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A review by raychelbennet
Cirque des Freaks and Other Tales of Horror by Julian Lopez
2.0
I really, really wanted to like this collection. It ticked a lot of my boxes for me: horror, queer characters, and fantastic elements. But unfortunately, I was quite disappointed with this. It didn't fit any of my expectations and I was left feeling...unfulfilled. Granted, the queer characters were nearly exclusively gay men and I do not fit into that box. I do not understand those relationships and aspects of queer culture, so maybe that's where it fell short for me. I might not be the intended audience, and that is completely 100% okay.
Separate from that, I also just did not really get the horror. I try to be really open-minded and even though very few things actually scare me, I know that everyone's definition of fear is different. I agree with another reviewer that I think it was marketed as the wrong genre. I think this was more dark fantasy than anything else, and to me, that has a much different connotation than horror.
The two stories I did enjoy were "Loving Death" and the title story, "Cirque des Freaks." "Loving Death" felt fully-realized and had an interesting plot. And I found the premise of "Cirque des Freaks" interesting, but what cemented it as great for me was the ending. I laughed out loud for a solid minute and, while I doubt that was the story's intention, it made it memorable.
Separate from that, I also just did not really get the horror. I try to be really open-minded and even though very few things actually scare me, I know that everyone's definition of fear is different. I agree with another reviewer that I think it was marketed as the wrong genre. I think this was more dark fantasy than anything else, and to me, that has a much different connotation than horror.
The two stories I did enjoy were "Loving Death" and the title story, "Cirque des Freaks." "Loving Death" felt fully-realized and had an interesting plot. And I found the premise of "Cirque des Freaks" interesting, but what cemented it as great for me was the ending. I laughed out loud for a solid minute and, while I doubt that was the story's intention, it made it memorable.