The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Read a chunk this morning!

Sandkings: (view spoiler)[Woo George R.R. Martin did not disappoint! I haven't read anything by him except A Song of Ice and Fire, which I love and have actually re-read (I don't usually re-read things). I guess I need to start branching out with some of his other works because I really enjoyed this.
It was so disturbing from the start. The description of the Sandkings was really interesting. I definitely wouldn't want them in my house, even though I'd be nice. Kress was obviously NOT the type of person who should be allowed to keep pets of any kind, let alone sentient beings who are smart enough to know when they're being f**** with. I knew those orange ones were going to be important. I wonder if Jana Wo knew they were out there and purposefully sent Kress to his death?
Alison, so lucky! I live up here far away from anything cool. I have seen stuff about Meow Wolf and have been waiting for them to open the one that's coming to Denver (6 hours away). But of course, that's been put on hold because of this obnoxious pandemic. (hide spoiler)]

Window: (view spoiler)[This one was really good too. I was NOT expecting the nice little family to turn into man-eating creatures. I really wanted more information. It did seem to me that the girl was aware of the window and was looking "at" them. They said she just sat there staring every morning, and when Reeves arrives she's not surprised at all. I don't think they changed because he arrived. I think they were attempting to trick, either the viewers or possibly other people in their time/place into thinking they were normal humans, so their half-transformed visage was like their morning routine or something. After all, there must be normal humans where they live, otherwise they would not have been so quick to view Reeves as a meal. The bones at the end and the fact that the window is just apparently open now was creeeeepy.
Alison, 11/22/63 is great! I listened to it on audio book and it's probably my favorite audio ever. Stephen King is hit or miss for me so I was pleasantly surprised. (hide spoiler)]

The Brood: (view spoiler)[I love how this poor, naïve veterinarian thinks this woman is taking stray animals off the street to take them home and love them or hoard them and the only reason he goes into the house in the first place is he's concerned about the animals. Awww. But yeah, otherwise pretty dark. A brood of faces? Ugh. (hide spoiler)]

[Alison]

My thoughts on:

The Autopsy: (view spoiler)[ What a chilling, creepy story!! I can't imaging being a pathologist and doing autopsies on dead bodies let alone having an autopsy done on yourself while you were alive :0 I liked the story, though, and had to keep reading to see how it was going to end! I wonder if the end had been different and the alien had taken control of the Doctor's body, if the cancer inside the Doctor's body would have trapped the alien inside or if it would have moved to a different body? The talk of the cancer seemed an aside in the end and held no real purpose to me. (hide spoiler)]

The Belonging Kind: (view spoiler)[ What a weird, creepy story! What were these people who could morph and what was the purpose of going to all the bars, changing your appearance and drinking a whole lot? The gills where the money came from and the tentacles attaching the "alien" to Coretti in the end served a purpose but I don't know what they were!
I had to look up what the "cyberpunk" and "splatter-punk" subgenres of science fiction mentioned in the synopsis of the writers were...I had never heard of these! (hide spoiler)]

Engaro: (view spoiler)[ A world just beyond reach that you are able to catch glimpses of but never truly see...that is a good premise for a story! In the end, I believe both men felt that Engaro was real but untouchable and that normal life is ordinary, whereas Engaro is extraordinary! That is a little depressing.... (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

Sorry I was MIA for a few days ladies, it’s been a tough week with little reading. But back on the horse now, although not with the best of stories unfortunately...

The Psychologist who wouldn’t do awful things to rats: (view spoiler)[Very uncomfortable to read this one. The descriptions of the animal experiments, the sexism (I was surprised that the author is a woman!), the long dragged out part with the Rat King creature... I don’t understand why our main character did such a 180 at the end and suddenly wanted to do experiments after all. Did his soul/conscience go off somewhere with the Rat King and the animals??? Alison, I totally understand why you decided to skip it. (hide spoiler)]

The Beak Doctor: (view spoiler)[I actually DNF-ed this one... I found it too strange and even unpleasant to read. I had no idea what was going on and wasn’t interested enough to commit to finding out through that long long story, so I gave up... (hide spoiler)]

My Mother: (view spoiler)[What a strange little story. Some bits felt like a dream state. Did the main character try to kill their mother a few times? And they turned into crocodiles or something like that at some point, but then they weren’t anymore? It was not the story for me but at least this one was short... (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Glad you're back Marleen! I'm sorry you're having a rough week I hope things get better. And I hope you enjoy Sandkings next!

I also am having a slow reading week. Partially because half my family is sick and needy, and partially because I'm taking advantage of World of Warcraft's free weekend haha.

I've read one so far today:

The Autopsy: (view spoiler)[I really enjoyed the mystery of this. At first it's just sort of a murder mystery and then it becomes really weird. I enjoyed the autopsy bit where the doctor is finding out the things that are "off" with the bodies. When the alien Traveler introduces itself it got pretty disturbing. It actually made me a bit nauseous reading all of the things the doctor does at the end to trap the alien. I thought the cancer was going to play a bigger part also Alison, but I think the reason the author included that was so the doctor wasn't really in it to survive at the end. Like, he was going to die anyway so he might as well mutilate himself and die. (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

The Belonging Kind: (view spoiler)[What an interesting premise! I loved that the author took that type of person who does just seem like part of the environment because of how well they fit in and created a weird story around it. I loved how she morphed, not only her physical appearance but her mannerisms and personality to fit her surroundings as well.
I want to know if the money they give people that is actually a part of them actually stays money or if it dissolved into foam like the part of the woman's dress does the first time Coretti follows her.
I also want to know if Coretti became one of them just because he found them out and started mimicking their behavior? At the end he seems to have the ability to "mate" with her through tentacles in what little skin contact they have. So weird.
I also had to look up splatterpunk. I was familiar with cyberpunk, but I've read one William Gibson book before (Neuromancer) and I hated it so I was worried about this one. I liked it though! (hide spoiler)]

Egnaro: (view spoiler)[I liked the premise of this one too but it seemed kind of dull to me. I didn't get much out of it, but it did make me think of the Mandela Effect. (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

Next up for me:

Sandkings: (view spoiler)[Oh I loved this one! What a great story. I raced through it, it didn’t feel long at all. I’m glad Kress got what he deserved in the end. At one point I feel like the ‘worship’ had sort of switched sides, with Kress trying to appease the white sandkings with food offerings. I loved the plot twist that Wo’s workers were actually sandkings too, did not see that coming at all. And like SarahKat I was waiting for the orange sandkings to make their big comeback in the end, and they didn’t disappoint.
I loved the writing, the pacing, all of it. I was curious to read George RR Martin because I had never read anything by him before but I might try some more now! (Although starting A Song of Ice and Fire sounds a bit intimidating so maybe something else first...) (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

Today’s stories:

Window: (view spoiler)[I really enjoyed this one. A fun little cast of characters and some great twists that I did not see coming at all! I already liked the story when it appeared to be a window to the past, but that moment the little girl smiled at seeing Reeves the whole thing twisted around in a horrible unexpected way. If it was a movie you would have heard the music suddenly changing to something really creepy... I also liked the brief moment at the end where Gilson pondered if humanity could deal with a future of 15h20m of safety followed by 5 seconds of terror, for ever maybe? Imagine that!
I agree with you both that the family were possibly trying to lure them. (hide spoiler)]

The Brood: (view spoiler)[This one felt a bit old fashioned, but that’s maybe because there was such a resemblance to a few previous older stories we’ve read, like The Spider and White Rabbits. I like that the motivation of the main character this time wasn’t romantic interest for the lady across the street but professional concern for the animals :)
I thought it was very clear from the start (with the description of the lady circling the lamp post) that the woman was actually some kind of moth, and all in all I found it an okay story, but nothing really special. (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Marleen, glad you liked Sandkings! It really was in a good place in this book after a couple of slogs.

The Little Dirty Girl: (view spoiler)[Okay, so first of all this title throws the order of English adjectives out the window and that really throws me off. "quality or opinion" (ie. dirty) should come before "size" (ie. little). I had to make sure the author was English, and she is American. I wonder if perhaps this title just sounded less sexual than "Dirty Little Girl," but to that end, why not just title it something completely different like "A.R.?"
Complete digression. Anyway. I liked this story! I did not see it coming that A.R. was a ghost because I was expecting something weirder so when our main character says something like "I became aware I was dealing with a ghost," it surprised me. However, by the end it does seem like it was something weirder. This girl seems to be the ghost of the main character as a child. A neglected childhood come back to haunt her grown self in the form of neediness. Perhaps to teach her grown self how to open herself up and be affectionate again. This story should be required reading for therapists or anyone who's dealt with neglect. (hide spoiler)]

The New Rays: (view spoiler)[Whaaaaat was going on here? Some kind of new cancer treatment that... has something to do with blue bodies... I don't know. I maybe lost focus too much. One of you can explain this to me if you were better at soaking this information in. (hide spoiler)]

The Discovery of Telenapota: (view spoiler)[I really liked the writing and the descriptions of the house/mansion in this. I assume the person was having some sort of hallucination? But then why was the other guy there? Malaria? I don't know. I did happen to read this one aloud so my daughter would stop screeching and my 8-year-old son said "I like the rhyming in that story." Not rhyming; just really good flow. (hide spoiler)]

[Alison]

Marleen wrote: "Next up for me:

Sandkings: Oh I loved this one! What a great story. I raced through it, it didn’t feel long at all. I’m glad Kress got what he deserved in the end. At one point I feel like the ‘wo..."

Marleen, Have you watched the Game of Thrones series? I think it was something like 7 seasons so it is long but follows most of the books except for the ending, which GRR Martin is still writing (??) My husband and I like to joke that he will never finish it now that the HBO series provided an ending. ;)

I am planning on re-reading the books next year (or some of the books...they are long, best to take them a month or two at a time :) starting with the second book in the series because I have reread the first a few times. The books have a lot more detail/story in them than the series does! If you are interested in reading, we can compare notes if you would like! :)

[Alison]

I had to take a couple days off to try to finish a couple books (here's looking at you, 11/22/63...such a Chunker! ;)

My thoughts on:

The Little Dirty Girl: (view spoiler)[ @ SarahKat, you made me laugh out loud with your thoughts on the structure of the title!! :D Yes, I agree with you that A. R. is the ghost of the main character as a child!! For someone that doesn't like children (as she stated in the beginning of the story), she certainly does take a shine to A. R. and that is probably her opening up and being affectionate again! Perhaps that is why she was able to make peace with her mother at lunch in the end...I really liked this story! (hide spoiler)]

The New Rays: (view spoiler)[ I have no idea what is going on in this story! The Rays seem to be more hurtful than helpful, making the main character more sick that she is! That is what chemotherapy does (make you sick) but it is supposed to help you in the long run which is not what these Rays seem to do! And what was the Blue Bodies that the staff would find and herd around? I have no idea what was happening or what the point was in this story... (hide spoiler)]

The Discovery of Telenapota (view spoiler)[ Initially I thought that the tree men (an angler, a drunk and a snorer) were on a quest to find Eutopia. Then I began to think not...they were attacked by big mosquitos, it is hot and oppressive and the men came to these ruins that were dark and crumbly. I think you are right, SarahKat...this man may have malaria and be having hallucinations! Teleponata seems to become a dream after the main character started to overcome his illness in the end. I did like the descriptive writing in this story. (hide spoiler)]

Soft (view spoiler)[ Yuck...what a horrible disease to have your bones disintegrate!! You just become a blob! The opening paragraph where the newscaster's jaw collapsed set the stage for the story! To live as the main character with the fear of what could happen to you after he saw his friend George...it would be hard live with that anticipation! Especially with the anarchy and rats and the way the world seems to be crumbling! A very descriptive, engrossing story... (hide spoiler)]

Bloodchild: (view spoiler)[ I have never read Octavia Butler before. Bugs!! Bugs that require hosts to incubate/birth their eggs!! I couldn't keep straight who was who...Tlic vs Terran vs N'Tlic. At first I thought the main Bug was a Spider but in the synopsis of the author, it says she wrote the story to overcome her fear of bot flies (and I had to look up what bot flies are :) It says that Bot Flies are flies in which their larva are internal parasites...so I guess that explains who the Bugs are in this story :D Very gross and descriptive story that gave me goosebumps at times.... (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

Alison wrote: "Marleen, Have you watched the Game of Thrones series? "
I haven’t, actually. Don’t have access to HBO here. I might try the first book next year, although I really should finish a few ongoing series before starting a new one :) I’ll give you a shout if I do!

I read only one story today because it was pretty long.

The Autopsy: (view spoiler)[I enjoyed the creepy setting of the doctor all by himself in the middle of nowhere at night doing autopsies. Excellent creepy atmosphere. I liked parts of the story, but I think I liked it most before the reveal of the alien. And the medical stuff and the alien’s speeches bored me a bit. Great ending though, the doctor ‘vandalizing’ the new vessel. I too had expected the cancer to play a part in defeating the alien, but I guess SarahKat is right and the cancer’s purpose in the story was for us to understand that the doctor was already thinking about his death and was not too set on survival. (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

I'd love to reread A Song of Ice and Fire but I'd like to do it shortly before Winds of Winter comes out.. so maybe never? The last time I re-read it was for that purpose because it was supposed to come out soon! That was 3 years ago.

Soft: (view spoiler)[Horrifying. Something that freaks me out is your body just breaking down and you have no control over it so this really got to me. I agree Alison, the jaw thing at the very beginning really set the mood. I had been wondering at what point people would die because of bone-loss, but apparently the way he finds George, you just continue living until you starve to death. Gross. Great story though beginning to end. (hide spoiler)]

Bloodchild: (view spoiler)[This also was pretty gruesome. Honestly, the last time I was pregnant (just last year), I was freaked out the whole time because I was worried I'd bleed and die in childbirth. I am so very glad I was not still pregnant while reading this because this puts that fear on a whole other level. It was an interesting premise and I almost wish there was a little more backstory to how the Tlics became sort of the humans' overlords. I thought it was pretty interesting, and it seemed like there was still some instinctive dread of the Tlics even though it's apparently been centuries since they've been living "together."
Alison, based on the botfly thing I was at first just picturing big flies, but that didn't seem right. Towards the end the description seemed more centipede-like. (hide spoiler)]

In the Hills, the Cities: (view spoiler)[Some of this was a little confusing at the beginning. After the whole tide of blood thing, I had to go back and reread to figure it out. Maybe I'm just tired. I liked this though. The imagery was really interesting. What I want to know is how exactly all these people are completely okay with doing this? And if it only happens every 10 years, how to they break apart again? If the city that wins already won, why is it still wandering around? Mick and Judd's endings seemed poignant. I liked them as the narrators. I actually think I would have preferred it without the viewpoints of the city guys included. (hide spoiler)]

[Alison]

SarahKat, I am not sure the Winds of Winter is ever going to be done however, apparently, he is "hard at work on it...isolated in his cabin in the Santa Fe Mountains" as of August 2020 We shall see...:D

My thoughts on:
In the Hills, the Cities: (view spoiler)[ I have not read Clive Barker before although my son is a big fan! I enjoyed it although I had the same question...How were the people from the town OK with hooking together and making a Giant? And what was supposed to happen after the 2 Giants were made...were they supposed to fight? If they were, I would think one would be defeated and fall down, much the same as what happened in the story...so why did the one Giant freak out when that happened?
The imagery of how the Giant was put together with all the bodies was done very well! And poor Mick and Judd..they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and should have turned around when they had the chance... (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

What I read today:

The Belonging Kind: (view spoiler)[I really liked this one, both the writing and the story. It made sense that the man who felt like he doesn’t belong anywhere felt so drawn to this species that can make itself fit just right in any situation. I too enjoyed the descriptions of the morphing lady. I was a bit confused at the part near the end where he left money for his landlady and it was stated that he ‘made the money himself’. Was that ‘made’ the same way the creature in the cab had ‘made’ money, so our main character was already turning into one of these creatures at this point? (hide spoiler)]

Engaro: (view spoiler)[I enjoyed the first part of the story setting the background with the shop and everything, but I didn’t really get the whole Engaro thing. What I did like was the bit about catching snippets of conversation. Sometimes you can catch half a sentence and it can stick with you even if you have no idea what it’s about. Overall not the story for me though. (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

GRR Martin has said that before in the last.. what 8 or 9 years since Dance with Dragons. And then he releases like 5 non-Song of Ice and Fire books. I might be exaggerating because I refuse to pay attention to him until he finishes Winds of Winter.

Marleen, on the Belonging Kind: (view spoiler)[Yes, that's how I took it. I don't know how exactly, but he was one of them by the end I think, and it happened in stages. Before that scene, he had stopped eating like them, and after that money scene he's "mating" with the girl through their skin at the bar, so obviously he's not just human any longer. (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

I'm halfway through "Shades," but I have a minute so I'll update the last two I read. Again, sorry if the titles are off; I don't carry this book around with me. ;)

Tainaron: Mailings from Another City: (view spoiler)[Was this the longest story in this book? It sure seemed like it. I looked it up and published alone, this book is 128 pages. It's hard to decide if I liked it or not since it was sort of a short story filled with short stories that were connected only by the writer and the place. I liked that style, and it gave me hope that if one part wasn't interesting to me, I didn't have 30 pages of it to read because the author moved on to another topic in her next letter. I'd say about half were really interesting and half were either dull or confusing.
If you ladies liked this one, you might like Dreams Underfoot. I'm listening to it right now and it's a book of short stories but they all take place in the same town and have some overlapping of characters. I think some of the stories would work well in The Weird too! (hide spoiler)]

Hogfoot Right and Bird-hands: (view spoiler)[ I really enjoyed this! I can't decide if it's just because after 30 pages of Tainaron I was just thrilled to be able to move on or if I legitimately liked it for its story. I think it's the latter though. It was actually quite disturbing in a very casual way at the beginning. It's not written like it's weird. Does that make sense? Like it's the most natural thing in the world if you're lonely, you have surgery to have bits of your body taken off and turned into pets. Sure! Makes complete sense!
The end was also disturbing with Bird-hands going crazy, and poor Hogfoot getting blamed and murdered while defending everyone else. (hide spoiler)]

Not story-related, but I've noticed in the last few stories a lot more typos and errors than previously. Letters switched around in names, "stop" instead of "step," stuff like that. I wonder if the editors just got tired after 500 pages.

[Marleen]

What I read today:

The Little Dirty Girl: (view spoiler)[This was a really nice story, I liked the interactions with the little girl before I knew what was going on, and then the ending really touched me, with the girl being a representation/ghost of her own inner child or former child? I thought it was a lovely ending, making peace with her mother and reconnecting to a playful side within herself. It didn’t strike me as a very Weird story though, but maybe that’s just because we’ve read so much Weeeeirder things by now :) (hide spoiler)]

The New Rays: (view spoiler)[Not sure what was going on here... And it seems like none of us did. She got some kind of treatment with rays that created bodies in her shape? Very strange in an unsatisfactory way. (hide spoiler)]

The Discovery of Telenapota: (view spoiler)[I’m glad you both liked it, but I was thrown off by the writing. So strange to have a story fully written in future tense! It made it feel very unnatural to me. I wonder if it’s a translation issue, maybe in the original Bengali the future tense is used differently. I didn’t care much for this story. But the malaria hallucination idea does make sense! (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Shades: (view spoiler)[The premise of this was interesting but I found it really hard to focus on this story. I maybe just wasn't in the right head-space yesterday because I felt the same way about the next story as well. The story on how Stoner died was sad; that was the one part that held my attention. (hide spoiler)]

The Function of Dream Sleep: (view spoiler)[ Also hard to focus on. I tried really hard! Most of the Weird things were told sort of ambiguously so I still really have no clue what was going on. (hide spoiler)]

Worlds that Flourish: (view spoiler)[This one I liked most out of these three. I did think what was going on would be weirder, but it turns out everyone is just dead and moved on to a new place. The thieves/soldiers part was kind of scary, in the way that being blamed for a crime you didn't commit and being punished for it is disconcerting. (hide spoiler)]

[Alison]

I have been reading slowly and have gotten into a routine where I read a story or two with my morning coffee before my husband gets up! We are almost 65% done with this Chunker :D

On another note, I am going to vent: New Mexico just shut down for the next 2 weeks due to the rising cases of Covid...Thanksgiving will be a bust this year, even with local family! :( I think I have "Covid fatigue"!! I have been in a relatively good state through this whole pandemic but the latest closing seems to have gotten me down a bit. I am headed to the grocery store this morning and hoping for few lines! I have feeling Christmas will be a no go (at least for our family...my husband has underlying conditions and he is very wary of getting together with family)! Our kids live in AZ and we haven't seen them in a while and it makes me very sad that we may not for Christmas! Sigh...sigh...just feeling a bit down today...sorry for venting! Reading these stories and comparing notes helps lift my spirits so Thank You, Ladies, for Buddy Reading this with me!! <3

My thoughts on:
Tainaron: (view spoiler)[ This was a LONG story but as you said, SarahKat, the letters broke it up into manageable pieces! Again, we enter a Bug World! :) Bugs that had Human qualities/thinking! I liked the insight into seeing the homes and "lives" of bugs through their "eyes"...the bugs weren't categorized but I could guess at some of them (the Ant colony with its Queen was very recognizable)! What were the bugs by the beach...Termites? I did like the story...
Thank You for the book recommendation, SarahKat, I will check that one out! (hide spoiler)]

Hogfoot Right and Bird Hands: (view spoiler)[ What a Weird Story!! Short but Interesting! Why would anyone consider pieces of themselves disposable and cut them off?! I, too, think that it was written as if this was completely normal...probably because everything was being run by a machine! Poor, misunderstood Hogfoot Right...:( (hide spoiler)]

Shades (view spoiler)[ I really liked this one! Ghosts of any kind capture my attention! I do think the story veered off into a dreamlike state in the middle but I guess poor Stoner headed to where he was supposed to go in the end. Was that the function of the machine and getting someone to interact with the ghosts...to help them get to the place they need to be? Or did the machine bring the ghost into this world against its will? I couldn't figure that one out... (hide spoiler)]

The Function of Dream Sleep (view spoiler)[ I found this one very Sad! I think the intention of the mouth was to open the side of the body and let all his sorrows out of his body?? It was hard to know because the ending was very vague... (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

Alison, my reading routine is late at night mostly, which is not always the best idea for these creepy stories... Maybe I should switch to mornings too :)
Sorry you’re having to shut down. We are riding the second wave in a half-lockdown here and the numbers seem to be getting a bit better but I’m trying not to have my hopes up for Christmas plans too much.

I’m still a lot behind you two! My portion of the day:

Soft: (view spoiler)[I liked this one a lot. I particularly liked how we were dropped right in the middle of an existing situation, which was clear right away when our main character was not shocked at all by what happened to the news guy. I liked the characters and the setting, and the fact that we didn’t really get a lot of information or explanation, and left them like that, not knowing how it will end. I must say, stories about viruses and earily quiet cities really hit differently this year and probably always will from now on. (hide spoiler)]

Bloodchild: (view spoiler)[Not sure how I like this one. The storytelling was okay but so much gross stuff! I reaaally don’t like bugs. Definitely NOT looking up botflies haha.
I thought the story had a very complicated setting for such a short story, there was so much going on. Almost like it was an excerpt from something longer. (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

I try to read in the morning before work when I have time. Otherwise it has to wait until evening, but I try to stay away from it late at night. Although most of these stories aren't as nightmarish as I worried they would be!

Alison, I'm sorry you're having a crappy experience with the shutdowns. Not getting to see your kids has got to be really hard! My state hasn't mandated anything whatsoever. The governor just spoke on Friday and called the citizens of Wyoming "knuckleheads" because we aren't taking precautions as much as we should, and he basically said pretty please wear masks.
I am very fortunate in that most of my family that I like lives in town. We don't have big gatherings but we visit occasionally. The only routine thing that I'm missing out on is going to church. They are still having it but I'm watching online so as to not expose myself and my kids to anything. Schools/daycare/work are all open, but that's all we do, with masks.

Today I read:

The Boy in the Tree: (view spoiler)[I liked this one! I'm a bit unclear on some points though. It sounded like they were trying to come up with a cure for autism and ended up making the subjects able to sort through human emotions, but not their own? So... they just turned them all into emotionless "empaths" able to help out those undergoing the therapy, somewhat like hypnosis, when they need to be rid of an emotion or memory. Super intriguing! I thought the whole thing was really cool and would actually be interested in a full-length novel with this idea. The girl killing herself, the empaths getting "high" on others' memories (actual emotions must be like crack to them since they don't make their own), the company getting shut down, the CEO or whatever she was having her whole weird thing with her twin.
Still not sure what the boy in the tree actually was though. A stray emotion running rampant through these memories? A ghost? (hide spoiler)]

Family: (view spoiler)[This was a bit disturbing. Centered around this baby who eventually ends up killing its mother by eating her breasts *shudder*. Evil baby stuff has always freaked me out. That being said, I DID NOT like that the mother at the end just put the thing in a barrel of rats. It's still a baby! I have conflicting emotions obviously.
Interesting that the kids from the beginning are now with an entirely new set of parents because of multiple remarriages. (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

I only finished one story today. I read a big part of the next one (the Tainaron story) but it’s much longer than I anticipated so I’ll have to finish that one tomorrow.

In the Hills, the Cities: (view spoiler)[What a concept...! Who thinks of this? The introduction said Clive Barker was famous for body horror. Well, this was definitely body horror. I didn’t find Judd and Mick a very believable couple, but I think their relationship was told that way to show they were very different people explaining their very different reactions to the events of the story. I liked that Mick decided in the end he wanted to be a part of the giant city.
Alison, I too am confused about how the fight was supposed to go down. I can’t see a fight without most of the people in one or both giants dying.
The imagery of the city-giants was very striking and apparently there’s a comic book adaptation by John Bolton with some great art work: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EYznVdFWs...
(hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

I've been trying to read a little more in this because it's a library book and I think I'm out of renewals by the first week of December. However, I'm worried that forcing myself to read a certain number of pages is hindering some of the enjoyment/focus I'd have otherwise. Argh.

I read

His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood: (view spoiler)[This was pretty good. The ending was the best part when the kid wakes up in bed with a mummified Louis. Honestly a little unclear as to how/when that happened. At the bar? (hide spoiler)]

The End of the Garden: (view spoiler)[This seemed completely random. Komodo dragons are just part of society now I guess? Some of the phrases used in here sounded like some of the things I've heard racists say "Why did they come here, they would have been better off staying on their island" type of thing. The end made no sense to me though. (hide spoiler)]

The Dark: (view spoiler)[ I liked this one as well. The disappearances at the beginning were interesting. My husband is always telling me about all the unexplained disappearances of people, especially from national forests and the like. It's actually quite disturbing. I thought the story was going to be more about that but it took a weird turn. I was really confused about the timeline at first but it seems the kid they found in the woods (Paul), ended up working for the CIA in the tunnels of Vietnam as like a feral child. The plague histories were interesting as well, though a bit concerning reading about a pandemic this year.
The author says "When men are turned into animals, it's hard for them to find their way back to themselves." Makes me wonder how humanity will have changed after the Covid stuff ends. Granted, we are in a somewhat more civilized era, and I don't think people are necessarily acting like animals, but there will be lasing effects I'm sure. (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Marleen wrote: "I only finished one story today. I read a big part of the next one (the Tainaron story) but it’s much longer than I anticipated so I’ll have to finish that one tomorrow.

In the Hills, the Cities: ..."

Love that picture Marleen thanks for sharing!

[Alison]

Thank You, Ladies, for your encouraging words! We all have to deal with this pandemic and I hope You and Yours are staying safe! I am in a better frame of mind today...and I agree with you, Marleen, about the stories containing some sort of virus or eerily quiet cities...I am viewing these stories a bit differently this year (however, stories like that have alway creeped me out a bit :)

Marleen, thank you for the image that depicts "In the Hills, In the Cities"...I like visual references like that! :)

SarahKat...We WILL finish this book by the beginning of December!! ;)

My thoughts on:
Worlds That Flourish: (view spoiler)[ There was Sooo Much going on in this story...my head was spinning! Then, in the end, it turned out everyone was dead! Did the main character die in the car crash or did he start the story out dead? Or was he just dreaming after the car crash of going to the town where everyone was dead? And what were the words that were written on people's faces? See...my head was confused :) (hide spoiler)]

The Boy in the Tree: (view spoiler)[ Poor Wendy, to be wiped of all your memories (or to be empty) and then having to share the memories of others to try to "help" those in therapy...and of course, the dystopian government is behind this! I think that this makes for a very cold, detached person because I think the core of humanity is to have feelings and personal experiences! And Yes, experiencing others feelings is sort of like a drug to the empty person. I, too, am not sure what the Boy in the Tree was... (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

Today’s stories:

Tainaron: Mail from Another City: (view spoiler)[More giant bug societies! I liked the beautiful writing and the way it was told in letters. It felt a bit like a collection of mini-stories, painting little pictures of things going on in Tainaron. I do wish more had actually happened, like an overarching plot with some kind of beginning/middle/end. But some of the letters/stories were lovely, for instance the main character and Longhorn talking about the need of all the insects/people to change into something else during their lifetime.
Random tidbit: in Greek mythology the city Tainaron is supposed to house the entrance to the underworld. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taena... ). I wonder if there’s a connection. The sea around the city was called Oceanus, so maybe? Not sure what that would mean for interpreting the stories though. (hide spoiler)]

Hogfoot Right and Bird-Hands: (view spoiler)[What a strange future where you don’t need your feet, hands, ears. I agree that it worked really well that it was all described as a very normal thing to do... I found it interesting that what happened there was classified as suicide. It was all still parts of the old lady I suppose, so in a way she did kill herself. (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Alison, on World that Flourish, (view spoiler)[I think he died in the car crash? Or maybe when the soldiers are beating him at the beginning? I have no idea. (hide spoiler)]

Marleen, interesting fact about Tainaron. Maybe the symbolism is like, metamorphosis. Death is just another change sort of thing?

On Hogfoot Right, (view spoiler)[I didn't even think that it actually WAS a suicide because all of the parties involved were parts of her! Wow nice catch (hide spoiler)]

Today I read

Angels in Love: (view spoiler)[This wasn't weird until the end is revealed, which just left me with a million questions. Was the dude an actual literal angel? Or possibly a devil as it says he was maybe an angel a long long time ago. Does he have some kind of hypnotic power over women so they come to him and, not only allow, but enjoy all the apparently lethal sex with them? Anne was wearing out so he killed her because he knew he had Lureen in his thrall already? I don't know, I can't decide if I like this one. It wasn't boring! (hide spoiler)]

The Ice Man: (view spoiler)[I don't think I've read any Murakami before but I have a bunch of his on my TBR list. I liked this story, but not as much as I thought I would based on the author's big name and how it began. It seemed like a pretty sad relationship, with her knowing absolutely nothing about him and wanting to go to the South Pole just because she thinks he may like it. Does she turn into an Ice Woman then? Is that how he became an Ice Man in the first place? Sort of metaphor-ish. If you marry someone "icy" you'll have to become so yourself if you want to survive the relationship. (hide spoiler)]

Replacements: (view spoiler)[ I liked this one a lot! What are these creatures?? Are they only cute to women? It never really explicitly says, but I'm assuming because of the title. Women find these things adorable and willingly feed them their own blood to sustain them and if the guys have a problem with it they kick him out. Some kind of very efficient parasitic thing. I did wonder why the thing was scratching to get out of the house at the end though? It got what it supposedly wanted and seemed happy enough at the beginning... (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

Just the one today because it was a longer one.

Shades: (view spoiler)[I enjoyed the storytelling. Alison, I didn’t really understand the purpose of the machine either. Maybe Stoner was haunting the village and they were trying to set him free/let him pass on? I felt the main character had a lot of PTSD, and I understood his anger at being manipulated by Tuu but I think the outcome was probably best for Stoner. At some point I thought Stoner took away his life force but it didn’t seem at the end of the story that there was any permanent damage. My only big negative with the story was the continuous use of the g-slur. It might have been normal use for people like our main character in that time period, but I found it unpleasant. (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Today's stories

The Diane Arbus Suicide Portfolio: (view spoiler)[This was okay. Not mind-bending or anything. I liked that the photographer suddenly started creating "live" negatives of the people he was photographing. I don't understand why Diane was small though? Did they just shrink and then disappear after a certain amount of time? Is he never going to take photos of dead people again? Why did this start happening in the first place? (hide spoiler)]

The Country Doctor: (view spoiler)[LOVED this! I loved how cagey everyone was acting with the guy and the mystery of what exactly was wrong with the people in the graveyard. Then the discovery of Doc Sweeney was actually really disturbing. Some humanoid alien came to this community and was giving them medicine/candy that caused deformities, and not just with that generation, but far down the bloodline too. So random. (hide spoiler)]

Last Rites and Resurrections: (view spoiler)[I liked this one, though the weirdness was pretty mild. I liked that this one had some character-driven stuff too. A lot of these stories don't have that. His history with his wife and kid was depressing, but I liked that it ended on a hopeful note with his wife. (hide spoiler)]

[Alison]

Reading recommendation for you Ladies: I am about 25% into Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre and can hardly put the book down! Great take on the possibility of there being Sasquatch(s) in the Pacific Northwest forests!!

Marleen, on Tainaron: (view spoiler)[ So interesting, the fact about the Greek meaning of Tainaron! I could see it being the entrance to the underworld and the metamorphosis of the bugs/people is a change when they die and are entering the underworld? (hide spoiler)]

My thoughts on:
Family: (view spoiler)[ I have read Joyce Carol Oates gothic novel(s) before years ago and enjoyed them! This one was creepy..I agree, creepy baby stories make me shudder! I wonder what was happening to the Family's memories...they just seemed to forget previous parents/lovers etc! For example: The first Father just didn't come home from a trip away with the Mother and then later in the story, one of the children remembered someone using binoculars (like the first Father did on the roof in the beginning of the story) but it was a vague memory and they couldn't even place who used to use the binoculars! It was definitely a Post Apocalyptic setting, I think? The story was kind of hard to figure out.... (hide spoiler)]

His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood: (view spoiler)[ Just the title...Yuck!! I don't know why but when I read "wormwood", I think of death! Did the wearing of the necklace call to the person in the grave that they stole it from and make him come to Louis and desiccate him? I think that is who they met in the bar...the witchdoctor/person in the grave that they stole the necklace from. Very morbid story and boy, did these main characters have insatiable appetites for all things that brought them pleasure... (hide spoiler)]

The End of the Garden: (view spoiler)[ This one was very weird to me...first the lady was beating up the Komodo Dragon and then the roles were reversed. It was very disjointed and hard to follow for me... (hide spoiler)]

The Dark: (view spoiler)[ As you said before, Marleen, and you mentioned in your synopsis of this story, SarahKat, this one, because of the plague histories, hits a little close to home right now due to the pandemic going on!
Yes, it is always weird to read about unexplained disappearances in National Forests and such or people getting lost (that lucky man they rescued off of Mt Ranier) but there are parts of the US where there are wide, open spaces and I can see people getting lost! My husband and I hiked a trail this summer in the mountains which was hard to follow sometimes and it was a bit scary having the forest to yourself and wondering if you are going the right direction (we didn't see anyone after we started up until we were almost to the top (12,000 ft)) :0
This one did take a weird turn and I do believe they used that poor, lost child in Vietnam in the tunnels! (hide spoiler)]

Angels In Love: (view spoiler)[ Definitely NOT an Angel in the end! I believe it may have been a Fallen Angel...so is that a Demon? Lurleen's obsession with him is what led her into that apartment in the end, I don't think that the "Angel" lured her in anyway. Lurleen was greedy and wanting and her lust led her in there. Was Ann dead in the end...I don't think she was but she certainly was being used up! (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Added Devolution!

About the National Parks thing, I'll have to ask my husband for the link of the stories he's always telling me. Some of these people disappear from campsites just off the road and then there've been like a pile of teeth by a tree that they find later or something. SUPER disturbing. A little conspiracy-theory-esque but freaky nonetheless. We live 30 minutes from our mountains/National forest, and I've been on a few hikes like that Alison! I'm not outdoorsy but after hearing that I'm even less outdoorsy haha.

[Marleen]

Thanks for the recommendation Alison, added it to my TBR :)

Today I read:

The Function of Dream Sleep: (view spoiler)[I liked the writing and the weird mouth thing. I had hoped that that would be explored more, but I liked that little scene where he woke of after his disastrous nap to a room full of carnage... And I agree Alison that it was also very sad, he had lost so many loved ones, and it clearly effected him a lot. (hide spoiler)]

Worlds that flourish: (view spoiler)[The writing had a strange rhythm. It reminded me a lot of the (only?) other African story we read about the boy in the jungle.
So he ended up in a place where everybody turned out to be dead. I feel like we have had quite a few stories like this. Or stories where we think that might be the case. For me too many strange events were unexplained: everybody disappearing, the writing on the faces (that interested me the most, I really wanted to know what that was about), what happened there at the end with him going back (did he come back to life?). (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Do we want this thread moved to the December folder when we post next month's buddy reads?

I read..

The Ocean and all its Devices: (view spoiler)[I really liked this, but I'm not sure I have any clue what was actually going on. There's some kind of machinery in the ocean. It decapitates people and cuts up fish. But what happened with Melissa? Did she like... become a mermaid? Did she die when she was little and they made some kind of deal to get her back? That's sort of what it seemed like. It was Weird! But I liked it. (hide spoiler)]

The Delicate: (view spoiler)[I'm sorry I have nothing to say about this at all. It seems the words just flowed directly from my eyeballs and into my inner trash chute and I retained nothing. (hide spoiler)]

The Man in the Black Suit: (view spoiler)[Stephen King is very hit-or-miss with me. It seems I either love him or hate him. I don't know if I loved this, but I did like it. It was really creepy. It's been a while since one of these stories scared me enough to not want to walk through my house at night, but this did! Devil/demon stuff freaks me out, especially when there's a kid in peril! Really really good imagery in this. I could see the whole thing like a movie. (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

We can leave the thread in the November folder as far as I’m concerned, we can still post in it there right? I’m guessing both of you will be done beginning of December and it shouldn’t take me too long into December either to finish up.

I only read one today because this one took me longer than expected.

The Boy in the Tree: (view spoiler)[I’m not sure about some of what was going on but I think I just was a bit too tired to read today. I did really enjoy the story and the writing. The empties getting high on other people’s emotions, even very negative ones, was so interesting. SarahKat, I agree that a full length novel about this concept would sound great.
I find it strange that the story was called The Boy in the Tree, so that was apparently the main part, while there was so much else going on that I found more thrilling and interesting. But maybe my tired brain just didn’t read it properly. (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

Next few:

Family: (view spoiler)[This was so creepy! Even apart from the sharptoothed baby eating its mother... I thought it was very unsettling how parents were being replaced all the time and the children just went with it and forgot the previous people.
Alison I agree that it felt like a very post apocalyptic setting, how quickly that country/society all fell apart! (hide spoiler)]

His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood: (view spoiler)[Lesson of the story: don’t mess with voodoo stuff... Im pretty sure the guy they met at the bar was the person from the grave. He was missing a tooth so that amulet-item was probably his tooth. Pretty morbid story with the main characters being so obsessed with death. (hide spoiler)]

The End of the Garden: (view spoiler)[I though this one was a funny quick read. I especially liked the “philosophy” bit in the beginning, where he was trying to figure out whether he was supposed to side with the apparent victim or with the human. The story was very odd but to me it felt like mostly a dream state with all the unconnected weird stuff happening and I enjoyed it. (hide spoiler)]

[Alison]

I think I will be done with this by the end of November...but if we still need time, it doesn't hurt to add it to the December folder of Buddy Reads! :)

My thoughts on:
The Ice Man: (view spoiler)[ I haven't read any of Murakami's books either! I really like this one! I can see in the story where I think the author's wife's dream (which influenced the story) appeared...I think it is when they are at the South Pole and it states; "I (the wife) had the same awful dream night after night. I'm walking somewhere when I fall into a deep hole. Nobody finds me and I freeze solid....There is no future for me, just the past steadily accumulating. Everyone is watching this happenings to me." I could be wrong but I was looking for the dream's influence in the story :)
And the Ice Man comes alive at the South Pole while the wife slowly freezes over and loses all her warmth...it is really a rather tragic story.... (hide spoiler)]

Replacements: (view spoiler)[ What were those naked, ugly things...vampires?? Or things that feed on the women's souls? No wonder the men (or at least the main character) hates these things! I don't think they main couple had that great a relationship to begin with but when the secretary shows up with one of the creatures and then the lady on the subway, it does seem that the women are attracted to the creatures and not men! I, too, don't know why the thing would want to get out of the apartment at the end unless it has met it's goal with that lady (taken the place of the man) and wants to find a new conquest! (hide spoiler)]

The Diane Arbus Suicide Portfolio: (view spoiler)[ OK, I had to look up Diane Arbus and see if she committed suicide in real life...and she did! She was an American photographer who photographed "marginalized people" such as LGBTQ community, nudists, dwarves, carnival performers, etc...just like those pictures tacked up on her wall in her apartment!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_A...

It was interesting to me that the Diane Arbus in the story used her photography as art but the Detective photographing her death was doing it as a job. I don't know what the dwarf represents in the story, unless it was just one of Diane Arbus' subjects. It is interesting that the Detective takes special care in developing his negatives of the death scene...why would he take more care with these negatives than with others? Did her photographs tacked on the wall make him look at his pictures in a different way? A very interesting story...and it makes it more interesting in the fact that it was based on a real person! (hide spoiler)]

The Country Doctor (view spoiler)[ I loved this one!! I actually went into detail describing it to my husband after I had read it :) In the beginning, it was just an ordinary guy returning to his hometown before the dam floods it and puts it underwater...but then you get the sense that something is wrong with the man (his one leg is shorter than the other?) and others that are buried in the cemetery (they are deformed in some way)...and then the Country Doctor/Alien is disinterred! Very good reveal!! The doctor had been doing experiments and changing the whole town!! (hide spoiler)]

Last Rites and Resurrections: (view spoiler)[ This, to me, was a very sad story...but I guess the animals in the end were making the main character hopeful that he would eventually see his son! There was hope for the couple to reconcile, also, which gave me a little lift in the end! (hide spoiler)]

The Ocean and All Its Devices: (view spoiler)[ What was the machine beneath the ocean? With whom did the Franklins make a contract after their daughter drowned? I am assuming the contract was to keep her "alive" and with them even though she drowned and once the Father died, the contract was void and the drowned daughter returned to the ocean as a Fish?! Definitely a weird story with a Gothic aspect, which I liked... (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Okay we can leave it in November and as long as we finish before December 25th we'll be good!

The Snow Pavilion: I'm not even putting a spoiler here because it took me the entire day to get through this yesterday just because my kids kept interrupting me and I couldn't string 2 thoughts together, so while I read it, I could tell you almost nothing about it, nor form an opinion.

The Meat Garden: (view spoiler)[I had a hard time focusing on this too, but I think I got that the warfare they were using actually caused people to die because plants would take over? Just when that one guy is screaming until his eyes become blossoms. That was some disturbing imagery. A lot of graphic deaths actually. (hide spoiler)]

The Stiff and the Stile: (view spoiler)[I loved this! Sort of like a grotesque children's nursery rhyme. I laughed. Also, "mutant trash goblin" will now be my pet name for my husband ;) (hide spoiler)]

Yellow and Red: (view spoiler)[I liked this one too. I was worried when the blurb at the beginning said this was sort of like Casting the Runes because I didn't care for that one. This was better though. Pretty creepy. Like I said above, demon stuff freaks me out. This actually reminded me of the movie Shutter. The ending of this made me think of that and now I won't be able to sleep. Yay...
Poor guy though! I mean just because he's part of that family he's doomed? (hide spoiler)]

[Alison]

My thoughts on:

The Delicate: (view spoiler)[ Nope, this one is not for me...I couldn't follow it at all and, just like you SarahKat, retained NOTHING! I am tired this morning so perhaps that is why... (hide spoiler)]

The Man in the Black Suit: (view spoiler)[ Now I loved this one!! The description of the Man in the Black Suit down to his flaming eyeballs, his awful breath and teeth and the smell like sulphur that surrounded him...I could just picture him and see how terrified the boy was!! He must have been real for the dad to see the outline of the dead grass in the shape of a man's body! I am glad I read this this morning because I think I would have dreamed about it if I had read it at night!! Creepy!! (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

Three today:

The Dark: (view spoiler)[I liked this one. I enjoyed the writing style and the storytelling. Liked SarahKat, I especially enjoyed the beginning part with the disappearances in the woods. The plague history bits were a bit saddening, about how they seemed to bring out the worst in people, and the part about the government official trying to deny the plague... Tough stuff to read these days, I’m glad it was only a small part of the story.
I’m not sure what was going on by the very end. Was our main narrator suggesting that Caroline and Paul were descendants of rat-infected people?
Alison, your trail hiking sounds very adventurous and a bit scary! (hide spoiler)]

Angels in Love: (view spoiler)[Not sure what to think of this one. The demon figure had clearly used up poor Anne indeed (which explains why Lurleen thought she seemed ‘empty’), and now he has a willing replacement in Lurleen. (hide spoiler)]

The Iceman: (view spoiler)[Having never read anything by Murakami before I was curious about this one. I must say, I’m not immediately drawn to add his books to my TBR now. I did enjoy the story, I liked the slowly increasing sense of doom. But not my favorite story, I was a little bit bored with it actually. Alison, I like that you went in search of the dream part that influenced it. It’s fun that we get these little introductions that give bits of background to the author or story. (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

The Specialist's Hat: (view spoiler)[I liked this and I had a feeling the twins were ghosts, which seems to be the case by the end, but I'm confused as to who was dead (actually dead) at which point. Because, the groundskeeper can see them. Is he dead? The father? Were the girls dead from the beginning? Or did they die later? Confusing, but good. (hide spoiler)]

A Redress for Andromeda: (view spoiler)[ Also a bit confusing. Apparently Tara's boyfriend made her come out to this gathering because there has to be a certain number of people to pay tribute to this sea goddess type thing? I'm not sure what was going on at the ending though. I noticed there were definite throwbacks to Alice in Wonderland too (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

What I read today:

Replacements: (view spoiler)[Enjoyable and very Weird story. So for some reason all women are attracted to these creepy creatures and want them as replacements for their partners? At the end the creature seems to want to escape, and the secretary earlier also talked about preventing the creature to escape. So the women are controlling the creatures against their will? It feels like the women were affected by the creatures somehow but it backfired on the creatures maybe? I really liked this story even though we didn’t really get answers. (hide spoiler)]

The Diane Arbus Suicide Portfolio: (view spoiler)[I liked the story while reading it (the living negatives were interesting), but after some googling afterwards I think it’s a little disturbing that it was based on a real person, who also committed suicide in that way. I wonder how her loved ones felt about it, because it feels a bit disrespectful to me. (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

I read yesterday and didn't have a chance to post and now the stories have fallen out of my brain! I've been having a hard time focusing because of work/Christmas stress. So I likely won't have too much to say.

The God of Dark Laughter: (view spoiler)[Kind of creepy. Some kind of clown cult? The flaying of the entire skull was disturbing. The guy shooting the baboon was sad! (hide spoiler)]

Details: (view spoiler)[I liked this one but I'm not entirely sure what the guys in the hallway were doing. I know the lady somehow had some...thing after her that came from seeing shapes in details, which I think is a really interesting premise. Her entire apartment was white and textureless. But yeah, I didn't pick up on who the drunk men were. (hide spoiler)]

The Genius of Assassins: (view spoiler)[This was kind of graphic. It was a little difficult to get through in some places and because of that I skimmed some of it, and because of that I didn't retain a lot of the actual plot. Sorry I'm so bad at commenting this week! (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

I know what you mean SarahKat! I always have to run here and post straight after reading before I forget my thoughts. We’ve read sooo many stories by now...
Today I read:

The Country Doctor: (view spoiler)[I really loved the writing of this one. I could feel myself walking around that old tiny village. The revelation of the doctor’s body was unexpected but a very interesting reveal with him possibly causing the deformations through the generations. I really enjoyed the story. (hide spoiler)]

Last Rites and Resurrections: (view spoiler)[For a story that’s technically about roadkill, I thought this was very moving and beautiful. I loved that the animal ghosts walked with him at the end. Giving them a final resting place clearly brought peace both to the animals and to the main character. (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Read 2 of my favorite authors today!

Feeders and Eaters: (view spoiler)[I like most of what I've read of Gaiman, although some isn't as amazing as it could be. I liked this one though. It did remind me a bit of The Brood like the blurb at the beginning said. Creepy old woman feeding slowly off this dude's body to stay youthful. I wonder if he'll start doing that to regain his youth too or if it just works for her? (hide spoiler)]

The Cage: (view spoiler)[Also like VanderMeer though he's very hit and miss. I loved Borne and Annihilation, but sort of hated the rest of both of those series. I really liked this story though. It wasn't clear if this was just an excerpt out of City of Saints and Madmen or if it's a story within it. Either way, that's been on my TBR and I still want to read it! This was delightfully gross. Fungus is taking over and people are turning into spore clouds! And there's an invisible creature in a cage! I can't sum it up well but I liked it! (hide spoiler)]

[Alison]

Catching up on my thoughts on stories today...I had to really think about where I left off! It has been a couple days since I updated! That was a mistake because I, too, forgot all my thoughts on the stories and had to revisit them :D

My thoughts on:
The Snow Pavilion: (view spoiler)[ Well, that was one house I wouldn't go into if I was stuck in the snow! I think, however, that the house tricked him inside, seeming like a regular house (although white seems to be the only color in the house...that would seem strange to me) and then it turned creepy! I interpreted that dolls to be former people?? I liked this one.... (hide spoiler)]

The Meat Garden: (view spoiler)[ This one was very graphic and icky to me and I admit to not having many thoughts on it because I skimmed it...Maybe I wasn't in the right frame of mind! (hide spoiler)]

The Stiff and the Stile: (view spoiler)[ This was one of my favorites in the book! I loved the nursery rhyme/children's book theme with Weird added! Reading it reminded me of reading children's books to my kids while they were growing up...We had one favorite at Halloween that had a main saying "It's Big and It's Mine and It's Stuck on the Vine...and Halloween is Just Hours Away!" and that saying got built upon throughout the story, just like the saying in this story! So I had that Halloween book saying going through my head while I was reading this! (LOL) Such a fun story...although with a weird slant...:)
SarahKat, I love the you got a new name for your husband from this...perfect! :D (hide spoiler)]

Yellow and Red: (view spoiler)[ I feel for this guy and his fate...he just happened to be part of a family that was cursed! It had a Gothic theme with the description of the house, which is a theme I am finding through this book that I enjoy the most!
Where did the demon/lizard like thing that attaches itself to the members of the family and kills them from? I think that it originated when Grandpa went into that ancient dig and took pictures...maybe it came out on the pictures he took inside the tomb? Those pictures were referred to a couple times and I think they were an important part of the story... (hide spoiler)]

The Specialist's Hat: (view spoiler)[ Again, a Gothic theme with the description of the old house! I really like it!! That must have been a massive house with 8 Chimneys and 24 fireplaces!
I had the same question, SarahKat, was everyone dead in this story? The Father didn't seem dead but if the girls were dead from the beginning, he would of had to have been if he interacted with them! And who was the babysitter in the end...I got the feeling she was the daughter of the man who composed the poems and wrote the book (that was described as not being very good to read). I like the poems featured throughout the story...
(hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Alison on Yellow and Red: (view spoiler)[Yeah I thought that's where the demon came from was the ancient dig pictures. (hide spoiler)]

Okay ladies. It took me almost 1000 pages to think of this, but I totally cheated and listened to my second story today on YouTube! I've been having so much trouble focusing on reading recently, especially this book since it's a physical copy and I can't read it at odd times at work or while I'm rocking the baby. But I CAN listen to audio stuff when I'm doing other things! I might be cheating on a lot of the remaining stories now...

The Beautiful Gelreesh: (view spoiler)[ This was okay for me, though again, I wasn't very focused on it. The ending was kind of sad. Humanity learning to pity itself right before the world ends... (hide spoiler)]

The Town Manager: (view spoiler)[This is the one I listened to and I focused so much better!! I thought this was very much a satire of how the world sort of works, but maybe it's just because the presidential election just happened not too long ago so this transfer of power type thing is forefront in my mind still. I definitely saw the main character becoming a town manager at the end. Though I thought when he stayed behind in the cabin/shed thing he would just come out and just tell everyone he was. (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

SarahKat, audio instead of physical/ebook is not cheating at all! I think it’s a great idea, I had no idea that you could find these on YouTube. I might try searching for one or two to read that way while doing laundry or dishes tomorrow :)

Today I read:

The Ocean and All Its Devices: (view spoiler)[I liked this one a lot, both plot, writing style and characters. Like both of you I have no idea what those machine creatures (?) at the bottom of the ocean were. But I’ve found in this book that in some stories I don’t mind not knowing/understanding what’s going on, if I like everything else in the story. (hide spoiler)]

The Delicate: (view spoiler)[This was really Weird and I have no idea what was happening. And contrary to the previous story, this time the not understanding did bother me because there was nothing else in the story that I liked, so in those cases I at least would like to understand what I’m reading...but alas.
SarahKat, your comment made me laugh out loud “It seems the words just flowed directly from my eyeballs and into my inner trash chute and I retained nothing.” Re-la-ta-ble. (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

I only read the one today:

The Man in the Black Suit: (view spoiler)[I love King’s writing. Have read quite a few of his books but it’s been a while. This story really made me look forward to reading more of him soon, which is lucky because I have a possible King book planned in December as well as a definite King buddy read in January, right Alison? :)
I loved the child’s perspective. Even though the story was written down as an old man, I really felt like I was in the head of a nine year old for a while. Verrry creepy description of the man in the suit. I was very surprised that the mother didn’t end up dying like the man had described. All in all I really liked this story. But at the same time I’m glad it didn’t scare me as much as the one Stephen King short story I remember reading years ago that gave me nightmares for ages (about a wind up toy monkey, I don’t remember the title, but it was soooo scary.) (hide spoiler)]

[Alison]

Marleen: Yes...we start The Gunslinger in January!! :) I actually avoided Stephen King for a long time because a couple of his short stories creeped me out when I was younger but I just finished 11/22/63 and that wasn't very creepy! I am also reading Mr. Mercedes for one of the prompts in the Just the Facts Ma'am challenge (Death by Wheels...vehicle used :) on my husband's recommendation...a King mystery novel, who would've thought?! I guess he wrote a few, albeit with his own twist ;)

My thoughts on:
A Redress for Andromeda: (view spoiler)[ Poor chained up creature on the rock...I am assuming that it didn't want to be there and was being held captive (possibly by throwing the coins into the water?)
At first I thought Darrin was the main character's boyfriend but then I didn't think so...he almost held her there against her will! @SarahKat...definitely an Alice in Wonderland thing going on in the end! After she threw the coin in the water, she "went down the rabbit hole" and woke up in the grass?! She is definitely part of the group now and will return next year...a weird, confusing conclusion! (hide spoiler)]

The God of Dark Laughter: (view spoiler)[ Clowns with an HP Lovecraft bent! I liked the story until the middle part where the book went into all the theology of Ye-He (I think I spelled that right?) who was the God of Dark Laughter...I was lost and confused after that! I think this clown was killed by the group that followed him? I did feel sorry for the baboon...however I have to ask was he just an innocent bystander or did he have something to do with the murder? What was the finger he was carrying? See, I was a bit confused... (hide spoiler)]

Details: (view spoiler)[ So if you look closely enough at the details/patterns of things, you can see what lies beneath...which is a creepy monster that comes after you the rest of your life! So you hide in a white room with no details...but a drunk guy throws a patterned jumper in your room and the creepy monster finds you and kills you! I liked this story and had a feeling the boy ended up seeing the details in the end... (hide spoiler)]

The Genius of Assassins: (view spoiler)[ I tried to read this today and I, too, skimmed it and didn't retain much...so not much commenting on this one from me! (hide spoiler)]

[Alison]

My thoughts on:

Feeders and Eaters: (view spoiler)[ I haven't read much of Gaiman...I liked this story! I agree...creepy old lady! And the poor, vigorous man now a shell of himself! He is attached to the lady in the end (it seemed like they walked off as young lovers) although I wonder if he was trying to signal his friend in the restaurant with his eyes (perhaps to put him out of his misery) like the cat who was half eaten signaled with his eyes he wanted to be put out of his misery? And what was the last paragraph involving the baby in the jar on the lap of the lady on the train...that didn't seem to relate to the story at all!! (hide spoiler)]

The Cage (view spoiler)[ Again, I have never read Jeff VanderMeer but I really liked this one!! The poor antique dealer as the fungus took over his body...weird and creepy and gross!! I guess the spore clouds help transmit the fungus? Good Story!! (hide spoiler)]