4-6-25 — Christina Critiques - Stoker’s Part 4 & two bonus reviews
- Christina Pfeiffer
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Friends, I can’t yak at you this week. There is too much goodness below! Let’s get into them.
SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN LONG FICTION
COUP de GRACE
By: Sofia Ajram
Release: 10/1/24
Page count: 143
KU: No Hoopla: No
Synopsis: Vicken has chosen to end everything today but after a fated meeting on the train, his journey may end later than he anticipated.
First line: “I have some bad news for you.”
Favorite line: “Is it worse to be a prisoner in a cell with a window or without?”
Thoughts: This is what PIRANSI by Susanna Clarke tried to be. A commentary on the struggles of mental health and trying to navigate to the life we want or in the case of this novel, do not want. The dead ends and trials are so relatable it almost hurts. I will tell you, I had to read it in parts as it was such a heavy read.
Rating: 4.5/5
Other recommendations: BURY YOUR GAYS: An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror
REST STOP
By: Nat Cassidy
Release: 10/15/24
Page count: 122
KU: No Hoopla: Yes
Synopsis: Abe stops at a restaurant stop on the way to visit his ailing grandmother but stumbles into a cat and mouse game that has been divinely planned.
First line: “All is either darkness or chaos.”
Favorite line: “In still in danger, so I gotta go.”
Thoughts: Religious trauma for the win! Creepy crawlies, snakes (very cleverly used, btw), and google eyes (eyes aren’t the windows to the soul in this one) make this such an unnerving read. Besides causing the reader to feel claustrophobic and more blood than a Fulci film, the one thing you need to remember is your religious relic of your choice. You are going to need it.
Rating: 4/5
Other recommendations: NESTLINGS, MARY
KILL YOUR DARLING
By: Clay McLeod Chapman
Release: 9/24/24
Page count: 167
KU: No Hoopla: No
Synopsis: Glenn in fighting for a life that was taken forty years ago - his son, Billy’s. While still married, Glenn is lonelier day after day until his wife forces him into a writing class. And boy, does he have a story to tell.
First line: “They wrapped a whole roll of duct tape around his head.”
Favorite line: “When the cops didn’t arrest anyone, we went ahead and arrested each other. I’ve been on trial for decades now.”
Thoughts: Grief horror is difficult for me to read and even more, this story is about a young boy. The obsession that Glenn goes through is so brutally honest and raw while the wife deals in her own ways. I think this hurt more because I could see myself in Glenn so much, that obsession for the truth and it scared me. He becomes his son’s death not his remembrance. Absolutely soul-shattering.
Rating: 5/5
Other recommendations: WAKE UP AND OPEN YOUR EYES, THE GHOST EATERS
“All the Parts of You That Won’t Easily Burn” (from THIS SKIN WAS ONE MINE AND OTHER DISTURBANCES)
By: Eric LaRocca
Release: 4/2/24
Page count: 50+
KU: No Hoopla: Audiobook
Synopsis: Enoch goes in search of the perfect knife for his husband’s party, only to find that experiences are what you make them.
First line: “In Enoch Leadbetter’s most earnest estimation, the shopkeeper is no older than forty-eight or forty-nine years old.”
Favorite line: “After all, using a knife while cooking is like making love. The working equipment is important and usually makes for a better experience for all.”
Thoughts: Classic LaRocca - a beautifully haunting tale and quiet cleverness. In that I mean, the ability to bring the Hemingway iceberg effect to every one of his stories. Is it about. A young man in search of others like him? The needs for newness and excitement? The animalistic craving to feel alive with a secret all to himself? LaRocca won’t tell, but he hopes you figure it out.
Rating: 4.5/5
Other recommendations: YOU’VE LOST A LOT OF BLOOD, AT DARK, I BECOME LOATHSOME
HOLLOW TONGUE
By: Eden Royce
Release: 6/20/24
Page count: 90
KU: No Hoopla: No
Synopsis: Maxine goes back to her childhood home due to a worrisome, yet relief of a letter. The family home holds secrets and trauma in every wall. Sometimes wounds heal and people change… but not always for the better.
First line: “They would eat us, if they could.”
Favorite line: “Terror makes us cruel.”
Thoughts: Wow. Just wow. Royce takes familial trauma and dissects (no pun intended) it. How Royce uses the characters, science, and even the layout of the house to tell an unnerving and haunted unraveling tale for the reader, is nothing short of mesmerizing. Steeped in foreshadowing, which is so beautifully done, and lepidopterology - study of butterflies and moths, Royce refuses to shield the readers from the characters realities. Probably one of the best plays on the body horror trope.
Rating: 6/5
Other recommendations: ROOT MAGIC, THE CREEPENING OF DOGWOOD HOUSE
BONUS REVIEWS
THE GROVE
By: Eric Butler
Release: 4/4/25
Page count:
Synopsis: A group of friends retreat to their favorite weekend getaway only for the past to come back in the bloodiest of ways.
First line: “And her blood dripped from his knife.”
Favorite line: “Your man gives good head… let’s see if you can top that.”
Thoughts: Oh, this is spicy! Butler turns up the heat and blood content in this short. As with all of Eric’s work, his ability to world build in such a small number of pages is nothing short of remarkable. If you love your stories bloody, revenge soaked, and a bit smutty, this one should be on your TBR.
Rating: 5/5
Other recommendations: REST STOP, THE POPE LICK MASSACRE
F.A.F.O.
By: RJ Roles
Release: 3/7/25
Page count: 304
KU: Yes Hoopla: No
Synopsis: A collection of stories ranging from serial killers in bi-weekly therapy to a game of finder’s keepers - family edition, or stalkers stalking and emotional time travel.
First line: “Thank you, all, for coming to our bi-monthly group.”
Favorite line: “Cryday the 13th much, asshole?”
Thoughts: While many of the stories have been previously published, that doesn’t take away one bit from the perfection of this compilation. Again, showing his range as a short story writer, this is a top five collection for 2025.
Rating: 6/5
Other recommendations: NECRONADO, PIECES OF ME
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