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Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '
The Haunting Season: Eight Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights by Imogen Hermes Gowar, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Elizabeth Macneal, Andrew Michael Hurley, Jess Kidd, Bridget Collins, Laura Purcell, Natasha Pulley
7 reviews
stephanieanneauthor's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
As the collection is meant to reference the Victorian tradition of telling ghost stories during the Christmas season, all of the stories had a delightfully gothic feel. In fact, some were so well written in that classical style I'm used to reading in older books that I had to double check that the author was from this time period and not from the past.
The only story that didn't quite fit was "The Eel Dancers". I liked it, but it stood out from the rest (and not necessarily in a good way). The tone and style of that story did not match the other stories in the collection.
Picking a favourite story is a tough choice, but at the time I'm writing this I think I have to go with "Confinement" because of its exploration of postpartum depression/psychosis. The more I delve into the world of horror - and the more I learn about the human body - the more I've come to realize that pregnancy, childbirth, and all related conditions terrify me.
Moderate: Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Death, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
heather_freshparchment's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Medical content, Animal death, Blood, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Sexual content
Minor: Vomit
maxineee's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual assault, Child death, and Rape
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Death, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
izzyhallow's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
My ranking from favourite to least would be:
Monster
Confinement
The Eel Singers
Lily Wilt
The Chillingham Chair
A Study in Black and White
Thwaite's Tennant
The Hanging of the Greens
It made me chuckle how the (living) men in these stories were often the scariest ghouls.
When adding content warnings I realise that the book covers a lot of sensitive ground over the eight stories. I would class the majority of these instances as moderate or minor but do proceed with caution.
Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Confinement, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Addiction, and Infidelity
Moderate: Murder, Misogyny, Rape, Child death, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Suicide, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
cabbagecakes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.0
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Child death, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Addiction, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Animal cruelty, Suicide, and Alcoholism
spacecadelliot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Suicide
joareads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A Study in Black and White is good, I love the writing style and it kept me interested in the story with its slightly freaky atmosphere (four stars).
Thwaite's Tenant is a little strange but interesting and ends in a satisfying way (three stars).
The Eel Singers is very strange and gets very weird at times but I'm glad with how it ends (three stars).
Lily Wilt gets very dark and weird and I'm not that keen on the story, especially the animal death part (three stars).
The Chillingham Chair is a perfect blend of creepy and entertaining with some great characters - a story I thoroughly enjoyed (five stars).
The Hanging of the Greens is confusing - is there supposed to be a message in the story? Nevertheless is was an eerie read but again, there's animal death (three stars).
Confinement is definitely a creepy one and ends in that open ended way with it being up to you to interpret how it all ends. It focuses on post natal psychosis and is quite startling to read (three stars).
Monster is not the story I would have picked to close the book. I didn't enjoy at all and I think it's not creepy, it's disturbing (one star).
A good book to read close to Halloween as the nights get longer and the days colder - definitely a haunting book!
Moderate: Animal death, Suicide, Violence, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Mental illness, Death, and Confinement