Book Review: Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw ‘Nothing But Blackened Teeth’ by Cassandra Khaw was released in 2021. It is a short story which follows a group of friends who have trespassed on a haunted mansion in Japan to look for ghosts. The story follows Cat and her friends, who decided that theyContinueContinue reading
Category Archives: Short Fiction
‘The Mist’ is one of Stephen King’s novellas, first published 1980. This short story delves into a more eldritch take on horror, whilst also delving into what makes a monster. It looks at one of my favourite areas of niche media; ones that delve into the possibilities of deep, horrific, government orchestrated creations being inadvertently unleashed, and the horrible atrocities that could commence.
Book Review: Guillotine by Delilah S. Dawson ‘Guillotine’ by Delilah S. Dawson was published in 2024. It is a short story that explores the super-rich and exclusivity of it through grotesque and visceral horror. The horror in this book was harrowing and intimate in a variety of ways and was incredibly interesting to look into.ContinueContinue reading
Book Review: That Time I Got Drunk And Yeeted A Love Potion At A Werewolf ‘That Time I Got Drunk And Yeeted A Love Potion At A Werewolf’ is the second book in Kimberly Lemming’s Mead Mishaps series. It was released in 2022 and is available to read via Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited subscription. This isContinueContinue reading
Book Review: The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw ‘The Salt Grows Heavy’ by Cassandra Khaw was released in 2023. It is a unique blend of horror and dark fantasy, exploring darker themes through supernatural entities and grotesque violence. There are two main characters, neither of whom are named, The Plague Doctor and The Mermaid,ContinueContinue reading
Book Review: The Break-Up Artist by Erin Clark and Laura Lovely ‘The Break-Up Artist’ by Erin Clark and Laura Lovely was an audible original novella, and is only available to listen to with an Audible subscription. It tells a compelling story of grief, jealousy, miscommunications, imposter syndrome and all the nuanced issues with falling inContinueContinue reading
Book Review: Life On The Refrigerator Door by Alice Kuipers ‘Life On The Refrigerator Door’ by Alice Kuipers was originally published in 2007. It was her debut novel. It is written in epistolary style, and explores the relationship between a mother and daughter, when they don’t realise their time together is running out. Claire isContinueContinue reading
Book Review: Under The Rainbow by Celia Laskey ‘Under The Rainbow’ was released in 2020, it was the author, Celia Laskey’s debut novel. The book offers a lot of insight into the change that can come when a LGBTQ+ organisation comes to reform the most homophobic town in the United States, Big Burr, Kansas. IContinueContinue reading
‘Medusa’ is a novella by Jessie Burton that was published by Bloomsbury in 2021. It follows the story of mythological figure, Medusa, and offers a take on her encounter with Perseus, one of the demigod sons of Zeus.
‘Tender Is The Flesh’ by Augustina Bazterrica was originally published in Spanish in 2017. Pushkin Press released an English translated edition, with a translation provided by Sarah Moses in 2020.
Book Review: Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield ‘Our Wives Under The Sea’ by Julia Armfield was released in 2022. It was her debut novel and follows the story of Miri and her wife, Leah, a marine biologist, whose voyage beneath the waves that was expected to take three weeks lasted six months.ContinueContinue reading
‘Diary of a Void’ is a feminist novel by Emi Yagi, which was published in 2022. It follows the life of Ms Shibata, the only woman in her office, who is subconsciously obligated to do menial tasks for her male colleagues such as make coffees, prepare snacks that clients have gifted the firm and clear meeting rooms of the coffee cups left behind by her colleagues.
‘How The King Of Elfhame Learned To Hate Stories’ was released in 2020. It is an accompanying novella that provides episodic glimpses into the life of King Cardan of Elfhame, and his life prior to, during, and post the events of ‘The Folk Of The Air’ Trilogy, it has brilliant illustrations throughout, provided by Rovina Cai.
‘How High We Go In The Dark’ is a series of interconnected short stories by Sequoia Nagamatsu. It was published in 2022, in the wake of the Covid19 pandemic, and follows an alternative version of this world, in which a prehistoric pathogen is unearthed in the body of a young girl, who is preserved in ice and excavated from a site in Siberia.
‘The Vision’ is an early novella by Dean Koontz that follows a psychic, haunted by traumas, long-repressed from her childhood. Due to the nature of the story, this story could prove deeply triggering, and contains rather explicit depictions of animal abuse, sexual assault, sexual abuse, molestation and manipulation. If you do intend to read this, please tread carefully, and be mindful of your limits.
Imogen L. Smiley 