The Monster in the Shape of a Boy by Hannah Yang

A couple of reviews of short stories nominated for the 2023 Locus short story prize.

The Monster in the Shape of a Boy is a short story by Hannah Yang. It appeared in the May 2022 edition of Apex Magazine, and reached the short list for the Locus 2023 short story prize.

The story is set in a village which has to deal with aggressive shape-shifting creatures. Sometimes people might find themselves having to kill monsters who look exactly like themselves. Young Peng finds this difficult, despite training from his father, Baba, a monster-slayer for hire. One day Peng meets a monster in the shape of himself but is unable to kill him. Baba has to step in.

Baba is not pleased. Peng is twelve now and should be doing his own slaying.

Intensive training follows, with Peng undertaking various gruesome tasks to toughen him up.

Then one day Peng faces another monster Peng. He is a different boy now. You get the feeling that Peng will fight. He is no longer the scaredy-cat he once was. But you also get the feeling that the anti-Peng has won, because the former, gentle Peng no longer exists. He has been consumed by the aggressive version of himself. It’s a bit like a political party in opposition making themselves more like the party in power to win votes – but then wondering if it’s worth it.

A nicely written story with an interesting circularity