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dantastic's review
3.0
When Penny, a Hollywood makeup artist, moves into a low priced bungalow, she gets more than she bargained for. Will she find out what happened to the former tenant before the same thing happens to her?
I got this from Netgalley.
This short story from Megan Abbott is a tale of madness and suicide. Since it's really short, I'm going to skip over the nuts and bolts of the plot. Suffice to say, the Megster ran wild on me yet again, serving up misdirection and possibilities, before kicking me in the groin with the ending. My appetite for more Megan Abbott has been whetted so I really hope she's got another novel simmering.
In this short tale, Megan Abbott proves that she can pack a lot of noir into a short story. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
I got this from Netgalley.
This short story from Megan Abbott is a tale of madness and suicide. Since it's really short, I'm going to skip over the nuts and bolts of the plot. Suffice to say, the Megster ran wild on me yet again, serving up misdirection and possibilities, before kicking me in the groin with the ending. My appetite for more Megan Abbott has been whetted so I really hope she's got another novel simmering.
In this short tale, Megan Abbott proves that she can pack a lot of noir into a short story. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
novelesque_life's review
3.0
RATING: 3.5 STARS
Series: BIBLIOMYSTERIES: #21
2015; MysteriousPress/Open Road
A very creepy tale! I usually read BiblioMysteries of authors I have already read but the synopsis of Abbott's story sounded really fun. I am not sure what mystery genre she writes in, but I will definitely have to read more by her. My only downside to this story was that it wasn't longer. I did feel like the shortness of the story left out the juicy bits.
***I received an eARC from NETGALLEY***
My Novelesque Blog
Series: BIBLIOMYSTERIES: #21
2015; MysteriousPress/Open Road
A very creepy tale! I usually read BiblioMysteries of authors I have already read but the synopsis of Abbott's story sounded really fun. I am not sure what mystery genre she writes in, but I will definitely have to read more by her. My only downside to this story was that it wasn't longer. I did feel like the shortness of the story left out the juicy bits.
***I received an eARC from NETGALLEY***
My Novelesque Blog
trudilibrarian's review
4.0
So this is how this one begins -- and let me tell you, the opening passage gave me the shivers, the little hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention. If Ms. Megan Abbott should ever wish to venture into horror, I have no doubt she could make that genre her bitch. Read this:
At night, the sounds from the canyon shifted and changed. The bungalow seemed to lift itself with every echo and the walls were breathing. Panting. Just after two, she'd wake, her eyes stinging, as if someone had waved a flashlight across them. And then she'd hear the noise. Every night. The tapping noise, like a small animal trapped behind the wall.Eeeek! Like seriously, if that doesn't creep you out check your pulse because you might be dead.
So this gripping short story isn't Megan Abbott doing horror, but nevertheless does this lady have a flair for the dark and ... unhinged. She loves to troll the deep end of those viscous psychological waters, where things with teeth swim, and bite. On the surface this story is a period piece -- circa 1950's Hollywood. Abbott is comfortable here in her noir sandbox.
The Little Men features Penny, an aging actress who has given up the fight and has decided to move on and do something else with her life. A fresh start if you will. She thinks she finds it in a new place to live, a place that will be all hers that she won't have to share with anyone. Her landlady seems kind and generous (at first), her neighbors friendly and warm. But there's something not right about this new low-rent bungalow, filled as it is with a dead man's things.
As Penny begins to uncover more and more about the life of the man who lived in the bungalow before her, she also begins to see and hear things. Disturbing things. What's real and what isn't? Is Penny losing her mind or is there something more sinister afoot?
Reading this I could not help be reminded of the classic short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Both women in these stories are coming unhinged, but there's a gravity and justification to their decline that lends empathy to their plight. Both women are trapped in their lives with few to no options, and are suffocating from the stranglehold their current realities have put them in.
In Penny's case, 1950's Hollywood is a cruel and capricious mistress. Women are (ab)used until they are no longer wanted: "You were a luscious piece of candy, he said, but now I gotta spit you out." In the land of casting couches, you sleep with the devil and wake up in Hell.
This is a gripping read with layers and subtext and all the more remarkable for its short length. This is Megan Abbott at her most teasing and it is excruciatingly delicious. This woman will always leave you wanting more, always more.
A free advanced copy was provided through NetGalley.
verkisto's review
4.0
Abbott has a singular style. This is only the second work of hers I've read (Queenpin being the other), but I've liked them both. She has a knack for capturing the '50s ('40s? '30s? I don't know enough of the history of the mob, but she captured it well), in all its atmosphere and otherwise, and she does the same here, even when she's working on what's basically a horror story.
This is a one-sitting read, which is good, but the day after I finished, I had to go back and re-read the ending because I couldn't remember how it ended. That's not a fault of the story, though, so much as it was me racing through it, due to its readability, and not paying close enough attention to the details. Still, Abbott is a good storyteller, and I'm looking forward to reading more of her books.
This is a one-sitting read, which is good, but the day after I finished, I had to go back and re-read the ending because I couldn't remember how it ended. That's not a fault of the story, though, so much as it was me racing through it, due to its readability, and not paying close enough attention to the details. Still, Abbott is a good storyteller, and I'm looking forward to reading more of her books.
vsbedford's review
2.0
This one, unfortunately, was not for me - sometimes a short story/novella can be the perfect length, sometimes it's just not enough space for the writer to more fully engage with the piece. This one felt hemmed in by the restrictions of this series, and not in a good way, as there were a lot of portents and mysteries doings, but nothing really made sense in the end. But, I'll try something else from Ms. Abbott.
I received an E-ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I received an E-ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
radsreads's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Stalking
Minor: Infidelity
ssejig's review
4.0
At 36 pages (according to my ereader; according to Goodreads, it's 71), this is a short, short story. But, oof, is it effective.
As part of the Bibliomysteries: Short tales about deadly books, this story has a short connection to mysteries, especially "Gaudy Night," one of my favorite Dorothy Sayers mysteries.
Penny is an ex-actress who has decided that makeup artistry will be more lucrative. But she is no innocent ingenue, our Penny. She has a past. And in 1953, this is not a good thing. But things are looking up. She's found a good apartment and she has a job. Too bad the apartment has a history. One that Peggy seems doomed to repeat...
As part of the Bibliomysteries: Short tales about deadly books, this story has a short connection to mysteries, especially "Gaudy Night," one of my favorite Dorothy Sayers mysteries.
Penny is an ex-actress who has decided that makeup artistry will be more lucrative. But she is no innocent ingenue, our Penny. She has a past. And in 1953, this is not a good thing. But things are looking up. She's found a good apartment and she has a job. Too bad the apartment has a history. One that Peggy seems doomed to repeat...
rainnbooks's review
4.0
It’s surprising that I have never read one single book by Megan Abbott when her books have always been in my radar, popping up on recommendation lists all the time. Hopefully will be rectifying this mistake soon and without fail if the Little Men, a short story as part of the Bibliomysteries, is anything to go by. It was clearly an appetizer that had me craving for more of her writing.
Little Men has a failed actress turned make-up artist Penny moving to a charming bungalow called Canyon Arms. It is the 1950’s in Hollywood and women has it tough. Let go as the candy floss by Mr. D, she’s however trying her best to move on but still fight for what she believe she deserves.
The beginning of the story makes you believe in horror coz it was one hell of a writing that chilled me to the bone. As Penny uncovers the dark and turbulent past of the house from her neighbors and doubts the landlady’s activities, one can’t help but be caught in the vortex of Penny’s terror.
Extremely well-written for such a short tale, the ending leaves the reader guessing about Penny’s state of mind.
Little Men has a failed actress turned make-up artist Penny moving to a charming bungalow called Canyon Arms. It is the 1950’s in Hollywood and women has it tough. Let go as the candy floss by Mr. D, she’s however trying her best to move on but still fight for what she believe she deserves.
The beginning of the story makes you believe in horror coz it was one hell of a writing that chilled me to the bone. As Penny uncovers the dark and turbulent past of the house from her neighbors and doubts the landlady’s activities, one can’t help but be caught in the vortex of Penny’s terror.
Extremely well-written for such a short tale, the ending leaves the reader guessing about Penny’s state of mind.