A review by mbmartin42
Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud

dark 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? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

“Of course you know of the relationship between the moon and madness.”
 
Crypt of the Moon Spider is a sci-fi horror with a gorgeously gothic atmosphere and a dash of cosmic horror.
Featuring forced institutionalism, experimental surgeries, mad scientists with a god complex, and of course spiders. 
It’s a weird piece for sure. But also such an elegantly executed nightmare.
This novella was very surreal as it takes place on an alternate earth, where there’s breathable air on the moon and even forest for that matter. And, no, it will not explain. Neither will it explain how/why in the 1920s we can shuttle back and forth to the moon so easily. But that’s ok. This book isn’t here to do that.

It’s meant to unsettle, to be a psychological nightmare with the qualities of a fever dream. To explore themes of mental health and bodily autonomy and the violence one commits when taking someone else’s voice away.

As this is said to be a trilogy I can’t wait to see what happens next.
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