. But the prose will captivate you with how beautiful this small idyllic town is and once was with the flashbacks of the point of view from Alice's great-grandmother, and her own. Hearing how the town once thrived before the mine shut down, and everything that came after, made the story feel whole. The reader could understand what truly happened there, and not just the observations and educated guesses of the film crew. And that ending, oh! I had guesses of what may come, all of which I was happily wrong with, but that ending really was the biggest surprise, and the epilogue rounded it off perfectly! There was one more person whose voice needed to be heard. It let us into the mindset of the most forgotten, and most loved, character in the whole book. That was the best way to wrap up the whole book. All in all, 11 out of 10 stars! I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes thrillers suspense, horror, or even really dramatic family dramas. There is a little bit for everyone. All you have to do is pick up the book to be transported to Silvertjärn, and I promise you will love the trip.

Isolated and uncanny setting? Check. Horrifying hidden secrets? Check. Slow reveal of clues building into raw terror? Check. Spiral into fear and insanity? Check. Satisfying reveal and ending? Unsure.