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A review by themaddiehatter
Everything That's Underneath by Kristi DeMeester
4.0
I have decided to try to read more short story collections and anthologies this year. "Everything That's Underneath" was my choice to kick-start this resolution with, as I have seen its praise sung across the horror-loving community.
"Everything That's Underneath" is a collection of 18 short stories, some previously published in various anthologies or magazines, and some original to this collection. The writing is top-notch, as with DeMeester's previous work I've read, with a lyrical quality I've not often encountered in horror books. There are recurring themes across the stories, one of the most common one being dysfunctional relationships between mothers and daughters and the impact these relationships have on the daughters' lives. Apart from the mother-daughter relationships, the childhoods in these stories are generally not good, and all stories are plagued with feelings of uneasiness and weariness.
My favorite stories from the collection were "To Sleep in the Dust of the Earth", "Split Tongues", "The Dream Eater', "The Marking", "Worship Only What She Bleeds", "To Sleep Long, to Sleep Deep", and the title story "Everything That's Underneath".
This is a hauntingly beautiful collection, that I feel like I will revisit in the future. I am also looking forward to read DeMeester's debut novel, "Beneath". One advice I do have though: to enjoy this collection best, take your time with it and maybe even wait a few days in between stories. The recurring themes sometimes make it seem like the stories are related to one another, or that they are a continuation of a different story, which can take away from the overall enjoyment of the collection.
"Everything That's Underneath" is a collection of 18 short stories, some previously published in various anthologies or magazines, and some original to this collection. The writing is top-notch, as with DeMeester's previous work I've read, with a lyrical quality I've not often encountered in horror books. There are recurring themes across the stories, one of the most common one being dysfunctional relationships between mothers and daughters and the impact these relationships have on the daughters' lives. Apart from the mother-daughter relationships, the childhoods in these stories are generally not good, and all stories are plagued with feelings of uneasiness and weariness.
My favorite stories from the collection were "To Sleep in the Dust of the Earth", "Split Tongues", "The Dream Eater', "The Marking", "Worship Only What She Bleeds", "To Sleep Long, to Sleep Deep", and the title story "Everything That's Underneath".
This is a hauntingly beautiful collection, that I feel like I will revisit in the future. I am also looking forward to read DeMeester's debut novel, "Beneath". One advice I do have though: to enjoy this collection best, take your time with it and maybe even wait a few days in between stories. The recurring themes sometimes make it seem like the stories are related to one another, or that they are a continuation of a different story, which can take away from the overall enjoyment of the collection.