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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
I think this might just be my new favorite book.
I mean there are some weaker stories in this collection, but fuck this thing just hits me in all right places. I see myself recommending this a lot in the future. It just explores grief, masculinity, and familial bonds in ways that just do it for me. It uses the supernatural and horrific as a backdrop for such human stories.
Favorite Stories: Wild Acre, The Monsters of Heaven, Sunbleached, and The Good Husband
I mean there are some weaker stories in this collection, but fuck this thing just hits me in all right places. I see myself recommending this a lot in the future. It just explores grief, masculinity, and familial bonds in ways that just do it for me. It uses the supernatural and horrific as a backdrop for such human stories.
Favorite Stories: Wild Acre, The Monsters of Heaven, Sunbleached, and The Good Husband
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4 stars overall, an extra star for Wild Acre. I keep thinking about that story - it's a perfect blend of theme, mood, and voice. Highly recommended!
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Absolutely stunning collection of bleak, short horror stories. Ballingrud with this volume proves that he is one of the most important voices in horror fiction today.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well, I'll be spending the rest of my life recovering from how much the stories in this book fucked me up.
This one came out last year, but I'm getting to it a bit late. It's been a hell of a time for debut collections of dark, weird fiction. Ballingrud's collection is powerful, confident and inspiring. Truly impressive.
Gross on so many levels. These stories are the definition of haunting.
“Do you think it’s possible for something beautiful to come out of an awful thing?”
Holy. Cow.
I had seen this book bounce around my GR feed for a while. It had caught my eye because of the title: I do love lake monster stories, but I think I was a bit miffed this wasn’t a compendium of such stories, and ignored it for a bit. Then, I saw Laird Barron blurbed it, and because I am basically a sucker for books my favorite authors recommend, I put a copy on my Spooktober pile. And now I am sitting here, a little stunned and in awe of the beautiful writing and bone-chilling stories I have just read.
I love that Ballingrud only gives his readers a tiny glimpse of the supernatural in these stories: monsters are scary, sure, but the fucked up things that dwell in the human heart and mind are way, way more terrifying – and he knows that. His protagonists are usually the working poor that America wishes it could hide better, and the bleak lives they lead, where desperation and fear pushes them into the darkest corners of their being. What is a monster, really, if not a person who’s humanity was stripped away slowly over time until they can’t even see themselves as human anymore?
As pointed out by some reviews, there is a recurring theme of masculinity, or rather what does it mean to be a man in some extreme circumstances: aren't they supposed to be strong, to protect, care for and provide for their families and friends? What does it mean when they can't do that?
The prose is beautiful, the atmosphere of each story cloying and claustrophobic, the characters' anxieties palpable, the open endings deeply unsettling. Thank god these are short stories, because dragging them on any longer would give you road rash. If you like bleak stories, existential horror and enjoy the kind of stuff that Thomas Ligotti, Laird Barron and John Langan write, do yourself a favor, and get a copy of this book immediately. 5 dark, devastating stars.
**
I watched the Hulu series "Monsterland", based on and inspired by the stories in this collection, and if you enjoyed this book, you should definitely check it out. There are few exact adaptations to the stories ("You Go Where it Takes You" and "The Good Husband" are adapted fairly faithfully), but the other episodes are just as powerful, bleak and disturbing as the Ballingrud's writing. The use of the supernatural as a simple highlight of the human monsters is used skillfully in every episode, from the one about how easy it is to radicalize disenfranchised young people online to the one about the oil magnate responsible for a devastating spill. The villains are human, and the creatures are only there to make them realize it. This show is not always easy to watch (it gets graphic and some of the situations are incredibly depressing) but it is beautiful in the same way these short stories are, because they are raw and intense and force you to think.
Holy. Cow.
I had seen this book bounce around my GR feed for a while. It had caught my eye because of the title: I do love lake monster stories, but I think I was a bit miffed this wasn’t a compendium of such stories, and ignored it for a bit. Then, I saw Laird Barron blurbed it, and because I am basically a sucker for books my favorite authors recommend, I put a copy on my Spooktober pile. And now I am sitting here, a little stunned and in awe of the beautiful writing and bone-chilling stories I have just read.
I love that Ballingrud only gives his readers a tiny glimpse of the supernatural in these stories: monsters are scary, sure, but the fucked up things that dwell in the human heart and mind are way, way more terrifying – and he knows that. His protagonists are usually the working poor that America wishes it could hide better, and the bleak lives they lead, where desperation and fear pushes them into the darkest corners of their being. What is a monster, really, if not a person who’s humanity was stripped away slowly over time until they can’t even see themselves as human anymore?
As pointed out by some reviews, there is a recurring theme of masculinity, or rather what does it mean to be a man in some extreme circumstances: aren't they supposed to be strong, to protect, care for and provide for their families and friends? What does it mean when they can't do that?
The prose is beautiful, the atmosphere of each story cloying and claustrophobic, the characters' anxieties palpable, the open endings deeply unsettling. Thank god these are short stories, because dragging them on any longer would give you road rash. If you like bleak stories, existential horror and enjoy the kind of stuff that Thomas Ligotti, Laird Barron and John Langan write, do yourself a favor, and get a copy of this book immediately. 5 dark, devastating stars.
**
I watched the Hulu series "Monsterland", based on and inspired by the stories in this collection, and if you enjoyed this book, you should definitely check it out. There are few exact adaptations to the stories ("You Go Where it Takes You" and "The Good Husband" are adapted fairly faithfully), but the other episodes are just as powerful, bleak and disturbing as the Ballingrud's writing. The use of the supernatural as a simple highlight of the human monsters is used skillfully in every episode, from the one about how easy it is to radicalize disenfranchised young people online to the one about the oil magnate responsible for a devastating spill. The villains are human, and the creatures are only there to make them realize it. This show is not always easy to watch (it gets graphic and some of the situations are incredibly depressing) but it is beautiful in the same way these short stories are, because they are raw and intense and force you to think.