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carrionlibrarian's review
3.0
"The Cleft"- Of all the stories in here, why is the collection named after this one? What was the point of this "humour" story mixed in with all these other horror stories? It suffers from some real gross Orientalism. Just skip it.
⭐
"Phyllis"- Tired femme fatale trope. Possibly more original when it was first published in 1962.
⭐⭐
"Leavings"- People experiencing homelessness are people too.
⭐
"
"- I'd read this one before in [b:Unnatural Creatures|16248246|Unnatural Creatures|Neil Gaiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1359978941l/16248246._SX50_.jpg|21856303]. It was still excellent. Would love to read the case of the Mewing Nun that was noodle incident-ed.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Sea Gulls"- When bad things happen to bad people. Good, if you're into that kind of thing.
⭐⭐
"The Casino Mirago"- Interesting concept with immersive description.
⭐⭐⭐
"Frog Prince" - I personally find the descriptions of the main character revolting, but that's surely the point.
⭐⭐
"The Manuscript of Dr. Arness" - Very interesting concept. The first time that one of the illustrations at the beginning of the story added something to the story for me.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Hansel and Grettel" - The narrator of this one is just *chef's kiss*.
⭐⭐⭐
"The Sea Was Wet as Wet Could Be" - Actually felt some compassion for one of the characters in this one. A nice change of pace.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Mister Ice Cold" - Maybe my favorite story in this collection. Very, very good.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Traps" - This is just "Sea Gulls" but with rats.
⭐⭐
"Yesterday's Witch" -
⭐⭐
"Them Bleaks" - Another amazing concept and fantastic execuation.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"The Marble Boy" - This type of story is an oral tradition staple for a reason.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"End Game" - I watch and read too much [a:Caitlin Doughty|7802044|Caitlin Doughty|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1489075566p2/7802044.jpg] for this to be shocking.
⭐⭐
"A Gift of the Gods" - The profanity in this one really spoiled the fun for me.
⭐⭐⭐
"It Twineth Round Thee in Thy Joy" - The book jacket is correct, this could have "appeared in the science fiction pulps of the thirties".
⭐⭐⭐
"The Book" - This one gets an extra star because it's got books and cats.
⭐⭐⭐
"M-1" - Another funny one thrown in.
⭐⭐⭐
"Come One, Come All" - Possibly the best short story I've ever read.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Best Friends" - I don't think the female characters in this one were meant to be complimentary. I'm going to choose to believe otherwise.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Campfire Story" - It's meta. If that kind of thing still impresses you, you will like it.
⭐⭐
"The Power of the Mandarin" - More super problematic depictions of Asian people, but I think Wilson was actually trying to comment on it? Maybe? In a very 1977 way? But hey, at least.
⭐⭐⭐
Mean: 2.875
Median: 3
Mode: 4
⭐
"Phyllis"- Tired femme fatale trope. Possibly more original when it was first published in 1962.
⭐⭐
"Leavings"- People experiencing homelessness are people too.
⭐
"
"- I'd read this one before in [b:Unnatural Creatures|16248246|Unnatural Creatures|Neil Gaiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1359978941l/16248246._SX50_.jpg|21856303]. It was still excellent. Would love to read the case of the Mewing Nun that was noodle incident-ed. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Sea Gulls"- When bad things happen to bad people. Good, if you're into that kind of thing.
⭐⭐
"The Casino Mirago"- Interesting concept with immersive description.
⭐⭐⭐
"Frog Prince" - I personally find the descriptions of the main character revolting, but that's surely the point.
⭐⭐
"The Manuscript of Dr. Arness" - Very interesting concept. The first time that one of the illustrations at the beginning of the story added something to the story for me.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Hansel and Grettel" - The narrator of this one is just *chef's kiss*.
⭐⭐⭐
"The Sea Was Wet as Wet Could Be" - Actually felt some compassion for one of the characters in this one. A nice change of pace.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Mister Ice Cold" - Maybe my favorite story in this collection. Very, very good.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Traps" - This is just "Sea Gulls" but with rats.
⭐⭐
"Yesterday's Witch" -
⭐⭐
"Them Bleaks" - Another amazing concept and fantastic execuation.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"The Marble Boy" - This type of story is an oral tradition staple for a reason.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"End Game" - I watch and read too much [a:Caitlin Doughty|7802044|Caitlin Doughty|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1489075566p2/7802044.jpg] for this to be shocking.
⭐⭐
"A Gift of the Gods" - The profanity in this one really spoiled the fun for me.
⭐⭐⭐
"It Twineth Round Thee in Thy Joy" - The book jacket is correct, this could have "appeared in the science fiction pulps of the thirties".
⭐⭐⭐
"The Book" - This one gets an extra star because it's got books and cats.
⭐⭐⭐
"M-1" - Another funny one thrown in.
⭐⭐⭐
"Come One, Come All" - Possibly the best
Spoiler
zombie⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Best Friends" - I don't think the female characters in this one were meant to be complimentary. I'm going to choose to believe otherwise.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Campfire Story" - It's meta. If that kind of thing still impresses you, you will like it.
⭐⭐
"The Power of the Mandarin" - More super problematic depictions of Asian people, but I think Wilson was actually trying to comment on it? Maybe? In a very 1977 way? But hey, at least
Spoiler
The Mandarin gets the last laugh⭐⭐⭐
Mean: 2.875
Median: 3
Mode: 4
trudilibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
Weird, wild stuff. I'm not sure if I'd be able to read a full novel by Gahan Wilson, but these stories were definitely a unique reading experience. A little Hitchcock, mixed in with some Night Gallery, served up with a twist of Twilight Zone. I especially liked the one where a young boy steals the finger from a kid's corpse, and the kid comes back looking for it!
bent's review
3.0
Quirky, weird little stories. I don't think there were any clunkers in the bunch. Sort of horrific, but in a lighthearted, humorous way. An enjoyable collection.
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