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Things We Say in the Dark
A shocking collection of dark stories, ranging from chilling contemporary fairytales to disturbing supernatural fiction, by a talented writer who has been compared to Angela Carter.
So here we go, into the dark.
Some things can’t be spoken about in the light of day. But we can visit our fears at night, in the dark. We can turn them over and weigh them in our hands and maybe that will protect us from them. But maybe not.
The characters in this collection find their aspirations for happy homes, happy families and happy memories dissected and imbued with shimmering menace. Alone in a remote house in Iceland a woman is unnerved by her isolation; another can only find respite from the clinging ghost that follows her by submerging herself in an overgrown pool. Couples wrestle with a lack of connection to their children; a schoolgirl becomes obsessed with the female anatomical models in a museum; and a cheery account of child’s day out is undercut by chilling footnotes.
These dark tales explore women’s fears with electrifying honesty and invention and speak to one another about female bodies, domestic claustrophobia, desire and violence. From a talented writer who has been compared to Angela Carter, Things We Say in the Dark is a powerful contemporary collection of feminist stories, ranging from vicious fairy tales to disturbing horror and tender ghost stories.
KIRSTY LOGAN WAS SELECTED AS ONE OF BRITAIN'S TEN MOST OUTSTANDING LGBTQ WRITERS by Val McDermid for the International Literature Showcase in 2019
So here we go, into the dark.
Some things can’t be spoken about in the light of day. But we can visit our fears at night, in the dark. We can turn them over and weigh them in our hands and maybe that will protect us from them. But maybe not.
The characters in this collection find their aspirations for happy homes, happy families and happy memories dissected and imbued with shimmering menace. Alone in a remote house in Iceland a woman is unnerved by her isolation; another can only find respite from the clinging ghost that follows her by submerging herself in an overgrown pool. Couples wrestle with a lack of connection to their children; a schoolgirl becomes obsessed with the female anatomical models in a museum; and a cheery account of child’s day out is undercut by chilling footnotes.
These dark tales explore women’s fears with electrifying honesty and invention and speak to one another about female bodies, domestic claustrophobia, desire and violence. From a talented writer who has been compared to Angela Carter, Things We Say in the Dark is a powerful contemporary collection of feminist stories, ranging from vicious fairy tales to disturbing horror and tender ghost stories.
KIRSTY LOGAN WAS SELECTED AS ONE OF BRITAIN'S TEN MOST OUTSTANDING LGBTQ WRITERS by Val McDermid for the International Literature Showcase in 2019
226 pages, Hardcover
First published October 3, 2019
About the author
Kirsty Logan
71 books1,292 followersKirsty Logan is a professional daydreamer. She is the author of two novels, The Gloaming and The Gracekeepers, and two story collections, A Portable Shelter and The Rental Heart & Other Fairytales. Her fifth book, Things We Say in the Dark, will be published on Halloween 2019.
Kirsty lives in Glasgow with her wife and their rescue dog. She has tattooed toes.
Kirsty lives in Glasgow with her wife and their rescue dog. She has tattooed toes.
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October 27, 2019I wrote this!
And some people have reviewed it!
"Just in time for Halloween comes Kirsty Logan’s deeply, deeply unsettling and brilliant collection of short stories. Some feature horror, nearly all feature dread and, in the manner of Shirley Jackson, all will burrow their way into your brain and not let go." - Stylist
"In a literary world seemingly saturated with gaudy horror that attempts to induce fear through the ill-treatment of women and the harmful othering of disabilities, Kirsty Logan is here to shine a flickering light on what horror could and should be...Logan is truly one of the best contemporary horror writers. Inclusive, powerful and eerie, Things We Say in the Dark is a dark shimmering potion of both unease and nourishment." - The Skinny
"Logan aims for the jugular – the things that unsettle us most. Her poetic, supernatural prose has lace edges of sticky, violent terror." - The Herald
"In Logan’s quick-witted feminist realm, manipulative men will always get their comeuppance." - New Statesman
"Feminist horror stories your inner goth will thank you for." - Cosmopolitan
"Logan's prose shimmers with menace, and her tightly wrought nightmares feel intensely real." - i
--
If you've picked this book up - THANK YOU and I hope you enjoy it!
And some people have reviewed it!
"Just in time for Halloween comes Kirsty Logan’s deeply, deeply unsettling and brilliant collection of short stories. Some feature horror, nearly all feature dread and, in the manner of Shirley Jackson, all will burrow their way into your brain and not let go." - Stylist
"In a literary world seemingly saturated with gaudy horror that attempts to induce fear through the ill-treatment of women and the harmful othering of disabilities, Kirsty Logan is here to shine a flickering light on what horror could and should be...Logan is truly one of the best contemporary horror writers. Inclusive, powerful and eerie, Things We Say in the Dark is a dark shimmering potion of both unease and nourishment." - The Skinny
"Logan aims for the jugular – the things that unsettle us most. Her poetic, supernatural prose has lace edges of sticky, violent terror." - The Herald
"In Logan’s quick-witted feminist realm, manipulative men will always get their comeuppance." - New Statesman
"Feminist horror stories your inner goth will thank you for." - Cosmopolitan
"Logan's prose shimmers with menace, and her tightly wrought nightmares feel intensely real." - i
--
If you've picked this book up - THANK YOU and I hope you enjoy it!
June 9, 2022
I didn’t think I’d be surprised by one of my own ratings but here we are.
I feel like all I’ve heard of Kirsty Logan is how atmospheric her writing is, and with her name cropping up in relation to so many horror books, I really went into this expecting to be wowed. Instead, I found writing that felt like a basic to-do list narration, with a rhythm that felt repetitive and stories that failed to hold my attention. The only reason I finished this book was because it was so short, but I’m really disappointed by this one.
I feel like all I’ve heard of Kirsty Logan is how atmospheric her writing is, and with her name cropping up in relation to so many horror books, I really went into this expecting to be wowed. Instead, I found writing that felt like a basic to-do list narration, with a rhythm that felt repetitive and stories that failed to hold my attention. The only reason I finished this book was because it was so short, but I’m really disappointed by this one.
August 15, 2020
"We tell ourselves stories, we stoke our fears, we keep them burning. For what? What do we expect to find there inside?
What are we all doing to ourselves?"
This collection of short tales can definitely be classified as belonging in the horror genre, and yet they are unlike anything I have ever read there. No ghostly apparitions appear and no monsters lurk in the shadows, but uneasiness creeps steadily throughout each tale and it seeps out from inside of reader and characters alike, where the true fears reside.
These horrors are half-formed and yet ever-present. They are vaguely presented and yet deeply-rooted. They are eternally felt and yet sighted fleetingly. The stories all stem in reality and yet take a warped path through the lands of dark whimsy and haunting nightmare to reach their open-ended conclusions. I found much of what featured here was all the more powerful for its abstract nature, as it largely left the cause for each fear to come from the reader's own interpretation, and so too their own areas of trepidation, rather than relying on the characters alone.
What are we all doing to ourselves?"
This collection of short tales can definitely be classified as belonging in the horror genre, and yet they are unlike anything I have ever read there. No ghostly apparitions appear and no monsters lurk in the shadows, but uneasiness creeps steadily throughout each tale and it seeps out from inside of reader and characters alike, where the true fears reside.
These horrors are half-formed and yet ever-present. They are vaguely presented and yet deeply-rooted. They are eternally felt and yet sighted fleetingly. The stories all stem in reality and yet take a warped path through the lands of dark whimsy and haunting nightmare to reach their open-ended conclusions. I found much of what featured here was all the more powerful for its abstract nature, as it largely left the cause for each fear to come from the reader's own interpretation, and so too their own areas of trepidation, rather than relying on the characters alone.
July 10, 2022
Update July 2022:
I wrote the following review upon my first read of Things We Say in the Dark when I was mentally and physically in a far worse place and the experience was a confrontational and not quite pleasant one. Although I’ve only tangentially experiences some of the things this book covers, it was the raw honesty and harrowing imagery with which Logan describes some of her very personal fears that got to me.
Now, with almost 2.5 years distance, it was still a difficult read for me. I’m ultimately shelving it as 3/5 stars, mostly to represent my mixed feelings to myself. Logans writing is exquisite as always, and she deserves more than 3 stars for the bravery and vulnerability she shows in this collection. That being said, it’s a very “niche” read that I struggle to recommend to the right audience…
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No rating
Ever since its announcement in early 2019, Things We Say in the Dark has been high up on my most-anticipated list. It’s no secret that I’m as close as it gets to a fangirl when it comes to Kirsty Logans work. I’ve adored everything she’s written thus far, and was expecting a collection of horror-short-stories in her style to be a 5-star experience for me as well. I didn’t even consider the possibility that I wouldn’t be able to finish it. Yet here we are…
I have to say in advance: it’s mostly me, not the collection, but maybe be advised on the content before you go into it.
Things We Say in the Dark is divided up in 3 parts, each surrounding different themes. Each of them are quite hard to describe to someone who hasn’t read it for themselves, so the best I can do is give you some “themes” present in each of them.
Part 1: The House, deals with themes of safety; more specifically the type of safe-place your childhood-home is supposed to offer. And with that, the eventual horror when you realise that the safety of that “safespace” was all an illusion to begin with, and the monsters can absolutely get you here, or might even be coming from inside. I personally really enjoyed this part, and had high hopes for the collection as a whole at this point.
Part 2 The Child is about pregnancy, female bodies, giving birth, and bonding with a child. It was this part that I couldn’t finish, even upon a second try, so I can’t give you a very informed opinion. I will get back to why in a second.
Part 3 The Past is more about literal, specific fears, although I didn’t quite understand some of the more experimental stories.
I’m not easily fazed by horror, but the one exception; the one subgenre of horror that I cannot read at this specific moment in my life is this type of gynaecological/pregnancy/female-body horror. It’s too personal, it genuinely disturbs and upsets me and everything in my body rejects it. This collection, especially in the second part, makes heavy use of this, and had I known this I’d probably have steered clear, despite being a massive fan of the author.
Again: I don’t blame Kirsty Logan, I think it’s brave of her to write about these subjects, and I think she objectively did a good job. This is far from a “bad collection”, but for me, based on my likes, dislikes and experiences, it was just a bad experience. Please be aware of these themes if, like me, you are bothered by reading about them. I personally hope to revisit this collection when I’m in a different headspace myself.
I wrote the following review upon my first read of Things We Say in the Dark when I was mentally and physically in a far worse place and the experience was a confrontational and not quite pleasant one. Although I’ve only tangentially experiences some of the things this book covers, it was the raw honesty and harrowing imagery with which Logan describes some of her very personal fears that got to me.
Now, with almost 2.5 years distance, it was still a difficult read for me. I’m ultimately shelving it as 3/5 stars, mostly to represent my mixed feelings to myself. Logans writing is exquisite as always, and she deserves more than 3 stars for the bravery and vulnerability she shows in this collection. That being said, it’s a very “niche” read that I struggle to recommend to the right audience…
-----------------------------------------------------
No rating
Ever since its announcement in early 2019, Things We Say in the Dark has been high up on my most-anticipated list. It’s no secret that I’m as close as it gets to a fangirl when it comes to Kirsty Logans work. I’ve adored everything she’s written thus far, and was expecting a collection of horror-short-stories in her style to be a 5-star experience for me as well. I didn’t even consider the possibility that I wouldn’t be able to finish it. Yet here we are…
I have to say in advance: it’s mostly me, not the collection, but maybe be advised on the content before you go into it.
Things We Say in the Dark is divided up in 3 parts, each surrounding different themes. Each of them are quite hard to describe to someone who hasn’t read it for themselves, so the best I can do is give you some “themes” present in each of them.
Part 1: The House, deals with themes of safety; more specifically the type of safe-place your childhood-home is supposed to offer. And with that, the eventual horror when you realise that the safety of that “safespace” was all an illusion to begin with, and the monsters can absolutely get you here, or might even be coming from inside. I personally really enjoyed this part, and had high hopes for the collection as a whole at this point.
Part 2 The Child is about pregnancy, female bodies, giving birth, and bonding with a child. It was this part that I couldn’t finish, even upon a second try, so I can’t give you a very informed opinion. I will get back to why in a second.
Part 3 The Past is more about literal, specific fears, although I didn’t quite understand some of the more experimental stories.
I’m not easily fazed by horror, but the one exception; the one subgenre of horror that I cannot read at this specific moment in my life is this type of gynaecological/pregnancy/female-body horror. It’s too personal, it genuinely disturbs and upsets me and everything in my body rejects it. This collection, especially in the second part, makes heavy use of this, and had I known this I’d probably have steered clear, despite being a massive fan of the author.
Again: I don’t blame Kirsty Logan, I think it’s brave of her to write about these subjects, and I think she objectively did a good job. This is far from a “bad collection”, but for me, based on my likes, dislikes and experiences, it was just a bad experience. Please be aware of these themes if, like me, you are bothered by reading about them. I personally hope to revisit this collection when I’m in a different headspace myself.
March 12, 2020
When I saw the books listed for this year’s Dylan Thomas Prize one that I was most eager to read was Kirsty Logan’s new collection of stories “Things We Say in the Dark”. Logan is a writer who has produced a number of fictional books which creatively engage with traditions in horror writing and fairy tales to innovatively say something which is both current and personal. These new stories continue in this vein focusing specifically on themes to do with the home, family and birth. Many invoke imaginatively creepy imagery involving ghosts, haunted houses, witches, seances and animalism. Certain stories are dynamic retellings of folklore or classic stories such as ‘Hansel and Gretel’ or ‘Snow White’. In doing so, Logan gives an intriguing new perspective on gender, sexuality, relationships, parentage and violence against women and children. It’s deeply thoughtful how she engages with all these themes, but, most importantly, the collection as a whole revels in the deep pleasure of storytelling itself and how our nightmares function as a deeper form of self-communication. It celebrates the drive for riveting new kinds of tales which confront our worst fears as well as querying why these fears are an essential part of us.
The book functions as a series of self-contained stories, but there is also an overarching narrative where many stories are proceeded by an italicised account by a writer who is creating these tales in an isolated Icelandic location. While each story works just as well in isolation, I enjoy how this gives an added layer to the book for someone who reads them all sequentially. At first the author of these short reflective pieces seems to be Logan herself, but then it becomes clear it’s another creation and the dilemma of this (untrustworthy) fictional author is as eerie as the plight of many of the stories’ characters.
Read my full review of Things We Say in the Dark by Kirsty Logan on LonesomeReader
The book functions as a series of self-contained stories, but there is also an overarching narrative where many stories are proceeded by an italicised account by a writer who is creating these tales in an isolated Icelandic location. While each story works just as well in isolation, I enjoy how this gives an added layer to the book for someone who reads them all sequentially. At first the author of these short reflective pieces seems to be Logan herself, but then it becomes clear it’s another creation and the dilemma of this (untrustworthy) fictional author is as eerie as the plight of many of the stories’ characters.
Read my full review of Things We Say in the Dark by Kirsty Logan on LonesomeReader
December 28, 2019
I almost (almost) wish this had been released in time for me to read during my own residency in Iceland - although I think that would have been too much for my poor, fragile, terrified heart to take. Especially in the first few days of the residency, when I had for some reason decided to go three days early, alone, very ill (having missed and postponed my first flight to Reyjkavik the day before), dragging too many kgs of canned food over the 1.5 kilometre walk from the bus-stop to the residency house on the very edge of where the River Blanda meets the ocean in the tiniest little town on the very edge of Iceland's North-West. Reading the pieces in between the stories in Things We Say in the Dark, written in the voice of a woman also alone, also on residency in Iceland, the kind of alone it was very easy to imagine alone at night on the third floor of the old woman's school in the middle of nowhere, with wooden floors that creaked and autumn ocean winds that tried to creep in all the cracks...
On second thoughts, I'm very glad I read this curled up at home in my own bed on Halloween, instead of alone in Iceland. Kirsty Logan has for knack to getting to the heart of fears - both the alone-in-a-creaky-house fears, and the far more terrifying everyday kind, the "am I enough in this relationship" and "can this home really hold me" and "is my body crumbling beneath me"and "is this all there is" and "am I enough full stop" kind.
I didn't particular like the last story (too real, perhaps, and less real for it? or maybe it just made me queasier than the others did), but I adored the rest. Especially "Things My Wife and I Found Hidden in Our House", which I want to pin up forever on my studio wall and look at in the reminder that this story is what I want to be when I (and my thesis) grow up, and "We Can Make Something Grow Between the Mushrooms and the Snow" (I would happily live in the Island House right now), and "Sleep Long, Sleep Tight, it is Best to Wake Up Late". Also special mention to "The World's More Full of Weeping Than You Can Understand" for the most excellent (and deeply disturbing) use of footnotes.
Logan really plays with form in this collection, and it's so rewarding. Real-estate listings and questionnaires and theme-park rides and stories-within-stories and tense-shits and POV shifts (and of course the aforementioned footnotes) are deployed effortlessly and I devoured it all and wanted more more more. Oh, and the titles themselves makes the contents page read like a decadent poem in its own right.
(tl;dr - I will read anything Kirsty Logan writes, and I think you should too)
NOTE: After the first couple of days of dream-haze solitude and not leaving my room once it got dark, my fellow artists-in-residence did in fact arrive and join me in Blönduós, Iceland, and I had the most wonderful month of making surrounded by lovely people. I probably could have survived the reading of this once they were all there with me. I'll have to trial it next time.
NOTE TWO: I still can't tell if the pomegranate on the cover is a photograph or illustration, it seems to change every time I look at it, but either way it's both lovely and creepy. Maybe that statement in itself is actually a more perfect, simple but accurate review of this book?
I leave the lights on in my cabin but when I get back they're always off. I don't bother to lock the door anymore. as no one else is here - and if someone had come in, surely they couldn't still be hiding. Could they?
On second thoughts, I'm very glad I read this curled up at home in my own bed on Halloween, instead of alone in Iceland. Kirsty Logan has for knack to getting to the heart of fears - both the alone-in-a-creaky-house fears, and the far more terrifying everyday kind, the "am I enough in this relationship" and "can this home really hold me" and "is my body crumbling beneath me"and "is this all there is" and "am I enough full stop" kind.
We are afraid that someone will come into our house when we don't want them to. We are afraid that the things we fear is already inside. We are afraid that we can't make it leave. We are afraid that the lock on the door will not hold.
I didn't particular like the last story (too real, perhaps, and less real for it? or maybe it just made me queasier than the others did), but I adored the rest. Especially "Things My Wife and I Found Hidden in Our House", which I want to pin up forever on my studio wall and look at in the reminder that this story is what I want to be when I (and my thesis) grow up, and "We Can Make Something Grow Between the Mushrooms and the Snow" (I would happily live in the Island House right now), and "Sleep Long, Sleep Tight, it is Best to Wake Up Late". Also special mention to "The World's More Full of Weeping Than You Can Understand" for the most excellent (and deeply disturbing) use of footnotes.
Logan really plays with form in this collection, and it's so rewarding. Real-estate listings and questionnaires and theme-park rides and stories-within-stories and tense-shits and POV shifts (and of course the aforementioned footnotes) are deployed effortlessly and I devoured it all and wanted more more more. Oh, and the titles themselves makes the contents page read like a decadent poem in its own right.
(tl;dr - I will read anything Kirsty Logan writes, and I think you should too)
NOTE: After the first couple of days of dream-haze solitude and not leaving my room once it got dark, my fellow artists-in-residence did in fact arrive and join me in Blönduós, Iceland, and I had the most wonderful month of making surrounded by lovely people. I probably could have survived the reading of this once they were all there with me. I'll have to trial it next time.
NOTE TWO: I still can't tell if the pomegranate on the cover is a photograph or illustration, it seems to change every time I look at it, but either way it's both lovely and creepy. Maybe that statement in itself is actually a more perfect, simple but accurate review of this book?
October 12, 2019
Stunning. Horrifying. The fastest I've ever read a short story collection. I can't get enough of this writer!
January 9, 2020
I ADORED this book. I am not a fan of horror stories but these are just the right kind for me. I jumped on this collection because of what an excellent writer Kirsty Logan is. And this was everything i hoped the short story collection would be. Creepy, unsettling, poking towards uncomfortable etc. This also makes it a very difficult collection to review.
The book starts off with one-page descriptions in italics which are kind-of autobiographical. Logan herself was at Iceland while writing the book. She is thinking about her marriage among many other things But after a few of these sections I was unsure where reality ended and fiction began—this was nice touch. Everything becomes unreliable. The stories get darker and darker. And this is such an addictive experience for the reader. Also, some stories are divided into mini-sections, some of which I found unrelated but still very very good; like shorter flash fiction.
The book is divided into three parts. Part 1—is about House. There are boundaries, safe spaces, hidden corners. I loved almost all stories in here. The past springing up on you, thought and fears revealing themselves—They surprise you, some disgust you; they all touch you.
Part 2— about children, pregnancy and the fear of parenthood. I would not advise reading this section if you are expecting or a new mother. I wasn't comfortable with a few stories because of the graphic style and skipped some. I might revisit one day because Logan is such a wonderful writer and I really want to know what happens. But skip if you are faint hearted (I realise that I am. I am)
Part 3— deals with fears in a deeper format. Here are included experimental stories such as a questionnaire, a story almost entirely told in footnotes. These tickle the reader's grey cells and make the whole collection even more refreshing.
Logan captures your interest. Whether it be a couple finding hidden things in a new house that they inherited and getting mixed up in folk lore or babysitters giving golden wax apples to children. Ghastly delicious stories. Recommended! —for your dose of lonely women, women navigating relationships, hidden, dark corners, houses, mothers, secrets.
PS:Be warned that some stories include graphic scenes.
Much thanks to Harvill Secker for a copy of the book. All opinions are my own.
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The book starts off with one-page descriptions in italics which are kind-of autobiographical. Logan herself was at Iceland while writing the book. She is thinking about her marriage among many other things But after a few of these sections I was unsure where reality ended and fiction began—this was nice touch. Everything becomes unreliable. The stories get darker and darker. And this is such an addictive experience for the reader. Also, some stories are divided into mini-sections, some of which I found unrelated but still very very good; like shorter flash fiction.
The book is divided into three parts. Part 1—is about House. There are boundaries, safe spaces, hidden corners. I loved almost all stories in here. The past springing up on you, thought and fears revealing themselves—They surprise you, some disgust you; they all touch you.
Part 2— about children, pregnancy and the fear of parenthood. I would not advise reading this section if you are expecting or a new mother. I wasn't comfortable with a few stories because of the graphic style and skipped some. I might revisit one day because Logan is such a wonderful writer and I really want to know what happens. But skip if you are faint hearted (I realise that I am. I am)
Part 3— deals with fears in a deeper format. Here are included experimental stories such as a questionnaire, a story almost entirely told in footnotes. These tickle the reader's grey cells and make the whole collection even more refreshing.
Logan captures your interest. Whether it be a couple finding hidden things in a new house that they inherited and getting mixed up in folk lore or babysitters giving golden wax apples to children. Ghastly delicious stories. Recommended! —for your dose of lonely women, women navigating relationships, hidden, dark corners, houses, mothers, secrets.
PS:Be warned that some stories include graphic scenes.
Much thanks to Harvill Secker for a copy of the book. All opinions are my own.
Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Shelved as 'unfinished'
March 5, 2020Many of these 20 stories twist fairy tale imagery into nightmarish scenarios, enumerating fears of bodies and pregnancies going wrong. Body parts are offered as tokens of love or left behind as the sole evidence of an abduction. Ghosts and corpses are frequent presences. I also recognized some of the same sorts of Celtic sea legends that infuse Logan’s debut novel, The Gracekeepers.
Some stories are divided into multiple parts by headings or point-of-view changes. Others are in unusual formats like footnotes, a questionnaire, bullet-pointed lists, or a couple’s contrasting notes on house viewings. The titles can be like mini-tales in their own right, e.g. “Girls Are Always Hungry when All the Men Are Bite-Size” and “The Only Thing I Can’t Tell You Is Why.”
In between the stories are italicized passages that seem to give context on Logan’s composition process, including her writing retreat in Iceland – but it turns out that this is a story, too, split into pieces and shading from autobiography into fiction.
Full of magic realism and gentle horror, this is a book for fans of Salt Slow and The Doll’s Alphabet.
My favourite story was “Things My Wife and I Found Hidden in Our House,” about a series of objects Rain and her wife Alice find in the derelict house Alice’s granny has left them. There’s an excerpt from the story up at my blog to whet your appetite.
(Posted as part of the official Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize 2020 blog tour.)
Some stories are divided into multiple parts by headings or point-of-view changes. Others are in unusual formats like footnotes, a questionnaire, bullet-pointed lists, or a couple’s contrasting notes on house viewings. The titles can be like mini-tales in their own right, e.g. “Girls Are Always Hungry when All the Men Are Bite-Size” and “The Only Thing I Can’t Tell You Is Why.”
In between the stories are italicized passages that seem to give context on Logan’s composition process, including her writing retreat in Iceland – but it turns out that this is a story, too, split into pieces and shading from autobiography into fiction.
Full of magic realism and gentle horror, this is a book for fans of Salt Slow and The Doll’s Alphabet.
My favourite story was “Things My Wife and I Found Hidden in Our House,” about a series of objects Rain and her wife Alice find in the derelict house Alice’s granny has left them. There’s an excerpt from the story up at my blog to whet your appetite.
(Posted as part of the official Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize 2020 blog tour.)
December 4, 2019
And it started off so well too! :(
I’m really surprised by this latest short story collection by Kirsty Logan - I adored her previous book, A Portable Shelter, and was incredibly excited for this one but sadly the latter half of this book left me thinking ‘what was the point of them? And are they dark for dark’s sake?’
My favourite section BY FAR was part 1 which focused on various stories all discussing home and how and where we feel at home and why. These stories were certainly very surreal and unique, endearing and funny at times, at others heartbreaking and even sinister. I particularly enjoyed ‘Girls are always hungry when all the men are bite-size’ which was a great story about one man’s attempts at trying to expose a mother and her daughter as con-artists.
Then we move on to part 2 and 3 which featured stories on heavy topics including motherhood, parenting, postnatal depression and the sense of being ‘other’, and sexual abuse at the hands of men. I found the subject matter of most of these to be quite sinister and disturbing with very little sense of hope or escape which did nothing to lift my mood. Most of the stories were pretty forgettable and lacking that certain ‘oomph’, and seemed repetitive of one another. There were also several stories which seemed pointless to me and very weak - Half sick of shadows, The world’s more full of weeping than you can understand, Sleep long, sleep tight, Exquisite Corpse, Watch the wall...’
Overall, having looked at each story in turn I would say half of the stories in this collection aren’t particularly great (10 out of 20) and aren’t memorable in the slightest. The ones that are good though are very good hence the 3 star rating.
Check out if you like uncomfortable and creepy stories!
I’m really surprised by this latest short story collection by Kirsty Logan - I adored her previous book, A Portable Shelter, and was incredibly excited for this one but sadly the latter half of this book left me thinking ‘what was the point of them? And are they dark for dark’s sake?’
My favourite section BY FAR was part 1 which focused on various stories all discussing home and how and where we feel at home and why. These stories were certainly very surreal and unique, endearing and funny at times, at others heartbreaking and even sinister. I particularly enjoyed ‘Girls are always hungry when all the men are bite-size’ which was a great story about one man’s attempts at trying to expose a mother and her daughter as con-artists.
Then we move on to part 2 and 3 which featured stories on heavy topics including motherhood, parenting, postnatal depression and the sense of being ‘other’, and sexual abuse at the hands of men. I found the subject matter of most of these to be quite sinister and disturbing with very little sense of hope or escape which did nothing to lift my mood. Most of the stories were pretty forgettable and lacking that certain ‘oomph’, and seemed repetitive of one another. There were also several stories which seemed pointless to me and very weak - Half sick of shadows, The world’s more full of weeping than you can understand, Sleep long, sleep tight, Exquisite Corpse, Watch the wall...’
Overall, having looked at each story in turn I would say half of the stories in this collection aren’t particularly great (10 out of 20) and aren’t memorable in the slightest. The ones that are good though are very good hence the 3 star rating.
Check out if you like uncomfortable and creepy stories!
May 8, 2019
Her best collection yet. Daring, challenging, dark and dreadful (in the most literal sense), this is a book about women's fears, human fears, the fears of being a person. This is a short story writer at the top of her game.
December 23, 2020
HOLY WOW this was pretty amazing! Twisty and dark, surreal and creepy, gothic and spooky. YAS! I had my eyes on this one some time ago and finally one of my libraries had it in their collection! This book features one big overarching story (how the author (or whoever is the narrator there) goes to Iceland and the things she experiences there, loneliness but also creepy things) and short stories in various themes. The stories are weird, surreal, and at times I just went WTF while reading or when I reached the ending. While I loved the book in overall, some of the stories just went too weird/too far/or featured themes I just wasn't comfortable with, so I am rating it 4.5 stars. Which is still fantastic of course. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone.
January 24, 2020
I am a big fan of Kirsty Logan's prose; I love its mysterious quality, its beautifully dark and evocative imagery, and the wildness which exists within it. I was so looking forward to picking up her newest collection of short stories, Things We Say in the Dark, and am pleased to say that it lived up to my very high expectations.
Logan has been compared, variously, to Angela Carter, Margaret Atwood, and Jeanette Winterson. I can see elements of their work echoed in hers, but Logan has something entirely her own. Her narrative voice is taut, and her stories often feel wholly original.
The stories in Things We Say in the Dark are described as ranging from 'chilling contemporary fairytales to disturbing contemporary fiction.' The premise behind the collection is to examine fears. The blurb comments: 'Some things can't be spoken about in the light of day. But we can visit our fears at night, in the dark. We can turn them over and weigh them in our hands and maybe that will protect us from them. But maybe not.' For Logan, the expansive night allows a kind of freedom difficult to hold onto during the daylight, but it also serves to make the more creepy elements stand out. Logan has used quite typical tropes at times - abandoned buildings, a séance - but rather than becoming clichés, she makes them all her own.
Things We Say in the Dark has been split into three parts: 'The House', 'The Child', and 'The Past'. Each of the tales contained within the sections revolve around the central subject, but each is, on the whole, really quite different. Before each, Logan has added a sort of continual narrative, which builds to a story of its own.
As is often the case in Logan's fiction, there is such strange and compelling imagery threaded throughout the collection. In 'Last One to Leave Please Turn Off the Lights', the narrator makes tiny houses out of parts of their body: 'My ear-house got buried in the window box; my eye-house was squashed under your winter boots; my tongue-house was snatched by a neighbourhood fox.' Mythology and fairytale-like imagery make themselves felt at times; at others, magical realism creeps in. Logan makes the weirdest things feel entirely realistic; it is a real skill of hers.
Logan makes a series of profound observations in several of these stories, too. In 'Last One to Leave Please Turn Off the Lights', for example, she writes: 'When she thought of what she - and probably you - had learned at school, about the universe and its vastness, the infinity of it, the insignificant tininess of her within it, it made her sick and cold and dizzy.' There is humour - most of it dark - here too. In 'My House is Out Where the Light Ends', protagonist Jay 'opens the door to the cellar, but she doesn't go down the steps because she's not a fucking moron.'
Logan excels at both short fiction and longer work. This collection of dark tales is wholly immersive. It looks, largely, at the lives of women and those in the LGBTQIA+ community, and in their entirety 'speak to one another about female bodies, domestic claustrophobia, desire and violence.' Things We Say in the Dark is filled to the brim with original ideas. Each of Logan's stories is unsettling; some are downright creepy. They and sent quite delicious shivers down my own spine, and would be a chilling choice to read aloud. Things We Say in the Dark is such a beguiling collection, and another excellent book in Logan's canon.
Logan has been compared, variously, to Angela Carter, Margaret Atwood, and Jeanette Winterson. I can see elements of their work echoed in hers, but Logan has something entirely her own. Her narrative voice is taut, and her stories often feel wholly original.
The stories in Things We Say in the Dark are described as ranging from 'chilling contemporary fairytales to disturbing contemporary fiction.' The premise behind the collection is to examine fears. The blurb comments: 'Some things can't be spoken about in the light of day. But we can visit our fears at night, in the dark. We can turn them over and weigh them in our hands and maybe that will protect us from them. But maybe not.' For Logan, the expansive night allows a kind of freedom difficult to hold onto during the daylight, but it also serves to make the more creepy elements stand out. Logan has used quite typical tropes at times - abandoned buildings, a séance - but rather than becoming clichés, she makes them all her own.
Things We Say in the Dark has been split into three parts: 'The House', 'The Child', and 'The Past'. Each of the tales contained within the sections revolve around the central subject, but each is, on the whole, really quite different. Before each, Logan has added a sort of continual narrative, which builds to a story of its own.
As is often the case in Logan's fiction, there is such strange and compelling imagery threaded throughout the collection. In 'Last One to Leave Please Turn Off the Lights', the narrator makes tiny houses out of parts of their body: 'My ear-house got buried in the window box; my eye-house was squashed under your winter boots; my tongue-house was snatched by a neighbourhood fox.' Mythology and fairytale-like imagery make themselves felt at times; at others, magical realism creeps in. Logan makes the weirdest things feel entirely realistic; it is a real skill of hers.
Logan makes a series of profound observations in several of these stories, too. In 'Last One to Leave Please Turn Off the Lights', for example, she writes: 'When she thought of what she - and probably you - had learned at school, about the universe and its vastness, the infinity of it, the insignificant tininess of her within it, it made her sick and cold and dizzy.' There is humour - most of it dark - here too. In 'My House is Out Where the Light Ends', protagonist Jay 'opens the door to the cellar, but she doesn't go down the steps because she's not a fucking moron.'
Logan excels at both short fiction and longer work. This collection of dark tales is wholly immersive. It looks, largely, at the lives of women and those in the LGBTQIA+ community, and in their entirety 'speak to one another about female bodies, domestic claustrophobia, desire and violence.' Things We Say in the Dark is filled to the brim with original ideas. Each of Logan's stories is unsettling; some are downright creepy. They and sent quite delicious shivers down my own spine, and would be a chilling choice to read aloud. Things We Say in the Dark is such a beguiling collection, and another excellent book in Logan's canon.
Read
December 24, 2019horror short stories with a queer bend, these include a lot of scottish mythology and are truly delicious
November 19, 2019
Kirsty Logan hat mich mit diesem Buch in die Dunkelheit geführt. Meine Hand in ihrer hat sie Bilder in die Finsternis gemalt, von Frauen, die Früchte gebären, bewohnbaren Pilzhäusern und gläserne Bibliotheken ohne Bücher. Manche Geschichten sind magisch (oder metaphorisch?), andere so real, dass es wehtut. Sie sprechen das aus, was gern ungesagt bleibt, z.B. wie unheimlich es ist, ein Kind in sich heranwachsen zu fühlen oder dass manche Eltern besagtes Kind nach einer Weile auch gern wieder für eine Verschnaufpause abgeben würden. Unaussprechbare Bedürfnisse werden realisiert und düstere Geheimnisse angedeutet. Widerspenstige Kontraste spielen eine große Rolle: zu viel oder zu wenig geliebt werden, Angst davor gesehen oder übersehen zu werden.
Streng genommen handelt es sich um einen Kurzgeschichtenband und obwohl viele der Erzählungen auch für sich allein funktionieren, sind andere eher Vignetten, die in ihrer Gesamtkomposition ihre volle Wirkung entfalten. Die Themen sind so eng miteinander verbunden, dass es sich mehr wie ein großes atmendes Gewebe anfühlt, in dem alles ineinandergreift. Die Geschichten bedienen sich teils bekannter literarischer Schauermotive, klopfen diesen aber den Staub ab und verbiegen sie zu neuen Überraschungen. Dabei entsteht der wahre Horror oft erst durch das stille Weiterdenken über das Ende der jeweiligen Erzählung hinaus oder durch die Reflektion auf die Realität. Viele der Geschichten beschäftigen sich z. B. mit Einsamkeit und Gewalt an Frauen – womöglich die wahren Schauergeschichten unserer Gegenwart.
Trotz der bedrückenden Thematiken habe ich mich von dem Buch willkommen geheißen gefühlt. Immer wieder hat es mich mit seiner rohen Emotionalität getroffen und sich tröstend an mich geschmiegt. Ihr müsst also keine Angst haben, in euch in der Dunkelheit zu verlieren, denn an eurer Seite ist jemand, der euch führt und den Mut hat, über die grausame Wahrheit zu reden.
Streng genommen handelt es sich um einen Kurzgeschichtenband und obwohl viele der Erzählungen auch für sich allein funktionieren, sind andere eher Vignetten, die in ihrer Gesamtkomposition ihre volle Wirkung entfalten. Die Themen sind so eng miteinander verbunden, dass es sich mehr wie ein großes atmendes Gewebe anfühlt, in dem alles ineinandergreift. Die Geschichten bedienen sich teils bekannter literarischer Schauermotive, klopfen diesen aber den Staub ab und verbiegen sie zu neuen Überraschungen. Dabei entsteht der wahre Horror oft erst durch das stille Weiterdenken über das Ende der jeweiligen Erzählung hinaus oder durch die Reflektion auf die Realität. Viele der Geschichten beschäftigen sich z. B. mit Einsamkeit und Gewalt an Frauen – womöglich die wahren Schauergeschichten unserer Gegenwart.
Trotz der bedrückenden Thematiken habe ich mich von dem Buch willkommen geheißen gefühlt. Immer wieder hat es mich mit seiner rohen Emotionalität getroffen und sich tröstend an mich geschmiegt. Ihr müsst also keine Angst haben, in euch in der Dunkelheit zu verlieren, denn an eurer Seite ist jemand, der euch führt und den Mut hat, über die grausame Wahrheit zu reden.
April 22, 2022
A dark and feminist collection of short stories. As with most collections, there were stories I felt were really strong and some that I found weak, but overall a good collection. I don't think it will appeal to everyone (it is quite strange in places), but then again it is not meant to.
My absolute favourite was "Girls are Always Hungry When all the Men are Bite-Size", which fired my imagination and has me itching to write something about mediums and spiritualism, albeit in a Victorian setting. I also felt that "Birds Fell From the Sky and Each One spoke in Your Voice" was a really good, more traditional ghost story that explores themes of guilt and culpability, and I loved "The Only Thing I Can't Tell You is Why" for its exploration of postnatal depression and alienation. Furthermore, I would like to thank this book for making me aware of the existence of such horrors as the Anatomical Venus, which will undoubtedly haunt many of my dreams to come.
My absolute favourite was "Girls are Always Hungry When all the Men are Bite-Size", which fired my imagination and has me itching to write something about mediums and spiritualism, albeit in a Victorian setting. I also felt that "Birds Fell From the Sky and Each One spoke in Your Voice" was a really good, more traditional ghost story that explores themes of guilt and culpability, and I loved "The Only Thing I Can't Tell You is Why" for its exploration of postnatal depression and alienation. Furthermore, I would like to thank this book for making me aware of the existence of such horrors as the Anatomical Venus, which will undoubtedly haunt many of my dreams to come.
November 22, 2019
I want to steal the words from her mouth, swallow them and then spit them out as if they were my own! I think I’m beguiled?
September 4, 2020
Beautiful, horrible, perfect.
October 7, 2019
The book starts with a short introduction from the “author” herself, where she is set in Iceland, in a remote village without any distractions. The collection carries many autobiographical features, as Logan was actually writing this book in Iceland. From short passages, we can observe how the book is being written, which gives us a bit of break between individual stories. She wanted to add this dimension into the story as it gives the reader the feeling of comfort and realisation, that the stories are “only” stories, imaginary things that do not need to scare us in real life. However, as the book progresses, the narrative grows darker and the boundaries between the stories and author are slowly disappearing, leaving the reader in the dark.
Even though this book is not very long, it took Logan almost two years to write and there is no wonder why. Constant thinking about your fears and watching horror movies as a part of “research” can be a bit too much at times. She even admitted, that all the characters in the stories are named after famous horror movie characters, but no one yet discovered all of them.
The book is divided into three parts, each one connected to a specific fear. Firstly, we have a The House, stories about boundaries and limits. In Birds Fell From the Sky and Each One Spoke in Your Voice, we follow Sidney, owner of a shop full of nineties memorabilia. He hears mysterious telephone ringing at night, even though he realises it can’t be true. One day, the presence of an unsettling customer reminds him, that you can never fully forget your past.
The second part is dealing with children, pregnancy and the fear of being a parent. My personal favourite was a short story called The Only Time I Think of You is All the Time. Probably the only story getting closer to ghosts, as we meet a woman, who is being constantly followed by the presence of “Brigitte” everywhere she goes. She feels that there is no immediate danger, but her mumbling, a touch of hands or moving of objects still gives her no space to live in peace. The only place where Brigitte cannot find her is in a dark pond at the end of the garden. But what happens if she discovers her hiding place?
Last but not least, the third part deals with more primal fears, such as eating or sleep. Many of the stories of Things We Say in the Dark are written in an unusual way. There is one in the form of a questionnaire, just the absence of answers building the tension. Another interesting concept is a short story, that looks like a regular recollection of a day on the beach, yet the footnotes tell a different story. These playful forms are interesting not only for a reader but the author herself. As she claims: “I had to experiment with form to not get bored of myself. It is important to take your work seriously, but equally important is to know how to make fun of yourself”.
So if you are still looking for the perfect book to read during Halloween, having enough of ghosts and haunted houses, try to read this great collection of “realistic” scary stories. You will not be disappointed.
Even though this book is not very long, it took Logan almost two years to write and there is no wonder why. Constant thinking about your fears and watching horror movies as a part of “research” can be a bit too much at times. She even admitted, that all the characters in the stories are named after famous horror movie characters, but no one yet discovered all of them.
The book is divided into three parts, each one connected to a specific fear. Firstly, we have a The House, stories about boundaries and limits. In Birds Fell From the Sky and Each One Spoke in Your Voice, we follow Sidney, owner of a shop full of nineties memorabilia. He hears mysterious telephone ringing at night, even though he realises it can’t be true. One day, the presence of an unsettling customer reminds him, that you can never fully forget your past.
The second part is dealing with children, pregnancy and the fear of being a parent. My personal favourite was a short story called The Only Time I Think of You is All the Time. Probably the only story getting closer to ghosts, as we meet a woman, who is being constantly followed by the presence of “Brigitte” everywhere she goes. She feels that there is no immediate danger, but her mumbling, a touch of hands or moving of objects still gives her no space to live in peace. The only place where Brigitte cannot find her is in a dark pond at the end of the garden. But what happens if she discovers her hiding place?
Last but not least, the third part deals with more primal fears, such as eating or sleep. Many of the stories of Things We Say in the Dark are written in an unusual way. There is one in the form of a questionnaire, just the absence of answers building the tension. Another interesting concept is a short story, that looks like a regular recollection of a day on the beach, yet the footnotes tell a different story. These playful forms are interesting not only for a reader but the author herself. As she claims: “I had to experiment with form to not get bored of myself. It is important to take your work seriously, but equally important is to know how to make fun of yourself”.
So if you are still looking for the perfect book to read during Halloween, having enough of ghosts and haunted houses, try to read this great collection of “realistic” scary stories. You will not be disappointed.
November 19, 2019
*4.5
Dark and terrifying. Loved it.
Dark and terrifying. Loved it.
July 22, 2022
Scary but what is scarier is that some aspects and fears in the book are real. Loved it tho
October 19, 2021
read this for my queer week essay and turns out its not actually that queer
October 14, 2019
Sometimes a book sounds so tailored towards your taste that it could never possibly live up to your sky-high hopes. I fear that was the case for me with Logan’s Things We Say in the Dark, a collection of feminist horror stories that was easily one of my most anticipated releases of the year.
There are definitely lots of things to admire here. Logan’s prose is always readable, but it’s punctuated by moments of linguistic beauty, with vivid and evocative imagery peppered throughout. Some of these disturbing tableaus are sure to linger in the mind. The stories themselves are mostly contemporary, but there’s a timeless quality to the themes being explored. Namely, the domestic fears of everyday life – particularly those that haunt young women. Logan takes the things we’re told by society to aim for – the gorgeous home, the perfect family, the successful life – and spins our apprehensions about them into what reads like a series of fever dreams, as though she has literally documented her nightmares in the form of a dream diary. What if our houses aren’t the safe spaces we always imagined? What if you find the experience of pregnancy and childbirth horrifying rather than beautiful? How would you cope if your child wasn’t healthy or happy? What if you wished you’d never become a parent at all? What if you can never escape the horrors of your past? These fears and more are explored in claustrophobic, hypnotic ways by employing a dash of fairy tale, a twist of the supernatural, and a generous pinch of magical realism.
With around 20 stories in all, this is a generous collection. Though I very much enjoyed the dark, ethereal tone employed throughout, there were comparatively few that stood out as individual highlights. Those that did were Birds Fell From the Sky and Each One Spoke in Your Voice, which follows a man haunted by the long-ago death of his brother, and Good Good Good, Nice Nice Nice, a semi sci-fi tale about a woman who works at a baby growing farm (it’s hard to explain), who is struggling with the care of her own sickly baby. Other stories I enjoyed included one about a woman who feels isolated after moving to a new country, one about a woman who has fallen in love with her friend, and one about a woman who discovers disturbing realities regarding her deceased grandmother when she inherits her house.
Sadly, most of the other stories began to blend into one, making this a collection I’m far more likely to remember for its overall mood than I am for its specific plots and characters. Whilst I was consistently hooked by the fantastic concepts and themes at play, a few too many stories tipped into ‘weird for the sake of being weird’ territory for my personal taste. It’s a shame, as when this collection is good, it’s very, very good. I’m more than willing to accept that my own high expectations contributed to my slightly lukewarm response. Logan is still an author I very much admire, and I will continue to follow her career with excitement.
There are definitely lots of things to admire here. Logan’s prose is always readable, but it’s punctuated by moments of linguistic beauty, with vivid and evocative imagery peppered throughout. Some of these disturbing tableaus are sure to linger in the mind. The stories themselves are mostly contemporary, but there’s a timeless quality to the themes being explored. Namely, the domestic fears of everyday life – particularly those that haunt young women. Logan takes the things we’re told by society to aim for – the gorgeous home, the perfect family, the successful life – and spins our apprehensions about them into what reads like a series of fever dreams, as though she has literally documented her nightmares in the form of a dream diary. What if our houses aren’t the safe spaces we always imagined? What if you find the experience of pregnancy and childbirth horrifying rather than beautiful? How would you cope if your child wasn’t healthy or happy? What if you wished you’d never become a parent at all? What if you can never escape the horrors of your past? These fears and more are explored in claustrophobic, hypnotic ways by employing a dash of fairy tale, a twist of the supernatural, and a generous pinch of magical realism.
With around 20 stories in all, this is a generous collection. Though I very much enjoyed the dark, ethereal tone employed throughout, there were comparatively few that stood out as individual highlights. Those that did were Birds Fell From the Sky and Each One Spoke in Your Voice, which follows a man haunted by the long-ago death of his brother, and Good Good Good, Nice Nice Nice, a semi sci-fi tale about a woman who works at a baby growing farm (it’s hard to explain), who is struggling with the care of her own sickly baby. Other stories I enjoyed included one about a woman who feels isolated after moving to a new country, one about a woman who has fallen in love with her friend, and one about a woman who discovers disturbing realities regarding her deceased grandmother when she inherits her house.
Sadly, most of the other stories began to blend into one, making this a collection I’m far more likely to remember for its overall mood than I am for its specific plots and characters. Whilst I was consistently hooked by the fantastic concepts and themes at play, a few too many stories tipped into ‘weird for the sake of being weird’ territory for my personal taste. It’s a shame, as when this collection is good, it’s very, very good. I’m more than willing to accept that my own high expectations contributed to my slightly lukewarm response. Logan is still an author I very much admire, and I will continue to follow her career with excitement.
May 10, 2022
I went into this expecting some short, juicy bursts of creepiness to get me through busy but uninteresting days of work; instead I found stories so heavy with sadness and desperation that at certain points I was tempted to give up on the whole book. They're about the scary bits of the human mind, our own twisted thoughts and the things we're silently terrified of, yes, but in a way that, in me, elicited more heartbreak than fear.
I found the author's ideas and approach extremely insightful and at times uncomfortably familiar, almost as if she'd put into words certain dark feelings from the back of my mind that I'd never had the time or courage to look at properly.
Some of the stories had similar themes and got a little repetitive, while some were just a little awkwardly written, or not developed enough. Some of them, however, were brilliant, disturbing and incredibly creative, and overall the collection was cleverly constructed and effective in accomplishing what (I think) the author was trying to do.
My own struggles with anxiety and depression probably affected my enjoyment of this work a little, but I'm incredibly excited to read Kristy Logan's latest short story collection - each one of hers I read ends up impressing me a little more than the last.
I found the author's ideas and approach extremely insightful and at times uncomfortably familiar, almost as if she'd put into words certain dark feelings from the back of my mind that I'd never had the time or courage to look at properly.
Some of the stories had similar themes and got a little repetitive, while some were just a little awkwardly written, or not developed enough. Some of them, however, were brilliant, disturbing and incredibly creative, and overall the collection was cleverly constructed and effective in accomplishing what (I think) the author was trying to do.
My own struggles with anxiety and depression probably affected my enjoyment of this work a little, but I'm incredibly excited to read Kristy Logan's latest short story collection - each one of hers I read ends up impressing me a little more than the last.
November 9, 2021
We discussed this book in this months book club, and the consensus was that this is a very easy book to read - not only for horror fans, but he way - and that it has interesting ideas and it clearly also has some heavy trauma processing going on. However, some of us struggled with the format of the short story's: they were very short (that's why the book is so easy to read) and once you're invested in them, the story is over. I, myself loved the story's that were the most disturbing (imho): the story about the kidnapping in the pit, the story about the kid that's left behind in the theme park and the story about the Selkie in the beginning of the book.
October 9, 2021
“I want to know what haunts me. The ghosts that obscure my face in the mirror, that speak in my head when I’m trying to think, that pull my hands back when I try to reach out. I know there’s something; I just don’t know what it is yet.”
This short story collection delves into our deepest darkest fears and anxieties, exploring each and every one in a few short pages. It has the ability to get right under your skin, pushing your fears up and leaving you with a unease that is both terrifying and gripping.
In between each story is a narrative of a person isolated in an Icelandic cabin (may actually be the author herself) and with each narrative the paranoia becomes more intense. We hear each of her deepest darkest fears and thoughts which resonate a lot with reality; those fears that most of us have.
Kirsty Logan’s short story collection explores a lot of current topics and fears such as building a home, loneliness, suffocation, obsession, fear of sexual abuse, pregnancy, relationships, raising a family and so many more. These every day fears are put into stories; some containing a dystopian element and all just as horrifying as the last.
I was gripped right from the onset and could not put it down. Even when chilling me to the bone.
This short story collection delves into our deepest darkest fears and anxieties, exploring each and every one in a few short pages. It has the ability to get right under your skin, pushing your fears up and leaving you with a unease that is both terrifying and gripping.
In between each story is a narrative of a person isolated in an Icelandic cabin (may actually be the author herself) and with each narrative the paranoia becomes more intense. We hear each of her deepest darkest fears and thoughts which resonate a lot with reality; those fears that most of us have.
Kirsty Logan’s short story collection explores a lot of current topics and fears such as building a home, loneliness, suffocation, obsession, fear of sexual abuse, pregnancy, relationships, raising a family and so many more. These every day fears are put into stories; some containing a dystopian element and all just as horrifying as the last.
I was gripped right from the onset and could not put it down. Even when chilling me to the bone.
March 6, 2021
Question: What are you afraid of?
Kirsty Logans the things we say in the dark is a bunch of short stories that are haunting, isolating and full of everyday fears. The fears of being a mother, fears of not being loved, stressful times and the horrors of everyday life that cause us such anxiety but we keep buried some please dark within us.
The stories can be as short as two pages long to five. They are quick but kirsty logan writes with such a heart-rending impact that you will feel as if this is a complete story. Every short story has a message in it but some can be confusing.
The ones I liked the most and had the most impact on me was when the penny dropped and I realized what emotion was behind the story. A fantastic collection if you like short contemporary horror reads.
These short stories change in style throughout the book and this can be refreshing.
I give this 3 stars. Only because towards the end I was starting to loose interest and had already been haunted by these stories myself. I would still recommend this.
Kirsty Logans the things we say in the dark is a bunch of short stories that are haunting, isolating and full of everyday fears. The fears of being a mother, fears of not being loved, stressful times and the horrors of everyday life that cause us such anxiety but we keep buried some please dark within us.
The stories can be as short as two pages long to five. They are quick but kirsty logan writes with such a heart-rending impact that you will feel as if this is a complete story. Every short story has a message in it but some can be confusing.
The ones I liked the most and had the most impact on me was when the penny dropped and I realized what emotion was behind the story. A fantastic collection if you like short contemporary horror reads.
These short stories change in style throughout the book and this can be refreshing.
I give this 3 stars. Only because towards the end I was starting to loose interest and had already been haunted by these stories myself. I would still recommend this.
October 15, 2019
Sadly, I fear my high expectations of this book are partly to blame for my lack of enjoyment. On the surface, this seemed exactly my type of short story collection - horrific, feminist twists on home, relationships and one’s own body. Unfortunately, and despite some lyrical writing, they were all too similar, becoming increasingly repetitive and indistinguishable, both in regards to language and imagery. I tried to space out my reading of them, hoping that distance would allow me to appreciate their concepts more, but to no avail - after a short time, the particulars of each story became lost, reinforcing the sense that they were ultimately lacking in substance. These are not bad, or poorly written, stories, but they left me feeling nothing, and none stuck in my mind for very long.
September 28, 2021
This was not what I expected. This was definitely creepy but not in a scary horror way, more in a disturbing metaphorical or realism way. Some of the stories weren't bad and I fully understood them and what the author was describing, and because of that it was creepy. But most of the stories were so weird and written so....I don't know if lyrically is the term, but it was almost too abstract to fully understand. And then there were others that were just WTF gross. The best ones were in part 1. but I found this book to be a challenge/ struggle to finish, which is crazy cause its super short. So yeah....2 stars for me. The best part was the snippets of the authors diary in between.
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