Reviews

Hometown Haunts: #LoveOzYA Horror Tales by Poppy Nwosu

supernatural327's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

3lf0nth3sh3lf's review

3.0

disclaimer: i realised while reading this that I don't like anthologies or horror and that is a little problematic considering this book is both of those...
but anyway! my favourite stories from this collection:
- seek and destroy (jared thomas)
- stop revive survive (sarah epstein)
- don't look! (lisa fuller)
- euryhaline (margot mcgovern)
- angel eyes (alison evans)
- best years of your life (felix wilkins)
- rappaccini's son (holden sheppard

lostboylit's review

emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

khakipantsofsex's review

dark tense

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Body horror

Moderate: Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Racism, Bullying, and Ableism

Minor: Homophobia

amumreads's review

4.0

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this horror anthology but I knew I’d enjoy it, I was definitely right!

While all stories were horror genre, it was still an eclectic mix with some of the stories in graphic format. All of them were very unique and interesting for different reasons.

While I’d read from a couple of these authors, most of the authors were new to me and I’m excited to go and read some of their full novels now!

My favourites were Seek & Destroy by Jared Thomas, an indigenous story, and Stop, Revive, Survive by Sarah Epstein which was a really exciting story set at a creepy rest stop.

This is great showcase of #LoveOzYA authors that everyone should give a go, you just might find a new author to binge!

triciasreadings's review

4.0

Good Australian dark humour and ghosts aplenty
I enjoyed most of these, rap the first and the last stories.

bookish_brooklyn's review

RTC later tonight, thank you Wakefield Press for kindly gifting me a review copy :)

thereadingchallengechallenge's review

dark mysterious tense

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

So, this book and I fundamentally disagree about what makes a story "Horror". To me, a horror story should be scary or menacing or spooky. A lot of these stories - aren't. For sure they're all speculative fiction but a lot of them are dystopia, or paranormal, or very vaguely magical. A lot of them are not Horror. So I got pretty frustrated, expecting scares and only getting weird magic or whatever. But there are enough gems here to make me recommend it - just maybe not specifically for Halloween.

• The Party by Wai Chim - 2/5 - An interesting idea but it was barely spooky, let alone scary or haunting.
• Seek and Destroy by Jared Thomas - 5/5 - Terrifying, with some cool Indigenous lore.
• It’s Quiet Now by Emma Preston - 1/5 - The comic’s style was pretty but it was just a monster going from place to place. Gimme some speech or narration or something to make me care about this monster.
• Heart-Shaped Stone by Vikki Wakefield - 3/5 - A wonderful creeping dread in this one but it could’ve done without the lateral ableism.
• Stop Revive Survive by Sarah Epstein - 4/5 - Welp, I’ll never get out at a roadside stop at night again.
• Don’t Look! by Lisa Fuller - 3/5 - Excellently spooky but it was missing something to really grab me.
• Nature Boy by Poppy Nwosu - 3/5 - Atmospheric and haunting but I wouldn’t call it horror.
• Slaughterhouse Boys by Emma Osborne - 3/5 - A harsh, compelling piece but I’m really wondering how the editors decided to define horror because this stuff mostly isn’t.
• Euryhaline by Margot McGovern - 5/5 - Margot McGovern’s writing always satisfies me - especially when she quotes my favourite line from my favourite horror novel.
• Hunger by Marianna Shek - 5/5 - Wonderfully menacing, with an excellent instance of ancestral haunting. 
• Do I See it Now? by Michelle O'Connell - 3/5 - An interesting explanation of how it can feel to be neurodivergent on a bad day. 
• Angel Eyes by Alison Evans - 5/5 - Spooky, deliciously queer, with a metaphor that makes its point without bashing you over the head with it. 
• Best Years of Your Life by Felix Wilkins - DNF
• Rappaccini’s Son by Holden Sheppard - 3/5 - An interesting idea with some great queerness.

doddyaboutbooks's review

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

becsbookshelf's review

4.0

Hometown Haunts, LoveOzYa Horror Tales

This anthology is the first #loveOzYa book filled entirely with horror stories. With an amazing line up of Aussie Young Adult authors including two graphic stories.

Authors include, Wai Chim, Sarah Epstein, Alison Evans, Lisa Fuller, Margot McGovern, Poppy Nwosu, Michelle O'Connell, Emma Osborne, Emma Preston, Marianna Shek, Holden Sheppard, Jared Thomas, Vikki Wakefield and Felix Wilkins.

Though out the book the stories cover a range of topics love, loss, desire, temptation and terror. These tales will get under your skin and have you thrilled and frightened. The prefect read for the spooky season and for all YA lovers!

I really enjoyed these stories, the addition of the graphic stories were my favourite. Its Quiet Now is the story of lockdown and the monsters that come out. Seek and Destroy is an indigenous story. Rappaccini’s Son a story of facing your demons and Natures Boy a oceanic story of grieving.

This cover is probably one of my favourite covers I’ve every owned, bravo Liz Nicholson. Congratulations to everyone involved on this one!