Fabiocast99
"Rural Sweden, at that time of year, knew no mercy from the shade."
Elias is a man walking on the edge of an abyss. A Stockholm detective, he carries the burden of a grief he cannot bury and a wedding ring that, like a dead weight, prevents him from drifting away into madness. The case of little Freja is merely an excuse: Elias is escaping the dim corridors of the police station and the memory of a wife he failed to save.
Folkvang welcomes him with a light of electric white that seems to flay the surface of things. In this village, which appears on no map, time is a circle and pain is regarded as a gift. Elias will find himself face to face with Maja, the "May Queen," a girl who sees the world without filters and who seems to be the tangible echo of his internal failure.
Amidst roots that pulse like arteries and a white sun that permits no closing of eyes, Elias must decide whether to remain a man of shadows or let himself be consumed by a light that knows no shame.
Why read it: A psychological folk-horror where the monster doesn't hide in the darkness, but shines beneath a relentless sun.