This book follows our main character, Lola, who is the daughter of a famous horror movie director. When her dad is attacked one night, Lola must return to live with her grandmother in Harrow Lake. Harrow Lake is the famous town where Lola’s dad most famous movie was filmed, and the town has its own scary stories and legends. A fun, intriguing YA thriller/horror novel, slowly becoming a favorite genre of mine! Definitely a page-turner and one I enjoyed immensely.

A very chilling story! Kept me wide awake after reading it and hard to settle down afterwards. I thought the pacing was great and the island even creepier once you really think about it.

This book was creepy and strange and fun all rolled into one! I don't tend to read a lot of YA, but I had to pick this up just from the description because who doesn't love a book centered around a slasher movie?!?! It had a campy vibe to it, but with some serious lowdown craziness happening and I just loved it!

i’ve stated in a previous review that ya thrillers aren’t really my thing so i’m not sure why i keep requesting them? i guess because i always have hope but they always fall flat for me during the last 80% and this book definitely fell flat towards the end.

I'm having a hard time deciding what to rate Harrow Lake. Right now, three stars feels best, but my thoughts about this book are complicated. The writing and well-crafted horror atmosphere of this story were fantastic. It was unsettling enough that I would avoid reading it at night because it creeped me out so much. The way the story was crafted was terrifying and unnerving in the perfect way.

 With that being said, I also had a hard time connecting to the story. I didn't have much of an emotional connection to the cast and I found myself losing interest at times. I cared enough about the story to stick around for the ending, but also I did skim read a fair amount of the middle. The characters (main and side) fell flat, and there was a lack of emotional connection there. I wanted to know what would happen in the end, I was curious, but I had little sympathy for what the characters were dealing with.

So, while I did love the writing and scary vibes, I wasn't emotionally invested in the story. I stuck around for the ending (which was worth it!) but overall this wasn't the book for me. I wouldn't say this is a bad book, it is definitely still worth a shot if you think you'd enjoy it! Horror has never necessarily been my genre of choice, and I think that also played into my feelings towards Harrow Lake. It wasn't a bad book, just not one for me. If you decide to pick this up I hope you enjoy! Trust me when I say that the town of Harrow Lake is downright creepy :)

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lola’s life is a bit like the set of a 1920s horror movie. It comes with the territory. After all, Lola’s dad is none other than Nolan Nox, director of 1920s cult horror classics like the uber-creepy Nightjar. Lola’s best friend growing up was an uncanny ventriloquist puppet, and she’s already penned a slasher screenplay which her dad used, although altered and without giving Lola credit.

Horror seems to be in Lola’s blood. After all, Lola’s mom (who up and left the family when Lola was young) was born and raised in the same small town where Nolan’s hallowed Nightjar was shot — a place with its own gory history. During a landslide, a local recluse was trapped underground and forced to survive by feeding off the dead. Yuck. The recluse became the mythological nightmare monster, Mister Jitters, who continues to seek revenge on the town. The place is Harrow Lake, Indiana. Landslides are still a genuine danger, and the town remains stuck in time as something of an homage to the 1920s. It’s a middle-of-nowhere place without cell service where kids grow up to leave because there aren’t enough jobs to go around.

Twenty years after Nightjar’s debut, Lola finds herself exiled to Harrow Lake when her dad is hospitalized in New York City. Lola doesn’t want to leave her dad, leaving does not feel “Optimal.” Optimal responses are those Nolan (never “dad”) would approve of, and Lola’s interior monologue is a back-and-forth negotiation between her own wants and her dad’s Draconian guidance. Nolan’s assistant Larry, however, is insistent, and before Lola is even allowed to set foot into Nolan’s hospital room, she’s off to stay with her maternal grandmother. The two have never met and it’s dislike at first sight. Surrounded by the reminders of a mother she barely remembers, Lola stumbles upon a dangerous path of sinister creatures, skittering bugs, and long-forgotten memories because, in Harrow Lake, there’s only ever a breath between horror and reality.

I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

I liked certain aspects of this book.  It had a creepy atmosphere and an interesting story.  It also did a good job of writing a story around a fictional movie.  A lot of books I've read have failed at that.  With that being said, this was way too long.  It really dragged at the end and I just wanted the conclusion.  I wasn't a fan of the ending either, it was a bit hoaky compared to the rest of the book.

Harrow Lake
By Kat Ellis

A harrowing horror story indeed.

I truly enjoyed this creepy horror book and not ashamed to say this scared the begeezus out of me. I take all the blame and it was my fault for starting the book so late in the evening and then not being able to put the book down only realizing that it's in the middle of the night and I am under the sheets shaking like a baby but too immersed to stop. My heart rate going wild but it was so good!

Even though you may have to sleep with the lights turned on, and looking over your shoulders for a week, it's all worth it. This was such an amazing read I know you will love and enjoy. This fast-paced read grabbed my attention from the very first page and impossible to put down. Enjoy!

I’d say the ending (which I really enjoyed) makes my rating closer to 3.5 stars, but I rounded down due to some storyline and character flaws that were too distracting to allow me to fully enjoy the book. There was almost too much disorientation for the sake of creepiness, and not enough real development from Lola or anyone else until the end. I’m also still stuck on the idea that the town for real doesn’t have WiFi or a way for Lola to use her cellphone... like, c’mon.

Lola Nox is the daughter of a celebrated horror filmmaker best known for a movie taking place in a sleepy town called Harrow Lake. It’s also the place where Lola’s father met her mother, who was the star of this very film. Lola has never been to Harrow Lake. A brutal attack on her father in their New York apartment finds Lola swept away to Harrow Lake to stay with her grandmother as her father heals. What she finds is a mysterious town where the locals share an obsession with the film that put their town on the map. There are strange disappearances and local lore that lead Lola to believe this place may be haunted. As she digs deeper she realizes there’s someone or something watching her every move.

As a horror movie lover, I was immediately drawn to the premise of HARROW LAKE. Who doesn’t want to visit the town where a legendary horror movie was filmed? No? Just me? 

Things start off with a strange interview with Nolan, Lola’s father, and then quickly cycle back to the events of one year prior. This drops us with Lola, who is a complicated teenage main character. At first I wasn’t sure I would love Lola. She seemed a bit self-centered and privileged and honestly a bit annoying. I quickly learned a lot of this vibe was put out by Lola as a form of protection. She lives an extremely sheltered life and her first chance at freedom is coming in the form of the bizarre town of Harrow Lake. 

Following Lola revealed more than just what her character was hiding under the surface, but also what the town was keeping secret. Harrow Lake is a fascinating setting and Ellis brings it to life with vivid clarity. I could feel the antiquated buildings and features of a small town, but also the underlying mystery of the people living there. Don’t even get me started on how weird I find their annual festival! 

HARROW LAKE is a quick read that truly kept me hooked throughout the story. Despite being marketed as a young adult horror book, I found that there were much deeper subjects covered than I was expecting especially towards the end of the book. HARROW LAKE is the perfect read if you’re looking for a nostalgic horror movie fix in book form!

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars.

Lola is the daughter of a famous horror movie director. When her father is attacked, she is sent to her grandmother in Horrow Lake so her father can recover. While there, Lola begins to understand that her past, which she thought knew, has actually been one big lie. As she uncovers the truth in this creepy town, she is also trying to outrun Mr. Jitters (click, click, click).

I enjoyed this YA thriller…it had all the creepy elements: an unsettled and atmospheric town with its own myths and legends to contend with, multiple whacked out characters that keep the reader guessing, and just enough mystery to keep the pages turning.

It was the perfect Halloween Week read!

An old town stuck in the early 20’s, a monster, a horror film, and missing girls? Sign me up.


The premise of this book had me HOOKED and I really wanted to finish it for spooky season. I’m going to warn y’all, this book got super creepy in some scenes. Like read with the lights on creepy with the imagery. I flew through the first 60% of the book in one day, and I stuck with one prediction in my head that I thought would explain everything that was happening.


I will say I was wrong in my prediction. The book ended in a completely different direction than I thought it was going. While it was still exciting, I did feel that there were a lot of disjointed scenes and themes that I wish the ending tied up into a neater bow. I feel like it didn’t explain everything that happened the way I wanted it to, and left me feeling like it was just a little unfinished and rushed.


Overall this was a great spooky/horror YA read with a perfect Halloween setting, and I am very curious to see what other people think of it!

**3.5 Stars**
Lola lives a very sheltered and restricted life controlled by her father, a famous horror movie director. When she comes home one night and finds her father stabbed in their home from an attack, Lola is shipped off to her estranged grandmother's house in Harrow Lake, the town that was the setting for her father's most famous movie and where her parents met. But it seems Harrow Lake and it's people are all keeping secrets- and some are about Lola

I will say that while there were some super creepy scenes in this story (all things having to do with the Mr. Jitters puppet and the doll), overall I was disappointed in how everything played out. I went into this book expecting a super creepy horror novel, but instead this was more a psychological thriller (with a nice murder mystery that you didn't even know to expect as a mystery) that dealt with awful real life issues such as abuse (in many forms) lies and secrets.

There was a lot of cool buildup that could have gone in so many directions, but instead it felt like it just fizzled out- and there were loose ends that I just keep picking at that will never be answered (which I hate, I want my books wrapped up with a bow but that is just a personal preference). I am sure that lots of people will enjoy this story, and while there were a few twists I appreciated unfortunately it was not what I wanted it to be.

I could not put this book down. I was having dreams about the monsters unveiled in this story and it was so well done. Creepy, unreliable narrator. A mix between Night Film and It. i hopes everyone reads it during this Halloween season

A unevenly paced horror YA novel that struggles at time to create memorable characters and is far too reliant on plot to remedy the serious flaws of the novel.

Harrow Lake is a surprisingly meta horror novel about Lola Nox, the daughter of a celebrated horror filmmaker who goes missing shortly after her father sends her to live with her grandmother in the titular town, an eerie, remote small town in Indiana. One goes into the story already knowing the ending (from an interview with Lola’s father for a horror magazine, naturally), but it was still pretty terrifying to see what led up to Lola’s disappearance. The town of Harrow Lake is in and of itself perfectly creepy with its remote location, run-down houses, “behind the times” vibe, and unsolved disappearances that police explain away. I immediately became suspicious about the residents of Harrow Lake, including Lola’s grandmother. Lola finds some artifacts in her grandmother’s house that were left behind by the mother that are really unsettling.

While she’s in Harrow Lake, somebody appears to be stalking Lola, which further intensifies the mystery of her disappearance. Take the stalker with a grain of salt, though, because Lola’s story alternates with the transcript of the aforementioned interview with her father, during which he conveniently dodges any question regarding her mysterious disappearance, which is pretty damn suspicious if you ask me! In just over 300 pages, Ellis really cuts to the core in Harrow Lake, a haunting yet succinct story, which makes it all the more creepy. If you want to be genuinely unsettled in the least amount of pages possible, Harrow Lake is it.

With spooky season upon us, I want to put this YA page turner on your radar! I don’t think I’ve read more than a handful of YA mystery/thrillers, but it’s definitely a genre I’ll continue to explore because I haven’t been disappointed yet.

Thank you to @penguinteen and @netgalley for the advanced digital copy.

Let me set the scene for you: Lola is the daughter of famous horror film director, Nolan Nox, whose iconic film Nightjar was filmed in the small mining town of Harrow Lake. After her father is attacked in their New York apartment, Lola is sent to that same small town to stay with her maternal grandmother, whom she’s never met. And that’s when things get gooood and creepy.

When I started this book, I was pretty unsure about the main character, Lola, and didn’t think I was going to love it. Color me surprised when suddenly, I couldn’t stop reading and had to know WTF was going on in this town. There are some aspects that felt a little juvenile, but y’all, I read this on my kindle in the dark and I was J U M P Y. For my fellow 90s kids, it felt a bit like reading an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark, and I was here for it. It was delightfully atmospheric and deliciously creepy, full of small town legends, suspicious characters, and enough paranormal elements to keep me on my toes. And the ending? *chef’s kiss*

I ended up enjoying this WAY more than I thought I would, and definitely recommend to anyone looking for a book to satisfy those spooky cravings this Fall. 

⚠️CW: physical & emotional abuse, sexual assault (implied), attempted murder, paranormal elements

This book was epically creepy, super chilling (I hate teeth stuff and it features heavily) I didn't love some of the twists and the small town vibes were a bit too isolated and oddball but the scary parts were truly terrifying. Fantastic for fans of horror in the YA age group and also of family saga(ish) stories. 

This one kept me up at night. I slept with doors shut, locked, and feet securely under blankets and not hanging over the side of the bed. I loved it.

This book sounded promising just from the blurb, and upon reading just the first few pages it did not disappoint. Everyone knows how wary of YA I have become over the years, but this YA book had almost none of the things in it that turn me off from books in that genre and the things it did have were used in a fashion that you'd expect from this sort of novel - nothing was over or under done and I found myself truly enjoying the story from start to finish. It scared me honestly, the town and all the things attached to it, but I also found myself enthralled with it and very interested to learn more. I really keeps you on your toes and always wondering what's really going on, and I must say that the payoff was very satisfying also, something some thrillers fall short of. In short, I loved it. It is the young adult version of Night Film by Marisha Pessel, so if you want something like it that isn't as 'adult', or just want a good thriller about a teen girl and a small town, I recommend this.

I loved this book! Harrow Lake is mysterious and intriguing, and it has a couple delightfully spooky parts and storylines. There's a lot going on in this book, and while not everything was as clear cut as I had hoped, I still had a blast reading it.

My one annoyance was that the main character always says that everything is "Optimal". It's always capitalized, and it's CONSTANT. It was frustrating after a while, but I pretty much loved everything else.

You can always grab my attention with a book that has something to do with a horror movie - I think fans of The Remaking by Clay McLeod Chapman may also be into Harrow Lake. Definitely add this one to your TBR!

CW - sexual harassment, suicide, physical & sexual abuse