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horrorbutch
Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from netgalley in exchange for a review.
This is a short graphic novel adaptation of the video game Cult of the Lamb. Having played the game myself (although not through one full run yet, but gaining enough knowledge of the mechanics), I was intrigued to see what this adaptation would provide extra aside from the game. It provides some background information and gives a player character thoughts and opinions of their own, which I enjoyed. While this adaptation might move a bit too fast and provide scarcely enough information if you are not at all familiar with the source material, I do think for fans of the game it can be intriguing.
The art does capture the cuteness of the original game, while emphasizing the gore and disgusting aspects of it a lot more. Be prepared for gratuitous gore (which isn’t in the game that much), vomiting and the many, many piles of shit (this is part of the game!). For parts I was prepared due to knowing the game, but I also expected the gore, since I do think a cute art style and gore do mix well sometimes. They do mix well for this graphic novel. While it does feel like an intentionally dark run, this is done to explain some mechanics in the game and give Lamb a potential story arc to grow from, which was interesting, and which piqued my interest in the future volumes.
I am not personally sure that I would recommend this to someone who doesn’t know the game at all. From a purely reader perspective there is not that much to be gained from the story, as it is a very dense lore being portrayed in just about 100 pages. But if you are a fan of Cult of the Lamb and enjoy graphic novel adaptions of video games then you might enjoy this one just like I did!
Tw: suicide, gore, unsanitary, illness, vomit, excrements, sacrifice, death, cults, indoctrination
This is a short graphic novel adaptation of the video game Cult of the Lamb. Having played the game myself (although not through one full run yet, but gaining enough knowledge of the mechanics), I was intrigued to see what this adaptation would provide extra aside from the game. It provides some background information and gives a player character thoughts and opinions of their own, which I enjoyed. While this adaptation might move a bit too fast and provide scarcely enough information if you are not at all familiar with the source material, I do think for fans of the game it can be intriguing.
The art does capture the cuteness of the original game, while emphasizing the gore and disgusting aspects of it a lot more. Be prepared for gratuitous gore (which isn’t in the game that much), vomiting and the many, many piles of shit (this is part of the game!). For parts I was prepared due to knowing the game, but I also expected the gore, since I do think a cute art style and gore do mix well sometimes. They do mix well for this graphic novel. While it does feel like an intentionally dark run, this is done to explain some mechanics in the game and give Lamb a potential story arc to grow from, which was interesting, and which piqued my interest in the future volumes.
I am not personally sure that I would recommend this to someone who doesn’t know the game at all. From a purely reader perspective there is not that much to be gained from the story, as it is a very dense lore being portrayed in just about 100 pages. But if you are a fan of Cult of the Lamb and enjoy graphic novel adaptions of video games then you might enjoy this one just like I did!
Tw: suicide, gore, unsanitary, illness, vomit, excrements, sacrifice, death, cults, indoctrination
Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from netgalley in exchange for a review.
A short story collection with some sci fi and fantasy elements, but mostly horror focused short stories often dealing with topics of race and gender and the intersection thereof. While many of the stories have quite interesting bones, the meat was often lacking due to length and not enough development, which unfortunately is the reason for my low rating. I enjoyed many aspects that were presented in this horror collection, from the criticism of a patriarchal and sexist society and the way this story tackled racism. Many of the stories left me saddened for the characters, knowing that their struggles are still much too prevalent in todays’ society. I also liked the variety of horror presented here, as from folk horror to alien horror to very interesting looks at spiritualist horror as well as the human horrors all is present. However, some of the stories are so short I grew mainly confused at their inclusion and wish they had been removed to allow the other stories more room to breathe. The ideas are certainly often very interesting and even though the way the ideas were put down on paper didn’t always work for me, I still had an interesting time and I do think I want to check out more work by the author, particularly if she ever writes a longer piece in the horror genre as I believe that given some space to breathe and grow her stories could be a lot more interesting.
My favorite stories were Urban Wendy (for its interesting take on Urban Legends), Etta, Zora and the First Serpent (for its intriguing characters and the combination of spiritualism with the human monsters), The Curl of Emma Jean (for its look into a messy family story and the way it presents two deeply unlikeable characters), And They Will Rise From the Oceans (a story about a summoner feeling compelled to open a door to right a historical wrong, but maybe falling for the whispers of something much darker) & Cemetery Sisters (a young woman encounters two ghosts during her work at the graveyard, but soon finds herself in… grave danger… :P) and here underneath you can find the various short stories with some thoughts and the trigger warnings that apply:
Nussia: A little girl is part of the first family chosen to host an Alien on Earth. But will her excited dreams of a best friend become a reality when the Alien arrives? And how will racism and xenophobia influence their newfound status as not just the first family to host an Alien, but the first Black family? Very interesting writing style and my heart breaks for Lindsay, but it was a bit too long to fully keep my attention. tw: racism, drugs, forced institutionalization
*FAV* Urban Wendy: A former Wendy’s employee finds herself haunted by a little redheaded girl who wants her to return to her old job. Interesting and quite scary, which I really enjoyed. tw: attempted sexual assault, physical violence
*FAV* Etta, Zora, and the First Serpent: A fascinating look into Harlem, the life of a dancing girl and seances. I really liked the characters presented here and enjoyed the creeping dread that filled these pages as Etta first encounters human monsters and soon finds herself in even more danger as she turns to inhuman ones for help. tw: sexual assault, underage sex work, racism, past csa
Family Line: A sixteen year old boy visits his cousins in North Carolina and soon gets drawn into a dark ritual, interesting, but a bit too short for me to really enjoy it, tw: slavery, human sacrifice
Doll Seed: A doll in a toy store comes alive and soon faces convoluted social structures that the other dolls have made up, heartbreaking in its exploration of racism both from the other dolls and from humans, but I wish this story had dived a bit deeper into this world of living toys that it created. tw: n slur, anti-black racist language, suicide
*FAV* The Curl of Emma Jean: two sisters await their father’s inheritance when the heritage of one sister’s kid becomes a topic of contention, interesting character study of two siblings and I enjoyed the dread that built even though not a lot happened in the story, tw: past drug addiction, messy supernatural sex of dubious consent involving (dream) animals, torture, anti black racism, ableism
The Wishing Well Off Fordham Road: A small neighborhood suddenly sports its own wishing well, but our protagonist is not sure she can really trust the creature, interesting concept, but I could have done without the ableist language in it, heartbreaking exploration of a lost woman’s thoughts and feelings, but I would have liked a deeper exploration of wishes gone wrong, since the topic was brought up, tw ableist language against little people (unexamined), sexual assault, body horror, death
Grinding Disney: A very short gorey story about exactly what the title promises, intriguing concept, but I would have liked more exploration of the why, tw murder, gore
What the Slots Hold: A Greek goddess revenge on casinos, okay, but again, very short and so not interesting enough
The Lineup: A very short story about a neighborhood bully who performs a dangerous stunt, feels underexplored due to being so short
Miss Black Little Hill of 1965: A young wife’s dreams are shattered when her husband introduces her to his day job, okay, but again, too short, tw: threats of murder
The Invisible Son: A son and dad drug-selling duo and the night that changes their routine, the story is okay, but not exploring a particularly interesting idea, tw: drugs, murder
New Employee Orientation Guide for Snatch Day: A troll bridge senior home employee guide provides a yearly event for its elderly residents to remind them of the good old days of human snatching, a very intriguing idea and I enjoy the writing style
*FAV* And They Will Rise from the Oceans: A Black spiritualist becomes obsessed with water demons and drags himself, his spouse and his congregation ever further into their depths after a recent trip to Africa, I really enjoyed the way this story interwove Black history with spiritualist ideals as well as the yearning love of a woman for her spouse and the horror of dealing with beings you don’t fully understand, very well written and interesting tw: slavery, mass murder
*FAV* Cemetery Sisters: A young woman stuck in a small town that separated from the rest of the world after an outbreak of disease finds herself hearing voices just like her mother, unsettling and with fascinating worldbuilding this combines post-apocalypse with hauntings and works as a really, really great ending of the anthology. tw: ableism, murder
A short story collection with some sci fi and fantasy elements, but mostly horror focused short stories often dealing with topics of race and gender and the intersection thereof. While many of the stories have quite interesting bones, the meat was often lacking due to length and not enough development, which unfortunately is the reason for my low rating. I enjoyed many aspects that were presented in this horror collection, from the criticism of a patriarchal and sexist society and the way this story tackled racism. Many of the stories left me saddened for the characters, knowing that their struggles are still much too prevalent in todays’ society. I also liked the variety of horror presented here, as from folk horror to alien horror to very interesting looks at spiritualist horror as well as the human horrors all is present. However, some of the stories are so short I grew mainly confused at their inclusion and wish they had been removed to allow the other stories more room to breathe. The ideas are certainly often very interesting and even though the way the ideas were put down on paper didn’t always work for me, I still had an interesting time and I do think I want to check out more work by the author, particularly if she ever writes a longer piece in the horror genre as I believe that given some space to breathe and grow her stories could be a lot more interesting.
My favorite stories were Urban Wendy (for its interesting take on Urban Legends), Etta, Zora and the First Serpent (for its intriguing characters and the combination of spiritualism with the human monsters), The Curl of Emma Jean (for its look into a messy family story and the way it presents two deeply unlikeable characters), And They Will Rise From the Oceans (a story about a summoner feeling compelled to open a door to right a historical wrong, but maybe falling for the whispers of something much darker) & Cemetery Sisters (a young woman encounters two ghosts during her work at the graveyard, but soon finds herself in… grave danger… :P) and here underneath you can find the various short stories with some thoughts and the trigger warnings that apply:
Nussia: A little girl is part of the first family chosen to host an Alien on Earth. But will her excited dreams of a best friend become a reality when the Alien arrives? And how will racism and xenophobia influence their newfound status as not just the first family to host an Alien, but the first Black family? Very interesting writing style and my heart breaks for Lindsay, but it was a bit too long to fully keep my attention. tw: racism, drugs, forced institutionalization
*FAV* Urban Wendy: A former Wendy’s employee finds herself haunted by a little redheaded girl who wants her to return to her old job. Interesting and quite scary, which I really enjoyed. tw: attempted sexual assault, physical violence
*FAV* Etta, Zora, and the First Serpent: A fascinating look into Harlem, the life of a dancing girl and seances. I really liked the characters presented here and enjoyed the creeping dread that filled these pages as Etta first encounters human monsters and soon finds herself in even more danger as she turns to inhuman ones for help. tw: sexual assault, underage sex work, racism, past csa
Family Line: A sixteen year old boy visits his cousins in North Carolina and soon gets drawn into a dark ritual, interesting, but a bit too short for me to really enjoy it, tw: slavery, human sacrifice
Doll Seed: A doll in a toy store comes alive and soon faces convoluted social structures that the other dolls have made up, heartbreaking in its exploration of racism both from the other dolls and from humans, but I wish this story had dived a bit deeper into this world of living toys that it created. tw: n slur, anti-black racist language, suicide
*FAV* The Curl of Emma Jean: two sisters await their father’s inheritance when the heritage of one sister’s kid becomes a topic of contention, interesting character study of two siblings and I enjoyed the dread that built even though not a lot happened in the story, tw: past drug addiction, messy supernatural sex of dubious consent involving (dream) animals, torture, anti black racism, ableism
The Wishing Well Off Fordham Road: A small neighborhood suddenly sports its own wishing well, but our protagonist is not sure she can really trust the creature, interesting concept, but I could have done without the ableist language in it, heartbreaking exploration of a lost woman’s thoughts and feelings, but I would have liked a deeper exploration of wishes gone wrong, since the topic was brought up, tw ableist language against little people (unexamined), sexual assault, body horror, death
Grinding Disney: A very short gorey story about exactly what the title promises, intriguing concept, but I would have liked more exploration of the why, tw murder, gore
What the Slots Hold: A Greek goddess revenge on casinos, okay, but again, very short and so not interesting enough
The Lineup: A very short story about a neighborhood bully who performs a dangerous stunt, feels underexplored due to being so short
Miss Black Little Hill of 1965: A young wife’s dreams are shattered when her husband introduces her to his day job, okay, but again, too short, tw: threats of murder
The Invisible Son: A son and dad drug-selling duo and the night that changes their routine, the story is okay, but not exploring a particularly interesting idea, tw: drugs, murder
New Employee Orientation Guide for Snatch Day: A troll bridge senior home employee guide provides a yearly event for its elderly residents to remind them of the good old days of human snatching, a very intriguing idea and I enjoy the writing style
*FAV* And They Will Rise from the Oceans: A Black spiritualist becomes obsessed with water demons and drags himself, his spouse and his congregation ever further into their depths after a recent trip to Africa, I really enjoyed the way this story interwove Black history with spiritualist ideals as well as the yearning love of a woman for her spouse and the horror of dealing with beings you don’t fully understand, very well written and interesting tw: slavery, mass murder
*FAV* Cemetery Sisters: A young woman stuck in a small town that separated from the rest of the world after an outbreak of disease finds herself hearing voices just like her mother, unsettling and with fascinating worldbuilding this combines post-apocalypse with hauntings and works as a really, really great ending of the anthology. tw: ableism, murder
The first story (the one with the trans MC) is interesting and really heartfelt and treats the trans main character with lots of care and respect (would be 4 stars if it was just that). The rest of the collection features more misses than hits for me unfortunately. I only liked "Hot Watermelon", a touching story about the relationship between a mother and her teenage son and felt nothing for the rest. I disliked one of the two page collection stories especially, which features a character that could at best be interpreted very nicely "just" as an incredibly sexist charicature, but seems much more likely to be transmisogynistic. All of this lead to me lowering my rating.
Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for a review.
An intriguing coming-of-age fantasy story following a trans girl who disguises herself as a witch apprentice to find a way to get out of her small town, live as a woman and fulfill her best friend’s duty of having to apprentice as a witch herself, as she was promised to the coven before her birth. I quite enjoyed this switch of the fantasy trope of women (and sometimes rarely trans men) crossdressing to join a powerful male occupation (warriors or sailors etc) and so was really excited to see how this story would proceed.
This novel is both relatively heavy on world building (as we learn alongside Laurel, it manages to draw me into the story well and doesn’t feel like we’re being infodumped at) and yet leaves many questions still unanswered. This is certainly as this is only the first book in a trilogy, but it did leave me a bit unsatisfied, as I would have liked to learn more about the world. It does, however, also leave me incredibly interested to learn more about the world in the sequel and what we have learned so far is well thought out and interesting. Laurel’s personal coming-of-age character development as well as her finally becoming accepted as a girl coincides with a dangerous blight infecting the lands, destroying forests and leading to the appearance of monsters in the forests and so despite being a very new apprentice Laurel soon finds herself embroiled in dangerous battles.
Since Laurel lives stealth (deeply aware of the dangers of being found of for her and the way her body places her in danger) it takes a while for her transness to become a bigger plot point and when it does, she obviously faces some transphobia. I did enjoy that it is often balanced with solidarity between cis women and trans women and that Laurel finds an accepting community. My favorite part of the story was the examination of the magic transition trope and that the story allows room for different transition goals for different people, which is something I often miss in stories that allow for magic transitions.
I would like to provide a trigger warning that while this book avoids the common tropes of trans people being discovered while changing (avoided as Laurel is very, very careful and it does hurt to read about how hard it can be) or being forcibly stripped, the story does feature two scenes where Laurel falls unconscious and other people realize she is trans at these points due to wardrobe malfunctions. While I think it is handled well and Laurel is never assaulted or has to deal with other common violent tropes around one’s transness being discovered, I still felt a bit uncomfortable with these scenes and so just wanted to mention that they exist.
[Spoilers] My one critique point of the story lays in how Araneigh deals with Laurel’s transness. While I don’t mind her having a negative/uneducated opinion at first, I wish the story had shown how she changed her mind towards the end. This happened too fast and out of the left-field for me and I wish we had either seen Laurel talk to her or for Laurel to overhear somebody else talking to her. This was a bit fast for me and felt unrealistic and also ties in to my main issue that is Laurel never fully getting to stand up for her identity herself. While I enjoy that Laurel needs to find her own way to her identity and also spends quite a bit of the book figuring out her own goals for her transition, I wish she would have been given a change to verbalize it to others, even though I also understand the appeal of being accepted and loved without constantly having to fight and beg for it [End Spoilers]
Another part I really enjoyed is the way anarchist ideals flow throughout the story and influence the actions and opinions of many characters. It fits well with the few short stories I have read by Margaret Killjoy and so while I was hoping for it, I still found myself really enjoying the way it was implemented in this story.
All in all, this is another lovely addition to trans witch stories and I would advise it to any fan of Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea or fans of anarchist fantasy (this Venn diagram might be a circle though :D).
tw: accidental outing, blackmail, bullying, misgendering, violence, death, environmental disasters, animal death
An intriguing coming-of-age fantasy story following a trans girl who disguises herself as a witch apprentice to find a way to get out of her small town, live as a woman and fulfill her best friend’s duty of having to apprentice as a witch herself, as she was promised to the coven before her birth. I quite enjoyed this switch of the fantasy trope of women (and sometimes rarely trans men) crossdressing to join a powerful male occupation (warriors or sailors etc) and so was really excited to see how this story would proceed.
This novel is both relatively heavy on world building (as we learn alongside Laurel, it manages to draw me into the story well and doesn’t feel like we’re being infodumped at) and yet leaves many questions still unanswered. This is certainly as this is only the first book in a trilogy, but it did leave me a bit unsatisfied, as I would have liked to learn more about the world. It does, however, also leave me incredibly interested to learn more about the world in the sequel and what we have learned so far is well thought out and interesting. Laurel’s personal coming-of-age character development as well as her finally becoming accepted as a girl coincides with a dangerous blight infecting the lands, destroying forests and leading to the appearance of monsters in the forests and so despite being a very new apprentice Laurel soon finds herself embroiled in dangerous battles.
Since Laurel lives stealth (deeply aware of the dangers of being found of for her and the way her body places her in danger) it takes a while for her transness to become a bigger plot point and when it does, she obviously faces some transphobia. I did enjoy that it is often balanced with solidarity between cis women and trans women and that Laurel finds an accepting community. My favorite part of the story was the examination of the magic transition trope and that the story allows room for different transition goals for different people, which is something I often miss in stories that allow for magic transitions.
I would like to provide a trigger warning that while this book avoids the common tropes of trans people being discovered while changing (avoided as Laurel is very, very careful and it does hurt to read about how hard it can be) or being forcibly stripped, the story does feature two scenes where Laurel falls unconscious and other people realize she is trans at these points due to wardrobe malfunctions. While I think it is handled well and Laurel is never assaulted or has to deal with other common violent tropes around one’s transness being discovered, I still felt a bit uncomfortable with these scenes and so just wanted to mention that they exist.
[Spoilers] My one critique point of the story lays in how Araneigh deals with Laurel’s transness. While I don’t mind her having a negative/uneducated opinion at first, I wish the story had shown how she changed her mind towards the end. This happened too fast and out of the left-field for me and I wish we had either seen Laurel talk to her or for Laurel to overhear somebody else talking to her. This was a bit fast for me and felt unrealistic and also ties in to my main issue that is Laurel never fully getting to stand up for her identity herself. While I enjoy that Laurel needs to find her own way to her identity and also spends quite a bit of the book figuring out her own goals for her transition, I wish she would have been given a change to verbalize it to others, even though I also understand the appeal of being accepted and loved without constantly having to fight and beg for it [End Spoilers]
Another part I really enjoyed is the way anarchist ideals flow throughout the story and influence the actions and opinions of many characters. It fits well with the few short stories I have read by Margaret Killjoy and so while I was hoping for it, I still found myself really enjoying the way it was implemented in this story.
All in all, this is another lovely addition to trans witch stories and I would advise it to any fan of Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea or fans of anarchist fantasy (this Venn diagram might be a circle though :D).
tw: accidental outing, blackmail, bullying, misgendering, violence, death, environmental disasters, animal death
