Scan barcode
musicalcows's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
3.75
The art is beautiful and so creepy, and the stories are unsettling. But I kept turning back through the pages thinking I had missed some piece of the storylines. I understood that they were all a sort of deceptive jumpscare vibe with the endings, but I was more confused than spooked.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent
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
spoon01's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? N/A
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Death
Minor: Death of parent
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
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
casdelvo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
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? N/A
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Ableism, Child death, and Death of parent
breadbummer's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
SO glad StoryGraph recommended this to me! If you're like me and go bananas for Over the Garden Wall but are also into darker stories, this is the book for you. I could not get enough of any of the stories, and I found it especially compelling that most, if not all, of them were ultimately metaphors for loss or coping with it. TLDR; this is a fantastic book and you should read it!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Animal death and Murder
Minor: Child death, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
vigil's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
much better than my previous jaunt into emily carroll’s work but my primary criticism remains: emily carroll is a gifted artist and a mediocre storyteller. this collection did have a better narrative than when i arrived at the castle, but nothing stood out for me personally.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
flamesocks's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder