Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

All These Sunken Souls: A Black Horror Anthology by Circe Moskowitz

2 reviews

daniellestarredpages's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I was really disappointed with this anthology. It started out quite enjoyable, I liked the story and I felt the tone carried over from one story to the next but then it went downhill.

"Lights" might have been my favourite short story and I enjoyed "Be Not Afraid" and "All My Best Friends Are Dead".The Teeth Come Out At Night" was okay but I didn't love it. I felt the writing style was easy to read but after a while the story dragged and while I understand it was a short story, I felt the ending could've been wrapped up a bit better. I absolutely hated "I Love Your Eyes". The writing itself was not well-done and the plot twist made absolutely no sense given the POV we were in. "The Consumption Of Vienna Montrose" just left me confused and uncomfortable but not in the way I want to be when I enjoy a horror story. The writing itself was enjoyable but the plot was . . . . not. The rest of the stories felt very average to me and my biggest takeaway was that there seems to be an obsession with teeth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Death, Body horror, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

booksthatburn's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I liked most of the stories in this collection. My favorites are "Lights" for its take on monstrosity and genre expectations, "All My Best Friends Are Dead" for the way it plays with characterization and perspective, and "No Harm Done" for the sudden pivot into horror after an interesting but not obviously creepy opening. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Body horror, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Stalking, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Death, Death of parent, Self harm, Sexual content, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Abandonment, Vomit, Car accident, Excrement, Racism, Slavery, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Child abuse, Racial slurs, and Drug use