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horrorbutch 's review for:
Other Terrors: An Inclusive Anthology
by Vince A. Liaguno, Rena Mason
I listened to this as an audiobook, which in parts enhanced and in others probably devalued my enjoyment of these horrifying tales (All not ready for example really benefitted, the poems didn't really work for me in audio). This anthology prides itself as an inclusive anthology and in fact it does feature quite a few diverse perspectives, but I was missing disabled voices and just kept waiting and hoping for a story to showcase some horror with disabled characters, but unfortunately that never manifested. Instead there was one story (Nightshopper by Michael Hanson) that used euphemisms such as "heigh-challenged" to describe fairytale creatures such as gnomes or "ocular-challenged" to described monsters with only one eye, which just felt very bad, particularly considering there are no disabled characters in the anthology itself. I did like that there were two stories featuring trans women (one of them clearly ownvoices and it really benefits from it!), but I disliked that the only trans man in this anthology is featured in "The Asylum" by Holly Lyn Walrath as a side character where he (and others that then also lay claim to manhood) is constantly referred to as part of "the women" in a group setting, which just left me with a very bitter taste in an anthology like this. Another issue I had was that "Scrape" by Denise Dumars, a story that follows a japanese woman and mentions the anti-asian hate crimes as results of the covid pandemic is written by a white author, which did not sit right with me, due to its heavy focus on these recent and violent events.
Having gotten that out of the way, I can definitely say that there are a few very interesting and cool stories here. My favorites where "Mudflappers" by Usman T. Malik (the story follows a small community by the seaside as they fight against a violent fishing syndicat, very good, very gruesome, really liked it), "Kalkydisa" by Larissa Glasser (A story about a trans archeologist who finds herself to close to history as she excavates an ancient roman battle field) and "The Voices of Nightingales" by M. E. Bronstein (a dark academia story about translation and the dark history that can hide behind some languages) and all three are authors I will be checking out. All in all an interesting anthology, but I just expected a bit more from it than it delivered.
Now following this will be my notes, ratings and trigger warnings for each story (since I listened to an audio book, I don't have a full list of the chapter titles, so if there's any typos here or I misunderstood any, please let me know!):
Other Fears by Christina Sng: A short story that deals with domenstic abuse and escaping said abuse through becoming the murderer, interesting, but I disliked some scenes that imply love as what makes us human (veeery nitpicky, but that trope just always bothers me), otherwise interesting and lyrical, 4/5 stars
tw domestic abuse, violence
Idiot Girls by Jennifer McMahon: this story follows two closeted sapphic girls, one lesbian, one girl that holds onto heterosexuality desperately bc of a homophobic religious mom (has sex with a girl but says shes not normally like this, she only likes boys), discovering a neighbours dark secrets after he catches them kissing, fun, great spooky ending, interesting, 4/5 stars
tw murder
Waste Not by Alma Katsu: a story about a woman discovering a dark secret at her mother-in-laws house, very dark and tense and good!, really built a claustrophobic and threatening atmosphere, which I loved, 4/5 stars
tw murder, hoarding
Nightshopper by Michael H. Hanson: a trans woman working delivery for an elect group of costumers, if you know the podcast Monstrous Agonies this might be interesting to you in that aspect, interesting and mostly fun, but I dislike the disability-ish references to the various monster qualities (height-challenged, occular-challenged, it just seems bad :/), also be warned for graphic transmisognystic assault, 3/5 stars
tw financial precarity, job loss, covid pandemic, transmisogyny, transphobic violent assault, slight islamophobia
Scrape by Denise Dumars: A japanese woman moved to mexico with her girlfriend after the covid pandemic, when a new and stranger new illness begins to spread and she finds weird growths on her body. I wish there had been a bit more to this one and when I looked up the authors and found out that she is most likely white, it felt a bit iffy to have so much focus on anti-asian hate crimes during the covid pandemic, 3/5 stars
tw death by cancer, anti asian racism due to covid, covid pandemic, murder, body horror-ish, weird surgery practices
Mudflappers by Usman T. Malik: a violent fishing syndicat that attacks a small community when they dare protest against their practices, to protect her family a grandmother reveals a secret, veeeery good & gruesome, 5/5 stars
tw murder, violence, racism, colonialism
Churn the Unturning Tide by Annie Neigebauer: slight theme of pregnancy as body horror which was fun, but not really the focus of the story, which was interesting to have a horror with a pregnant woman where the horror is not from the pregnancy, a pregnant woman does watergymnastics when something appears in the pool, unsettling and weeeeird, but fun! 4/5 stars
tw spiders, peer pressure, unsafe food consumptions
Theres only something in the woods by Gabino Iglesias: three people are in a cabin in the woods and tell stories about murderous creatures in the forest after seeing something weird, rather typical creepypasta swag but with latinx characters which made it better tbh, 3/5 stars
tw drugs, violence
The Turning by Hailey Piper: this story follows a young girl as her body changes into something strange during puberty, a very clear queer parallel, heartbreaking and good, 4/5 stars
tw body horror, unsupportive family, attempted murder, parental abuse
Help I'm a Cop by Nathan Carson: A cop gets beaten up while busting a party and has flashbacks to what brought him here, the flashbacks to his childhood were gross (8 yo desires gym teacher, 12 yo wants to have sex), he becomes a cop and does a police brutality and we're supposed to excuse that because his dad was rude and homophobic? Weird weird weird story. Idgaf for sad gay cops and I really hated the way csa was handled, 1/5 stars
tw physical violence, physical child abuse, threats of csa (excused bc the kid wants it), animal murder, police brutality
Miss Infection USA by Shanna Heath: a beauty queen contest for teen zombies is one of the only ways to escape being sold to a meat factory or a brothel in this post apocalyptic world, quite gorey, there is a zombie in a wheelchair, who is treated badly and feels kinda yiiikes, 2/5 stars
tw: necrophilia, rape, csa (+ threats thereof towards mcs)
All Not Ready by Tracy Cross: fun kid sci fi as they try out a new immersive program during recess, 4/5 stars
tw: graphic violence
Illusions of the Deevolved by Linda D. Addison: a short poem, interesting but veeeery short, 3/5 stars
Black Screams, Yellow Stars by Maxwell I. Gold: a post-facist america where black people and jewish people are being killed by people clad in white hoods, veeery creepy, but I would have enjoyed a different ending a bit more, 4/5 stars
tw slavery, lynching, murder, antisemitism, kukluxclan
Kalkydisa by Larissa Glasser: A trans woman archeologist in Germany is excavating an ancient roman battle field when the past comes to life, t4t (she meets a historican studying transfem music history, which was great!), tense and fun!, 5/5 stars
tw mentions of transmisogyny but no reproduction on page, past suicide attempt, heavy physical violence
The Devil Don't Come with Horns by Eugene Baker: a story set in a small town following a young black boy, a young biracial girl and the racist boys harassing them, the end was left really open and I would have liked more, but I liked the atmosphere, 3/5 stars
tw racism, animal murder, violence
Invasive Species by Ann Dávila Cardinal: A man is upset about the new residents moving into his neighbourhood, it was okay, but not really that interesting to me, 2/5 stars
The Asylum by Holly Lyn Walwrath: A story following people locked up in an asylum for being perceived as hysterical women where they are given hysterectomies and lobotomies following them as they deal with their existence locked up, features trans men but misgenders them as part of the group of "women", okay I Guess, felt weird how we are told there are trans men there but it doesnt matter to the story at all, otherwise rather boring, 2/5 stars
tw misgendering, gore, self harm, suicide
Tiddlywinks by Stephen Graham Jones: a group of teens is driving to a small gather when a cruel game has violent consequences, soooooo relateable tbh, fun, a good slasher, 4/5 stars
tw violence, gore, animal murder
Where the Love Light Gleams by Michael Thomas Ford: a haunting story about a man returning to his home town and finding himself in an alternative world instead, sooooo fucked up and fun! 4/5 stars
tw: murder, homophobia, what if your evil double was straight?
It Comes in Waves by Jonathan Lees: very lyrical, about a party at a beach where bodies have been appearing this summer, fun and fucked up, I liked it, 4/5 stars
tw drowning, homophobic bullying
The Voices of Nightingales by M.E. Bronstein: a dark academia story about learning an ancient language and uncovering its dark history, swag & veeeery fucked up, very fun, dark academia at its best! 5/5 stars
What Blood Have Wraught by S.A. Cosby: a story about working overnight in a dinner when a weird costumer enters, I did like the tension at first, but then I really didn't like the storyline of (deserved) generational slaughter and inherent evil, 2/5 stars
tw: slavery, past rape, past csa, graphic murder
Incident at Bear Creek Launch by Tananarive Due: Scary grandmother, starts good but I did not really vibe with the ending? 2/5 stars
tw: child abuse, racism
Having gotten that out of the way, I can definitely say that there are a few very interesting and cool stories here. My favorites where "Mudflappers" by Usman T. Malik (the story follows a small community by the seaside as they fight against a violent fishing syndicat, very good, very gruesome, really liked it), "Kalkydisa" by Larissa Glasser (A story about a trans archeologist who finds herself to close to history as she excavates an ancient roman battle field) and "The Voices of Nightingales" by M. E. Bronstein (a dark academia story about translation and the dark history that can hide behind some languages) and all three are authors I will be checking out. All in all an interesting anthology, but I just expected a bit more from it than it delivered.
Now following this will be my notes, ratings and trigger warnings for each story (since I listened to an audio book, I don't have a full list of the chapter titles, so if there's any typos here or I misunderstood any, please let me know!):
Other Fears by Christina Sng: A short story that deals with domenstic abuse and escaping said abuse through becoming the murderer, interesting, but I disliked some scenes that imply love as what makes us human (veeery nitpicky, but that trope just always bothers me), otherwise interesting and lyrical, 4/5 stars
tw domestic abuse, violence
Idiot Girls by Jennifer McMahon: this story follows two closeted sapphic girls, one lesbian, one girl that holds onto heterosexuality desperately bc of a homophobic religious mom (has sex with a girl but says shes not normally like this, she only likes boys), discovering a neighbours dark secrets after he catches them kissing, fun, great spooky ending, interesting, 4/5 stars
tw murder
Waste Not by Alma Katsu: a story about a woman discovering a dark secret at her mother-in-laws house, very dark and tense and good!, really built a claustrophobic and threatening atmosphere, which I loved, 4/5 stars
tw murder, hoarding
Nightshopper by Michael H. Hanson: a trans woman working delivery for an elect group of costumers, if you know the podcast Monstrous Agonies this might be interesting to you in that aspect, interesting and mostly fun, but I dislike the disability-ish references to the various monster qualities (height-challenged, occular-challenged, it just seems bad :/), also be warned for graphic transmisognystic assault, 3/5 stars
tw financial precarity, job loss, covid pandemic, transmisogyny, transphobic violent assault, slight islamophobia
Scrape by Denise Dumars: A japanese woman moved to mexico with her girlfriend after the covid pandemic, when a new and stranger new illness begins to spread and she finds weird growths on her body. I wish there had been a bit more to this one and when I looked up the authors and found out that she is most likely white, it felt a bit iffy to have so much focus on anti-asian hate crimes during the covid pandemic, 3/5 stars
tw death by cancer, anti asian racism due to covid, covid pandemic, murder, body horror-ish, weird surgery practices
Mudflappers by Usman T. Malik: a violent fishing syndicat that attacks a small community when they dare protest against their practices, to protect her family a grandmother reveals a secret, veeeery good & gruesome, 5/5 stars
tw murder, violence, racism, colonialism
Churn the Unturning Tide by Annie Neigebauer: slight theme of pregnancy as body horror which was fun, but not really the focus of the story, which was interesting to have a horror with a pregnant woman where the horror is not from the pregnancy, a pregnant woman does watergymnastics when something appears in the pool, unsettling and weeeeird, but fun! 4/5 stars
tw spiders, peer pressure, unsafe food consumptions
Theres only something in the woods by Gabino Iglesias: three people are in a cabin in the woods and tell stories about murderous creatures in the forest after seeing something weird, rather typical creepypasta swag but with latinx characters which made it better tbh, 3/5 stars
tw drugs, violence
The Turning by Hailey Piper: this story follows a young girl as her body changes into something strange during puberty, a very clear queer parallel, heartbreaking and good, 4/5 stars
tw body horror, unsupportive family, attempted murder, parental abuse
Help I'm a Cop by Nathan Carson: A cop gets beaten up while busting a party and has flashbacks to what brought him here, the flashbacks to his childhood were gross (8 yo desires gym teacher, 12 yo wants to have sex), he becomes a cop and does a police brutality and we're supposed to excuse that because his dad was rude and homophobic? Weird weird weird story. Idgaf for sad gay cops and I really hated the way csa was handled, 1/5 stars
tw physical violence, physical child abuse, threats of csa (excused bc the kid wants it), animal murder, police brutality
Miss Infection USA by Shanna Heath: a beauty queen contest for teen zombies is one of the only ways to escape being sold to a meat factory or a brothel in this post apocalyptic world, quite gorey, there is a zombie in a wheelchair, who is treated badly and feels kinda yiiikes, 2/5 stars
tw: necrophilia, rape, csa (+ threats thereof towards mcs)
All Not Ready by Tracy Cross: fun kid sci fi as they try out a new immersive program during recess, 4/5 stars
tw: graphic violence
Illusions of the Deevolved by Linda D. Addison: a short poem, interesting but veeeery short, 3/5 stars
Black Screams, Yellow Stars by Maxwell I. Gold: a post-facist america where black people and jewish people are being killed by people clad in white hoods, veeery creepy, but I would have enjoyed a different ending a bit more, 4/5 stars
tw slavery, lynching, murder, antisemitism, kukluxclan
Kalkydisa by Larissa Glasser: A trans woman archeologist in Germany is excavating an ancient roman battle field when the past comes to life, t4t (she meets a historican studying transfem music history, which was great!), tense and fun!, 5/5 stars
tw mentions of transmisogyny but no reproduction on page, past suicide attempt, heavy physical violence
The Devil Don't Come with Horns by Eugene Baker: a story set in a small town following a young black boy, a young biracial girl and the racist boys harassing them, the end was left really open and I would have liked more, but I liked the atmosphere, 3/5 stars
tw racism, animal murder, violence
Invasive Species by Ann Dávila Cardinal: A man is upset about the new residents moving into his neighbourhood, it was okay, but not really that interesting to me, 2/5 stars
The Asylum by Holly Lyn Walwrath: A story following people locked up in an asylum for being perceived as hysterical women where they are given hysterectomies and lobotomies following them as they deal with their existence locked up, features trans men but misgenders them as part of the group of "women", okay I Guess, felt weird how we are told there are trans men there but it doesnt matter to the story at all, otherwise rather boring, 2/5 stars
tw misgendering, gore, self harm, suicide
Tiddlywinks by Stephen Graham Jones: a group of teens is driving to a small gather when a cruel game has violent consequences, soooooo relateable tbh, fun, a good slasher, 4/5 stars
tw violence, gore, animal murder
Where the Love Light Gleams by Michael Thomas Ford: a haunting story about a man returning to his home town and finding himself in an alternative world instead, sooooo fucked up and fun! 4/5 stars
tw: murder, homophobia, what if your evil double was straight?
It Comes in Waves by Jonathan Lees: very lyrical, about a party at a beach where bodies have been appearing this summer, fun and fucked up, I liked it, 4/5 stars
tw drowning, homophobic bullying
The Voices of Nightingales by M.E. Bronstein: a dark academia story about learning an ancient language and uncovering its dark history, swag & veeeery fucked up, very fun, dark academia at its best! 5/5 stars
What Blood Have Wraught by S.A. Cosby: a story about working overnight in a dinner when a weird costumer enters, I did like the tension at first, but then I really didn't like the storyline of (deserved) generational slaughter and inherent evil, 2/5 stars
tw: slavery, past rape, past csa, graphic murder
Incident at Bear Creek Launch by Tananarive Due: Scary grandmother, starts good but I did not really vibe with the ending? 2/5 stars
tw: child abuse, racism