Tag: horror

It by Stephen King

Two weekends ago I was preparing to drive from my home in the mountains of western NC to a soccer tournament near Sarasota, FL, where I was refereeing. It is about a ten hour drive, so I was searching my library for an audiobook or two to listen to on the drive. I was struggling to find one that I wanted to listen to. I came across It by Stephen King. It’s on my reading list but it was almost forty-five hours long! I skipped past it and kept looking. Eventually I came back and borrowed it. By the time I got home I was only half done. I continued listening over the last week and only just finished it. What a ride!

It is the story of seven kids in Derry, Maine, who confront an unspeakable evil in 1958 only to return to the town to kill it once and for all twenty-seven years later. It is an incredibly emotional novel. Frightening and ghoulish, yes. But also poignant and touching. It is entirely too long yet kept me wanting to find out what happened to this band of childhood friends. The writing is deeply evocative, reaching into your soul and tugging on your very being, asking questions that don’t even have answers. And yet, it is also a good old-fashioned American horror story.

As I said, much too long. But I don’t know what I would take out. Perhaps it is best to think of it as a television series. Each part of the book is its own season. In some ways, this novel reminds me of the recently concluded Netflix series Stranger Things. I suspect It was a heavy inspiration for the Duffer brothers. But where the TV show was nostalgic, this novel was contemporary when it was published.

The performance of the text by Steven Weber was simply incredible. He is a one-man show that doesn’t let up for the entire book. He brings it all to life vividly. In the end, I can only say that if you have the inclination, this book is definitely worth your time. It was certainly worth mine.

My rating: 4/5

My 2026 Reading Goals

Traditionally, I set a goal each January for how many books I want to read in the year. About halfway through 2025, I rededicated myself to reading more short fiction. Taking that into account, I have not set a goal for how many books I want to read this year. My reading goals are a little more complicated.

This year I plan to have three reading tracks this year. One is to be reading a book, either a novel or nonfiction. At the same time I will be reading short fiction from one of the short fiction magazines I subscribe to and from a collection or anthology. And instead of a goal of books to read, I have set a goal of reading 400 short fiction stories this year. That is a little more than one a day.

So far this year, I am on track having read twenty-one stories so far. You can keep track of what I read on my Short Fiction page. I will continue to share reviews here of each book I read this year. I have also toying with the idea of at least occasional reviews of some of the short fiction I read. But that will depend on other things in my life.

Apex Magazine Issue #149

I recently resubscribed to Apex Magazine. This is the first issue I have read since doing so. Here are my brief reviews of the fiction in that issue. As always, stories can be read online for free by clicking on the titles.

“Shadows Below Seaway Trains” by Ai Jiang (4,400 words) — A friend tricks the main character into adopting a child for the money then abandons them both. A touching exploration of hard pasts and hard decisions. (My rating: 4/5)

“I Remember a One-Sided Die” by Francis Bass (7,000 words) — A young girl on an alien planet seeks to become a coordinator. This story is told from the perspective of an alien race. I applaud the attempt, but it ended up being too confusing for me. Perhaps needs more than one read. (My rating: 2/5)

“Seven Ribbons” by Beth Goder (3,400 words) — A girl saves her sister from the penalties of being a traitor to her city. I liked the relationship, but it wasn’t much of a story. A little too abstract for me. (My rating: 2/5)

“Heart Seeds” by E. Thade (1,700 words) — After the Collapse, a robot child cares for its father in a world that broke down after finding a drug for immortality and the population becoming sterile. (My rating: 4/5)

“Life as the Natural State of Things” by Rich Larson (3,500 words) — Friends and brothers find their relationships undone by a simple wooden cup. An exploration of how power corrupts. As usual, this author explores an idea in a deeply engrossing story. (My rating: 5/5)

“To Kill a Language” by Rukman Ragas (800 words) — A list of steps for how to kill a language. A disturbing, effective metaphor. (My rating: 4/5)

“Extenta” by Daniel Roop (1,000 words) — In the far future of humans enslaved and born in space, one discovers resistance. ((My rating: 4/5)

“Things the Older Boy Understands” by Sierra Branham (1,000 words) — Two boys on a ship to new world comfort each other as one dies from a thought worm. A heartbreaking story of love and found family. (My rating: 5/5)

“As It Comes” by Derek Alan Jones (100 words) — One person comforts another at the end. (My rating: 4/5)

“Swan Song” by Liam Hogan (100 words) — Two drones descend to the ground after fighting stops. (My rating: 4/5)

“The Fifth Horseman” by Cressida Roe (100 words) — A fifth horseman of the Apocalypse follows the first four. (My rating: 4/5)

“The Liberation of Brother Buffalo” by Michael Boatman (12,500 words) — A man who lost his sister as a child finds himself married to a violent mega church preacher. The story goes down easy until the climax takes a crowbar upside your head. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Neighbors” by L. Marie Wood (2,300 words) — A woman sits on her deck contemplating what the neighbors might be hiding. Includes a great opening passage about mind wandering. (My rating: 4/5)

Average rating: 3.92/5

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

This book has gone on and off my list many times. Originally published in 2020, it won both the Locus and Nebula awards for best novella, so I added to my list. But when I thought about actually reading it, it didn’t appeal and came off. I finally read it as the podcast Writing Excuses used it in their “Close Reading” series discussing tension. The way they talked about it, finally got me to read it. I listened to the audiobook on my travels as a soccer referee.

The narrator tells of her adventures fighting monsters that look like human members of the Ku Klux Klan. These are the same monsters that caused her trauma as a young girl. Now she takes her revenge hunting and killing them. But something seems a little different when a new kind of Klan monster shows up. And they seem to have a plan for her she knows nothing about.

This is a supernatural horror about the terror of racism and its effects. There is a bit of gore, but the horrors are more visceral and emotional. I think the author is trying to bring home to the read the tangible feelings of fear and hopelessness for these victims of hate and discrimination. It succeeds well.

My rating: 4/5

Wolf Moon, Antler Moon by A.C. Wise

As part of my starting to read more short fiction again in the new year, I decided to read the original fiction published online by Tor in the their *Reactor* magazine. It is free and stories are published intermittently throughout the year at https://reactormag.com/fictions/original-fiction/. This story came out on Monday, and I read it while eating breakfast Wednesday morning.

When a tragedy befalls an unnamed resort town in the woods, a teenage girl is forced to come to terms with who she is and what she needs to do to preserve her town. Saying much more than that would spoil the experience of such a short work of fiction (14,080 words). It is dark fantasy with a foreboding feel. It takes place in the spring and the sense of potential jumps from the page. It is ultimately a coming of age story with the heaviness of decision and responsibility.

The writing is very evocative, dripping with emotion throughout. A very atmospheric tale where spring almost feels like a character.

My rating: 4/5

Blindsight by Peter Watts

This is a book that I have heard about from time to time over the years. It is described as a superb hard science fiction novel that explores philosophy and what it means to be human. That tends to be my favorite kind of science fiction. And with all the high praise for this book, I was excited to read it. Perhaps the reviews were a little overdone for me.

The story is one of first contact with a limited cast of characters. It takes place hundreds of years in our future where all of those on the mission are enhanced in some way, physically. The ship is also a character being a sentient AI. They are sent to encounter a large object nearly the size of Saturn. When they arrive, they find some sort of ship in orbit around the object. The bulk of the novel is their attempts to communicate with and figure out what exactly it is.

The writing is a bit too much hard science. I read this on an ereader and was glad for it. I had to look up the meaning of many words to understand them. The context did little to help with that. The story is also told in a manner that made it feel almost a little confusing to me. I got the main thread but couldn’t help but feel like I missed a lot. That said, it really delivered on the philosophy and the human condition. Overall, I enjoyed it.

My rating: 3.5/5

Run by Blake Crouch

I recently watched on Apple TV+ the new series Dark Matter based on the book of the same name by Blake Crouch. I enjoyed it so much that I went looking to see if he had anything new coming out. I was excited to find on NetGalley, that he has a book coming out in the fall called simply Run. Turns out that this was originally self-published by the author in 2011. It is being published for the first time by Ballantine Books. It’s tentative release date is October 22. I read an advanced reader copy of the ebook provided by NetGalley.

Run is an apocalyptic thriller that takes place in essentially present times. An unexpected and (at first) unexplained pandemic has led many in Jack’s community of Albuquerque, NM to become randomly murderous. TV and radio are down except for the announcement of who those affected will be coming to kill next. When Jack hears his own name on the radio, he swiftly packs his family and camping gear into their SUV and run. The plot follows them as they head north toward Canada, doing their best to avoid those affected in order to stay together and alive.

This is a very dark novel. It is not as well-written as his more recent work, but there are glimpses of what is to come. The challenges and emotions of the family are the strength of this novel. The pace is unrelenting. There are no named chapters and no table of contents. This feels like a purposeful choice to keep you turning the pages. It works. Even the clipped writing, with regular incomplete sentences, feeds the urgency. As I read this book, I was reminded of other apocalyptic novels like The Stand by Stephen King and The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Unfortunately, this one does not rise to that level. It is much darker and more grim while not being as well-written. It was an interesting glimpse into Crouch’s early work, but if you are looking for an apocalyptic thriller, I recommend the others I mentioned. If you want to read Blake Crouch, you are better off starting with Dark Matter or Recursion.

My rating: 3/5

Haunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinsker

I’ve read a lot of Sarah Pinsker’s fiction. This includes many short stories including “One Man’s Treasure” from last year which was nominated for both the Hugo and Locus awards for best novelette. I also thoroughly enjoyed her two novels, A Song for a New Day and We Are Satellites. Naturally, when I learned that she was soon to publish a new novella, I went looking for it at NetGalley. Many thanks to them for the advance reader copy they provided me in exchange for this unbiased review.

Haunt Sweet Home is the story of a young woman named Mara trying to find her way in the world. Her many attempts to complete college keep flaming out, much to her family’s disappointment. Her cousin is a very successful host of cable TV show that goes by the same name as the title of the book . It follows new home owners as they begin to renovate their homes and discover that they are haunted in some way. When this cousin offers Mara a job as a production assistant on the show she takes it not knowing how it will change her life.

This short book was a mixed bag for me. It is slow to start though entertaining throughout. The meat of the story doesn’t get going until around the mid-point of the story. One result for me was simply wishing that there was more to the story. In some ways, it feels like it ends just as it is getting the most interesting. Also, the main twist in the story has been used many times and was quite easy for me to see coming. But that is redeemed after the reveal as the details are unique and what the entire story is built to explore. Ultimately, this book is about coming of age, growing up, and learning for yourself who you really are. These are some of my favorite books themes. I just wish this novella was as good for me as her novels.

My rating: 3.5/5