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darlaslays's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
There are 5 short stories, plus an introduction story and ending story that are even shorter. I enjoyed the spooky atmosphere and the relatable feelings of dread that each story highlighted in relation to these topics. The things that I’m afraid of that I recognized in the stories include the following:
Introduction: Darkness and the monsters that hide within it.
1. Losing family members until you are left alone by yourself as a result of uncontrollable external forces. Also, these events could have been avoided if basic instructions were followed.
2. Your husband is hiding something big from you and has skeletons in his closet. It haunts you and keeps you up at night when you’re trying to sleep. In this story, it’s a literal skeleton— more specifically, fragments of his ex’s corpse all over the house. It beckons you to do some digging on his ex and piece together who they were so it stops bugging you, but it makes everything worse when you find out all the nice stuff you have now was his ex’s so you just leave his ass instead of dealing with all this baggage .
3. Jealousy and wanting approval from others can make you do horrible things. You will be haunted by and suffer from the consequences of these actions.
4. Lying to others and deceiving them is an insidious force that causes you to lose yourself as you lose track of what is real. You don’t communicate in a straightforward way and hide things out of fear to your loved ones, so everyone gets hurt and confused in the end when the “truth” comes out.
5. Nobody knows who you really are on the inside, so who would notice if you disappeared or got replaced?
Ending: Your safety means that have to be hyper-aware and on guard at all times. You can avoid unwanted situations over and over again, but it only takes one wrong move from you for things to end badly. Especially if you follow the same routines and take the same routes over a long period of time.
Introduction: Darkness and the monsters that hide within it.
1.
2. Your husband is hiding something big from you and has skeletons in his closet. It haunts you and keeps you up at night when you’re trying to sleep.
3. Jealousy and wanting approval from others can make you do horrible things. You will be haunted by and suffer from the consequences of these actions.
4. Lying to others and deceiving them is an insidious force that causes you to lose yourself as you lose track of what is real. You don’t communicate in a straightforward way and hide things out of fear to your loved ones, so everyone gets hurt and confused in the end when the “truth” comes out.
5. Nobody knows who you really are on the inside, so who would notice if you disappeared or got replaced?
Ending: Your safety means that have to be hyper-aware and on guard at all times. You can avoid unwanted situations over and over again, but it only takes one wrong move from you for things to end badly. Especially if you follow the same routines and take the same routes over a long period of time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Stalking, and Death of parent
Minor: Domestic abuse
jessereadsthings's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
3.0
A good reread. Though I think I enjoyed the stories a bit more on first read. Still love the art and colors just as much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
Moderate: Animal death
mlovesbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexism, Blood, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
tree_branch's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Murder
Moderate: Animal death and Death
Minor: Death of parent
abookwormspov's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
samflowerv6's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
3.5
creepy short stories that came from the woods (most strange things do)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Blood
books_and_fairy_lights's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Really liked this read.
First of all it is visually great.
Second of all it was the perfect amount of horror/spooky for me. It was mysterious and a little scary but in a way that's really nice to read (especially for Halloween/in the fall or winter). The short stories were varied but each one was captivating. They were fast paced but didn't end leaving you unsatisfied (and if it ended in mystery it fit the story well).
I got sucked in and read everything at once but it was also a pretty quick read which was nice and perfect for my reading mood.
First of all it is visually great.
Second of all it was the perfect amount of horror/spooky for me. It was mysterious and a little scary but in a way that's really nice to read (especially for Halloween/in the fall or winter). The short stories were varied but each one was captivating. They were fast paced but didn't end leaving you unsatisfied (and if it ended in mystery it fit the story well).
I got sucked in and read everything at once but it was also a pretty quick read which was nice and perfect for my reading mood.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Death, and Blood
Minor: Death of parent and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
caughtbetweenpages's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This has been on my radar for quite some time and I'm thrilled that I happened to pick it up during the spookiest of seasons this year. Carroll's collection of bite-sized horror is ominous and foreboding and sometimes fucking nasty in turns, and I loved every bit of it. There are nods to old, familiar fairy tales (A Lady's Hands are Cold feels incredibly Bluebeard-esque, though with a decidedly happier ending), but there's a very Carrollesque bent to all the stories that make them feel unique to her, and not just because her illustrative style is so distinct. My favorite was the closing story, The Nesting Place, maybe because it touches on so many of my own personal fears. If anything, I wish there was a greater thematic throughline between the stories, so that the framing device of the introduction and conclusion (very Red Riding Hood, but the HEA hasn't and may never come) felt more appropriate (for lack of a better term? maybe of use?), OR that there was no framing device whatsoever, and the story collection was just presented as-is. I also just wanted there to be more of them, not because the collection needed it to be good, but because what is there is so good that I didn't want it to end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Parasite TWfadingmoths's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Animal death
suspiciouspinecone's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Quite scary, but I wish I got more from some of the stories, especially the first one, I genuinely don't know what happened at the end. Most of the others felt much more complete.
I don't usually read horror, so this was a nice change of pace. The art was really good, set the tone.
I don't usually read horror, so this was a nice change of pace. The art was really good, set the tone.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death and Body horror