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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
Potentially a soft DNF - these stories are not currently intriguing me.
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher Cursed Morsels Press in exchange for an honest review.
This short story collection is a magical and oftentimes wonderful trip into the lives of marginalized people often facing oppression and sometimes fighting back. Sometimes supernatural powers were on their side, sometimes they were on someone else's, but often the horror of it was palpable. I also adored that even though the stories span a wide variety of stories dealing with supernatural experiences (from zombies to hauntings to magic clothstores that only appear when you need them and so much more), the stories felt connected, particularly due to the choices of characters (often latino, often lower class, often marginalized in other ways as well, often menaced by the goverment/conservatives/racists/the all to real everyday evil of this world), but also because themes of racism and classism were always playing an important role. Many of the stories left me moved, some angry, some sad, some relieved and comforted. My favorites were the titular Nightmare Box, Will They Disappear, Huitzol and the Rope of Thorns, The Teacher's Association, Someone Else's to Destroy, The Unburied and Hot and Cold. All in all this is a short story collection I enjoyed a lot and can definitely recommend to anybody looking for "comforting" horror from a marginalized perspective, fighting the often too real horror of oppression with some comeupance of the supernatural variety.
I've included some notes on each short story here as well as trigger warnings (although they are also provided in the book itself), so spoilers ahead!
Lips Like Sugar: bisexual Latina vampire getting used to her new existence in the face of abusive supervisors, capitalism and constant hunger, fun but nothing groundbreaking for vampire literature unfortunately, tw: workplace sexual harassment
A Kiss to Build a Dream On: dapper clothing store that saves the life of a drag queen through magic and queer rage, incredibly hopeful and sweet, this was a story I very much enjoyed and would like to read more off, tw: homophobia, police brutality
The Nightmare Box: A really good short story about a woman who finds out her nightmare inducing powers are being used to take out members of the black panther party and she comes to a decision what to do about it, filled with creeping dread & very dark and very fun. As I said one of my absolute favorites. Tw: death, drugs, suicide, involuntary confinement, death by fire, child death
Will They Disappear: A tense and interesting story based on the Hart tragedy, with a magic twist to change the ending, one of the stories that left me reeling once I connected it to the real life events, heartbreaking, but really interesting as well, tw: child abuse, neglect, corporeal punishment, white adoptive family abusing adopted children of color, attempted murder, drugging, starving
The Road out of Nowhere: A young man travels home and passes by the bar where a friend of his was beaten to death and stops despite his wife's warnings, haunting and heartbreaking, tw: police brutality, racist language, murder, grief
Huitzol and the Rope of Thorns: A writer summons the god he created to protect himself from police brutality when he is stopped by a patrol on his way home, tense and really fun!!!!! tw: police brutality
The Teacher's Association: A teacher starts a new job after a traumatic event at her last school, but something is very wrong at her new work place, sooooo creepy and tense in the best of ways, I would like more from this story as well because I enjoyed it so much, tw: gun violence, child death, mind control
The Weight of It: A woman seeking revenge for the death of her dog leads to a haunting gone incredible wrong, creepy and full of dread, tw: animal harm, self-sacrifice
Red Brick: A immigration officer haunted by his past, fun ghost story, tw: law enforcement violence, racist language
Someone Else's to Destroy: A latina mother takes drastic measures to ensure her black sons will never become a victim of police brutality, sooooo fucked up but heartbreaking, tw: police brutality, racist language, antiblack racism, child murder
The Unburied: The Overseer of a big building project faces a difficult decision: Awknowledge the find of some potentially important artifact or get rid of it? He'll come to realize that choosing money might cost him everything. A really fun twist on a Native American burial ground horror, tw: alcoholism
Hot and Cold: A zombie story that starts at night, catching those that cannot hide inside their homes first, interesting and I liked the characters a lot, tw: death
This short story collection is a magical and oftentimes wonderful trip into the lives of marginalized people often facing oppression and sometimes fighting back. Sometimes supernatural powers were on their side, sometimes they were on someone else's, but often the horror of it was palpable. I also adored that even though the stories span a wide variety of stories dealing with supernatural experiences (from zombies to hauntings to magic clothstores that only appear when you need them and so much more), the stories felt connected, particularly due to the choices of characters (often latino, often lower class, often marginalized in other ways as well, often menaced by the goverment/conservatives/racists/the all to real everyday evil of this world), but also because themes of racism and classism were always playing an important role. Many of the stories left me moved, some angry, some sad, some relieved and comforted. My favorites were the titular Nightmare Box, Will They Disappear, Huitzol and the Rope of Thorns, The Teacher's Association, Someone Else's to Destroy, The Unburied and Hot and Cold. All in all this is a short story collection I enjoyed a lot and can definitely recommend to anybody looking for "comforting" horror from a marginalized perspective, fighting the often too real horror of oppression with some comeupance of the supernatural variety.
I've included some notes on each short story here as well as trigger warnings (although they are also provided in the book itself), so spoilers ahead!
Lips Like Sugar: bisexual Latina vampire getting used to her new existence in the face of abusive supervisors, capitalism and constant hunger, fun but nothing groundbreaking for vampire literature unfortunately, tw: workplace sexual harassment
A Kiss to Build a Dream On: dapper clothing store that saves the life of a drag queen through magic and queer rage, incredibly hopeful and sweet, this was a story I very much enjoyed and would like to read more off, tw: homophobia, police brutality
The Nightmare Box: A really good short story about a woman who finds out her nightmare inducing powers are being used to take out members of the black panther party and she comes to a decision what to do about it, filled with creeping dread & very dark and very fun. As I said one of my absolute favorites. Tw: death, drugs, suicide, involuntary confinement, death by fire, child death
Will They Disappear: A tense and interesting story based on the Hart tragedy, with a magic twist to change the ending, one of the stories that left me reeling once I connected it to the real life events, heartbreaking, but really interesting as well, tw: child abuse, neglect, corporeal punishment, white adoptive family abusing adopted children of color, attempted murder, drugging, starving
The Road out of Nowhere: A young man travels home and passes by the bar where a friend of his was beaten to death and stops despite his wife's warnings, haunting and heartbreaking, tw: police brutality, racist language, murder, grief
Huitzol and the Rope of Thorns: A writer summons the god he created to protect himself from police brutality when he is stopped by a patrol on his way home, tense and really fun!!!!! tw: police brutality
The Teacher's Association: A teacher starts a new job after a traumatic event at her last school, but something is very wrong at her new work place, sooooo creepy and tense in the best of ways, I would like more from this story as well because I enjoyed it so much, tw: gun violence, child death, mind control
The Weight of It: A woman seeking revenge for the death of her dog leads to a haunting gone incredible wrong, creepy and full of dread, tw: animal harm, self-sacrifice
Red Brick: A immigration officer haunted by his past, fun ghost story, tw: law enforcement violence, racist language
Someone Else's to Destroy: A latina mother takes drastic measures to ensure her black sons will never become a victim of police brutality, sooooo fucked up but heartbreaking, tw: police brutality, racist language, antiblack racism, child murder
The Unburied: The Overseer of a big building project faces a difficult decision: Awknowledge the find of some potentially important artifact or get rid of it? He'll come to realize that choosing money might cost him everything. A really fun twist on a Native American burial ground horror, tw: alcoholism
Hot and Cold: A zombie story that starts at night, catching those that cannot hide inside their homes first, interesting and I liked the characters a lot, tw: death
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated