Scan barcode
juffnstuff's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Child abuse
Moderate: Death
msbedelia's review
challenging
dark
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, and Domestic abuse
lola_milk's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
A good collection of short stories, although most of them don't scratch the Shirley Jackson itch. I would recommend Dead Relatives by Lucy McHardy Knight for that. The story Skinder's Veil by Kelly Link is really wonderful, as all of her stories are.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Self harm, and Death
Moderate: Child death, Murder, Child abuse, and Gore
Detailed descriptions of self harm in the story Pear of Anguish.louisegraveyard's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Murder, Death, Child death, and Suicide
mangofandango's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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
4.5
Shirley Jackson is a fave, and some of the authors in this collection are too (Elizabeth Hand! SGJ!) so I was pretty excited to find this one at my library. And it was as enjoyable as I hoped! Sometimes, I find short story collections make me kind of restless, because they're uneven and it's hard to keep momentum going when changing stories frequently, and I start to become preoccupied with how many are left. There were a couple stories in here that didn't really do it for me, but most of them really did, enough that I felt invested even between tales. Some stories were enchanting (the Kelly Link) some haunting (Elizabeth Hand), atmospheric ("Hag", the Seanan McGuire), some skin-crawlingly horrifying ("Tiptoe", oh my god). There's a touch of dystopia ("Special Meal") and a story by Joyce Carol Oates so disturbing and sad that it will stay with me in a horrifying way. They all have a Shirley Jackson-esque thread running through them, despite being extremely different stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Child abuse, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, and Stalking
whatmeworry's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm
Minor: Child abuse
More...