The Lost Village

I love a good story about someplace that's been abandoned. What happened? Where did everyone go? I want to know! So I jumped at the chance to read The Lost Village.

Everyone vanished from Silvertjarn, Sweden in 1959. When the police responded to an anonymous call, they found only a woman's corpse hanging in the center of the village and a baby left in the school. Houses looked as if residents had just stepped away for a moment, all at the same time.

Alice is working to get funding for her documentary project on Silvertjarn. She's assembled a crew, and they're going on location. She doesn't have much in the way of money, so the budget is tight and their time will be limited. But if she can make this project happen, it could be her big break. She also has a personal interest in the project, as her great-grandmother's family had lived there. Of the family, only her grandmother had gotten out.

The village is out in the middle of nowhere. No easy access to supplies or services. The crew figures to have some good uninterrupted time to investigate and document what they find. But almost off the bat, weird things start happening. Some abandoned places just feel empty, and some feel positively spine-tingling. For me, Silvertjarn fell firmly in the spine-tingling category. I would have packed up and hauled it out of there before I'd spent one night. Noises where there shouldn't be any. Items going missing or being damaged. And when one of the crew disappears after being injured, well, that just ramps up the creepy factor.

The story is told from Alice's point of view in the present time and from Elsa's point of view in 1959. Elsa was Alice's great-grandmother, and her story really ties events in the current time together. I liked Elsa best out of all the characters. She saw things going wrong and tried as best as she could to make a difference, to do the right thing. Alice, though, wasn't a very likable protagonist. She was so driven to make the project a success that it felt like she ignored the risks that were rapidly becoming apparent the longer they stayed.

So, creepy factor: excellent. And that's coming from someone who doesn't really like horror. Characters: it was hard to muster up concern for any of the modern-day folks. The final reveal: not really what I was expecting! Overall, I found it a worthwhile read.

I see a lot of mixed reviews for this one, but it ticks a lot of boxes. It's mysterious, haunting and oh so creepy.

Two generations ago, the entire inhabitants of a struggling village disappeared without a trace. With the exception of a brutally murdered woman tied to a pole, and a new born baby left in the school. Now, a documentary film making team are scouting the area and investigating the mystery to (hopefully) pitch it to a major network. Creepy shenanigans ensue.

The beginning of the book is a little slow, but it didn't deter me. I needed to know what happened, and overall I was satisfied. Ghost towns, possessions, sabotage, brain washing, murder and mayhem. If that sounds fun to you, I recommend you pick this up and sleep with the lights on.

Overall enjoyable tale of would-be documentary filmmakers working in an isolated Swedish ghost town haunted by the mysterious disappearance of almost all of its residents. There's a lot to like in the story, from its creepy setting to the escalation of unease as the filmmakers begin to see signs they may not be alone.

This main plot is interspersed with scenes from the town just prior to the mysterious disappearance. As the mill fails and the town starts to die, a charismatic preacher arrives and starts to bring the town under his sway.

The ending was a bit of a disappointment, being both of a bit too much and not quite enough. The aura of ambiguous supernaturalism resolves into a series of revelations that are non-magical and yet borderline ridiculous.

Rating: 3.9 leaves out of 5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 3.5/5
Story: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Genre: horror/thriller/mystery
Type: Audiobook
Worth?: Yes

I was really excited to read this one, not just because it is horror but because it was translated. They said it was like Midsommar and Blair Witch. I could understand what they meant with Midsommar and Blair Witch but it is very WATERED down.

A lot of horror and thriller books are very cliché to the point of death so I was happy that this one wasn't. I did like the plot twists but REALLY HATED the epilogue. It should have focused on Alice and not on the crazy younger sister of Alice's grandmother.

Alice and Emmy are... they both get on my very thin nerves. Lol. There are somethings that are hinted at like rape and that section I had to stop after a bit before going on.

All in all it is worth the read if you like suspense, horror, and thrills.

The title of the book really sucked me in! The premise is a whole village in 1959 disappeared in Silvertjan Sweden, all except one newborn baby and a dead woman hanging in the street. They never did figure out what happened back then. In present time a film crew decides to see if they can figure out the mystery for themselves and get the funding they need to film the documentary,

Alice is the leader of the adventure and also the granddaughter of Elsa. Elsa's letters from her sister are the only evidence she has to go on. Elsa, while she didn't live in the town anymore, her family still did. Her sister Aina being pivotal in the narrative from back then. The whole book has a very macabre vibe to it and the two timelines were exactly the right call.

After Tone is injured and disappears, all manner of crazy is unleashed. The closer they get to the truth, the more danger they are in.

The ending, while brilliant, felt a little unrealistic and could have done with a little more explaining. I didn't see it coming and I literally shouted out loud when we got to the climax!

If you haven't read it yet, it's a must! I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy!!! If you like creepy, suspenseful and something completely original, then this should be your next purchase.

The Lost Village is the story of a documentary crew, a ghost town, and perhaps also the pain of abandonment
and mental illness. I partially predicted one of the “twists” in the book and found the ending somewhat lackluster. Overall I would call this 4/5. It's decent enough combination of folk horror and mystery, and there were some genuinely tense sections.

Horror fans, be warned. This is billed as Blair Witch meets Midsommar, which is a big get. I went in with lower expectations and was still disappointed.
There is a ton of not-much-happening going on here. There is also a ton of pointless dialog. Sooooo many conversations about the same thing. There are great, long descriptions of period furniture but all of the major points are just glossed over:
-there is a handicapped woman in town almost no one has any empathy for (why?)
-there is a religious cult that is only observed by outsiders, so we don't really understand it (how did he rally an entire town into believing?)
-there are modern characters with ONE defining moment in their lives that they can't seem to get over and it just has nothing to do with the plot and I grew bored of it quickly

At one point an explosion happens, but we enter the story after the fact and I just saw it as finally! something is happening, but it's really not explored.
Because Alice is so self-centered, we don't really get a taste of the atmosphere and all of the other characters are so one-dimensional (in the dimension of what can they do/have they done to Alice) that they cannot break from that and as a result the reader cannot connect with them. I didn't find this creepy or chilling, except for the idea of an abandoned town. The jacket copy is actually more thrilling than the entire story.