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Reviews tagging 'Body horror'
The Gathering Dark: An Anthology of Folk Horror by Tori Bovalino
13 reviews
thewordapothecary's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
2.5
I come from a lineage where folk stories are passed down as the main form of teaching and entertainment. I’m finding it hard to establish how this anthology is considered “folk” and not just scary campfire stories? Is the setting the main part of what classifies them as “folk”? I’m just not sure. I appreciate the queer representation and I think it’s important we see that in our folk stories. I just wasn’t impressed by the majority of these. The cover is dope though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Drug use, Body horror, Cancer, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Murder, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Dementia, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence
naomidanae's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
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
3.5
I like quite a few of these stories. Some of them I’m not sure I would consider folk horror, but they’re still a nice collection. There’s one story that was difficult to read as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, so be careful of that if needed.
There were a few stories that were kind of forgettable, and a few felt like they were episodes from a modern horror TV series (derogatory). Overall, worth the read for the good ones, though!
A few quotes:
“Don’t you owe more to the living than to the dead?”
“There’re worse things than not being part of a family.”
“I didn’t know why it hurt so much, why I was still so angry. It could have been worse, it could’ve been far worse, it’d been nothing I hadn’t done to myself, so why was it so hard to just let it go?”
There were a few stories that were kind of forgettable, and a few felt like they were episodes from a modern horror TV series (derogatory). Overall, worth the read for the good ones, though!
A few quotes:
“Don’t you owe more to the living than to the dead?”
“There’re worse things than not being part of a family.”
“I didn’t know why it hurt so much, why I was still so angry. It could have been worse, it could’ve been far worse, it’d been nothing I hadn’t done to myself, so why was it so hard to just let it go?”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Blood, Child death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Violence
bex47's review
dark
mysterious
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
2.25
Yeaahhhh this one didn't really do it for me. It was a fun enough quick read, but none of the stories really stuck with me; I read the book in one sitting and couldn't remember half of the stories by the end. None were completely awful, but none were bringing anything new to the genre, and the collection didn't really feel like the folk horror that it was advertised as. There wasn't nearly enough focus on classic folk elements, and most of the stories felt more like urban legends at best. "Petrified" had some of the focus on nature that I would've liked, had the writing and pacing caused it to be my least favorite. My favorites were probably "It stays with you", "One Lane Bridge", and "Truth or Dare", but even those didn't do anything revolutionary. Unfortunately, a letdown overall, and left me wanting a lot more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Genocide, Murder, Pedophilia, Blood, Colonisation, Alcohol, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Grief
Minor: Toxic friendship, Dementia, and Toxic relationship
spookily's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Violence, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction, Classism, Pedophilia, Grief, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Torture, Vomit, Car accident, Alcoholism, and Bullying
Minor: Cursing, Dementia, Cannibalism, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Rape
kristensonlyhobby's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.25
Short stories ranked:
- One-Lane Bridge
- Ghost on the Shore
- Loved by All, Save One
- It Stays With You
- Third Burn
- The Tallest Poppy
- The Burning zone
- Stay
- Petrified
- Truth or Dare
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Blood
Minor: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Cancer, and Rape
kaetheluise_nckl's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Stay - Erica Waters: 1/5 -> i read this one so long ago that i barely remember the plot. eh.
The Tallest Poppy - Chloe Gong -> 4.5/5
-> Ms Chloe is the queen of vibes, but the ending was confusing so ???
Loved By All, Save One - Tori Bovalino: 5/5 -> i will eat up anything Tori writes and this whole book could have just been. an anthology of Tori’s mini-horror stories
One-Lane Bridge - Hannah Whitten: 4/5
-> yes. strong horror vibes. loved to read it. but it’s not Tori Bovalino.
Ghost on the Shore - Allison Shaft: 4.5/5
-> LET’S GO LESBIANS, LET’S GO!!!
Petrified - Olivia Chadha: 3.5/5 -> i could see what she was trying to do, but the amount of unexplained lore kinda backfired. but yeah, we love sacrificing annoying men in this house.
Third Burn - Courtney Ghould: 5/5 -> WHERE IS THE REST OF THIS I NEED MORE!?!?!?!
It Stays With You - Aden Polydoros: 2.5/5
-> listen. the horror vibes are so strong, but i just don’t vibe with suicidal thoughts and kids having cancer anymore. it hits too close to home.
Truth or Dare - Alex Brown: 5/5 -> i could relate to this on a spiritual level. i’m glad homegirl got rid of him.
The Burning One - Shakira Toussaint: 0/5 -> someone explain to me what was going on here because i genuinely don’t know what i just read. 0% scary, 100% confusing.
The Tallest Poppy - Chloe Gong -> 4.5/5
-> Ms Chloe is the queen of vibes, but the ending was confusing so ???
Loved By All, Save One - Tori Bovalino: 5/5 -> i will eat up anything Tori writes and this whole book could have just been. an anthology of Tori’s mini-horror stories
One-Lane Bridge - Hannah Whitten: 4/5
-> yes. strong horror vibes. loved to read it. but it’s not Tori Bovalino.
Ghost on the Shore - Allison Shaft: 4.5/5
-> LET’S GO LESBIANS, LET’S GO!!!
Petrified - Olivia Chadha: 3.5/5 -> i could see what she was trying to do, but the amount of unexplained lore kinda backfired. but yeah, we love sacrificing annoying men in this house.
Third Burn - Courtney Ghould: 5/5 -> WHERE IS THE REST OF THIS I NEED MORE!?!?!?!
It Stays With You - Aden Polydoros: 2.5/5
-> listen. the horror vibes are so strong, but i just don’t vibe with suicidal thoughts and kids having cancer anymore. it hits too close to home.
Truth or Dare - Alex Brown: 5/5 -> i could relate to this on a spiritual level. i’m glad homegirl got rid of him.
The Burning One - Shakira Toussaint: 0/5 -> someone explain to me what was going on here because i genuinely don’t know what i just read. 0% scary, 100% confusing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Body horror, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, and Cancer
Minor: Rape and Suicidal thoughts
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
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Rape
novelstorian's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.0
This book is an anthology (noun. a published collection of poems or other pieces of writing) of folk horror themed stories written by numerous authors some familiar to me and others not so much. I was not really sure how I should review an anthology– whether I should review this book in it's entirety or individually review each story.
At the end, I decided to review every single story just because there's only about 11 stories in this anthology. Keep in mind, my reviews won't be too long since the story themselves are pretty short and I worry I'd spoil too much. In the end, I will base my star rating as the average of all the individual rating for each story.
Stay by Erica Waters | 4 star | - I thought this first story started the anthology quite strongly. I feel like it really set the tone– really eerie and unsettling. The twist towards the end was a bit predictable, but that did not waver my positive thoughts about this story.
The Tallest Poppy by Chloe Gong | 4 star | - Gothic galore. This one was incredibly atmospheric and left goosebumps on my arms by the end. I had heard of Chloe Gong before (If you are on Instagram or TikTok book community, who has not heard of Chloe Gong and her books?), but now that I've been given a taste of her writing, I will definitely check out her own published books.
Loved by All, Save One by Tori Bovalino | 3 stars | - This one was one of the shortest stories in this anthology, and it was surprisingly one of the creepiest ones. I really admire how much plot and horror the author was able to provide in such a short piece. Ghosts aren't generally my thing, but I really enjoyed this one.
One-Lane Bridge by Hannah Whitten | 3 stars | - The beginning of the story started off a little too slow for my liking, but the second half was worth it. The whole premise surrounds the idea of "being careful of what you wish for", but with a twist that I was definitely not expecting.
Ghost on the Shore by Allison Saft | 3 stars | - Another Ghost story, and this one I did not like as much. I did really enjoy Allison Saft's writing, and I was really impressed by all the vivid descriptions and details. I also really enjoyed the characters in this short story, I found them the most interesting, not to mention the sapphic representation– it was very cute (minus the horror/creepy part).
Petrified by Olivia Chadha | 4 stars | - This story had one of ht more unique premises– a really creepy, strange forest. I felt this one was the more realistic one and less supernatural. Plus, it was fairly short, yet still impactful.
Third Burn by Courtney Gould | 3 stars | - A small town and it's secrets– who doesn't love this trope. I liked that this one focused on only one character– ish (can't spoil too much lol). I really love the concept and the writing of this story. And that ending made me literally gasp aloud.
It Stays With You by Aden Polydoros | 1 stars | - I didn't really enjoy this one– the premise or the writing. I ended up skimming this one quite heavily.
Truth or Dare by Alex Brown | 1 star | - This one was pretty boring as well. I ended up skimming a lot of this story just because I wasn't feeling it at all.
The Burning One by Shakira Toussaint | 2 star | - I ended up skimming this one too, which is a shame considering it is the last story in this collection. I found the premise a little boring and the writing did not really appeal to me.
Final Average Rating: 2.8
-> 3 stars
-> 3 stars
Content Warnings
Minor: Gore, Drug abuse, Violence, Body horror, Terminal illness, Child death, and Sexual assault
megj23's review
dark
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual violence, and Body horror