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2.72 AVERAGE
2.72 AVERAGE
dark
medium-paced
i wasnt able to attach to any of the chars and the prose was excessive sometimes // i dont know what the point was
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Would recommend her short "She Who Hungers, She Who Waits" more.
Cassandra Khaw’s Nothing But Blackened Teeth attempts to blend gothic horror with poetic prose, but ultimately drowns in its own verbosity. The premise is undeniably eerie—a haunted Heian-era mansion, a ghostly bride with a mouth full of blackened teeth, and a group of friends making the worst possible life choices—but the execution leaves much to be desired.
Khaw’s signature lyrical style, which works beautifully in shorter fiction, feels excessive here. The prose is so dense with flowery, thesaurus-plucked descriptions that it smothers the tension rather than enhancing it. Horror thrives on atmosphere, but when every sentence reads like it’s auditioning for the most elaborate metaphor award, the fear factor gets lost in translation.
The characters are another weak point. The protagonist is deeply unlikable, which isn’t necessarily a flaw in horror, if they’re compelling. Unfortunately, she reads more as frustrating than fascinating. The friend group feels like a chaotic mix of tropes—especially Phillip, whose entire existence seems to revolve around being a Greek god of a man until his seemingly pointless death. The story repeatedly references teeth (a clever thematic tie to the ghost, but beaten to death) and relies on heavy lampshading, where the characters acknowledge their ridiculous horror-movie circumstances without making them any more engaging.
That being said, there are flashes of Khaw’s talent. When the story does settle into its horror, there are moments of unsettling imagery that remind you why Khaw is such a strong voice in the genre. But as a whole, Nothing But Blackened Teeth feels like a book at war with itself—trying to be both an atmospheric ghost story and a self-aware horror comedy, but never fully committing to either.
Verdict: A disappointingly overwritten novella that loses its scares in excessive prose and unlikable characters. If you’re a fan of Khaw’s work, stick to her short stories instead.
Cassandra Khaw’s Nothing But Blackened Teeth attempts to blend gothic horror with poetic prose, but ultimately drowns in its own verbosity. The premise is undeniably eerie—a haunted Heian-era mansion, a ghostly bride with a mouth full of blackened teeth, and a group of friends making the worst possible life choices—but the execution leaves much to be desired.
Khaw’s signature lyrical style, which works beautifully in shorter fiction, feels excessive here. The prose is so dense with flowery, thesaurus-plucked descriptions that it smothers the tension rather than enhancing it. Horror thrives on atmosphere, but when every sentence reads like it’s auditioning for the most elaborate metaphor award, the fear factor gets lost in translation.
The characters are another weak point. The protagonist is deeply unlikable, which isn’t necessarily a flaw in horror, if they’re compelling. Unfortunately, she reads more as frustrating than fascinating. The friend group feels like a chaotic mix of tropes—especially Phillip, whose entire existence seems to revolve around being a Greek god of a man until his seemingly pointless death. The story repeatedly references teeth (a clever thematic tie to the ghost, but beaten to death) and relies on heavy lampshading, where the characters acknowledge their ridiculous horror-movie circumstances without making them any more engaging.
That being said, there are flashes of Khaw’s talent. When the story does settle into its horror, there are moments of unsettling imagery that remind you why Khaw is such a strong voice in the genre. But as a whole, Nothing But Blackened Teeth feels like a book at war with itself—trying to be both an atmospheric ghost story and a self-aware horror comedy, but never fully committing to either.
Verdict: A disappointingly overwritten novella that loses its scares in excessive prose and unlikable characters. If you’re a fan of Khaw’s work, stick to her short stories instead.
challenging
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Unfortunately this was like reading a really bad horror movie
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
"I hope the house eats you." I wanted everyone to die, but only the billionaire dies. Everyone hates each other, the narrator is unsympathetic and unlikable, the cast is very genre-aware of haunted houses, and the ghosts do... very little. It ends abruptly, and everyone just goes about their daily lives. No one experiences any character development and the epilogue made it worse.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes