She’s Always Hungry
By Eliza Clark
Eliza Clark’s SHE’S ALWAYS HUNGRY: Stories (Harper Perennial, 225 pp., paperback, $17.99) is one of the best collections of the year, and I don’t mean just out of this year’s horror offerings, but out of all of 2024’s literary releases.
Most of the stories feature someone looking for something — a solution, vengeance, clear skin, world domination. “Build a Body Like Mine” reads like an ad from a woman selling tapeworms to those looking to lose weight. Bizarre food and strange encounters fill “The Shadow Over Little Chitaly,” which tells a story via online reviews left by those who ordered from a strange restaurant. A “disgusting little man” embraces his bullying kink in “Goth GF.” “Shake Well” follows a teenager battling acne who finds a product on the dark web that solves her skin issues while opening the door to something worse.
Constantly surprising, unexpectedly funny and wildly entertaining, the 11 stories in this book fully embrace the variety of genre elements that fall under the speculative fiction umbrella, and the result is spectacular.
Dead Girls Don’t Dream
By Nino Cipri
Dark magic and trauma are at the heart of Nino Cipri’s young adult debut, DEAD GIRLS DON’T DREAM (Holt Books for Young Readers, 293 pp., $19.99), but anger and resilience share the spotlight from time to time too.
Riley Walcott lives close to the Voynich Woods, but she knows not to go there because people go missing in the trees. One day, however, her little sister, Sam, rushes into the forest and Riley — desperate to protect her — follows. It’s a choice that comes at a steep price. Riley is murdered … but she doesn’t stay dead. Madelyn, a girl who lives in the woods with her mother, uses her magic to bring Riley back to life. Confused, and with a gaping and growing hole in her chest, Riley must find answers about what happened to her. Meanwhile, Madelyn — whose mother doesn’t want her using magic — struggles with her own problems at home, most of which come from the very family that is supposed to care for her.
This novel is creepy and, at times, gorier and more violent than many other Y.A. horror novels, but at its core are important lessons about perseverance, growing up and using whatever talents you’ve been given in life.
Sundown in San Ojuela
By M.M. Olivas
M.M. Olivas’s debut novel, SUNDOWN IN SAN OJUELA (Lanternfish Press, 345 pp., paperback, $19), brings together Nahuatl culture, chupacabras (creatures akin to vampires) and more to deliver an evocative narrative about survival, family history and how the past haunts us.
Because of an accident when she was young, Elizabeth Remolina has spent years avoiding the desert town of San Ojuela. However, following the death of her aunt who lived there, Liz and her sister, Mary, must finally return. But San Ojuela has changed. Monsters now roam the night. Liz’s old friend Julian acts like she’s an intruder. To make matters worse, Liz can see ghosts, and San Ojuela has many to offer, but none of them are the ghosts Liz is looking for. As the town closes in on Liz, she has to rely on Julian to understand what’s happening and how she can fight it.
The strength of this novel is its characters, who are nuanced and unique. Olivas also deftly juggles a variety of traditions and heritages to explore the interstitial space between cultures and show how things like language can make someone feel like a foreigner in their own home. There are some challenges — changes in points of view can feel jarring at times and the novel would be just as effective if it were shorter — but this is a bold offering from a talented emerging writer.
The Threshing Floor
By Steph Nelson
The success of dark narratives often hinges on their ability to generate empathy in readers, and Steph Nelson nails that in THE THRESHING FLOOR (Dark Matter Ink, 292 pp., paperback, $17.99). Equal parts touching and harrowing, this is the kind of story that makes us question how far we’d go to save those we love.
Dalice is a single mom with a very sick toddler son. To make ends meet and qualify for health insurance so her son can get care, she cleans houses and waitresses. Dalice is sad and despondent, but after a series of unexpected encounters, she receives an invitation to a party attended by a group of people who claim their leader can cure others of whatever ails them. Dalice doesn’t believe them initially, but then she witnesses the rehabilitation in action, which makes her want the same for her son. Unfortunately, the healing comes at a cost.
The first half of this novel is a noir tale about a despairing mother who can’t catch a break. The emotional investment in Dalice that the first half creates makes for an especially effective second half, when the supernatural and horror elements kick in. “The Threshing Floor” is horror about love, and here, desperation may be the biggest monster of all.
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