an ingenious premise: take the old tale of a town beset by a terrifying supernatural threat and plunge it into the modern world with its internet, itsan ingenious premise: take the old tale of a town beset by a terrifying supernatural threat and plunge it into the modern world with its internet, its surveillance, its bored youth wanted to youtube and to influence, and most of all, that modern ability to compartmentalize and normalize and live with any mystery, any threat. the phantom with her eyes and mouth sewn shut can materialize anywhere, anytime; her touch will drive you mad; her curse means you can never leave her town for too long, otherwise you'll die by your hand. but is this terror so terrifying if you can just put a dishrag over her face as she skulks in a corner, then go about your day? perhaps put something in her path, watch her trip and fall. maybe poke her with a stick, push her into a hole. the kids can think of all kinds of things to do with this ancient witch, once abused by villagers of older times, now ready for further humiliation and abuse.
sadly, the book betrays its interesting and even rather amusing premise by focusing on an uninteresting father who goes down a dark path in the name of love. the novel was eerie-funny at first, this witch and how the town deals with her, the whole bizarre situation. the bored teens lashing out was gripping as well... where will their crass shenanigans lead them? but somewhere along the way, the whole thing became increasingly flat rather than taut. its surreal setting turned ridiculous. there were still occasional moments of frisson but eventually the eyerolls came and never stopped. maybe part of the problem was the translation? only a slight part though. Hex started as the tale of a town coping with something unimaginable and making it somehow mundane, and slowly turned into a rather tedious and predictable morality play about the ignorance of groupthink. it also didn't help that the author is surprisingly obsessed with high foreheads (he hates them) and unsurprisingly obsessed with nipples (I'm guessing he loves them).
recommended for fans of Stephen King who found a lot of enjoyment in the groupthink-turned-deadly scenarios of The Mist and Under the Dome. and admirers of The Lottery and The Crucible, of course....more
the best part of this compulsively readable horror-thriller is how well Janz characterizes his Normal Boy protagonist. we're in his head the entire tithe best part of this compulsively readable horror-thriller is how well Janz characterizes his Normal Boy protagonist. we're in his head the entire time and his thoughts, emotions, and reactions all feel completely realistic. he enjoys baseball, he likes his friends, he moons over his crush, he resents his mom, he hates bullies, and he loves his little sister. he really is an outstanding example of normality - which Janz actually makes compelling. perhaps because Normal Boy's normality is in such stark contrast to the various examples of cruelty, stupidity, and villainy that surround him. or maybe because he really is an outstanding older brother, heroically unselfish - I should probably think of him as more than normal, because plenty of siblings lack his impressive kindness. and his empathy extends well beyond his sister: this teen really gets the "hurt people hurt people" concept, certainly to a degree that is well beyond me. I'll upgrade my title for him: he's an Especially Decent Boy. despite this being an often grueling story about a kid versus evil, the writing and the characterization made this feel like a pacey young adult novel featuring a teen protagonist you wouldn't mind seeing your daughter marry.
synopsis: an especially decent boy fights bullies, incompetent policemen, a cannibalistic serial killer, and depraved monsters from underground, while making sure his kid sister has a good breakfast and gets to bed on time....more
I loved this. so spooky, so emotional. and heartwarming! the stories intrigue, the setting is richly developed, the morals of the tales are wise ones.I loved this. so spooky, so emotional. and heartwarming! the stories intrigue, the setting is richly developed, the morals of the tales are wise ones. the first arc is particularly compelling, as only a story about a little witch hunted by the people she loves most can be. I love the forgiveness at the end of that story, and demonstrated through later arcs. I loved (both of) her horrible-wonderful familiar-mascot(s), an endearing little skinless (or body-less) fellow. I loved the visuals as much as the story! using watercolors was such a great choice. it's easy to see why this comic was so beloved by audiences and acclaimed by critics. adorable and horrible in nearly-equal measures - adorable wins, by a hair.
surprisingly, this collection is superior to its predecessor Nasty Stories, which was often fun and well-written but also kinda dull. there's only so surprisingly, this collection is superior to its predecessor Nasty Stories, which was often fun and well-written but also kinda dull. there's only so much sniggering nastiness a person can take, well at least this person. the stories in Even More display much more creativity: McNaughton jumps into so many different genres and throws so many unusual ideas around; the stories here felt like he was testing himself creatively, not just trying to build nasty little traps for his characters. there were a number of duds as well, but no need to get into them and I haven't even summarized them below.
Clark Ashton Smith receives a double homage with the baroque fantasy "Benevolent Emperor" and the amusing but ultimately deflating "Return of the Colossus" - the latter a sequel to CAS' classic "The Colossus of Ylourgne." the ideas of H.P. Lovecraft are front and center in the dizzying "Beyond the Wall of Time," plus a fun reference to wonderful character actor Jeffrey Combs of Re-Animator fame. that subset of Lovecraftian mythos featuring the Deep Ones, Dagon, and other watery horrors are the subject of the collection's strongest and nastiest piece "The Doom that Came to Innsmouth." Doom was delightful, although keep in mind I'm calling a story that features a ritualistic torture-rape-murder 'delightful' (I'm problematic). And McNaughton revisits the rules for ghouls of his own classic Throne of Bones in the typically grim but still droll "Ghoulmaster," set in and under that quaint university town that huddles on the shores of the Miskatonic River.
☠️
"The Doom that Came to Innsmouth" - a child of Innsmouth is tricked back to his home, a town devastated by government pogrom; fortunately, the canny and murderous lad finds that supportive relatives and ancient rituals may save the day.
"Getting Around" - an invalid's quantum hand unfortunately does not save the day.
"Marticora" - a father rescues his child from a cult that believes in certain fantasies; but what exactly has he saved?
"Fragment of a Diary" - the castaways must draw lots and so choose whose bodies will provide sustenance; but what's dead does not stay dead, and may instead join in the feast.
"Malpractice" - a boy's crush on a strange neighbor is complicated by her father, a mad scientist with certain plans for them both.
"Ghoulmaster" - an uppity author of a book on ghouls battles some equally uppity ghouls.
"A Donation to the Homeless" - never give your coat to a satanist with a personal grudge: he may help himself to even more of you.
"Impatience" - the world just moves too slowly for some torture-murderers.
"The Flight of the LZD1" - an English spy finds himself aboard an German zeppelin; but does a zeppelin have eight wings, a gaping maw, and one terrible eye?
"The Benevolent Emperor" - a kindly ruler discovers an enemy; a curse of black dust has infiltrated his kingdom, killing his subjects then reviving them into beings both unkillable and entirely apathetic.
"Beyond the Wall of Time" - various personalities come together; an unusual author's origin story is recounted.
"Self-Restraint" - back from the Amazonian jungle and into the urban jungle, Timothy learns the power of the hypnotic phrase Simon sent me...
"The Return of the Colossus" - in the French province of Averoigne, English soldiers find a unique weapon to fight the enemy Germans: a giant made of corpses....more
Catherynne Valente is a phenomenally talented author: her writing overflows with creativity, new ways to describe everything from a person to a settinCatherynne Valente is a phenomenally talented author: her writing overflows with creativity, new ways to describe everything from a person to a setting to an emotion, new ways to approach storytelling itself. Her style combines both postmodernism and New Weird techniques, and the lushness of her prose is reminiscent of Angela Carter and Tanith Lee (two of my favorite authors). I loved her novels In the Night Garden and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland.
Unfortunately, this collection was hit or miss for me. There were some wonderful stories (bolded below) but there were also some that I found to be completely unreadable. I'm always down for a challenge, but if things get too silly, too disgusting, and/or too shouty, I find that it's easier to just quit engaging rather than sticking it out and getting increasingly annoyed. Who has the time for that? I do that for people, may as well apply that philosophy to stories too.
All that said, for the most part the stories were perfectly fine. Each one was creative and unique, in their own way. And those stories that I loved - well, I really really loved them. At her best, she's one of the finest and most original of modern genre writers. She has a unique vision and she always goes her own way. An admirable writer.
27 nasty stories by a very talented writer wasting much of his talent, alas. by "nasty" I don't just mean wall-to-wall gore and fucking, which would n27 nasty stories by a very talented writer wasting much of his talent, alas. by "nasty" I don't just mean wall-to-wall gore and fucking, which would not necessarily be an issue for me. these stories do have tons of gore and sex, and much that is graphically scatalogical as well. really sickening stuff at times. they also have a genuinely nasty sensibility: joyously juvenile, sniggeringly sadistic, viciously mean-spirited, not to mention misogynist and homophobic. I don't particularly admire contes cruel and so I didn't particularly admire this collection. yet it was all still... fun, in its way? McNaughton writes like writing is a breeze; he is almost casually masterful in his ability to toss off a cleverly ironic bit of dialogue or an elegant descriptive sentence, which can be startling when his tales are often so crass and so broadly horrific. and his narratives, even in the shortest of his short stories, are often surprisingly complex. he was an ingenious and very original writer. RIP!
there were three stories that I might read again. (in bold below.) the first two reminded me of his brilliant cult classic The Throne of Bones with their dark fantasy settings, plots that hinge on misuse of magic, and of course their cruel humor. the third is set in an aristocratic English milieu and is chock-full of clockwork automatons and sport-fucking.
okay time to take a shower, these stories made me feel unclean. so very nasty!
☢
"Conversion of St. Monocarp" - nasty Medieval body-switcher gets her just reward
"Nothing But the Best" & "Drink Me" - nasty body-switching wizard gets his just reward - twice!
"Interrupted Pilgrimage" - nasty Medieval illusion-caster gets his just reward
"The Hole" - nasty young voyeur gets his just reward
"Changes" - nasty normal reality gets turned into an even nastier abnormal reality
"Lovelocks" - nasty ninny in love gets his just reward
"Fantasia on 'Little Red Riding Hood'" - nasty author reimagines a classic fairy tale
"Water and the Spirit" - nasty warlord is the recipient of some nasty revenge from a dead water wizard; in the end, the nastier of the two will survive!
"Congratulations" - nasty tv grifter gets his just reward; nice witch is nice to her neighbors
"Why We Fear the Dark" - nasty cop is also a nasty cat
"The Disposal of Uncle Dave" - nasty husband is also a nasty toad
"Getting It All Back" - nasty parents falsely accused of sexual abuse by their nasty children; nasty daughter gets her just reward
"Undying Love" - nasty necrophiliac finally lays a live one
"Child of the Night" - vampire-seeking youth finds his questions answered by a nasty priest
"The Dunwich Lodger" - nasty motel manager versus his nasty father; abused wife meets nasty sorceror
"Annunciator" - cryo-frozen head awakens to a nasty future
"Rubber-Face" - nasty colonialist gets his just reward in the Congo; rubber magic is nasty magic
"Herbert West- Reincarnated" - nasty Herbert West finds new employment in nasty Nazi Germany; a nasty Jesus Christ is reanimated, nastily
"La Fille aux Yeux d'Email" - nasty English earl versus nasty French clockmaker; lots of nasty sex with a nasty countess and a nasty maid
"Star Stalker" - nasty supermodel hires some nasty cops
"Marantha's Tale" - nasty illusion-casting creature called a 'bog-losel' gets its just reward
"To My Dear Friend, Hommy-Bet" - nasty hack author receives a nasty fanzine and a nastier creature from a nasty amateur book reviewer. so much nastiness!...more
gee whiz! this is a perfectly executed novella about two boys, age 12 (and a half!) and age 14 (and a half!), at odds with ultra-dimensional villains.gee whiz! this is a perfectly executed novella about two boys, age 12 (and a half!) and age 14 (and a half!), at odds with ultra-dimensional villains. Azathoth, so-named, and Nyarlathotep, perhaps (my guess, at least). the twist is that these two young fellows are the übermensch scions of a world-dominating clan that controls a world-dominating corporation. so, despite the reader most likely being sympathetic towards the charismatic brothers, this is basically a tale of evil versus evil. in brisk and bloody action-novel format! what's not to love?
synopsis: in 1956, while on holiday from the school for assassins known as Mountain Leopard Temple, two likely lads first engage in a bit of drinking & shagging with loose local lasses and then find themselves on the run from who knows what from where God only knows. much bloodshed occurs. the two then take part in an archeological dig and more bloodshed occurs. finally, a journey across dimensions of time and space and life and death and a big dead whale, and a little more bloodshed of course. all's well that end's well and the masters of this mortal coil shall continue to pull our puppet strings. good job and nice work, kids!
Barron's pacing is tight and his characterization is sharply etched and his tongue is so far in cheek it has bored a bloody hole right through, you can see it wagging at you, cheekily. I really, really, really, REALLY wish that this had been novel-length. gosh it went by too quickly!...more
this is a throwback to the expansive novels of King & Koontz & McCammon that feature a large cast of characters, a looming supernatural threat, some ethis is a throwback to the expansive novels of King & Koontz & McCammon that feature a large cast of characters, a looming supernatural threat, some explicit sexytimes, some shocking ultraviolence, and of course everyone's favorite trope, a magical black man. or in this case, a mournful ghost of a black man who is going to do his best to save people. the cast is fine, very sympathetic when need be, and the trio of human villains were certainly horrible beyond belief. I really could have done without the extensive abuse of the struggling adolescent who is going to play A Very Important Role in the upcoming battle, but that's just me being soft I think. the looming supernatural threat is still in looming mode, literally issuing his commands while buried in a swamp, so not much to say there. I did like the idea that the Mayor is eventually going to reveal himself as a werewolf, that was fun. the sex was often graphic but pretty sweet. the violent scenes were actually the best parts of the book - Maberry really knows how to write action! the ghost was fairly annoying with his moping about, and I'm not sure that injecting race into his murder by smalltown bigots at the start of the book was the right move - sort of a loaded topic, I think! - but it's clear that Maberry has a lot of affection and respect for this character, so I wasn't unduly irritated.
the writing was ok, very early King-Koontz-McCammon and all that implies, both good and not so good. nothing interesting in terms of style, but still effective. not as good as King as far as characterization goes, but the characters were real enough for me to either worry about or to crave their deaths. this is a long book that could have used some editing (what's new), but it was still pacey enough for me to turn those pages fast. overall, fine effort but not memorable.
2.5 stars, rounded down. I had initially planned on rounding up to 3 stars, but I just realized while writing this review that I have no intention of reading its sequels, and I think that says something?...more
good grief, is this author some kind of shut-in that has only learned about life via Twitter & TikTok & other embarrassing websites? realizing what angood grief, is this author some kind of shut-in that has only learned about life via Twitter & TikTok & other embarrassing websites? realizing what an author's perspective is on the world is a key part of understanding their works, but when their political stances become the text instead of the subtext, that's just bad writing and I get agitated. e.g. Lovecraft in general is great, but he's unbearable to read when he's going on about scary neighborhoods full of apparently subhuman immigrants. this is like the liberal version of that bullshit. The Book of Accidents felt like it was put together by the editorial board of the Washington Post after being given an assignment to write a horror novel that will earn snaps & claps from terminally online progressives. as a progressive myself, I'm triggered! this book is a macroagression. creativity dies in the darkness of a basement that an author refuses to leave. novels this desperate to score topical points and to be on the right side of history need to be taken out of the house, into the real world, and then shot. put this book out of its misery, it's too embarrassing to live. or to finish.
post-script: if you want horror with a decidedly progressive point of view that engages with current topics such as colonialism and race, yet is still ambiguous, subtle, and full of real characters, check out the Dutch miniseries Ares on Netflix. the subtext doesn't become text until the finale, but the points being made were there all along....more
much like with her Hollow Places, a super fun book, Twisted Ones hit me in a sweet spot: a zippy modern sequel to a classic Weird Fiction tale. this tmuch like with her Hollow Places, a super fun book, Twisted Ones hit me in a sweet spot: a zippy modern sequel to a classic Weird Fiction tale. this time around, it's Machen's very strange The White People getting unearthed. I enjoyed the source material well enough, although Machen's prose style was pretty laborious at first, before it all goes hysterical. (he's probably my least favorite of the weird fiction writers). I do love the ideas behind The White People, they are bizarre and disturbing in a way that defies easy summary or explanation. Kingfisher stays very true to Machen's visions, including the story's unusual definition of "true evil" and the hill, the stones, the twisted ones and the dead ones. her writing is quite different of course: in the young adult vein, with all the cheerful, light, very modern (to a fault) banter and sociopolitical gestures of a teen tv show, while fortunately still managing to be a genuinely tense and creepy experience. much like Hollow Places, this is really more of a 3-star read, but I can't help but give it that extra star because of how much I enjoyed what she's doing here. (next time do King in Yellow!) also like that book, this one features a great animal - a dog instead of a cat - and I really appreciated that she lets the reader know early on that Bongo lives. I'm soft, I need that kind of thing....more
supernatural horror without the supernatural horror. unless you consider fanatical, hypocritical so-called devotion to an organized religion like Chrisupernatural horror without the supernatural horror. unless you consider fanatical, hypocritical so-called devotion to an organized religion like Christianity whose tenets often aren't actually understood let alone followed by many of its practitioners... to be supernatural horror. okay, this is supernatural horror! and I think I've used the phrase "supernatural horror" enough, right?
wrong! and I was also wrong saying that the supernatural horror here is only based around organized religion, when there is definitely some pagan or satanic horror happening, involving wishes for healing being granted and an infant being tortured. but it is important to note that these horrors are only a small and subtle part of the book. they are not front and center, not blatant. readers looking for an evening of supernatural horror will perhaps be better off reading the Bible, which includes far more examples of such things.
but for those readers who are looking for superbly rendered and very dreary atmosphere, a contemplation of the power and the challenges of faith, lovely and very realistic characterization of a non-believing boy who is faking it until he gets free of his hysterical mum (not to mention his sadistic pastor, but fortunately that guy is dead within the opening pages) and of that boy's very endearing, developmentally disabled older brother, and a narrative that is all about creating a feeling of oppression, dread, and melancholy... this is your book! "enjoy" it!
forgive the scare quotes, there is a lot to enjoy, and to consider. besides what I mentioned above, I particularly appreciated the serious exploration of what faith can actually look like. I guess that's a nice way of saying that the book shows that both Christianity and certain other religions involve rituals like blood sacrifice (not to mention the consumption of flesh), and the miracles of God can look a lot like the gifts bestowed by certain other supernatural figures. interesting stuff.
synopsis: a lad has to deal with fanatical assholes. his brother falls in love. supernatural horror happens....more
fast-paced, fun, forgettable. prolific Darcy Coates stitches together an alien invasion quilt made up of three short stories and two novellas occurrinfast-paced, fun, forgettable. prolific Darcy Coates stitches together an alien invasion quilt made up of three short stories and two novellas occurring on five different space stations. the aliens are very The Thing, except in the last novella, which felt like a mashup of Aliens and video games (I guess? I never play them). the book has no style to speak of but the workmanlike writing is fine; world-building and characterization are shallow, but not too annoying. the whole thing is very pacey and pages were turned very quickly (especially during a nonsensical prologue in the last part, where we follow the protagonist as she desperately races across town to catch a flight - it was such a poorly conceived sequence I had to rush through it asap lol). I liked the fourth piece the best, as the characters in that novella are not just threatened by evil aliens that mimic humans, but also by the psychotic breakdown of the station commander, who starts off weirdly bitchy then ends up stalking the halls with a butcher knife while laughing to herself. different!...more
Her whole existence dwindling down to a lone, barred cell. Why did chemists manufacture medicines that awoke people, when reality was dismal and hopelHer whole existence dwindling down to a lone, barred cell. Why did chemists manufacture medicines that awoke people, when reality was dismal and hopeless?
the author is a talented artist; her prose, the atmosphere, the style... she is in complete control of her effects. but what does that artist do here? she starts by painting a black hole, an unsympathetic heroine, dull supporting characters, vindictiveness from all directions. she chooses additional colors: the grey of an overcast sky, shit-brown. with those colors she paints an insane asylum, an ugly village and an uglier countryside, a factory, a decrepit mansion. there is no contrast, there is no difference. all is ugly, all is dark. she paints a tragic backstory, a neglected child, bodies burned, a horse slain, wives kept down, bad mothers, madness, molestation, murder. all is ugly, all is dark, the whole world apparently. the artist swirls the black and the gray and the brown together; soon even those unappealing shades can barely be discerned as colors, they are just a mass of dreary darkness. a monotonous palette. a monotonous experience. if everything, everyone, everywhere is horrible, then specific horrors meant to horrify become drab, meaningless.
also: while the Silent Companions themselves were often effectively creepy, they did feel like sillier versions of the Weeping Angels from Doctor Who. ...more
review for the story "You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay" by Alyssa Wong
Dark fantasy horror Western, featuring necromancy, the scouring desert, shapreview for the story "You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay" by Alyssa Wong
Dark fantasy horror Western, featuring necromancy, the scouring desert, shapeshifting, revenge, and young love. Beautifully written with a rich, carefully unspooled backstory, wonderfully creepy imagery, a realistically depicted Old West milieu, and a mythic quality to its often bizarre but also sympathetically depicted characters. Darkness with a heart. This is the best kind of short story: it made me wish it were much longer and it made me want to read much more by this author.
review for the story "Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers" by Alyssa Wong
into the lives of ancient Chinese monsters, Sin-eaters of sorts, except thatreview for the story "Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers" by Alyssa Wong
into the lives of ancient Chinese monsters, Sin-eaters of sorts, except that they crave their sustenance, those sins, and they are predators, not the village scapegoat. they suck the sin right out of the men or women they meet, online, in bars, at parties; an ancient tradition, modernized.
Wong's stories exist on multiple levels. well all stories do, especially in horror, but for Wong the subtext is right there in the open, sitting next to the text. this one is about monsters and it is also about the fear of intimacy, the fear of embracing the good in someone because you are too skilled at seeing the bad within yourself. surely you don't deserve to be with a good person, you evil person you. and so you seek out those you feel you deserve.
the lesson: if you are lucky enough to find a Good Person, keep them close! and don't suck the life out of them.
review for the story "Santos de Sampaguitas" by Alyssa Wong
this is my sixth story by Alyssa Wong and I think I have a good idea of her frame of mind: review for the story "Santos de Sampaguitas" by Alyssa Wong
this is my sixth story by Alyssa Wong and I think I have a good idea of her frame of mind: she is a mythopoetic writer: dedicated to the making and reading of myths as a path to self-understanding. her tales are about legacies of the past, transformation, difference and outsiders, and how to survive with (alongside?) trauma. her prose is impressively layered, nuanced, original. and poetic, of course. what a find!
this one spoke to me on a personal level, as it has to do with Filipino culture and mythology, including Filipinos of the servant class, well outside of the bourgeoisie but dependent on them for their livelihood. I experienced some pleasurable frisson upon learning that a fearsome but kinda relatable manananggal was the entity to blame for the narrator's troubles. mom used to scare me with tales of that creature!
the bullied teen gets his supernatural revenge on his bullies, from beyond the grave. homophobia and self-loathing and ours is not to wonder why, oursthe bullied teen gets his supernatural revenge on his bullies, from beyond the grave. homophobia and self-loathing and ours is not to wonder why, ours is just to kill then die. told from the perspective of the bullies; told in second-person so that You Are The One Getting Punished. a short, spiky, and vicious tale, with some empathy for the closet case in love with the kid he helped kill.
Alyssa Wong is not quite pitiless, not completely, even for those undeserving of pity.
synopsis: a man, a woman, and a cat have problems that need addressing and mysteries that need solving. are these three enemies or allies?
* Random thosynopsis: a man, a woman, and a cat have problems that need addressing and mysteries that need solving. are these three enemies or allies?
* Random thoughts follow for a novel that often felt random, but slowly reveals itself to be a carefully built and multi-leveled structure <--- italics are what amount to my actual review. *
- SO MANY QUESTIONS! the book is full of them. amazingly, all of those questions are answered. I think?
- themes & questions: what is a personality and how does trauma impact that personality? how does a personal narrative differ from an objective record of events? what structures do we build, internally and externally, to protect ourselves from future traumas?
- Catriona Ward really knows how to get into her characters' heads. I felt a real connection to all of them. such empathy on display by the author! a tricky kind of empathy though.
- I am against trigger warnings because I think people should have some damn resilience. and that said, I'm a hypocrite because I personally get a lot of value when I am warned that a novel will include child and/or animal abuse. but still, not into them as a general rule.
THIS BOOK FUCKING TRIGGERED ME. hypocrisy-flavored lol? I was so triggered that my fragile self instantly closed the book, resenting the damn book, yet still very intrigued by the intriguing book. I didn't want to return to the story but it was so well-done, so well-written, that I did the unthinkable and just went to Wikipedia to find out what happened in the end. so ashamed at my actions, because reading the synopsis compelled me to get right back into the book, and I would have been better off trusting the author and not spoiling myself.
and that said, this book was still very enjoyable, a fulfilling kind of enjoyable, despite knowing what it all was about thanks to self-spoiling. SPOILER AHEAD IN THE NEXT PHRASE: that ending, and that friendship, was really heartwarming and came out of leftfield. some tears may have been shed.
- how in the world is this going to be adapted? I just read that it's being turned into a film. how??
- I loved the cat's perspective. cats are of course the best (tied with dogs). that cat really reminded me of my cat Digsy, although my cat was less religious, she came across as pretty agnostic. I miss you Digsy! you were such an important part of my life and such an important part of me....more
so rich and sinister, I loved it. and as heartwarming and sickening and creepy/sweet as only a book about a young reborn witch with a new friend who iso rich and sinister, I loved it. and as heartwarming and sickening and creepy/sweet as only a book about a young reborn witch with a new friend who is basically the skin of a boy that she keeps folded up in a drawer or in her satchel can be; its skinless body skulking around elsewhere, hiding in trees, climbing down chimneys, her protector, and their relationship is just a relatively small and probably not too important part of this bizarre and wonderful book. Countless Haints is a fascinating introduction to Harrow County. I want to understand its rules and its history; right now I can say I loved what I've read but I'm not sure I really understood everything I've read e.g. she literally created all those people? I'm not sure if that question even counts as a spoiler because it's just one of so many ambiguous things that make this book what it is.
Cullen Bunn is a great writer with an awesome imagination. when it comes to his narrative, he believes in show & tell, usually at the same time: a number of scenes explain certain mysteries while serving up visceral, disturbing visuals. the illustrator Tyler Crook is an equal partner in this story. his watercolors are beautiful and disgusting and always compelling. I'm excited to experience more of this world....more
Prologue A Soliloquy featuring the PROTAGONIST: A Fragile White Lady, ripe with Entitlement & Privilege
Part One ENTER STAGE LEFT: The Social Satire this Prologue A Soliloquy featuring the PROTAGONIST: A Fragile White Lady, ripe with Entitlement & Privilege
Part One ENTER STAGE LEFT: The Social Satire this Social Satire will skewer the various nauseating and laughable habits, norms, mores, and customs of the Coastal Elite, in particular the West Coast variety. satire will be broad and full of "gotcha" moments suitable for the self-flagellating fans of Late Night TV comedy and SNL. viewers will smile in condescending amusement at the stereotypes seen on the stage that parallel certain traits held within. the targets of this satire: Whole Food shoppers, "Trust Science" proclaimers, tech workers, bougie eco-warriors, the moneyed liberal class. the presumed audience of this satire: Whole Food shoppers, "Trust Science" proclaimers, tech workers, bougie eco-warriors, the moneyed liberal class.
[during the transition from Part One to Part Two, PROTAGONIST will change attire and acting style in order to fully inhabit the new iteration of her character, TRANSFORMED PROTAGONIST.]
Part Two ENTER STAGE RIGHT: The Survivalist Horror this Survivalist Horror will place the viewer in a once-idyllic, now-claustrophobic setting in which subhuman interlopers seek to acquire food, which includes the human body. the protagonists will debate various straw man arguments to allow for maximum delay and minimum preparation from the characters. the scoring of many topical points off of the piece's various two-dimensional characters will occur, due to the almost limitless stupidity and perfidy of these characters, nearly all of whom are fit for maximum killing that will cause the audience minimum sadness. a child will experience light endangerment. gardens shall be grown but no fruit shall be bore, alas, and also that's a metaphor.
Epilogue A Soliloquy featuring the TRANSFORMED PROTAGONIST: A Hardened Boss Lady, ripe with Lived Experience...more
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