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kypn's review
I got halfway through this, but did not pique my interest. I found the stories felt like one-note and uneventful/predictable.
nova_mortem's review
dark
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
akagingerk's review
4.0
I scare easily and made the bad decision to read this book alone late at night. I spent the rest of the night convinced there was something creepy just over there where I could only see it out of the corner of my eye.
Despite that, I loved the collection. Read it!!!
Despite that, I loved the collection. Read it!!!
maryellen's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mikhailrekun's review
5.0
As a general rule of thumb, I don't like horror writing. I'm also not the biggest fan of short stories. And I tried Monette's main Melusine novels and ended up not even getting through a third.
Yet the Kyle Murchison Booth stories are some of my favorite rereads, and I've got a signed copy sitting proudly on my shelf. Clearly, something went very, very right here.
The premise is straightforward. Take the basic dynamics of H. P. Lovecraft or M. R. James, with the nebbish antiquarian encountering terrifying things Beyond Human Ken, and update it to the 21st century. Less sexism and racism, more realistic psychology, a generally defter touch with character development.
Our protagonist is the titular Kyle Murchison Booth, generally called Booth by all and sundry. He's an odd duck, cripplingly shy and self-effacing, socially helpless, yet brilliant and perceptive, and with more courage than he thinks. Also far enough in the closet he's having tea with Mr. Tumnus. Working as the archivist at the Samual Mathers Parrington Museum (an enormous, sprawling, inchoate mass of rooms and objects), his own necromantic dabblings leave Booth like catnip to every ghostie, ghoulie, and long-leggedy beastie in the unnamed East Coast city where he dwells.
Monette does a few things particularly well in this series. First, even though the structures of the stories tend towards tell-rather-than-show, the writing is sophisticated enough and her grasp of atmosphere good enough that you find yourself engrossed by the accounts -- rather than clumsy exposition, it reads more like Booth telling you what he's found in some ominous book of lore. Second, and related, Booth is a very interesting character with a strong sense of voice. Monette balances well between having Booth be a generic hero and having him be completely uninteresting or unlikable. Booth is a guy with major issues, but he's also capable of rising to the occasion, driven by a sense of duty even as he would really prefer to hide in his office. Finally, even though the basic structure of the stories is "Booth runs into creepy thing, Booth reacts to creepy thing," Monette does a good job of keeping the stories diverse in plot and form. Sometimes Booth is merely the observer of some largely unrelated haunting, sometimes he's an investigator, sometimes he's the instigator, sometimes things end happily(ish), sometimes.... not so much.
Overall, an excellent series, and I dearly hope Monette writes more of them.
Yet the Kyle Murchison Booth stories are some of my favorite rereads, and I've got a signed copy sitting proudly on my shelf. Clearly, something went very, very right here.
The premise is straightforward. Take the basic dynamics of H. P. Lovecraft or M. R. James, with the nebbish antiquarian encountering terrifying things Beyond Human Ken, and update it to the 21st century. Less sexism and racism, more realistic psychology, a generally defter touch with character development.
Our protagonist is the titular Kyle Murchison Booth, generally called Booth by all and sundry. He's an odd duck, cripplingly shy and self-effacing, socially helpless, yet brilliant and perceptive, and with more courage than he thinks. Also far enough in the closet he's having tea with Mr. Tumnus. Working as the archivist at the Samual Mathers Parrington Museum (an enormous, sprawling, inchoate mass of rooms and objects), his own necromantic dabblings leave Booth like catnip to every ghostie, ghoulie, and long-leggedy beastie in the unnamed East Coast city where he dwells.
Monette does a few things particularly well in this series. First, even though the structures of the stories tend towards tell-rather-than-show, the writing is sophisticated enough and her grasp of atmosphere good enough that you find yourself engrossed by the accounts -- rather than clumsy exposition, it reads more like Booth telling you what he's found in some ominous book of lore. Second, and related, Booth is a very interesting character with a strong sense of voice. Monette balances well between having Booth be a generic hero and having him be completely uninteresting or unlikable. Booth is a guy with major issues, but he's also capable of rising to the occasion, driven by a sense of duty even as he would really prefer to hide in his office. Finally, even though the basic structure of the stories is "Booth runs into creepy thing, Booth reacts to creepy thing," Monette does a good job of keeping the stories diverse in plot and form. Sometimes Booth is merely the observer of some largely unrelated haunting, sometimes he's an investigator, sometimes he's the instigator, sometimes things end happily(ish), sometimes.... not so much.
Overall, an excellent series, and I dearly hope Monette writes more of them.
audreyintheheadphones's review
4.0
A cozy, spooky and well-tailored collection of old-fashioned ghost stories, linked by a likeable protagonist, a detailed period setting and a cast of memorable minor characters, written for days.
In the introduction to this collection, Monette states her intent was to create ghost stories in a similar vein to HP Lovecraft and Victorian ghost story writer MR James, except with better characterization, psychosexual tension and feminism. And two of those three aims are met.
The stories are peopled with memorable characters of both a pleasant and unpleasant persuasion, who power the eldritch horrors along in a way similar to but markedly different from Lovecraft's work.
Miss Coburn, for instance, the Parrington's calm and able spinster archeologist who understands and befriends Booth in "The Venebretti Necklace", is a marvelous creation. Carrie and Doris from "The Wall of Clouds" appear to have been yoinked straight out of [b:Titus Groan|39063|Titus Groan (Gormenghast, #1)|Mervyn Peake|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327871204s/39063.jpg|3250394] and given a much better story to inhabit. They seem pleased, at any rate. Even the dead sister in "Wait for Me" manages to be memorable without actually ever appearing in person. It's a fine art.
The one aim I think didn't work for Monette was introducing psychosexual tension into the stories. Booth just doesn't come off as actually interested in that. We're supposed to understand (per the introduction) that there's an unspoken, unrequited relationship between Booth and Blaine in "Bringing Helena Back", but if it was there, I couldn't find it. Similarly, "Elegy for a Demon Lover" is my least favorite of the collection because the relationship seems so forced it's uncomfortable to witness. There could be some underlying whatnot in "Wall of Clouds" with the poet, but that's stretching the interpretation to fit a theme, so no.
Overall, however, this book does what is says on the tin: well-written, old-fashioned MR James-style ghost stories that deliver on their spookiness, melancholy and plausibility.
My favorites: "The Venebretti Necklace", "The Wall of Clouds", "Wait for Me", "Drowning Palmer", "The Inheritance of Barnaby Wilcox". Yes, that's most of the collection.
In the introduction to this collection, Monette states her intent was to create ghost stories in a similar vein to HP Lovecraft and Victorian ghost story writer MR James, except with better characterization, psychosexual tension and feminism. And two of those three aims are met.
The stories are peopled with memorable characters of both a pleasant and unpleasant persuasion, who power the eldritch horrors along in a way similar to but markedly different from Lovecraft's work.
Miss Coburn, for instance, the Parrington's calm and able spinster archeologist who understands and befriends Booth in "The Venebretti Necklace", is a marvelous creation. Carrie and Doris from "The Wall of Clouds" appear to have been yoinked straight out of [b:Titus Groan|39063|Titus Groan (Gormenghast, #1)|Mervyn Peake|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327871204s/39063.jpg|3250394] and given a much better story to inhabit. They seem pleased, at any rate. Even the dead sister in "Wait for Me" manages to be memorable without actually ever appearing in person. It's a fine art.
The one aim I think didn't work for Monette was introducing psychosexual tension into the stories. Booth just doesn't come off as actually interested in that. We're supposed to understand (per the introduction) that there's an unspoken, unrequited relationship between Booth and Blaine in "Bringing Helena Back", but if it was there, I couldn't find it. Similarly, "Elegy for a Demon Lover" is my least favorite of the collection because the relationship seems so forced it's uncomfortable to witness. There could be some underlying whatnot in "Wall of Clouds" with the poet, but that's stretching the interpretation to fit a theme, so no.
Overall, however, this book does what is says on the tin: well-written, old-fashioned MR James-style ghost stories that deliver on their spookiness, melancholy and plausibility.
My favorites: "The Venebretti Necklace", "The Wall of Clouds", "Wait for Me", "Drowning Palmer", "The Inheritance of Barnaby Wilcox". Yes, that's most of the collection.
viiu's review
5.0
What a glorious, atmospheric read. It's 108F outside and it gave me an actual, physical shiver.
friendlymilk's review
4.0
These are the type of stories which, if I had liked the main character less, I would have found terribly boring. But poor socially awkward Booth is at least as intriguing, in himself, as the mysteries into which he's flung. He is subjected to various supernatural phenomena but requires a stronger, more forceful companion (even if that companion happens to be a dead friend appearing to him in a dream) to get him to do anything.
He's no Harry Dresden.
(Best line? "This is no time to be reasonable." Oh, go read it for yourself--it's much better in context.)
Anyway, this next might be a spoiler or something so I'm hiding it:
"Elegy for a Demon Lover" is heartbreaking. I love how the incubus is written. Generally succubi and incubi are portrayed as sexually attractive to an overwhelming degree. But Booth...that would have felt out of place in Booth. He presents as extremely asexual in the other stories, but that is more due to his crippling fear of people in general. He's incapable of holding a conversation with another human being, flinches from any sort of touch (or is it only when women touch him? Hmmm), and is generally a neurotic mess. He's capable of sexuality, but it's buried under everything else.
So how does the incubus steal his heart?
It listens to him with total concentration. It never judges him. It loves him wholeheartedly. Every time Booth expected to be laughed at, or belittled, or cut off impatiently...it did not happen. And that is what makes me want to give Booth a hug (except I know he wouldn't like it at all)--he is so fragile and hungry for positive human contact that this was all an incubus needed to snare him.
The story was painful for me to read, because I couldn't figure out how he would escape the incubus' grasp. I kept waiting for some rescuer to appear, because it seemed impossible that he would be capable of tearing himself away from the only being to love him since his parents died.
Is anyone else reminded slightly of Watanuki?
He's no Harry Dresden.
(Best line? "This is no time to be reasonable." Oh, go read it for yourself--it's much better in context.)
Anyway, this next might be a spoiler or something so I'm hiding it:
So how does the incubus steal his heart?
It listens to him with total concentration. It never judges him. It loves him wholeheartedly. Every time Booth expected to be laughed at, or belittled, or cut off impatiently...it did not happen. And that is what makes me want to give Booth a hug (except I know he wouldn't like it at all)--he is so fragile and hungry for positive human contact that this was all an incubus needed to snare him.
The story was painful for me to read, because I couldn't figure out how he would escape the incubus' grasp. I kept waiting for some rescuer to appear, because it seemed impossible that he would be capable of tearing himself away from the only being to love him since his parents died.
Is anyone else reminded slightly of Watanuki?
kjcharles's review
A very enjoyable set of ghost stories, creepy and inventive. Excellent writing and painfully sad at points. The author never loses sight of the worst evils being entirely human. The Lovecraftian museum is particularly wonderful and in its weird way very funny.
***
Reread July 18. Better than I remembered. Sad, sensitive, queer, and a beautifully judged arc of stories that interlock just enough and climb to a kind of tiny candle-flicker of hope in human nature.
***
Reread July 18. Better than I remembered. Sad, sensitive, queer, and a beautifully judged arc of stories that interlock just enough and climb to a kind of tiny candle-flicker of hope in human nature.
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