Krø

by Didrik Morits Hallstrøm

Adam, en eksnarkoman oslogutt, mottar et brev. Bestefaren Ingvald ligger for døden og vil ha ham til Krø; en forblåst øy på Vestlandet.

Adam oppdager snart at Krø skjuler mer enn vrakrestene av en ødelagt familie. Hva finnes bak den skjulte døren i kjelleren? Hvem er skikkelsen som forfølger ham i WhiteWorld? Hva gjør man med venner som er lei av å være døde?

Didrik Morits Hallstrøm, forfatteren av den kritikerroste romanen Du er ikke død før jeg slutter å elske deg (2011), er tilbake med et nytt overskridende verk. Denne gang en nygotisk grøsser fra verdens ende.

Genres: Horror, Mystery

216 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Sheena Forsberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 8th Norwegian read of 2025 also happens to mark the first Norwegian horror book to receive 5-stars from me.

Information Age aspects merge with ghostly folk- and grief-horror into something quite refreshing in this story.

The story:
Adam has managed to kick the habit but is still trying to stay on the straight and narrow when he is contacted by his absentee grandfather. Having grown up in foster homes his formative years, he has certain misgivings when asked to come to the island of Krø before his grandfather passes away. Hoping to find some sort of closure, he eventually goes but what he’s confronted with is utter chaos as his past (both remembered and rigidly repressed) comes back to haunt him; including in the game he himself built.

I don’t want to give anything more away and will end it on a fairly general note from here on out:
What you have here is rare; it’s an exceptionally well written Norwegian horror story that tackles some hefty topics (substance abuse, neglect, complex trauma, tech) in a fairly short novel, and what’s more: it does it well.
Deeply cerebral, elegantly written and genuinely impressive. What an absolute shame this hasn’t been translated into English yet.
This book alone has been enough for me to track down everything this author has written and place him on my autobuy-list.

[Mia Tomine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Måten han skriver på er helt fantastisk, men slutten av boka var ikke så bra som forventa. Litt skuffende hvordan boka forandra seg. Men likevel et litterært verk.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a weird one, but totally engrossing. It definitely gives new meaning to the idea of an unreliable narrator. The story involves Adam, a recovering drug addict who has rebuilt his life and is in a relationship with a woman, Ylva, who has a son, Dennis, who's dying of cancer. We get the sense that Adam is always on the verge of relapse, and when he gets a letter from Ingvald, a grandfather he never really knew, summoning him to visit him at his home on the nearly deserted island of Krø, a strange and sinister series of events is set in motion.

As the novel proceeds, the lines between truth and fiction become blurred, as one of Adam's hobbies is recreating his surroundings in a computer program he created, WhiteWorld, and at times it becomes unclear whether events are happening in reality or in the game (or both). Through flashbacks we learn of Adam's relationship 10 years earlier with a tattoo artist, Christian, who had the occult gifts of being able to see into other people's futures and of helping (or harming) people through occult rituals. When the long-dead Christian appears on Krø with a proposition for Adam, things begin to get really strange, and eventually it becomes clear that nothing in the book is what it seems.

Definitely an intriguing book, a page-turner, with a ton of ideas crammed into its relatively short length. Fans of intelligent contemporary horror should enjoy this one.

[Henrik Richter Schie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping read, and although not always perfect is really builds a fascinating world and sucks you in. Finished it in a couple of days, and the the story still lingers in the back of my mind.

[Tuva]

"På Krø går havfiske og Jesus hånd i hånd!"