Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.31 AVERAGE
3.31 AVERAGE
Adding this to say that I only purchased this collection to read Laird Barron's story. "The Lagerstätte" is possibly my new favorite from Barron, only coming behind the title piece in The Imago Sequence. Once again, Barron's writing style and prose are out of this world. "The Lagerstätte" doesn't hold your hand in its storytelling. One or two passages required further analysis to really get what Barron is writing.
We follow Danni, a recent widow who is having hallucinations of her late husband and son. The story cuts between Danni recounting moments across the Summer of 2006 and the scene of a session with her psychologist Dr. Greene. Danni's peers feign innocence and attempt to "open her eye" by having her invite the world of the dead into her life, to bring back what she lost. The story is cruel and unforgiving.
Barron reminds me why he is my favorite in the horror short-story format. There is no filler, no meaningless dialogue. Every word advances Danni's story in a downward spiral of poetic terror. "The Lagerstätte" could not be a novel. The story is only about 25 pages long on this large copy I own.
Highly recommend "The Lagerstätte". I tried with some of the other stories in the collection, but couldn't get in to them. Try finding just this story.
We follow Danni, a recent widow who is having hallucinations of her late husband and son. The story cuts between Danni recounting moments across the Summer of 2006 and the scene of a session with her psychologist Dr. Greene. Danni's peers feign innocence and attempt to "open her eye" by having her invite the world of the dead into her life, to bring back what she lost. The story is cruel and unforgiving.
Spoiler
Barron ends this story in a different fashion from the other stories I've read in The Imago Sequence. In "Bulldozer" and "Old Virginia", the protagonist is overwhelmed physically and by surprise from the cosmic horror. In "The Lagerstätte", Danni is overwhelmed mentally, and spirals out of control over the course of months. She returns to the sacrificial bone time and time again, widening her mortal field of view. There is no redemption in Danni's life.Barron reminds me why he is my favorite in the horror short-story format. There is no filler, no meaningless dialogue. Every word advances Danni's story in a downward spiral of poetic terror. "The Lagerstätte" could not be a novel. The story is only about 25 pages long on this large copy I own.
Highly recommend "The Lagerstätte". I tried with some of the other stories in the collection, but couldn't get in to them. Try finding just this story.
DNF - the stories were not engaging and not really what I'd qualify as horror save for one. I won't give it one star just in case the later stories turned out to be better, but my reading list is too long to press on with something I'm not loving.
Lots of brilliant stories--but enough meh that it gets a 4. A zombie does not a horror story make.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
My favorite story was The Hodag, which was a perfect slice of Americana - isolated, violent, haunted, creepy Americana.
Absolutely disappointing. Amateurish writing with terrible plots. Beachhead was the only good story.
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
(stopped at: Esmeralda, 109)
reason: had a hard time vibing with the stories and that made me run out of time with my library loan. not a negative review of them necessarily, might return to it at another point in time.
reason: had a hard time vibing with the stories and that made me run out of time with my library loan. not a negative review of them necessarily, might return to it at another point in time.
I got this book at the library to check out Laird Barron. And while Barron's story was good, it was far outclassed by several other entries.
“When the Gentlemen Go By” by Margaret Ronald was probably my favorite. Just a gripping short story.
"Beach Head" by Daniel Lemoal was a fun read that went differently than I expected.
“Harry and the Monkey” by Euan Harvey is a fell-good story if that can really be applied to horror. Had some King-ish elements for sure, which I say as a compliment.
Datlow did a good job of selecting a wide range of stories, from monster stories to pshycological suspense stories to good old fashion ghost stories.
“When the Gentlemen Go By” by Margaret Ronald was probably my favorite. Just a gripping short story.
"Beach Head" by Daniel Lemoal was a fun read that went differently than I expected.
“Harry and the Monkey” by Euan Harvey is a fell-good story if that can really be applied to horror. Had some King-ish elements for sure, which I say as a compliment.
Datlow did a good job of selecting a wide range of stories, from monster stories to pshycological suspense stories to good old fashion ghost stories.
Ehhhh. Not scary, most of these were just whatever.