Harper: A Collection of Horrors

by Gunnar K. A. Njalsson

Harper: A Collection of Horrors is a deeply disturbing novel containing a collection of fictional accounts of current and former residents of the town of Harper in southern California. It is the second novel authored by Gunnar K. A. Njalsson and the first by this author in English. The narrator is a 53-year-old former Harperite named Gordon Groff and who wants to 'come clean' about the city's horrendous past which has scarred the narrator, his family and many of the people who lived in the town between 1950 and 1980. Nobody else wants to talk about Harper's past, so Groff breaks the silence and recounts the history of the area where the city is located and proceeds to tell the supernatural and gruesome tales which his family and neighbors have recounted to him. He also puts into words for the first time the horrific incidents which he witnessed as a child.

Harper is not about ghost stories or second-hand reports of supernatural events. While offering a quaint and refreshing insight into southern California life in the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's, the stories vividly move the reader into the life of a community plagued by bizarre and terrifying forces and events which may be related to the geology beneath the feet of its residents. Harper is an account unlike anything readers have recently been exposed to and certainly a uniquely scary experience for those whose most sinister reading about southern California has been limited to crime novels. As the accounts grow more unsettling and grotesque, the reader is tempted to think "you can't make this stuff up" only to add a few seconds later "let's hope to God this is fiction!"

Genres: Horror

212 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty alright. My favorite "chapter" was Victims of the Red Mask.

[D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harper: A Collection of Horrors is one of the most disturbing and unique books I have read. My reading experience ranged from peeked interest and gut-busting laughter at times to sorrow and a fear that nearly caused me a panic attack. Pretty rough stuff, I would say. Not for the oversensitive! The author's respect for and love of the characters is quite evident in this book.

[Chumley Pawkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly unique tale of weird malevolence rocking a Southern California town in the latter half of the twentieth century, “Harper” has a disturbingly hypnotic quality which pulls the reader into its maelstrom of high strangeness. The off-kilter matter-of-factness of the narrator’s tone also lends the book’s bizarre occurrences a genuinely uncanny ring of truth.

If you’re a fan of the works of John A. Keel, urban legends, David Lynch and Forteana, I suspect you’ll get a kick out of this.

TV Producers take note: this would make a great miniseries in the “Channel Zero” mold.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great bok

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this in 2019, it’s 2022 and I still think of this book. It’s terrifying. Especially as I live in OC.