Reviews

Things We Say in the Dark by Kirsty Logan

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oddhobgoblin's review

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dark sad tense medium-paced

4.75

amiebrad_'s review

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3.0

The writing was nice and atmospheric, but I was left feeling a bit ‘huh?’ at the end of some of the stories.

I loved this book so much. The stories oozed in and just grabbed hold of me from the first page. While some are stronger than others, I could not book this book down because I just had to know what the next story would hold. It's unbelievably refreshing to have a queer horror author and see these characters be unapologetically queer as part of who they are, without it being "we put a lesbian in the story, now clap".
Not all the stories make a ton of sense, but I still find myself rolling them around in my brain, unsettling at the least, horrifying at the worst. I can not recommend this more for those looking for some horror that actually manages to get under your skin and wriggle until you feel the need to let it spill out and onto others. 5 stars across the board.

scandi_crush's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense

4.5

annamickreads's review against another edition

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5.0

REALLY enjoyed this collection of short stories!! The way Kirsty writes is so dreamy; she has this quality to her words where the sentences don't have to be filled with metaphors in order for them to take on a very vivid quality, everything is visual without having to be too prose-y. Maybe that sounds silly, but I was immediately entranced by her storytelling and even more so by the varying spooky content.

What I also enjoyed about this collection was that despite being separated into three sections (one about haunted houses, one about children, and a third about "the past", usually in reference to the deceased) there were still clear themes that connected the entire work from front to end. The first story and the first story of the last section, for example, are told in the same style, effectively bookending the collection. Each story possessed at least an inking of its chosen category theme but they all varied from story to story--she could write about kelpies in one story and the next is about a family of serial killers.

That said, my favorite story is "Things My Wife and I Found Hidden in Our House," which is in fact about kelpies.

solene_l's review

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dark inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

Just trust the process until it starts to make sense

mehsi's review

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5.0

HOLY WOW this was pretty amazing! Twisty and dark, surreal and creepy, gothic and spooky. YAS! I had my eyes on this one some time ago and finally one of my libraries had it in their collection! This book features one big overarching story (how the author (or whoever is the narrator there) goes to Iceland and the things she experiences there, loneliness but also creepy things) and short stories in various themes. The stories are weird, surreal, and at times I just went WTF while reading or when I reached the ending. While I loved the book in overall, some of the stories just went too weird/too far/or featured themes I just wasn't comfortable with, so I am rating it 4.5 stars. Which is still fantastic of course. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone.