Dog Boy and Other Harrowing Tales

by Erica-Lynn Huberty

Haunting, varied, and superbly written, Dog Boy and Other Harrowing Tales is a collection of stories immersed in the Gothic tradition yet told in a modern and inventive way. At the end of the First World War, a group of friends gather at a former Robber Baron estate on Eastern Long Island, only to learn the house holds a monstrous secret. In a Montana prison in 1988, a new dog training program goes awry with horrifying results. A Parisian cemetery in the mid-20th century is home to the ghosts of two centuries of poets, artists, and composers, the specters of a homeless woman's past, and the jolting reality of the modern world. Knitting together the ordinary, the extraordinary, and the supernatural, Dog Boy and Other Harrowing Tales is a boldly imagined literary work by a masterful new storyteller. "At a time when most authors of contemporary literature seem obsessed with humor and shying away from documenting the painful aspects of our existence, Erica-Lynn Huberty [has written] a book of stories whose immediate goal is not to entertain or humor us, but to liberate us from this desire . . . -Mohammed Naseehu Ali, author of The Prophet of Zongo Street" . . . a distinctly American investigation of the emotional corners into which people retreat to pass their lives . . . -Hilary Thayer Hamann, author of Anthropology of an American Girl

140 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 2010

About the author

Erica-Lynn Huberty is the author of the literary Gothic novel The Crewel Wing (Briar Press 2025), and Dog Boy and Other Harrowing Tales (Rising Star, 2010), which was shortlisted for the Eric Hoffer Award for fiction. She also co-edited the Gothic fiction collection These Dark Things (Briar Press, 2024). Born in New York City, she studied with author Ann Hood at New York University, and earned her Masters Degree in writing, literature and fine art at Bennington College. Her work has been anthologized in Garrison Keillor’s Good Poems, Conversations On Sculpture (Oakland Museum of California), The Muse Strikes Back (Story Line Press), and published in Camillia Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and others. She is also the author of the Millsborough Sisters Gothic Regency romance series, under the name Berri L. Beatty.

Reviews

[P.S.]

Dark, haunting, beautiful. Erica-Lynn Huberty taps each of these shadowy veins in the six short stories that comprise Dog Boy: and Other Harrowing Tales. Through these stories—varied in time, space, and voice, yet bound together by common and universal themes—Huberty masterfully incorporates traditionally gothic elements with modern perspectives to create richly textured narratives that reveal to the reader as much about himself as anything of the external universe.

Throughout Dog Boy…, Huberty defies convention by successfully fitting familiar tropes into new wineskins. Huberty’s enchanting prose and insightful characterization turn the traditional romantic fare of murders, ghosts, and haunted houses into living, breathing, relevant portals to human behavior (and human compulsion) in a post-modern age. Huberty weaves a number of common motifs through these seemingly disparate narratives, including a focus on the relationship shared between humans and animals. Huberty uses these inter-special relationships to explore the intra-special relationships shared between humans and the varied ways that we attempt to reconcile the past to the present to the future.

Dog Boy… is a testament not only to Huberty’s skill as an author, but also her nuanced understanding of the human psyche. Without question, Dog Boy… deserves a place on the shelf of any discerning reader.

[Emily]

** I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway.**

I'm not usually a fan of short stories. Even the best short fiction seems like it's over too soon, ending just when things were starting to get interesting or being so good that you wish they would never end. The stories in Dog Boy and Other Harrowing Tales by Erica-Lynn Huberty fall into that latter category, especially the deliciously creepy haunted house story "In Blackbrooke Hall" and the poignant "The Black Cat." The only dark spot in the collection was "Forever Jim," an interesting idea that doesn't quite follow through on its promise. On the whole, however, this beautifully rendered, perceptive collection resonates deeply and stays with you long after you've finished reading.

[Guinevere]

I received this beautiful author-signed copy through a Goodreads giveaway, and I so appreciate it! My four-star rating is carried by 3 of the 6 short stories - the hauntingly sweet Counting Sheep, the classic scary tale In Blackbrooke Hall, and the painful and beautiful The Black Cat. Dog Boy was also an engaging and disturbing tale. The other 2 left me a bit with the question "huh?" but without the desire to really find an answer to that question. Perhaps another reading at another time will reveal something new to me.

[Steph]

Thank you so very much for choosing me to read your book!!