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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
I can see why this was a favorite of Lovecraft's because it's exactly as creepy as his stories. It is a tale of two friends on a canoe trip down the Danube, who are compelled to camp for a couple days on a small island in the middle of the river. Everything in this story is ominous and foreboding, from the sun to the darkness to the relentless wind that blows throughout their first night on the island. But nothing is as creepy as the willow bushes that cover the island. They seem to move on their own, even during the infrequent times when the wind is not howling. The narrator is uneasy from the moment they land, and is subject to feelings of dread and fear, and occasionally to visual encounters that might be hallucinations, or might be the evil presence that seems to envelop the island. Eventually, his companion seems to become "possessed" by the resident evil, and talk of a "sacrifice" to appease it begins.
This really is a creepy story, in the same way that Lovecraft's stuff is creepy... it's never the thing you see that's frightening, it's always what you dread but don't see!
This really is a creepy story, in the same way that Lovecraft's stuff is creepy... it's never the thing you see that's frightening, it's always what you dread but don't see!
This has all the right creeps. A small number of people in an alien situation in which they are alienated from the rest of humanity. The story ends where it has to end. Love it.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I plucked this one off someone's list of Best Spooky Reads, to satisfy my annual craving. Creepy trees are 100% up my alley, and I'm always a fan of atmospheric spookiness.
Took me all the way until the funnels started appearing in the sand to move from thinking "gee, T. Kingfisher isn't the only one who thinks willows are creepy," to realizing "OH. T. Kingfisher is straight-up retelling this story!" Or possibly Kingfisher's The Hollow Places, which is excellent, could be a kind of sequel to this original creepy willow story. Either way, I adore seeing this original and remembering how Kingfisher played with it.
Short, exellcent, atmospheric spook.
Took me all the way until the funnels started appearing in the sand to move from thinking "gee, T. Kingfisher isn't the only one who thinks willows are creepy," to realizing "OH. T. Kingfisher is straight-up retelling this story!" Or possibly Kingfisher's The Hollow Places, which is excellent, could be a kind of sequel to this original creepy willow story. Either way, I adore seeing this original and remembering how Kingfisher played with it.
Short, exellcent, atmospheric spook.
mysterious
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Eerily wonderous
Broad daylight and I still feel a little breathless. Amazing how dark words on light paper can create more vivid images and real feelings of terror than any gory movie. I may never trust the willows again.
Broad daylight and I still feel a little breathless. Amazing how dark words on light paper can create more vivid images and real feelings of terror than any gory movie. I may never trust the willows again.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes