Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones

30 reviews

loganreadshorror's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

sashquash's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

3.5

I felt really bad for the protagonist….and his friends. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

franknforter's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Stalking, Death, Grief, and Mental illness

seawarrior's review against another edition

4.0

Night of the Mannequins is an electric and entertaining slasher story that traverses through the mind of a paranoid, guilt-ridden unreliable narrator. The pacing of this story is similar to that of a slasher film, the only time we have to get to know the protagonists are the pages between each killing, and I imagine this will turn some readers off. Yet for the horror-obsessed, this is a highly original romp reminiscent of the now-classic movies it takes inspiration from. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Murder

melitta's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

ehmannky's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I think once I understood that there was going to be a lot fewer mannequins than I thought there would be, I had a great time. I love Jones's storytelling and this was a really fun, fast read and maybe one of the few slashers I've ever really enjoyed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Child death, Vomit, and Violence

Minor: Animal death and Death of parent

bookishbutch's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Grief, Death, Toxic friendship, Blood, Mental illness, and Child death

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Cursing

becca_w_'s review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, and Vomit

kawooreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

3.5/5.0 Stars (rounding up to 4 for creativity)

What a delightfully bizarre and psychotic horror novella from Stephen Graham Jones. The blurb says it all and I don't really want to say much more and spoil it. I don't know what I expected but it definitely wasn't this and I'm not mad about that. Twenty minutes in my eyebrows were raised but my interest was piqued. If you like horror, I think you would enjoy this story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Death, and Gore

cheye13's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I think I took too long to read this one, and the tension slipped right through my fingers. I'm not typically a horror fan, but I didn't find this all that scary. I'd call it more of a psychological thriller.

I did go in without having read the full synopsis, which I think really helped. I quite enjoyed the front half, not seeing a lot of the reveals coming. I really appreciated the nuances within the content: Sawyer is very much an Indigenous teen boy with a very specific experience, but he also has a very Everyman vibe to him. He has parents, friends, hopes, dreams – just like everyone else. It feels like any of his friends could step into his role and the story would be the same, which brings the mannequin concept full circle, imo.

The writing style and voice is very unique; it fits the story so well and is very fun to read. It's very evocative of a film and also a campfire/sleepover story, but still takes moments to use written word to full effect. There are a few sentences that stopped me short to either send a chill down my spine or an ache through my heart.

I think the writing style was spectacular, but the brevity and predictability of the storyline crossed with the universailty of the main perspective didn't really let me sink my claws in.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Gore, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, and Grief

Minor: Abandonment, Body horror, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts

There is an early line in which Sawyer mentions he "stopped taking his meds" but it is never revisited or explained. Treads a very thin line toward an ableist trope.