Happy Goat Horror

That Which Stands Outside is a horror novel inspired by Nordic folklore. After Todd Kingston rescues Yrsa Helgerson from muggers one rainy London night, their resulting friendship quickly develops into a romance. When Yrsa’s mother dies, Todd accompanies her back to her childhood home, an isolated Nordic island. The reception they receive there is one of suspicion and hostility. The islanders believe Yrsa to be a child of a mythic race called the Jötnar, a claim which Yrsa dismisses as superstitious nonsense. But as the island is rocked by a series of devastating events, Todd finds himself caught up in a terrifying battle, one which possibly threatens the future of the world itself.

Dark bleatings, my folky tribe. Okay, so let me say right away that this novel is nuts. We begin with our protagonist Todd having one of those famous “meet cutes” (is that what they’re called?) with Yrsa (I just love her name), when he rescues her from some muggers. And thus, their relationship begins. Todd is an aspiring actor, kind of down on his luck, and Yrsa is a force to be reckoned with, the kind of person that just goes for it. When she gets word that her mother has died, Todd accompanies her to her hometown on a small Nordic island.

There are people in Todd’s life that don’t take to Yrsa, but that’s nothing compared to how they’re received when they get to the island. People not only dislike Yrsa, but are clearly afraid of her, and it’s intense. Man, I was HOOKED. One of the best things about the writing for me was that we’re in Todd’s shoes – he’s in a foreign land where people are sometimes talking in a language he doesn’t understand, especially when they’re talking about Yrsa. He’s missing bits of information and having to just take Yrsa’s word for everything, but she immediately starts acting strangely. Off, you might say.

She takes him to a caving system where she was lost and stranded for days as a kid, and then the story really starts to open up. As per usual, I won’t be going into any spoilers, as this novel is definitely best served while you’re as ignorant as possible, but let me tell you…I was shocked. Shooketh. Taken unawares. There are some genuinely unsettling, disturbing, and – depending on your tolerance level – frightening scenes, as we journey into the middle of the book. I was getting Adam Nevill vibes (The Ritual in particular). I really thought that we were venturing into a nice, regular folk horror story about witches or a cult or something.

But no. Apparently, my Nordic folklore mind database is not up to snuff. This isn’t just a localised folk horror tale, this is something with the potential to go global. The particular thing they end up dealing with, I have only encountered in one previous novel (sort of). And to round everything off, Mark, who spent quite a lot of time carefully setting up characters and relationships, took off the gloves. He went balls out with the savagery.

So, in conclusion, I’m still reeling from the shock, quite frankly. This was a surprising, twisty turny, well set up story that offered a lot of freshness to a well-treaded subgenre. I’d recommend it to horror fans who enjoy folklore, folk horror, and want something a bit more unique.

If you’d like to check out the book or the author, I’ve popped some links below for you.

THAT WHICH STANDS OUTSIDE

MARK MORRIS

Bleeeeat!