Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Sour Candy by Kealan Patrick Burke

13 reviews

itsjustgrumpy'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Awesome little short story about a devil child. Surprisingly emotional and poignant too. Thank god I don't want kids.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Alcoholism, Body horror, Car accident, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Mental illness, Gaslighting, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer

fuchsiaring's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

A good, creepy story, but falls into the common horror-genre trap of thinly-veiled misogyny. The story is quite short, so there isn’t too much time spent on this, but it is slightly off putting and distracting. 
Still, a fast, easy read that satisfied my urge for a tense, unsettling page-turner. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror and Gaslighting

nika_nix's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This was right up my alley! I love these kinds of stories, where there is some sort of cycle to the story. Also, the reader can feel how the main character is losing their mind and how helpless they feel. That, to me, is what the horror genre is about. So good, one of my favorite horror novellas.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Gaslighting and Suicide

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Car accident

julessssss's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

1.0

this really didn't work for me - it felt really cliche and the writing itself at times was annoying to me (almost like parts were supposed to be humorous, but I didn't think they were)

the story probably could have used more page space to its benefit because all of the characters fell flat for me

also the section at the end about the detective's daughter?? there was no need for it and I am SICK of men writing random scenes about women (HIS DAUGHTER) doing sexual things for no reason

I think I may try another one of his works, especially because it seems like others like his stuff

overall, I was disappointed (thanks BookTok) 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Murder, Car accident, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Pregnancy

gunch's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad fast-paced

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

4.0

Very much enjoyed this. Although it felt a but wordy and flowery at parts, overall it was a tight, fast paced little cosmic horror.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Gaslighting, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, and Confinement

bashsbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Sour Candy was a fun and eerie short story. I enjoyed the more mundane aspects - in initial interaction at the store, the car accident, the discussion with the detectives - the most. When it edged into more direct eldritch horror, I found that I liked it a little less - the writing style (which is inverted in a way I find hard to describe) is better suited to the mundane.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Gaslighting, Car accident, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death

Minor: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Suicide

franzys_whip's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Murder, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Car accident, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Cursing

Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, and Eating disorder

Minor: Pregnancy

ilaxaria's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Suicide, Gaslighting, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Car accident, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Violence, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Fatphobia

booking_along's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.75

That’s what you’re supposed to do with old toys. If they’re broken you get new ones.

This was something! 

i really understand why people keep saying this is extremely creepy and utterly strange but compellingly horrific. 

i give full props to the author for writing an entire horror story that leaves everything open gives no explanation but makes it work! 

he writes all kinds of horror tropes into this but gives them a bit of a spin, enough to makes this different enough to not tell the reader where it going. 

for a very simplistic and very short story the author really managed to pack everything you need to write a memorable horror.

also ending this as creepily as it began? Full marks for that!

if you want something quick but unforgettable and just the right amount of horror to be creeped out but enjoy yourself at the same time? 
go for it!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Violence, Confinement, and Death

winterdevil's review against another edition

dark funny tense fast-paced

5.0

A horror novella about a man named Phil who comes across a kid throwing a temper tantrum in a Walmart. The kid offers him a piece of sour candy, and he takes it to be polite, and next thing you know that kid is in his house, calling him daddy. His entire past and present have been rewritten so that everything points to him having a kid he KNOWS he doesn't have.

Also, the kid is creepy as hell, and Phil becomes a prisoner in his new life.

I suspected this book would be fire from the beginning, and I'm glad to say it exceeded expectations. It has a creepy child, eldritch beings, body horror (cw if you have a thing about teeth falling out), and such impressive, palpable tension packed into just 107 pages. Definitely will read more from this author. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Body horror, Car accident, Confinement, Murder, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury