night_shift's reviews
78 reviews

Woom by Duncan Ralston

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dark funny fast-paced

3.25

Bizarre! I wouldn't say this was extreme horror unless you find sexual stuff and body fluids horrifying (though I'll give that the bathtub scene and the prom night scene would probably fall into the horror side of things). Angel was a strangely sympathetic character even though his final act was completely vile and if I was Shyla I 100% would've left at that point. A strange sort of character study into a broken psyche, I guess. Deff check out the CW if you're concerned because there's a lot of things in here that won't set right with a lot of people.
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The Feather Pillow / El Almohadón de Pluma (Bilingual Edition) by Horacio Quiroga, Martin Monreal

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dark sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No

3.0

Read it here: https://shortstoryproject.com/stories/the-feather-pillow/
Watch a short film adapted from it here: https://youtu.be/lGIkUWv1THc
Interesting story from Uruguay
that gives me even more reason not to have a feather pillow
. Would like to see if anything else by Quiroga has been translated..
Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

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dark reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

House of a Thousand Lies by Cody Luke Davis

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dark mysterious fast-paced

3.75

Lots of characters and moves at a breakneck pace. Not sure I'm super satisfied with the ending, but this was a crazy conspiracy/crime plot with such people up to so much no good. Interested to see what Davis does next!
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Hunger For Death by Joshua Marsella

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dark fast-paced

2.5

Truly, I'm in the minority with this it seems but I'm just not a huge fan of any story in here. I don't know if it has to do with none of them being particularly shocking or scary to me, the clear lack of a good editor, or just stylistic choices that annoy me.
'Sacrifice' is fine and probably the best of the bunch, though the ending 'gut punch' folks talk about was pretty obvious from the get go. 'Unholy Communion' could've been better had the story not revealed immediately that the main character at least lives long enough to tell the tale, thus destroying any tension it might've had. 'Coma Toast's title gave me a chuckle. 'Polypus' has good cosmic horror vibes.
Overall, there is some gorgeous and/or grotesque imagery Marsella scatters throughout, but it isn't enough to carry it solidly into 'recommend' territory for me.
As for Marsella's novellas 'Scratches' and 'Severed'... I really don't know if I'll check them out.
Queen of Teeth by Hailey Piper

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dark emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Wild. Absolutely surreal descriptions!
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The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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The Worm and His Kings by Hailey Piper

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sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Three Days in the Pink Tower by EV Knight

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

4.0

Goddamn, that was rough. Deff check out the trigger warnings for this one. I gotta say though, the intro should've been an afterword.
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The Wasp Child by Rhiannon Rasmussen

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challenging fast-paced

4.0

The synopsis on the book itself doesn't feel super accurate, or at least gives away things that the one on here doesn't. Either way, this was a breeze to read and while it's not a new concept, it felt fresh with Kesh's voice, and the alien world was interesting. I 100% expected the ending to go differently, so that was nice!
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