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Musings: Cruelty in the Air

It is hard to write about horror fiction right now.

 

In the past two weeks my kids and my community have been exposed to increased antisemitism and cruelty.

 

When it’s a direct comment from a student then we can report it and hope there will be consequences. When an anonymous person stuffs mailboxes with hate-filled flyers or shares embarrassing photos on social media, there isn’t much that can he done.

 

Horror gives us a chance to see it is possible to fight and overcome or even defeat monsters. Fiction gives us control and allows us to close the covers when the contents are more than we can handle. We have the option to walk away.

 

Hate and cruelty are things you cannot walk away from. They’re like polluted air, you can’t help but breathe it in even when you do your best to keep it out. As my son described it, it feels slimy.

 

Earlier this year, elsewhere in my county, the library board attempted to move any YA novel with any kind of sexual content (among other criteria) to the adult section, supposedly to protect the children.

 

You can’t protect children from some things, you can only try to prepare them. Moving books around doesn’t keep kids from having to live with and experience cruelty and hate. You can live in a lovely community surrounded by generous and caring people but somehow, it worms its way in.

 

I wish I had the ability to close the book on it, especially for my kids.

 

Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on November 4, 2023 by , Reply

Book Review: Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

 

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

Tor, 2023

ISBN-13 ‎978-125024404

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook.

Buy: Bookshop.org  | Amazon.com

 

There is a thin line between fantasy and horror, and between YA and adult fiction. Nettle and Bone dances on that line in this dark fairytale by T. Kingfisher, closer in tone to The Seventh Bride than The Hollow Places.

 

Marra is the youngest of three sisters, princesses of the Harbor Kingdom, which is surrounded on both sides by more powerful kingdoms. Her oldest sister Damia died after a suspiciously short marriage to the cruel Prince Vorling, and now her middle sister, Kania, must marry him and bear him an heir. Vorling’s heir will receive a blessing from the royal family’s fairy godmother that no foreign enemy can harm them with magic, but their lives are bound to the godmother’s just as she is bound to their family.

 

Marra is hidden away at a convent where she stays for ten years, until a visit to her sister convinces her that Kania must be freed from her abusive husband. She goes to the dust-wife, a witch skilled in necromancy, who owns a demon chicken, to ask for help, and accomplishes three impossible tasks the dust-wife sets her, including spinning, weaving, and sewing a cloak of nettle wool and bringing a dog made of bones to life. In completing the tasks. the dust-wife’s promise forces her to help Marra on her quest. They visit a goblin market to find what they need to succeed, which turns out to be a disgraced warrior, Fenris, who was trapped in a fairy fort. They then find Marra’s own fairy godmother, who turns out to be better at cursing than blessing, to her shame. They all must go into the catacombs under Vorling’s castle, where old kings are laid to rest, so the dust-wife can raise the king who bound the royal family’s godmother(essentially a prisoner) and force him to release her, Marra’s fairy godmother can take her place, and Fenris can kill the king.

 

I appreciated the imperfections in the characters and in the relationship between Kania and Marra that made them interesting and unique. Fairytale characters are usually flat and the storylines formulaic, but Kingfisher subverts expectations with fleshed-out characters and  plot elements that bring the unpredictable into play using familiar structures. As it just won the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best novel, I am clearly not the only one to recognize that this book is really something special. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on October 30, 2023 by , Reply

Book Review: How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

 

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

Berkley, 2023

ISBN-13: 9780593201268

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

Buy: Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

 

Louise receives a phone call she never thought she would get from her brother, Mark. Their parents have been killed in a car accident. A single parent to Poppy, Louise doesn’t want to leave San Francisco for Charleston, South Carolina to deal with the estate. However, certain her brother can’t cope with any of the organization and care that is needed to get the old house sold and settle things properly, she grudgingly goes back to her childhood home. Their father, Robert, was a retired successful academic. Their mother, Nancy, ran a successful Christian puppet ministry, creating every puppet with her own two hands, as well as a amassing a collection of dolls, handmade art, and taxidermy. Then there is Pupkin. Oh, we will get to Pupkin later.

 

It seems the moment she sets foot in Charleston, she can’t find the time to mourn or cope with the shock of the death of her parents. Fighting with her brother over everything, including and especially the inheritance, sets the siblings on edge. When they do manage to talk in a civil way, they discover they have very different views on their childhood, and what Pupkin meant to both of them.

 

Pupkin…is he possessed? Is he haunted? Whatever he is, he’s a terror in more than one sense of the word. If you’re his friend, he will take over your entire being. If you are foe, just watch out. He’s got a killer mindset and he’s not afraid of anything.

 

Part of the reason I keep picking up his books is that Hendrix has a unique mix of off the wall horror, gore, and humor in his novels. Another part is that he has a way of writing believable characters, and everyone has flaws. The tense relationship between Louise and Mark feels very real. When the rest of the family gets involved in, well, everything, the story gets even more interesting. Mark opens up about his experiences with Pupkin after Louise has left their family home, which is intense and one of the most horrifying parts of How to Sell a Haunted House. Where Louise felt her brother was the favored child, always being coddled and supported throughout every failed scheme of his, he felt she was the gold standard and that she was always so perfect. The scenes between the siblings are well executed.

 

If you’re a fan of creepy dolls and puppets, family drama, and good, campy horror, pick up How to Sell a Haunted House. Just beware of taxidermy squirrel nativities…

 

Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

 

Posted on October 28, 2023 by , Reply
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