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A review by whatmeworry
Corpsing by Kayleigh Marie Edwards
4.0
This review first appeared on scifiandscary.com, I was provided with a free copy of the book in return for a review
‘Corpsing’ is the debut short story collection from Kayleigh Marie Edwards. At only 150 pages it’s not exactly a mammoth tome, but the 8 stories it contains are all entertaining. I’ve read a few horror collections lately and this was the most consistent and enjoyable. The stories are relatively gentle, often comic, and typically character rather than plot driven.
Edwards is Welsh and there is a nice Britishness to the stories which never overwhelms them. Some authors, especially indie ones, have a tendency to strip local colour from their stories in order to attract an international audience. It was good to see Edwards avoid this, although I think the themes and situations she explores are sufficiently universal to have a broad appeal.
She has a strong and at times grisly imagination. ‘Corpsing’ contains such delights as a killer Christmas tree, an outbreak of zombies in a mental hospital and girl who is gradually shedding her skin. Despite the horror, Edwards never forgets she is writing about people. Her characters are believable, with convincing motivations. She does a great job of making you care about the people in her stories, even if at times they’re demise is the punchline of the tale.
The stories often reminded me of the twisted, darkly comic ones that Roald Dahl used to write for adults. That mix of horror, humour and humanity is a hard one to pull off successfully, but for the most part Edwards manages it. She never quite reaches Dahl’s heights, but ‘Corpsing’ shows a great deal of promise and I’m very much looking forward to reading more from her pen.
‘Corpsing’ is the debut short story collection from Kayleigh Marie Edwards. At only 150 pages it’s not exactly a mammoth tome, but the 8 stories it contains are all entertaining. I’ve read a few horror collections lately and this was the most consistent and enjoyable. The stories are relatively gentle, often comic, and typically character rather than plot driven.
Edwards is Welsh and there is a nice Britishness to the stories which never overwhelms them. Some authors, especially indie ones, have a tendency to strip local colour from their stories in order to attract an international audience. It was good to see Edwards avoid this, although I think the themes and situations she explores are sufficiently universal to have a broad appeal.
She has a strong and at times grisly imagination. ‘Corpsing’ contains such delights as a killer Christmas tree, an outbreak of zombies in a mental hospital and girl who is gradually shedding her skin. Despite the horror, Edwards never forgets she is writing about people. Her characters are believable, with convincing motivations. She does a great job of making you care about the people in her stories, even if at times they’re demise is the punchline of the tale.
The stories often reminded me of the twisted, darkly comic ones that Roald Dahl used to write for adults. That mix of horror, humour and humanity is a hard one to pull off successfully, but for the most part Edwards manages it. She never quite reaches Dahl’s heights, but ‘Corpsing’ shows a great deal of promise and I’m very much looking forward to reading more from her pen.