I love the premise of documentary filmmakers or podcasts, and yet I can rarely find a novel that does it justice.
This had creepy vibes, and whilst I was interested, I was never fully engaged or committed to the story as much as I expected.
The characters intrigued me, and I liked their personalities, but the main downfall for me was the believable nature, or not so much, and this fell into the latter category and was a miss for me.

I usually don't read this type of books. I don't like the scary stories but gave it a try as part of a book club. It didn't disappoint, it's a great book for the scary enthusiasts.

This book was just ok. It was a little spooky and creepy, but most of the characters fell flat for me. I kept reading to find out what the heck happened to the people of the village.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
#TheLostVillageBook #NetGalley

yikes. This book creeped me out, but that was the plan. Her books are so differednt than anyone elses. I enjoyed this but not as much as her last.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for my for my advance copy.
When I started hearing about this book, I knew it was one I had to get my hands on. Let me tell ya, it did not disappoint. I would compare it to The Blair Witch Project, and if that scared the crap out of ya, this will also.
Alice and a small group of documentary filmmakers, head to a remote village where in 1959, almost 900 inhabitants completely disappear. Except for woman brutally murdered in the center of town and a newborn left abandoned. No one has an answer to what had happened.
Immediately, this book grabbed me. It is told in a dual timeline with the present day being narrated by Alice and the 1959 timeline being narrated by Alice's Great Grandmother Elsa. I will honestly say, that the 1959 timeline was by far the best. It is a lot more slow paced, but it really builds up to an exceptional narrative. It has multiple layers, dark vibes, and foreboding sense that something horrible is right around the corner.

Nothing is creepier than an abandoned small town disconnected from the world. Mix in the Nordic and mental health factors and the you have the potential for a knockout. There were just a few key missing from this story that kept my from loving The Lost Village. First is the main character… she got really annoying with her whining about trying to prove herself with this movie. Second, the “movie”? What is making the movie, a screentest, a research trip? The whole premise of getting the people to the town seemed a little far fetched… what do I know? Lastly, the past character arc. I have so many questions that were left unanswered!! And to be honest, the “Then” storyline was at time more interesting that the “Now” storyline.

Overall, I enjoyed diving into this world of creepy and will give it another try. 3.5 stars!!

Very good horror read. Takes place in a Swedish mining village, where an amateur camera crew sets out to investigate this ghost town whose entire population disappeared in the 1950s. The crew leader happens to have a family who grew up there and disappeared as well. The author seamlessly weaves back and forth from past to present, adding to the atmospheric mood. Things don’t go as planned, and there are some spooky moments, actually, a lot of them during the investigation.,A satisfying ending made for a great read. If you like horror (Blair Witch Project meets Midsomar!) you will enjoy this book.
Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and the author for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

4 Stars!!!

This story right here, billed as a mixture of the Blair Witch Project and Midsommar, had me both excited, yet gave me trepidations, because I feared it would be cheesy. This story was far from it!!

Alice, a documentary film maker is obsessed with the story of what happened to her grandmother's village of 900 people that mysteriously vanished in 1959. She puts together a crew to take some preliminary shots around the village to gain funding for this project. The story is told from the perspective of Alice's great grandmother and her great aunt's letters to her grandmother and from Alice's perspective. I loved how it hopped back and forth in time. No spoilers here. Grab yourself a copy and make sure to read it with the lights on!!

A special thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Camilla Sten for providing me with a reader copy.

This book had a great premise Blair Witch meets Midsommar but for me it didn’t deliver.

It felt to staged, of course things went wrong, of course they get stuck.

The only reason I kept reading was to find out the ultimate conclusion to why the town disappeared. Once this was reveled I could have stopped but I was so close to the end that I might as well just finish.

This book wasn’t for me but that doesn’t mean it’s not for you.

The initial reviews of The Lost Village found it comparable to The Blair Witch Project and Midsommar. Both movies are horror classics and the comparison could definitely scare some folks away because they love those movies so much that they're worried the book won't live up. But honestly, the book is very good. And really, we all know I didn't read the description of the book before reading the book itself so I didn't even see the comparison until mere minutes ago.

There are alternating timelines in this book, and that's always something that can make or break an entire reading experience. But the timelines in this book truly made the book what it is. The timelines are set between present day (Alice's time) and 1959 (her grandmother's time), when the disappearances took place. I love moving through the mystery and terror that's happening present day while also understanding what actually took place back in 1959. The pacing of the novel is perfect and while many say this book wasn't quite as horror-filled as they expected, but this book actually creeped me the hell out. I was listening to it at one point while driving at night and I was honestly so scared. It was honestly all just done so well.


"We perceive women suffering from mental illness with a sort of paradoxical double-sidedness; both victims and monsters, simultaneously infantilized and feared."


While this book is scary for a variety of reasons, it really throws in the state of the human psyche and the horrible, monstrous things humans can do to each other, and sometimes that can be even scarier than the make believe monsters we create in our heads.

I did find that in many ways, the book was predictable, but there were also several shocking and unexpected twists that I didn't see coming, so those things really balanced each other out. I would absolutely say that the Midsommar and The Blair Witch Project comparison is accurate. Even not having read those comparisons before reading the book, I absolutely thought about Midsommar during my journey through the story, so I absolutely agree with that comparison.

This review will be posted on my Goodreads account. Thanks to Netgalley for a review copy. The premise of this book intrigued me from the beginning- lost villages? Strange disappearances? Comparisons to the Blair Witch Project? I'm so in. Alice is a documentary filmmaker who takes her crew to a mysterious village where in 1959 her grandmother's family and almost everyone in her family disappeared. Sten creates an awesome setting with a great feel. It is genuinely spooky. After the team arrives, things start to go wrong. People go missing and they begin to realize they may not be alone. I really enjoyed the book- I think it's strongest aspect was the creation of an unsettling locale. I think I did go into this book with too high expectations and I was a little let down by the direction it went, but overall, I really enjoyed the reading experience and will for sure be recommending it to horror readers.

This was such a great read! I've never read anything like this before, but it definitely gave me Blair Witch Project vibes and I was all here for it. I was a fan of the mental health being the automatic blame in this one, but this was a great mystery.

A mysterious town and a film crew try to uncover the mystery of the town in Sweden.
Creepy and ominous they decide to stay for six days. Kind of like cabin fever the teams starts to untangle. Past and present timelines go well together.
I can't go into detail without giving anything away.

Thank you Netgalley for the earc.

I received a free ARC from NegGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I felt like this was an okay book. I didn’t really identify with any of the characters but felt they were well developed and had good back stories. I didn’t totally figure out the end, so that was good.

Stan's "The Lost Village" had all the right elements of horror mixed in with mystery and thrill, but I must admit that there were a few things that occurred in the book that were too far-fetched (I will not discuss this here to avoid spoiling the ending for anyone). The plot is centered around a 60-year mystery of around 900 people gone missing and a modern-day crew of five members with a mission to film a documentary about the said mystery. When the crew ventures out to the ghost town, things start getting tense and, quite honestly, a bit freaky. I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of the story, especially since it was told in dual POV - one from the 1950s and the other from modern-time - which created a rather suspenseful atmosphere. I enjoyed figuring out the mystery, but I wish the ending was different.

I tried this because horror is not my thing, and I wanted to read something different and new. I was not really vested in the modern day story - much more interested in the historic aspect of the town. Main character, Alice Lindstedt was so unlikable, and rather unreliable as a narrator. I could not tell if she was romantically interested in Emmy, or the trust issues were well founded. The chapters about Alice's grandmother and the town of Silvertjarn held my interest, and the ending was believable in my opinion, except one major issue.

I can't believe it took me so long to get to this book. Had I known I would love it so much, I would have picked it up sooner.

The Lost Village is Scandinavian story telling at it's finest! Gore, horror and an immersive darkness surround the pages and I slept with my lights on the first few nights. I was left turning page after page, and didn't want this to end. I lost the lost villager stories, because even today they're just unbelievably creepy and sad. When the crew arrives they know something is very wrong, they hear voices, houses left as if the owners wwere coming back.. they can't help but film and try to uncover the mystery of the Lost Village of Silvertjarn.

I love dual time lines and the author does this perfectly. Sometimes they can get confusing, and jumbled. This was not the case. The twisted ending that I did not see coming allowed me to absolutely love this book even more, and it's a top contender of 2021 for me.

Thank you so much to netgalley and minotaur for the gifted copyin exchange for an honest review

Despite a somewhat ridiculous premise, and conclusion, I did find this book very tense and spooky. The idea of an abandoned village is a strong start, but I found the eventual reveal to be just too over the top — it didn't match the slowly rising horror of the rest of the story.

A hauntingly beautiful tale that sends chills down the spine, the pages fluttering, and the heart pounding. I loved this story much more than I expected to, and I can't wait to get lost in it again.

Fantastically creepy! I love the setting of this book, it's the perfect read as we head into the fall. The storyline is unique and somewhat reminds me of Blair Witch.