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A review by house_of_hannah
Extinction Hymns by Eric Raglin
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thank you so much to Brigids Gate Press and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC; it is greatly appreciated.
I have read my fair share of horror anthologies this year, and I must say this is one of the better ones ! I have found that I have a particular fondness for stories that are only a few pages long, but can still pack such a punch, and most of these delivered. I will admit, I did not realize these were all written by the same author until the end; not sure how I managed that !
Usually for a short story collection I will list out each title, give a summary, and my personal rating for each story, but with 18 titles here I feel that's a bit much. The end of the book lists the content warnings, so this time I am just going to stick to sharing those.
Silver Dollar Eyes: Child death by cancer
The Resurrection Doll: Suicide, Self-Harm
Angel Teeth: Drug Addiction, Torture
Transubstantiation: Graphic Child Death
In His Youth: Brief non-explicit mention of child sexual assault
A Most bulbous Congregation: Child Torture, Conversion Therapy
The Last Summer: None
Elevator Boys: Child Death
Dead Rain: Suicide, Death of a Parent, Child Death
A Coarse Yellow Sea: Child Endangerment and Death, Animal Neglect, Attempted Suicide, Internalized Biphobia, Homophobic Language, Spouse Incarceration, Drug Use
What to Do with Grandpa: Self-Harm, Dementia
A Creature Nailed upon the Corridor of Time: None
The Strangling Ash: Mother death in childbirth, Verbal and physical child abuse
Floaters: Suicide, Extreme Violence, Workplace Misogyny
Boning: Torture, Extreme Violence, Cancer
Heirlooms: Cancer, Self-Harm
'Til the Sun Wheel Turns No More: Self-Harm, Extreme Violence, Parent rejecting gay child, Nazism
The Last of her Kind: Animal Death
Most of these stories felt so fresh and original. Each one was unique from all the others. There were multiple moments where I just sat there for a moment after finishing a story just to process what I just read. I think the first several stories are the ones that will stick with me the most.
This collection was also incredibly easy to read. I could not stop myself from turning the page to read more. This just felt completely up my alley, and what I've been looking for when it comes to anthologies, so I will definitely be picking up Eric Raglin's other work !
I have read my fair share of horror anthologies this year, and I must say this is one of the better ones ! I have found that I have a particular fondness for stories that are only a few pages long, but can still pack such a punch, and most of these delivered. I will admit, I did not realize these were all written by the same author until the end; not sure how I managed that !
Usually for a short story collection I will list out each title, give a summary, and my personal rating for each story, but with 18 titles here I feel that's a bit much. The end of the book lists the content warnings, so this time I am just going to stick to sharing those.
Silver Dollar Eyes: Child death by cancer
The Resurrection Doll: Suicide, Self-Harm
Angel Teeth: Drug Addiction, Torture
Transubstantiation: Graphic Child Death
In His Youth: Brief non-explicit mention of child sexual assault
A Most bulbous Congregation: Child Torture, Conversion Therapy
The Last Summer: None
Elevator Boys: Child Death
Dead Rain: Suicide, Death of a Parent, Child Death
A Coarse Yellow Sea: Child Endangerment and Death, Animal Neglect, Attempted Suicide, Internalized Biphobia, Homophobic Language, Spouse Incarceration, Drug Use
What to Do with Grandpa: Self-Harm, Dementia
A Creature Nailed upon the Corridor of Time: None
The Strangling Ash: Mother death in childbirth, Verbal and physical child abuse
Floaters: Suicide, Extreme Violence, Workplace Misogyny
Boning: Torture, Extreme Violence, Cancer
Heirlooms: Cancer, Self-Harm
'Til the Sun Wheel Turns No More: Self-Harm, Extreme Violence, Parent rejecting gay child, Nazism
The Last of her Kind: Animal Death
Most of these stories felt so fresh and original. Each one was unique from all the others. There were multiple moments where I just sat there for a moment after finishing a story just to process what I just read. I think the first several stories are the ones that will stick with me the most.
This collection was also incredibly easy to read. I could not stop myself from turning the page to read more. This just felt completely up my alley, and what I've been looking for when it comes to anthologies, so I will definitely be picking up Eric Raglin's other work !
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement and Sexual assault
Minor: Animal death, Misogyny, and Dementia