Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

In These Hallowed Halls by Marie O'Regan, Paul Kane

5 reviews

bzliz's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

I took the average of my individual story ratings to get the over all rating. My biggest complaint with some were that they didn’t have anything really going on, were a prequel I had no stakes in, or didn’t fall into the Dark Academia bubble in my opinion. I prefer Dark Academia with magical/mystical elements and/or mystery elements so anything lacking that feels boring to me. My standouts were The Hare and the Hound, Phobos, and The Professor of Ontography, the last of which I liked so much that I retroactively lowered ratings of other stories that weren’t as good. My least favorite was Four Funerals which didn’t feel like Dark Academia to me and was more like a sad reflection of the reality of American schools these days. 

1000 Ships - 2/5
Pythia - 4/5
Sabbatical - 2/5
The Hare and the Hound - 5/5
X House - 4/5
The Ravages - 3/5
Four Funerals - 1/5
The Unknowable Pleasures - 2/5
Weekend at Bertie’s - 2/5
The Professor of Ontography - 5/5
Phobos - 5/5
Playing - 3/5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Murder, Death, and Animal death

Moderate: Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Alcohol

Minor: Mental illness and Infidelity

aileron'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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Death, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Infidelity, Suicide, Car accident, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, and Mental illness

Minor: Bullying, Ableism, Classism, Miscarriage, and Gun violence

dixiecarroll's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.5

A little disappointing, but I’m not sure what I was expecting. Some of the stories were incredibly compelling and well done, but others were a little lacking. I am not sure each author was well suited for short stories, but I must say that a lot of these were so freaky to read right before bed. Worth the read for sure, but I wouldn’t get expectations too high!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gaslighting, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Gun violence, Blood, Gore, and Toxic friendship

macliffe's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

The only story I really loved was The Haré and The Hound, which had some really interesting psychology and a satisfying ending that left my mind racing. The Unknowable Pleasures, The Professor of Ontogeaphy, and Playing were also pretty satisfying explorations of obsession. Sabbatical and Four Funerals felt like they could have been good but we’re underdeveloped. X House freaked me out. The other stories I skimmed. With the amount of skimming that I did, I felt like I couldn’t give this anthology a high rating even if I liked certain stories more than a 2/5. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Body horror, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Torture, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cursing, and Sexual content

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Vomit

Minor: Car accident, Outing, Ableism, and Suicide

chronicacademia's review

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings and Suicide

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, Ableism, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Blood, Murder, Animal death, and Death