In Darkness, Shadows Breathe

Sorry this review is late. Released in January of this year, In Darkness, Shadows Breathe by Catherine Cavendish from Flame Tree Press follows the separate hospitalizations of two women, Carol and Nessa. It is a visual tale in that this creepy, gothic story infects both your waking hours and painting your dreams with the macabre. Tortuous experiments and revenant spectres will have you feeling like you are shambling the halls of a hospital that felt more like a mental ward. The book was largely broken mainly into two parts before reconnecting them, and perhaps, that is fitting as the story alternates between two times and, in a sense, two realities.

My chief complaint about this read—and it is valid for so many horror stories—is why do the antagonists remain in situations that they find themselves in? I understand Carol, but Nessa's partner? Gah! Am I being petty here? 

Haunted grounds is a familiar trope in horror stories, but Cavendish weaves unsettling, non-linear timelines into a unique tale. I'm thrilled to have finally read her work. She has haunted my TBR pile for too long. I recommend this book and not just to horror aficionados. Go out and buy it, check it out from your library, or beg it off a friend. Just do it before you hear someone whisper the words, “you’re next.”

 Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher, Flame Tree Press, for allowing me to share my thoughts on #InDarknessShadowsBreathe.

Creeped Out and Just a Little Bit Hollow

 

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After I finished this one, I wanted more. That is usually a very good sign. I enjoyed the story. It has a very strange, weird horror vibe. The Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities, and Taxidermy is such an apt name for the museum where all this kinda-sorta takes place. I remember a similar kind of “museum” in Florida on the way to Panama City Beach that had a human fetus in a pickle jar. I wish now that I had paid to enter that place, but I digress. The main characters are quirky and odd in their own way, and for most of the book fit in perfectly with the oddities in this book but came off too cartoonish in some places. I have read elsewhere that Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows inspired this book. I cannot comment on any similarities as I have yet to read the latter. What I can tell you is that I will NEVER look at a willow the same way again. This other world is the stuff of nightmares. T. Kingfisher wrote a magical, twisted tale that wormed its way into my brain and took root. I know that what it left behind will stay with me and grow for a long time to come. I wish Goodreads had a sliding scale for their ratings as I wanted to, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to giving this s 4-star rating. Much of it is deserving of that and more, but some things the main characters did or didn’t do that broke the spell. And I wanted more of that Willow World.

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