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horrorbutch 's review for:
Why Didn't You Just Leave
by Nadia Bulkin, Julia Rios
Disclaimer: I received a review copy by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Having recently discovered Cursed Morsel Press with "The Nightmare Box and Other Stories", I was incredibly excited to get this ARC in my inbox. I was expecting a great work of diverse horror with stories that would make my skin crawl and explore societal wrongs at the same time and I received that. But I also received a wonderful exploration of the haunted house genre and its themes of family, poverty and trauma. The hauntings are often something different here, from your typical vengeful ghosts, over trauma, possession, loss, mental illness and other people, to a strange disease and the places that are haunted reach from ones own home, a loved ones home, a prison, a hut in the mountains, a bathroom, a bed and an old chair. As you can already tell, there's a wide variety provided here and in general if you enjoy the haunted house trope please read this collection! There will be a story here that you enjoy!
My personal favorite pieces were: Exposure by E.M. Linden, Your Application to Vacate 372 Wicker Avenue is still Pending by Steve Loiaconi, Lamai by J.A.W. McCarthy, She Has Me, She Holds Me, She Shows Me the Emptiness by R. Diego Martinez, To the Moon and Back by Christa Carmen, Good Company by Suzan Palumbo, Tell me your Sins and I'll tell you Mine by Cassandra Khaw & AITA for setting my dad's trailer on fire by Max Booth III. I've bolded them in my short list where I've noted down some trigger warnings (which are also provided in the back of the book!):
No Joy Exists Anywhere Beyond Your Front Door by Corey Farrenkopf - a pick your own adventure type story featuring a nice combination of four fucked up homes, I particularly liked the serial killer floorboards and the house made of skin and most importantly I am so glad I don't live in either, 4/5 tw gore
The World Ended There by Alberto Chimal - a heartbreaking haunting of loss, the world depicted here was bleak and haunting and unfortunately much too realistic, 4/5 tw murder, implied csa
*Fav* Exposure by E.M. Linden - an isolation horror set in a small mountain hut during a snow story, veeeeery good and claustrophobic, 5/5 tw death
Spend-A-Penny by Die Booth - a haunted public bathroom featuring a trans woman MC, spooky and yet with a very sweet ending, 4/5
Kin by Raquel Castro -A hungry haunted house and the family that it devours, fuuuuun!!!! 4/5 tw suicide, infant death
*Fav* Your Application to Vacate 372 Wicker Avenue is Still Pending by Steve Loiaconi - A family desperately trying to move out of a government funded haunted home when the haunting turns out to be a lot more deadly than advertised, wonderfully describes the frustration and horror of the very slow movement of bureaucracy, 5/5 tw: death
*Fav* Lamai by J.A.W. McCarthy - A ghost helps a lesbian get over her unrequited crush, messed up and really fun! 5/5 tw murder, eating non-food, hallucinations
The Spirit Bed by Eden Royce - A haunted bed and a sister delving into dreams to rescue her sister, it's ok and I liked the ghost lore but unfortunately the rest was a bit boring and this story did not interest me that much, 2/5 tw ableism
*Fav* She Has Me, She Holds Me, She Shows Me the Emptiness by R. Diego Martinez - a man escapes from his unhealthy relationship and mental illness by letting a ghost possess him, disassociation swag, fuuuuuun!!!! Tw: self harm, discussion of suicide, emotional abuse, past homophobic hate crime 5/5
Unread Messages by Gabe Converse - a trans man is haunted by his mother that kicked him out after transitioning, heartbreaking and scary, bonus points for a cute cat <3, 4/5 tw transphobic parent, deadnaming
Because It Was Worse Outside by Victoria Dalpe - a woman unable to leave her house under the best circumstances faces a new horror when a terrifying creature starts appearing in her wall, fucky, scary and unfortunately realistic in its horror, 4/5 tw: past rape, past murder, anxiety/panic attacks/trauma
Wolves in the Little Pig's House by Shauntae Ball - three siblings escape from their hoarder mother's house after a fire, but are they truly free? Interesting and messed up, 4/5 tw: physical abuse, murder, abusive family, animal death
Mother Nature Knows Best by Tonia Ransom - a convicted serial killer and a woman exchange letters when some strange disease starts infecting people in the prison, fuuuuuun and it felt incredibly timely considering the way Covid19 was allowed to sweep through prisons, 4/5 tw: death row, epidemic, serial murder, death
*Fav* To the Moon and Back by Christa Carmen - When i started this short story i was confused how the title would work, but it does fit wonderfully, a mother haunted and her concered daughter, made me tear up a bit, 5/5 tw: past covid deaths, past epidemic, past attempted rape, past schoolshooting
*Fav* Good Company by Suzan Palumbo - A migrant caretaker is determined to stay at her place of employment at any cost, even if her employer's ghosts are coming after her, heartbreaking and scary and a very great exploration of the exploitation of migrant labor, 5/5 tw: past child death, strangulation
The Walls in This House by Lyndsey Croal - a young girl and her neglectful mother live in a house haunted by her dead grandmother, fucked up but fun!!!! 4/5 tw: neglectful parent, animal murder, murder
*Fav* Tell Me Your Sins and I'll Tell You Mine by Cassandra Khaw - a woman with a dark past moves into a new place with her husband, he loves her despite her past and she tries to make it work, but their neighbors, his friends, that they moved in with, really don't make it easy! Soooo fucked up, gross and fun!!!! 5/5 tw murder
Where There's Smoke by Alexis DuBon - a house that loves you and hates you and most importantly wants to keep you all for itself, fun and scary, very lyrical and I loved the descriptions of colors 4/5, tw: abusive relationship
Anagen by Rhiannon Rasmussen - very short, about a student moving into a hallway thats pretty much just a toilet and a bathtub, cursed renting experience, but too short to be truly unsettling 3/5
The Head Harvest by Joe Koch - a man returning to his childhood home that he left with his dad telling him to never come back and finding it empty, unfortunately a bit disjointed and not too interesting to me, 2/5 tw animal death
Teeth by I.S. Belle - A lonely person moves into a new places with roommates and hopes to find connection, unfortunately the house is quite possessive, fun! 4/5 tw: unsanitary living conditions, domestic abuse (in a way)
*Fav* AITA for setting my dad's trailer on fire: Max Booth III - A daughter returns to her hoarder dad's trailer after her mom's death to help him clean it before selling it, gross and fucked up and fun!!!!!!, 5/5 tw medical gore, graphic injury, unsanitary, disordered eating
Having recently discovered Cursed Morsel Press with "The Nightmare Box and Other Stories", I was incredibly excited to get this ARC in my inbox. I was expecting a great work of diverse horror with stories that would make my skin crawl and explore societal wrongs at the same time and I received that. But I also received a wonderful exploration of the haunted house genre and its themes of family, poverty and trauma. The hauntings are often something different here, from your typical vengeful ghosts, over trauma, possession, loss, mental illness and other people, to a strange disease and the places that are haunted reach from ones own home, a loved ones home, a prison, a hut in the mountains, a bathroom, a bed and an old chair. As you can already tell, there's a wide variety provided here and in general if you enjoy the haunted house trope please read this collection! There will be a story here that you enjoy!
My personal favorite pieces were: Exposure by E.M. Linden, Your Application to Vacate 372 Wicker Avenue is still Pending by Steve Loiaconi, Lamai by J.A.W. McCarthy, She Has Me, She Holds Me, She Shows Me the Emptiness by R. Diego Martinez, To the Moon and Back by Christa Carmen, Good Company by Suzan Palumbo, Tell me your Sins and I'll tell you Mine by Cassandra Khaw & AITA for setting my dad's trailer on fire by Max Booth III. I've bolded them in my short list where I've noted down some trigger warnings (which are also provided in the back of the book!):
No Joy Exists Anywhere Beyond Your Front Door by Corey Farrenkopf - a pick your own adventure type story featuring a nice combination of four fucked up homes, I particularly liked the serial killer floorboards and the house made of skin and most importantly I am so glad I don't live in either, 4/5 tw gore
The World Ended There by Alberto Chimal - a heartbreaking haunting of loss, the world depicted here was bleak and haunting and unfortunately much too realistic, 4/5 tw murder, implied csa
*Fav* Exposure by E.M. Linden - an isolation horror set in a small mountain hut during a snow story, veeeeery good and claustrophobic, 5/5 tw death
Spend-A-Penny by Die Booth - a haunted public bathroom featuring a trans woman MC, spooky and yet with a very sweet ending, 4/5
Kin by Raquel Castro -A hungry haunted house and the family that it devours, fuuuuun!!!! 4/5 tw suicide, infant death
*Fav* Your Application to Vacate 372 Wicker Avenue is Still Pending by Steve Loiaconi - A family desperately trying to move out of a government funded haunted home when the haunting turns out to be a lot more deadly than advertised, wonderfully describes the frustration and horror of the very slow movement of bureaucracy, 5/5 tw: death
*Fav* Lamai by J.A.W. McCarthy - A ghost helps a lesbian get over her unrequited crush, messed up and really fun! 5/5 tw murder, eating non-food, hallucinations
The Spirit Bed by Eden Royce - A haunted bed and a sister delving into dreams to rescue her sister, it's ok and I liked the ghost lore but unfortunately the rest was a bit boring and this story did not interest me that much, 2/5 tw ableism
*Fav* She Has Me, She Holds Me, She Shows Me the Emptiness by R. Diego Martinez - a man escapes from his unhealthy relationship and mental illness by letting a ghost possess him, disassociation swag, fuuuuuun!!!! Tw: self harm, discussion of suicide, emotional abuse, past homophobic hate crime 5/5
Unread Messages by Gabe Converse - a trans man is haunted by his mother that kicked him out after transitioning, heartbreaking and scary, bonus points for a cute cat <3, 4/5 tw transphobic parent, deadnaming
Because It Was Worse Outside by Victoria Dalpe - a woman unable to leave her house under the best circumstances faces a new horror when a terrifying creature starts appearing in her wall, fucky, scary and unfortunately realistic in its horror, 4/5 tw: past rape, past murder, anxiety/panic attacks/trauma
Wolves in the Little Pig's House by Shauntae Ball - three siblings escape from their hoarder mother's house after a fire, but are they truly free? Interesting and messed up, 4/5 tw: physical abuse, murder, abusive family, animal death
Mother Nature Knows Best by Tonia Ransom - a convicted serial killer and a woman exchange letters when some strange disease starts infecting people in the prison, fuuuuuun and it felt incredibly timely considering the way Covid19 was allowed to sweep through prisons, 4/5 tw: death row, epidemic, serial murder, death
*Fav* To the Moon and Back by Christa Carmen - When i started this short story i was confused how the title would work, but it does fit wonderfully, a mother haunted and her concered daughter, made me tear up a bit, 5/5 tw: past covid deaths, past epidemic, past attempted rape, past schoolshooting
*Fav* Good Company by Suzan Palumbo - A migrant caretaker is determined to stay at her place of employment at any cost, even if her employer's ghosts are coming after her, heartbreaking and scary and a very great exploration of the exploitation of migrant labor, 5/5 tw: past child death, strangulation
The Walls in This House by Lyndsey Croal - a young girl and her neglectful mother live in a house haunted by her dead grandmother, fucked up but fun!!!! 4/5 tw: neglectful parent, animal murder, murder
*Fav* Tell Me Your Sins and I'll Tell You Mine by Cassandra Khaw - a woman with a dark past moves into a new place with her husband, he loves her despite her past and she tries to make it work, but their neighbors, his friends, that they moved in with, really don't make it easy! Soooo fucked up, gross and fun!!!! 5/5 tw murder
Where There's Smoke by Alexis DuBon - a house that loves you and hates you and most importantly wants to keep you all for itself, fun and scary, very lyrical and I loved the descriptions of colors 4/5, tw: abusive relationship
Anagen by Rhiannon Rasmussen - very short, about a student moving into a hallway thats pretty much just a toilet and a bathtub, cursed renting experience, but too short to be truly unsettling 3/5
The Head Harvest by Joe Koch - a man returning to his childhood home that he left with his dad telling him to never come back and finding it empty, unfortunately a bit disjointed and not too interesting to me, 2/5 tw animal death
Teeth by I.S. Belle - A lonely person moves into a new places with roommates and hopes to find connection, unfortunately the house is quite possessive, fun! 4/5 tw: unsanitary living conditions, domestic abuse (in a way)
*Fav* AITA for setting my dad's trailer on fire: Max Booth III - A daughter returns to her hoarder dad's trailer after her mom's death to help him clean it before selling it, gross and fucked up and fun!!!!!!, 5/5 tw medical gore, graphic injury, unsanitary, disordered eating