Canadian Writers Abroad

Lowfield by Mark Sampson (Now or Never Publishing, 2025).
Reviewed by Eleanor Proudfoot.

The beginning of Lowfield, Mark Sampson’s fifth novel, achieves what I had thought an impossible task (a horror set in idyllic PEI?!). We follow ex-cop Riley Fuller, who is going to PEI for a fresh start: his plan is to visit the house he’s inherited. Mundane elements of the landscape (such as the construction pillars of the bridge) are recast as ominous, and I was immediately sucked into an eerie atmosphere that felt real and compelling.Gems of sentences build a picture of the landscape: “Prince Edward Island did not wear early April well,” and with this we get the slow build of intrigue. Our main character clearly has some form of PTSD, but Sampson skillfully gives the reader just enough detail for us to want to keep reading to find out more. Riley, too, gradually realises there is more going on with the house than his simply feeling like himself at Applegarth. 

The horror aspects were not as intriguing as the character work, but this is nonetheless very much a book for horror fans. The narrative played out along pretty familiar lines, a lot of tropes came up (the haunted house, the evil timeless entity), but both these choices feel intentional and satisfying, with a fresh spin on them. The book can be a little shocking at times for more sensitive readers, but I did find that to be its strong suit. There’s something in here for fans of most kinds of horror (there’s no body horror). 

Part of the horror is psychological, part of it is very real. The psychological aspect is woven in cleverly straight away from Riley’s arrival on the island. I didn’t feel the “horror” of him thinking thoughts that weren’t his, however. There was one idea I found a little problematic: the women seem to be more immune/ able to fight what’s happening on the island, the subtext being they’re less perverted/ have more self control. Although this probably was intended as flattering to the fairer sex, and who knows, perhaps it is even half true – such a choice felt like slipping a little into Madonna-Whore territory. 

Some choices I can only laud! The theme of repetition, of echoes (non-auditory), was beautifully woven in throughout the story, both through character’s names, actions, and even certain images and phrases being taken up 100 pages later. That’s the kind of good writing that makes you pause and appreciate without taking you out of the story.

I really enjoyed reading Lowfield, and without spoiling anything, the denouement felt satisfyingly like a more masterful retelling of Stephen King’s It. (Imagine if Stephen King had had to edit and had left out the weird child orgy). 

I could see the final pages’ twist coming quite early on, but this only added a layer of ineluctable fatality to the story, rather than feeling too obvious. 

I wasn’t frightened, however. Not even close, not even a shiver down the spine. But I don’t think that is a fair metric of good horror, since it probably says more about me than it does about the skill of the author. (If you’re name’s not Shirley Jackson, you’re probably not going to give me a single heebie or a jeebie). 

A regular contributor to Canadian Writers Abroad, Mark Sampson lived in Korea some years ago, from which he wrote his novel Sad Peninsula. Other novels include All the Animals on Earth, The Slip, and Off Book.
His short story collection: The Secrets Men Keep and his poetry collection: Weathervane. Originally from Prince Edward Island, he now lives and writes in Toronto.

Eleanor Proudfoot works in Ottawa as a Business Development Advisor. She lived in Scotland for seven years, where she attended the universities of St Andrews and Napier.

• N.O.N Publishing
• Mark Sampson in conversation with Jamie Tennant on GetLit.
• Mark Sampson reading from Lowfield on YouTube.
• Mark Sampson at Canadian Writers Abroad.