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evavroslin's review against another edition
5.0
Other reviews have pointed out how stunning, lyrical, and phenomenally good this collection is. Emily B. Cataneo is a wordsmith who writes disarming, dark, beautiful things. If you are a fan of Kristi DeMeester, Sarah Read, Gwendolyn Kiste, Sara Tanglinger, Stephanie M. Wytovich, and more, and you love "slow burn" horror featuring Jackson-esque female characters with creative twists, and horror that is not obvious or in your face but takes its time to raise the dread and play with uncertainty, then definitely read this wonderful writer's majestic prose. I can't emphasize enough how amazing her work is. Staggeringly good!
countingthecars's review against another edition
5.0
Emily B. Cataneo's Speaking to Skull Kings is full of stories for weird kids who grew up into weird adults -- or for fans of Kelly Link, Karen Russell, Shirley Jackson, and Angela Carter. Every story transports the reader perfectly into a fully realized and often terrifying world, from the gothic horror of "A Guide to Etiquette and Comportment for the Sisters of Henley House" to the post-revolution steampunk Russia of "The Firebird" and the dystopian, portal-filled Boston that unfolds in "Purple Lemons." Despite the fact that the settings vary so widely across the book, they feel cohesive in their themes: grief, loss, regret, and the intensity of female friendship and family ties. If you've ever lost someone, you will see yourself in these stories, even as they deal with hair-eating ghosts and children raised by a bird. This is an exciting and imaginative debut collection, and I can't wait to see what Cataneo does next.
mariahaskins's review against another edition
5.0
Cataneo's dark, weird, and fantastical stories defy easy description, bending history and reality and old fairytales into new shapes. There's the Russian revolution - but skewed as if seen through a magical lens. There's France - but a France where women have wings attached to their flesh and bone. There's old Europe, haunted by an ominous Dark, where the population of a city looks to bird-men for salvation. Cataneo weaves together all these strands of history and magic, horror and fairytale, into something truly unique and captivating.
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