Spooky Mo: Horror Stories

by Marivi Soliven Blanco

Welcome to Marivi Soliven Blanco's little shop of horrors.

The nine stories in this book are all truly scary and unpredictable because they are so imaginative. They feature the Seven Deadly Sins that we were all warned against when we were young--Pride, Envy, Anger, Avarice, Sloth, Gluttony, and Lust.

You have been warned. Read them at your own risk.

Genres: Horror

92 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Marivi Soliven is a Filipina author based in America where she works as an interpreter. Her background as a writer includes having taught creative writing at the University of the Philippines, the Ayala Museum, and the University of California in San Diego. The Mango Bride has earned her a Hedgebrook writing residency last August 2012, and in 2011, garnered the Grand Prize for the Novel in English at the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature. Soliven has authored other works, namely Suddenly Stateside and Spooky Mo.

Reviews

[Gerald The Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Female rage in a spooky anthology book.

My favorite is Migrant Life kasi may pagka-Black Mirror siya and I can see na that concept can be expanded as a novella. After ko talagang mabasa 'to, napa-"OMG I LOVE THIS" talaga ako.

All of the short stories are really cool. They are all different from each other but shares the same core element which is female rage.

Isang salita lang ang nasasabi ko after every stories:
✨DASURB✨

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining and well written although some stories were stronger than others, as is usually the case with short story collections. Loved the themes though!

[Maxine Angeli Quijano · Rating 2 out of 5]

Originally, it was supposed to be a two-star read. But I have to give more credits to Marivi's impeccable writing style. So 2.5 stars it is.

I read this book because of a requirement for my thesis. I'd have to say that the first few stories were good (particularly Talunang Manok—despite of its super weird concept—and Child's Play, which I adored). But the more these stories come alight, the more I somehow lost interest.

The author's way of narrating is honestly good. She has a fresh voice and a way of adding Filipino touch to her stories. But the sexual concept behind this collection of short stories seem pretty irrelevant to me. Even the title gets me annoyed.

It would've been much better if Marivi highlighted each deadly sin and explain how they're connected to the stories. I felt like the book dragged on as I read. I was expecting so much from the titular story, Spooky Mo, since it's the last tale from the collection and it's garnered high rating from other readers.

However, I did learn some stuff that I could use for my thesis: narrative style, dialogues, and Child's Play (because it tackles Philippine myth creatures, which I'm sooo interested about).

Spooky Mo: Scary Stories didn't scare me one bit. Maybe this book is for you. But it's certainly not for me. I do hope I can find a better read for my thesis soon.

Before my review ends, here's my rating of each story—just to serve as a guide for those who wants to read it, too:

Talunang Manok - ⭐️⭐️.5
Child's Play - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Manananggrrrl - ⭐️
Bangungot - ⭐️⭐️
Lost in Digestion - ⭐️.5
Penitence - ⭐️
Migrant Life - ⭐️
Consumption - ⭐️.5
Spooky Mo - ⭐️.5

[Mikaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

a collection of 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' stories 🔥👌🏻

my favorite would be 'Consumption', it reminded me of that mall basement snake urban legend! 🐍

'Migrant Life' feels like a Black Mirror ep. 📺

[Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow.

[Danielle Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's good