A must-have thriller that will keep you gripped, keep you guessing, and keep you up all night.“A captivating and creeping mystery full of brilliantly twisting turns and dark secrets. You will race through this chilling, thrilling book.” –Holly Jackson, bestselling author of A Good Girl’s Guide to MurderLola Nox is the daughter of a celebrated horror filmmaker–she thinks nothing can scare her.… horror filmmaker–she thinks nothing can scare her.
But when her father is brutally attacked in their New York apartment, she’s quickly 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.
“Atmospheric and chilling.” –Mindy McGinnis, author of The Female of the Species
“You’re going to want to read this one with all the lights on.” –Cat Winters, author of In the Shadow of Blackbirds
“A thrilling mindbender.” —BCCB
“A sinister story that slowly builds to a heart-pounding climax.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Bound to give you jittery nightmares–when you can finally fall asleep.” –Emma Berquist, author of Devils Unto Dust
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After a brutal attack on her famous film-making father leaves him incapacitated, POV character Lola Nox is packed off to stay with her maternal grandmother, an unfamiliar woman who lives in Harrow Lake. The town seems stuck in the 1920’s – and in the infamy of serving as the setting of Lola’s father’s most celebrated and disturbing movie.
Suddenly without the guidance of her overbearing, protective, and self-absorbed father, stuck in a place only familiar from the hundreds of times she’s watched the horror movie set in Harrow Lake, Lola declares she’s “no Queen of Hearts. I’m Alice trapped in a world I don’t understand, chasing a rabbit” she was never meant to know. She dons the only clothes available to her – costumes from when her mother played the lead in the afore mentioned movie – and explores not only the town, but also her family history.
Along the way, she makes friends, maybe even drew the attention of the resident urban legend, the truly creepy Mr. Jitters. “Mr. Jitters got trapped in the ground for a very long while…fed on the dead and got a brand new smile.”
Kat Ellis presents clean writing, an atmospheric setting, and a possibly autistic lead character. (Some of her traits might have been from her sheltered upbringing, but something about her tracked that way to me. Perhaps it was her overuse of the word “optimal.”) It’s a quick read, with an interesting mystery. It’s recommended for 12-17 year olds, but I personally might up that a bit. Be sure to stick around for the ending!
Possible triggers: implied sexual abuse; violence (but then again, this is a horror/mystery)
Book 48 towards my goal of 260! 3/5 stars for this YA Mystery/Horror read. With that said, this book isn’t something that would generally be my cup of tea. It was a bit weird for me. Loved the cover. Loved the family drama. The ending was great! But a few parts were just a but weird for my liking. Definitely recommend if you like weird horror!
Harrow Lake
By Kat Ellis
A harrowing horror story indeed.
I truly enjoyed this creepy horror book and not ashamed to say this scared the begeezus out of me. I take all the blame and it was my fault for starting the book so late in the evening and then not being able to put the book down only realizing that it’s in the middle of the night and I am under the sheets shaking like a baby but too immersed to stop. My heart rate going wild but it was so good!
Even though you may have to sleep with the lights turned on, and looking over your shoulders for a week, it’s all worth it. This was such an amazing read I know you will love and enjoy. This fast-paced read grabbed my attention from the very first page and impossible to put down. Enjoy!
This is a quick fast read with a lot of build up. I felt the entire story was build up on top of build up on top of build up and then… a somewhat decent ending.
I very much disliked the outcome of Mister Jitters, I felt is was almost lazy and definitely over used. With so many options the author took the most common. Not to say it isn’t terrifying and haunting, just overused (but that’s just my personal take).
The creation of the town if Harrow Lake, the overlay of the horror movie and the unique characters were all done amazingly well. I could just imagine thus story coming to life. The author writes very cleanly and the story is simple yet well defined. The last nine pages were the best and really brought the story back for me. It lost me for awhile but that ending was nice.
I would have liked a few things wrapped up a bit better, but to list them would be spoilers. I also wonder if I’m too old for this story, or too jaded as it wasn’t scary, or frightening. If I had to categorize it I would say this makes a great campfire.
”You know, some people think this place changes people who stay too long, and not in a good way. Like there’s something in the water here that feeds the badness deep down inside a person and makes it grow stronger. Sometimes . . . I think there’s something to that.”
Harrow Lake legitimately gave me chills. I realize that’s the point of a horror story, but honestly I had a difficult time reading this story at night, and I definitely had to have my eyes on the door when I did choose to read after dark. Kat Ellis definitely weaves a story that makes it hard to tell what is real and what is not, and begs the question which horrors are worse, the real ones or the imagined ones?
Lola Nox is shipped off to Harrow Lake to stay with her grandmother after her dad is brutally stabbed and hospitalized. Harrow Lake is where her dad, Nolan, filmed a horror movie based on the town and where he met her mother, Lorelei, and made her a star. The town is creepy to say the least, and shrouded with a tragic past and seemingly stuck in the 20’s. She meets some people you don’t know whether or not she should trust, and she experiences some terrifying things that you’re not sure as the reader if you should believe. Saying anything more than that would spoil the book. So, I’ll leave it with saying that this book is creepy, but it’s also unputdownable. I found myself hesitant to continue because I was scared of what might happen, but also turning pages because I had to know. It probably doesn’t make sense, but this is a great read, and I am almost sad there wasn’t MORE story to keep me in the town if Harrow Lake.
3.5
Book source ~ Tour
Meet Lola Nox. She is the daughter of famous filmmaker Nolan Nox. Her mother, Lorelei, played the lead character in Nolan’s most celebrated horror film, Nightjar. Set in Harrow Lake, Indiana, the birthplace of Lorelei, but she took off when Lola was five so she doesn’t really remember her. Nearly as long as she can remember it’s just been her and Nolan. And Larry, Nolan’s right-hand man. When Nolan is near fatally attacked in their New York City apartment, Larry ships Lola off to her grandmother in Harrow Lake. A grandmother she has no knowledge of. The moment Lola gets there strange things begin happening and Lola needs to figure things out before she goes crazy. Or ends up dead.
Okay. This is one weird and disturbing tale of a 17-yr-old girl with a strange family set up. Told entirely from Lola’s POV it’s not always clear what the hell is going on in this creepy town. She’s never been to her mother’s birthplace so she doesn’t know anyone, not even her grandmother. Odd things keep happening, the town is disturbingly obsessed with the slasher movie that put it on the map, and women disappear from it with no explanation. On top of all that, there are signs that the town will once again slide into a sinkhole like it did before but was rebuilt. And the cherry on top? There’s a scary story about a guy named Mr. Jitters who turned cannibal when he was caught in the first sinkhole and he’s still around after nearly 100 years. Creepy much? The story is twisty and turny and has a great ending, but I feel the execution is lacking. At times, the story just stops then jumps ahead without any transition. Maybe that’s just the style of this author, but it feels incomplete to me. However, don’t let that stop you from reading this tale straight out of your nightmares.