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aetataureate's review against another edition
3.0
JCO writes the absolutely most terrifying individual moments.
reneewrought's review against another edition
3.0
This was a really well-done collection of horror stories. JCO is the master, though. There are no supernatural elements to the stories; rather, they focus on the inexplicable nature of human madness and how it can lead to acts of atrocity that take place within the context of our mundane daily lives.
My favourites were probably the eponymous novella that kicks off the collection, and the final two stories. They were all definitely creepy -- the last story, "A Hole In The Head", is not for the squeamish or faint-hearted (aka me; I was wincing through the last 10 pages). I liked "Helping Hands", even though the ending was left very ambiguous. The protagonist's shaky grasp on herself and reality represents as much as a threat to her well-being as the person that she's fixated on does. And "The Corn Maiden" reminded me strongly of Oates' other novel, "Zombie", in a good way. It really puts you in the mind of the deranged antagonist, allowing you to get a glimpse of what drives them to commit otherwise incomprehensible acts. And there was an interesting reflection on how the repercussions of a crime like this are felt in the community and by the people most affected by it.
Of the two twin-themed stories, I felt like "Death-Cup" was the more successful. Both stories seemed to be thematically anchored on the idea of a single life divided between two people, who are inevitably rejoined (as in the womb) by death. It was just the finale of "Death-Cup" that really took me by surprised and made me consider the convergence of the twins' personalities and lives.
Less intriguing to me were "Beersheba" and "Nobody Knows My Name". I don't know if it's a testament to how much True Crime garbage I've consumed in my lifetime, but the way the story played out in "Beersheba" seemed really rote to me, and I wasn't at all inclined to sympathize with the main character, and his step-daughter I just pitied. "Nobody Knows My Name" read to me like a pretty classic Gothic story -- creepy child, sibling rivalry, withholding parents, something that appears to be one thing but in fact might be something else. I liked it; it just wasn't very revelatory.
Altogether, I would recommend this collection, even just as a change from reading the standard horror novels.
My favourites were probably the eponymous novella that kicks off the collection, and the final two stories. They were all definitely creepy -- the last story, "A Hole In The Head", is not for the squeamish or faint-hearted (aka me; I was wincing through the last 10 pages). I liked "Helping Hands", even though the ending was left very ambiguous. The protagonist's shaky grasp on herself and reality represents as much as a threat to her well-being as the person that she's fixated on does. And "The Corn Maiden" reminded me strongly of Oates' other novel, "Zombie", in a good way. It really puts you in the mind of the deranged antagonist, allowing you to get a glimpse of what drives them to commit otherwise incomprehensible acts. And there was an interesting reflection on how the repercussions of a crime like this are felt in the community and by the people most affected by it.
Of the two twin-themed stories, I felt like "Death-Cup" was the more successful. Both stories seemed to be thematically anchored on the idea of a single life divided between two people, who are inevitably rejoined (as in the womb) by death. It was just the finale of "Death-Cup" that really took me by surprised and made me consider the convergence of the twins' personalities and lives.
Less intriguing to me were "Beersheba" and "Nobody Knows My Name". I don't know if it's a testament to how much True Crime garbage I've consumed in my lifetime, but the way the story played out in "Beersheba" seemed really rote to me, and I wasn't at all inclined to sympathize with the main character, and his step-daughter I just pitied. "Nobody Knows My Name" read to me like a pretty classic Gothic story -- creepy child, sibling rivalry, withholding parents, something that appears to be one thing but in fact might be something else. I liked it; it just wasn't very revelatory.
Altogether, I would recommend this collection, even just as a change from reading the standard horror novels.
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