The Horned God

Magdalena Hai

Original title: Sarvijumala

Author: Magdalena Hai

Published: 2023

Publisher: Otava

Genre: Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Pages: 150

Creeping horror for the YA audience

  • Magdalena Hai’s books have been sold in 27 territories and she has been nominated for several prestigious awards (Finlandia Prize, Nordic Council Literature Prize).
  • Magdalena Hai is the winner of the Finnish Literary Export Prize (2017) and Kaarina Helakisa Prize (2020)

When death touches your life, everything changes.

Lauri wakes up in the hospital after a fatal car crash and he doesn’t remember much about it. Mom is dead and now life has changed drastically.

When Lauri starts his slow recovery in a small town at his aunt’s house, he has an unpleasant feeling that everything is not right. The dead don’t stay dead and the beautiful neighbor Vilja-Maaria doesn’t want to live. When an ominous creature with antlers appears behind the window, Lauri begins to see nightmarish dreams that feel too real.

“The grim horror novel is one of the bright spots of this spring’s YA literature. [--] The Horned God is top-quality horror, where the atmosphere gets tighter and tighter as the bitter dead extort their loved ones who are still living. A little solace for [the main character] Lauri is offered by Vilja-Maaria, who, like the horned god, appears in his dreams. Hai reaches convincingly both the inner landscape of a young man and the reality numbed by the accident. [--] The Horned God gives the reader a tight, chilling story of death and regret.”

– Joonas Riekkola in Keskisuomalainen newspaper

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Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

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About author

Magdalena Hai

Magdalena Hai is an award-winning author, lover of cross-genre fiction and all things strange. Her fiction often combines elements of sci-fi, fantasy and horror.

Her Little Shop of Nightmares series has been sold to over 20 territories around the World. Among Hai's many accolades are winning the Finnish Literary Export Prize, and being nominated for the Finlandia Prize for Children's and Youth Litetature and the Nordic Council Children & Young People's Literature Prize.

Besides being an author, Hai teaches writing and is an active member and editor in the publishing co-operative Osuuskumma.

Bibliography


2023, Chapter Books (6-9 Years)

Magdalena Hai

Little Shop of Nightmares 4: The Crystal Skull


2023, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Magdalena Hai

The Horned God


2021, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Magdalena Hai

The Spell of Iset


2021, Chapter Books (6-9 Years)

Magdalena Hai

Little Shop of Nightmares 3: Sticky the Horrible Snowman


2020, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Magdalena Hai

Miss Swift’s Weird and Wonderful House


2019, Chapter Books (6-9 Years)

Magdalena Hai

Little Shop of Nightmares 2: The Mystery of the Missing Teeth


2018, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Magdalena Hai

The Third Sister


2018, Chapter Books (6-9 Years)

Magdalena Hai

Little Shop of Nightmares 1: The Terrible Tickling Powder


2017, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Magdalena Hai

Grumblebelly Cat


2012, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Magdalena Hai

The Beggar Princess