Reviews

A Collapse of Horses by Brian Evenson

elsss7's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

saltycorpse's review

4.0

Favourite stories in this collection:
Black Bark
The Dust
Any Corpse

I love Brian Evenson's short fiction because it's so unsettling and a type of horror that exists all in the extrapolations that the reader makes in between the lines.

gsroney's review against another edition

4.0

These chilling and unsettling stories were a perfect October read. In less talented hands, some of them say have seemed cheesy. Instead, they feel eerie. One is never sure what is going on, never sure if the narrator can be trusted, or if they are, in fact, going mad.

amy_da1sy's review against another edition

3.0

I was really hoping for more with these short stories

torisaur's review against another edition

4.0

I read the first half of this book by lantern in a tent in the woods. All paranoia and slow descents into insanity, it was perfectly atmospheric for camping.

knihyodkacky's review against another edition

4.0

Je těžké říct jestli je to dobrá hororová sbírka, protože horor ani trochu nečtu, ale co říct můžu je že je to dobrá povídková sbírka. Jakože fakt dobrá. V té knížce najdete dvě novely a několik povídek. Některé jsou zajímavější než jiné, některé jsou hodně abstraktní, u některých mě štvalo umístění do fantasy světů a systémů, které vám nikdo nevysvětlí, ale kolem a kolem mě bavily všechny. Zase jsem si vyzkoušela, že forma povídky není nic pro mě, protože byla frustrující krátkost tak dobře rozjetých příběhů, ale i tak jsem se nemohla odtrhnout. Dvě, tři stránky stačily abych se začetla a pak už to jelo. U některých příběhů jsem se trochu bála, jiné byly příjemně napínavé, sem tam něco bylo až dráždivě atmosférické a všechno to skvěle fungovalo.

Autor píše s velkým tlakem na atmosféru, a i v takhle krátkých příbězích je vidět velká práce věnovaná jejich budování a promýšlení. Hodně mě bavily sociální motivy, které se zde řešili. Spousta povídek zpracovává mezilidské, často romantické, vztahy a dělá to zajímavým způsobem. Ty povídky jsou taky částečně psychologicky zaměřené což jim přidává na různorodosti. Psychologicky zaměřené, atmosféricky silné, dějově propracované – ano. Dejte mi víc.

Jsem nadšená, spokojená, chci si to přečíst znovu a nemůžu se dočkat až vyzkouším další hororový kousek, protože možná jsem se tohohle žánru v knihách vyhýbala bez důvodu.

vismund's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

celib120's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

wenzy's review against another edition

5.0

The most effective horror is the one that persists. One that long after you’ve finished reading or watching it, it still persists in the corners of your mind. Feeding off of primal anxieties and dread. This is what made Evenson’s story collection so effective. It’s a blend of surrealism, absurdism, cosmic horror, weird fiction, and sci-fi with some stories having supernatural elements and others being seemingly grounded. Some start off simple enough but escalate to suggest an outside force. Or not. Evenson gives just enough to make each story feel ambiguous with its threats, settings, and protagonists. The stories persist in asking questions that will never be answered. Evenson creates subtle horror that pokes at the cracks in our reality, our perception, standing at the peripherals to remind us that nothing is ever as it seems.

I’ve been meaning to read this for awhile and I read this over the span of months starting in August last year and finally finishing it in February this year. I wanted to savor it but then certain life changes really made it hard to read. I don’t want to say too much about it because going in with as little knowledge as possible makes it so much better. I wouldn’t say it’s for everyone but with 17 stories I’m sure there’s something you can find to like. I loved every story in here but these are my absolute favorites (I’ll include sort of a genre with each one): Black Bark (Western/Cosmic horror), A Collapse of Horses (Psychological), Cult (Psychological/Relationship horror), The Dust (Sci-Fi/Noir/Psychological), Scour (WEIRD that’s the best way to describe it), Past Reno (Psychological/ Familial horror), Any Corpse (Weird/Kinda apocalyptic), The Moans (Ghost story), The Window (Ghost story), and Click (Surreal/WEIRD is also the best way to describe this).

emory's review against another edition

dark tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.5

I am so glad to have found an author who plays with dread and the unknown in such a way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Child death, Miscarriage, and Death

Moderate: Murder and Cursing

Minor: Animal death