Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Gathering Dark: An Anthology of Folk Horror by Tori Bovalino

18 reviews

ash_hernick's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cancer, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Car accident, Death, Drug use, and Toxic friendship

This book is an anthology, so content warnings vary from story to story. Most only apply to one or two stories, and are shown at varying degrees of severity on a case-by-case basis. The book includes its own content warning in the front cover, mentioning warnings for "implied sexual abuse and trauma, body horror, gore, violence, death of a child/teenager, mentions of drug/substance abuse, terminal illness" but does not detail which stories these warnings apply to specifically.

alabiblioheck's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic friendship

Minor: Rape

bookedandbusy'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Such an incredible anthology! I loved how spooky and atmospheric each story was, perfect for the season! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Sexual violence

catapocalypse's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Enjoyable horror collection! Though it is YA, it was one of my most anticipated reads for the year, and I had a good time with it. It's generally pretty solid, though I wonder at what limitations were placed on entries, since a couple felt like they either struggled to fit into the brief length or even stretched a bit with repetition.

My personal favorite stories from the collection were "One-Lane Bridge" by Hannah Whitten, "The Burning One" by Shakira Toussaint, and "Petrified" by Olivia Chadha. I'd be interested in a longer work in the setting of the latter, especially!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Body horror

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Bullying

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Racism, and Slavery

thesmutsister_emma's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Spooky Scary Skeletons

I usually don't stray outside of romance (or books I have to read for class) but this book's cover really caught my eye. I wanted something a little darker for Halloween season and this was perfect. There was no way I was going to be able to escape this book and I am so thankful for that. These stories were so amazing and had such a wonderful diversified cast. I liked the "lessons" being taught in the stories in this book and honestly had a great time reading it. I lost about an hour and a half on an already short night of sleep because of this book.

The Final Verdict
This is definitely a wonderful book for horror fans who want an anthology of horror stories. I will be recommending this to all of my horror fan buddies.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

Minor: Sexual assault

murphymegs's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I enjoyed this! I think this would be good for people who want to dip their toe into horror. Some stories I liked more than others. Some had deeper meanings and metaphors. Some kept you until the very end. Overall, it was very good and I think that short story anthologies of horror is something I would like to read more of.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Vomit, Sexual assault, and Death

lizgriffinwords's review

dark tense fast-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

4.0

Overall, a great anthology with all sorts of spooky, goosebump-raising rural tales and urban legends come to life. Favorites were Ghost on the Shore, One Lane Bridge, and Truth or Dare (which resonated so chillingly. I wish I had a tunnel to drown my ex in).

Content warnings (general): gore, blood, phobias, psychological horror and fear

Additional content warnings specific to “It Stays With You”: suicidal ideation, cancer, sexual abuse, child abuse

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Sexual assault, Gore, and Cancer

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

This is a HORROR anthology and contains elements deliberately included to thrill and scare the reader. Content warnings specific to “It Stays With You”: suicidal ideation, cancer, sexual abuse, child abuse

mals_reads's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This was a gorgeous collection of modern YA horror with something for everyone. A diverse cast of authors lends itself to unique stories and ideas, many of which involving queer characters and characters of color, and a few of them actually contributed to some nightmares!

I really enjoyed this anthology and its introduction to new authors for me as well. Atmospheric, a nice pace for each of them, and strong, sometimes monstrous, women to boot. Support women’s wrongs 🗣

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol and Body horror

Minor: Cancer, Sexual assault, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts