Book Review | The Lost Village

Documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt grew up with her grandmother’s tales about “The Lost Village”—an old mining town whose 900 residents vanished without a trace. Its only sole survivor was a newborn found abandoned in the village’s schoolhouse, and among those who disappeared were her grandmother’s own sister and parents.

Determined to get to the bottom of it, Alice brings a small documentary crew made up of her friends to investigate.

However, things start to go awry. They can’t quite shake the feeling that they’re being watched. They keep hearing eerie laughter. Their equipment is mysteriously destroyed. A person goes missing, and panic starts to set in. There is something truly haunting about watching videos of people exploring old, derelict buildings, and The Lost Village by Camilla Sten manages to perfectly capture that. It oozes creepiness and atmosphere with every page.

I have to say though … I was a little surprised about the formatting. Going in, I was almost expecting an epistolary novel where the story is told through a series of blog entries (like a diary) and collected letters in order to add a more meta quality. While we do get some of the grandmother’s letters, the story mainly alternates between Alice as the narrator in the present and the past told through the third person.

I feel like there was a missed opportunity with the execution and formatting here, but I was still nonetheless completely engrossed in uncovering the village’s dark history and invested in the characters themselves. I especially loved the charismatic and creepy pastor (whom I almost wish we saw more of).

All in all, The Lost Village is a hair-raising and unnerving folk horror with a nail-biting climax and shocking revelations—perfect for fans of The Blair Witch Project or Silent Hill.

Thank you, Minotaur Books, for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Details:

Publication Date : March 23, 2021
Publisher : Minotaur Books
ISBN : 1250249252
Pages : 352

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