booksthatburn's profile picture

booksthatburn 's review for:

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw
5.0
dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

NOTHING BUT BLACKENED TEETH is a chilling story with a classic setup: a very old mansion which the protagonists aren’t really supposed to have entered, and a variety of interpersonal tensions and allegiances which normally wouldn’t matter much to their daily existence but suddenly drive life-and-death stakes when the spooky stuff begins. The prose is exquisite, articulating the numb feeling of finding oneself the genre-savvy protagonist of a horror story but unable to change things. I love how it uses the hero’s trope-awareness to ramp up the terror and resignation as events play out to their viscera-laden conclusion. 

Short and spooky with an excellent ending, make sure this is on your horror shelf.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings