A copy paste disclaimer! :There are several stories available for free download if you are already subscribed to amazon prime, and I took advantage of that recently and thought I’d spend November telling you about the short stories and novellas I picked up that I liked best and thought was worth the read.
These tend to be stories commissioned by Amazon and put into collections by Amazon
Okay, back to review:
From the first line I knew I would like this one; a horror story wrapped in a failed marriage and the other way around.
At 58 pages, it’s a very quick read. The pacing and characterization is a lovely build to the end of the story; the twists are both obvious and not, telescoped well but always leaving the reader with doubts.
It’s another of those stories that is difficult to talk about without spoiling the whole of it, so very worth the read.
I honestly started to say more but am not sure how to without giving it away haha
The characters are extremely well done and feel organic, even under their bizarre circumstances.
A copy paste disclaimer! :There are several stories available for free download if you are already subscribed to amazon prime, and I took advantage of that recently and thought I’d spend November telling you about the short stories and novellas I picked up that I liked best and thought was worth the read.
These tend to be stories commissioned by Amazon and put into collections by Amazon
Okay, back to review:
Of the stories I read, this one has stuck with me a long time. The narrative is immediately engaging, the characters relatable and enjoyable. It’s one of those stories difficult to talk about without spoiling it because you want to pull others into this same world that you were pulled into. The gimmick of two con artists, one being utilized for and also taking advantage of the ignorance of those around them because of their race; the communication with spirits and motif of revenge all check very important boxes to me. Of the ghosts stories I’ve read, which is not a small number, several of the images in this story are so evocative that they’re well stuck in my craw. I absolutely would recommend this story to anyone and at 30 pages it leaves you both wanting more and satisfied.
A copy paste ! :There are several stories available for free download if you are already subscribed to amazon prime, and I took advantage of that recently and thought I’d spend November telling you about the short stories and novellas I picked up that I liked best and thought was worth the read.
These tend to be stories commissioned by Amazon and put into collections by Amazon
Okay, back to review:
*Vomit, scream, fall over in vomit* It’s perfect. Professional start, no?
I absolutely adored this story. It checked every mark for me: time travel, time loop, deal with the devil, character development by progressing through trauma, sacrifice motif, clear evil, unclear anachronistic time period. The tone and voice of the story was so clear and strong immediately, the narrative wasting no time to establish the character outside of anything other than a force to be reckoned with through the motif of willpower. I have recommended this short story to so many people at this point that even at 29 pages I’m willing to offer it up as one of my contenders for my favorite book I’ve read this year. It is beautiful, the wording and flow of sentences purposeful and well sculpted. No notes.
There are several stories available for free download if you are already subscribed to amazon prime, and I took advantage of that recently and thought I’d spend November telling you about the short stories and novellas I picked up that I liked best and thought was worth the read.
These tend to be stories commissioned by Amazon and put into collections by Amazon
The Pram is a short story about miscarriage and grief, particularly the grief of the protagonist Willy who feels overshadowed and pressured to resolve grief for his wife Marianne, only to realize he hasn’t resolved anything for himself.
I thought it was an honest treatment of a difficult topic, one I’ve dealt with personally and which I normally immediately stop reading once child or fetus death is involved.
At 57 pages, it’s a quick read and satisfying as a horror short story. Too often horror short stories are so focused on the twist that they fail to embrace the heart of their topic, particularly when they’re commissioned short stories on demand.
I was thinking about what I could do for my last review of the spooky season and I thought “Did I talk about ‘Yellowface’ yet?” I went back and checked. I haven’t. I need to.
Yellowface by RF Kuang is not billed as a horror story exactly.
It is horror, I would argue. The ‘satirical novel’ (read:horror) takes a deep dive into the publishing industry, white privilege, racism, the persecution complex of white authors, the dismissive attitudes toward Asian voices, the tokenism and more in a way that is so educational, so detailed, as to be exhaustive.
It follows a white woman who, deeply jealous and entitled, steals her successful Asian friend’s manuscript after her death and publishes it. It examines the lengths to which this white woman goes, publishing under a misleadingly Asian sounding name, claiming that anyone can write any topic with her own touch of persecution, justifying her theft by claiming her research into being able to edit the novel makes her an expert, having a sensitivity reader fired, dealing with the deceased’s family and friends, destroying evidence, and turning up in Asian cultural centers trying to promote “her” writing.
As it all unravels, the novel is full of suspense and agitation. And I just have to say….have you ever read a novel and thought, ‘The author thinks about this all of the time.’ Not ‘the author thinks about this all of the time because obviously she wrote a book about it’ but ‘the author has had this fear and idea curling in the back of her skull for at least a decade, and it is a privilege I have not to have thought about it’? That’s the tone of Yellowface.
As always when I read any collection of short stories there are particular ones which catch my attention, but I really can’t stress how much I enjoyed ‘Never Whistle at Night’. The collection is extremely well put together, spanning a variety of topics impacting indigenous communities, whether that be indigenous folk lore inspired, inspired by racism, classism, internalized trauma, religious trauma, or all of the above and of course more. The cultural weight of each story has its place in the anthology.
The editors deserve all the credit in the world, it’s a wonderful collection. Please support them.
Goooooood Saturday to you. You’re getting two for the price of one today.
Continuing my ‘October is Spooky’, beginning with Mexican Gothic–I picked up this book very specifically because I heard so many literary agents talking about it. Not only socially, but in pitching horror stories a lot of feedback I got was ‘Is it like Mexican Gothic?’
People love this book and I am a convert.
Mexican Gothic Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Goooooood Saturday to you. You’re getting two for the price of one today.
Continuing my ‘October is Spooky’, beginning with Mexican Gothic–I picked up this book very specifically because I heard so many literary agents talking about it. Not only socially, but in pitching horror stories a lot of feedback I got was ‘Is it like Mexican Gothic?’
People love this book and I am a convert.
Moreno does an amazing job of creating a landscape and atmosphere very similar to many early black and white horror films; I’ve heard her tone directly compared to Del Toro and this novel specifically to Crimson Peak, though very clearly Moreno knows her stuff about the old film industry that inspired Del Toro (more on that in a bit).
Mexican Gothic is so reminiscent of Bride of Frankenstein for me, and I’d honestly hate to spoil anything about the turn in plot where it takes on to become a more modern horror, just please read it.
I came off of the high of Mexican Gothic wanting more Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I even did that thing where I reread specific passages because I liked the wording that much.
Seriously. Read Mexican Gothic.
Luckily, it was right around debut time for Silver Nitrate.
My first take away beginning Silver Nitrate is the care and treatment of old horror films; Moreno Gracia clearly knows not only through her own research but anecdotally a great deal about the golden age of horror. I related, for better or worse, to Montserrat as a character and that compelled me through the book. The examination of the occult in the early 1930s and the impact of different esoteric movements on world culture hit every mark for me. I appreciated the focus, as always, on Mexican culture and Mexican film, reclaiming something that so often is defaulted to American.
It was an excellent book, I’d recommend you to read it and to look out for her other work.
Starting the month with Dr Chuck Tingle, Camp Damascus is hands down one of the best books I have read this year. A quick read under 300 pages, it is one of these most effective horror stories I have read in ages. Centered around religious trauma and homophobia, the action begins almost immediately, with no ‘wait till the third act’ nonsense. Shit hits the fan, and hard, and keeps coming. Dr Tingle takes no time to bullshit around with building suspense, the true horror comes from the nonchalant reactions and denials of the clear horrors occuring. The main character’s neurodivergence was written so naturally and well, it was a wonderfully refreshing representation that I didn’t realize I had been craving. Easily one of my favorite books of the year, I absolutely encourage you to read it, I am so excited for his next book that I know is in editing stages.
Jack Kornfield is someone I’ve known about for over a decade, which is a sentence that makes me feel very old. Mindfulness is something I’ve studied a lot, academically and personally, and I think Bringing Home the Dharma is possibly the most comprehensive collection of answered questions for western Buddhism that I’ve come across. I listened to it as an audiobook and took my time to chew through it, and I truly think it was remarkable.
It may be a bit of an undertaking for someone casually trying to learn about Buddhism because the book is very detailed but for a beginner or someone like me who phases in and out of the scene, it is an excellent resource. Kornfield is, as always, a very gentle but assertive teacher.
I’d definitely prefer having a written copy to the audiobook I listened to because it’s such a great resource; it’s definitely something to reference back to and to cherry pick which areas resonate most.
I’ve been sitting on writing this review because I’m not sure how I want to structure it. Structure is fundamental to Honeycomb by Joanne Harris and this is my second contender for my favorite book that I’ve read in 2023.
In fact, the reliance on bees within the story is, I’m sure, a direct reference to the importance of structure to the novel.
I want to be assured that I do it justice.
Honeycomb is presented as a series of short chapters introducing interlocking stories and continuations of earlier chapters and characters, chiefly following The Lacewing King. Characters are, importantly, not named but given honorifics as the book utilizes traditional fae myths. As a person with ….an unkindly level of entomophobia, you’d think that this book would be near impossible for me to read as the many factions and clans of fae are all based on different insect species. However, I persevered and I actually really enjoyed the way the insects and the affectations of each fae were discussed.
Anyone who may remember the horrific katydid incident last year where I blew up discord channels and texts demanding to know how I got rid of the beast that had flown into my window (it took me four hours to work up the nerve to trap him between the screen and sliding glass door) should be very proud of me!
Not only did I push through, but this book has stuck with me incredibly. I love the very arch yet traditional approach to fae stories. It was nostalgic, reminiscent of reading collected fairy tales and brother’s Grimm compilations, but with an interconnecting thread that built and drove you deeper into the world that Ms. Harris was creating. It had an atmosphere similar to Susanna Clarke’s fae. The characterization both holds you at a distance as a reader and is engrossing, drawing you in to learn more about the various flawed characters and is reminiscent of old school fantasy like George MacDonald.
Aliactast 
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