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aguywhopatsdogs's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
4.25
trailofwords's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
5.0
ouivie's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
miaalamuddin's review against another edition
3.0
rating a collection of short stories is tough, but this was a solid 3.5 for me
mattcolewilson's review against another edition
4.0
Really, really good! Kicking off a collection with a story about a murderous prosthetic leg is a bold move. Worth reading for that story alone. But my five favorite stories, probably in order, are:
1. Myling Kommer (a boy haunted by his family's dark secrets)
2. Haver (a mental patient with an otherworldly artistic talent)
3. A Bad Patch (invasive, mind-altering body horror)
4. Come Up (slowly drowning in paranoia and guilt)
5. Curator (misanthropy in the post-apocalypse)
I also love that the final, eponymous story wraps back around to the first. This gives the whole collection a more unified feel that I wasn’t expecting and really liked. The stories run the gamut from ghosts, aliens, and post-apocalyptic dystopias. But they almost all have a general misanthropy that feels earned and well-realized. (This feature reminds me a lot of another author who I've been very interested in recently — maybe the king of weird, anti-human horror — Thomas Ligotti.)
I have very few complaints, but there are a handful of underwhelming endings. And at least one of the better endings gets reused. This feels nitpicky, because the majority of these stories are about the journey and the atmosphere, and they pretty much all deliver there.
There are also a few stories that I’d classify as sci-fi horror and I think these tend to be less impactful. When the majority of a story’s elements are otherworldly, it’s more difficult for the unnatural horror elements to draw contrast. This is especially true in short stories when there’s less time and space to ground what needs to be grounded. But maybe this is just a personal preference. (I don’t think I’m that much of a sci-fi guy.)
There’s a lot of great horror in this collection, but I don’t know if anything quite matches the mood the title evokes. The title is extremely good and the detail of the word "glassy" really throws things off kilter. Almost all of the stories are good and creepy and weird, but I don't know if any of them have the same mood that these six words promise. I think this also may be why I was mildly disappointed by the handful of sci-fi stories — my expectations were a little off.
But overall, this is really great and you should read it.
1. Myling Kommer (a boy haunted by his family's dark secrets)
2. Haver (a mental patient with an otherworldly artistic talent)
3. A Bad Patch (invasive, mind-altering body horror)
4. Come Up (slowly drowning in paranoia and guilt)
5. Curator (misanthropy in the post-apocalypse)
I also love that the final, eponymous story wraps back around to the first. This gives the whole collection a more unified feel that I wasn’t expecting and really liked. The stories run the gamut from ghosts, aliens, and post-apocalyptic dystopias. But they almost all have a general misanthropy that feels earned and well-realized. (This feature reminds me a lot of another author who I've been very interested in recently — maybe the king of weird, anti-human horror — Thomas Ligotti.)
I have very few complaints, but there are a handful of underwhelming endings. And at least one of the better endings gets reused. This feels nitpicky, because the majority of these stories are about the journey and the atmosphere, and they pretty much all deliver there.
There are also a few stories that I’d classify as sci-fi horror and I think these tend to be less impactful. When the majority of a story’s elements are otherworldly, it’s more difficult for the unnatural horror elements to draw contrast. This is especially true in short stories when there’s less time and space to ground what needs to be grounded. But maybe this is just a personal preference. (I don’t think I’m that much of a sci-fi guy.)
There’s a lot of great horror in this collection, but I don’t know if anything quite matches the mood the title evokes. The title is extremely good and the detail of the word "glassy" really throws things off kilter. Almost all of the stories are good and creepy and weird, but I don't know if any of them have the same mood that these six words promise. I think this also may be why I was mildly disappointed by the handful of sci-fi stories — my expectations were a little off.
But overall, this is really great and you should read it.
marahasenstaub's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
2.0
metalheadmaiden's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
cosmicreign's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
bellwetherbird's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
3.5
I chose this book at random, based off the title and the 'horror' sticker stuck on the side by my library. I knew nothing going in aside from the fact that it was a series of weird and possibly scary short stories.
I would best describe the stories as 'hit or miss'.
There are certainly a number of stories I enjoyed immensely. A fair few that were entirely ineffective for me, and some that I was very disappointed in. The best stories are spread equally throughout the book, so I never really hit a streak of bad stories. If I had, it's quite likely I would have stopped reading. That isn't to say the book isn't worth reading, as there are good stories in it that I would happily recommend to a friend. I might just be specific in which chapters I recommend.
I am walking away from this book feeling a tiny bit let down, since I found the title very compelling and I knew it was the last story in the book. I was hoping to end on a strong and intense note, or maybe a quieter one that threaded some of the themes together a bit tighter. The title seemed fully irrelevant and the story one of the weaker ones from the book.
I would best describe the stories as 'hit or miss'.
There are certainly a number of stories I enjoyed immensely. A fair few that were entirely ineffective for me, and some that I was very disappointed in. The best stories are spread equally throughout the book, so I never really hit a streak of bad stories. If I had, it's quite likely I would have stopped reading. That isn't to say the book isn't worth reading, as there are good stories in it that I would happily recommend to a friend. I might just be specific in which chapters I recommend.
I am walking away from this book feeling a tiny bit let down, since I found the title very compelling and I knew it was the last story in the book. I was hoping to end on a strong and intense note, or maybe a quieter one that threaded some of the themes together a bit tighter. The title seemed fully irrelevant and the story one of the weaker ones from the book.