Reviews

Do You Like to Look at Monsters? by Scott Nicolay

nefeli's review

2.0

I think the problem here was that Scott Nicolay was too successful in capturing the voice of a kid. Do You Like to Look at Monsters really did feel like you were reading a kid's diary and, while I get what Nicolay was trying to do, it didn't work for me.
Probably because kids are terrible storytellers. I'm sorry but it's true; in order to enjoy a story a child is telling you, you need to know and love the kid. Otherwise, it kiiiind of feels like torture.
Alternative opinion: I just don't really like kids and this story was absolutely fine.

thomaswjoyce's review

5.0

Although I was aware of Nicolay as the host of the Weird fiction podcast, The Outer Dark, this was the first time I had read his own work. And it more than lives up to its status as winner of the Best Short Fiction Award at the 2015 World Fantasy Awards. Although no expert, I would certainly categorise it as Weird Horror, given the ambiguity achieved by using a young boy as the unreliable narrator, and the strange circumstances surrounding his Uncle Conrad, newly returned from the Vietnam War. A good many years have passed since Nicolay was the age of his narrator. I don't say this to be unkind; it is a fact. But this does not hinder him in writing with an air of authenticity that only makes the story so much more immersive and engrossing. It reads as though it could have been a collection of diary entries, detailing his love for his toy viewmaster and playing with his cousin in one paragraph, to writing about his Uncle Conrad, seemingly haunted by his experiences in Vietnam. Nicolay builds the tension with the skill of a seasoned storyteller, until the shocking and gripping finale that left this reader agape with horror. A really entertaining read. Highly recommended.

katebrarian's review

4.0

I didn't know what to expect with this one - it's one of the books that somehow ended up in my kindle app and I couldn't remember why, so I didn't know anything about it before I started reading it except the cover. The story is told from the perspective of a child, which is pretty convincing. It's really eerie and I liked how nothing was really wrapped up or explained - it was just creepy. I remembered where I got it from after I finished; I bought a story bundle that was curated by Jeff Vandermeer so the great creepiness makes sense now! Will check out more from Nicolay.