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I am baffled that this is a first collection. It's incredibly assured and deeply, deeply strange. Chronister is definitely a writer to watch.Standouts for me were Russula's Wake, The Women Who Sing for Sklep, and the title story, but there isn't a miss here.
Longer review incoming!
This read was a pleasant surprise and quite different from my usual fare. Was given this book by my fiancé and had high hopes that the book managed to exceed. It definitely has a gothic feel to it but with a quirky and out of the box-line that runs through the different stories of this collection. Will keep my eye out for future Chronister writing as this was such a treat and breath of fresh air.
“You were not a woman, you were a blade held to the hollow of my throat. My pulse thundered for you.”—From “Your Clothes a Sepulcher, Your Body a Grave“*“Your Clothes a Sepulcher, Your Body a Grave“ is the love story of a young man and his unusual childhood friend and her hypnotic hold on his heart. “Too Lonely, Too Wild” tells of a woman who wanted to be a witch like her grandmother, but instead was cursed to be a wife. “The Women Who Sing For Sklep:” A composer seeks inspiration and community
an extraordinarily consistent and well-rounded collection; only three of these stories at most weren’t to my taste (white throat holler in particular feels out of step and not quite there). chronister shows off impressive fluency in multiple styles of horror and never betrays or underexplores her premises ... rly wonderful stuff!!! the one criticism i had across multiple stories (and this is my editor brain talking) was a tendency toward too-pat, almost aphoristic final lines. i often find write...
Incredible debut that feels like it’s subtly forging its own haunted space. “Roiling and Without Form” in particular strikes me as the first time I’ve encountered fiction that feels inspired by Joy Williams’ proximity to weird/horror/whatever. Very potent and impressionistic collection.
I had to check this out after Zach's endorsement:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...I enjoyed the open-ended narratives and language of the first few stories. The strategies remind me somewhat of my favorite pieces by Livia Llewellyn, Emily Cataneo, or Gwendolyn Kiste (the short stories, not the novels), and seem solid but not outstanding. Then comes "Roiling and Without Form", wow. From the arrival of the charismatic couple at the dead-end hotel: The couple washes up in the Flamingo's diml...
Truly haunting, these 11 stories herald from the gothic tradition, but Chronister brings them into a modern landscape that will appeal to lovers of horror fiction and general fiction alike.Chronister’s focus throughout these stories is women who struggle to be heard, who strive to gain power and agency, who are haunted by ghosts real and imagined. They swim in legend and the supernatural but feel tangible, which makes them all the more chilling.It is difficult to pick favorites because all of th...
It's a wonderful thing to encounter a writer's first book that holds up against all the best writing being done out there by more seasoned writers. In her debut collection, Thin Places, Kay Chronister is in full control of her strange characters, their weird worlds, and the full spectrum of fears and desires that swirl around them. This is some of the most beautiful and sensitive writing I've enjoyed in some time. I enjoyed every story in Thin Places and recommend it without reservation.
I think it’s safe to say that short story collections have the potential to make even the most avid of readers anxious. Whilst short stories are a fantastic way to get to know a new-to-you author, they leave little room for error and quite often fall SHORT of expectation (get it?..... Never mind!).I picked this collection up having seen it on @pageandparlor feed. It was definitely an impulse purchase based on the cover and the fact that Kallie shared it. Reputable reviewers hold such a sway over...
“Things happen in thin places that can’t happen anywhere else, but they are never safe from getting lost between clay and mist. They are always in-between,” the Widow Clary says in the title story of Kay Chronister's collection of short stories, Thin Places.The collection does some really intriguing things with the Gothic horror genre. The stories examine what life is like on the edge of the mortal world and the spirit realm. All of the stories are set in places situated on the border between tw...
This collection delivers a distinctly lyrical gothic feminist voice and carries an understated quality that would make Shirley Jackson proud, particularly with “Too Lonely, Too Wild” and its delightful witchy tale. “The Women Who Sing for Sklep” is very atmospheric and has a lot of roiling anger about traditions under the surface of this gently rolling river.
I hadn’t heard of the author before I picked this up doing so as I’m a devotee of the publisher and recommend all of their books. I read these stories mostly one per day to allow them to gestate and these pieces really feel like they need that. This debut collection is really masterfully crafted and the stories work together and apart. This is very possibly my favourite collection this year and that is high praise coming from someone like me who is a serial short fiction reader. Hoping to see mo...
4.5 out of 5 stars. Thanks so much to Undertow Publications for an ARC of this lovely book in exchange for an honest review.Kay Chronister is certainly a force to be reckoned with. Her writing is gothic, whimsical and poetic, and I felt like I was transferred to another world when reading her collection of short stories. Each story in THIN PLACES has its own unique, eerie experience and I enjoyed them all. This book is a perfect example of the beauty we can find in horror, and I must add once ag...
Short stories are usually a mixed bag for me but this book’s blurb sold me on my need to dive right in. I had planned on reading a story a day and that worked for a couple of days, then I couldn’t help myself. With a diverse cast including mothers, witches, demons and a preacher’s daughter, and themes of loss, suffering and resilience, this was unlike any other short story collection I’ve come across.One of the things I love about short stories is that there’s usually something there for everyon...
Been meaning to turn my reading notes into a real review of this for eight months now but in the meantime: this was my favorite read of 2020, wonderfully lush and densely weird stories about isolation and social mores and gender and the condescension of modernity running headlong into obstinate traditions. Kind of a timeless back-country Americana melancholy vibe to much of it. Beautiful work.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was provided with a copy in exchange for a review and I am glad I got a chance to read it. If you like eerie stories make sure you check this one out!
There is a chameleonic quality to Kay Chronister’s short story collection, THIN PLACES: from the highly literate child’s voice of “Your Clothes a Sepulcher, Your Body a Grave,” to the somewhat less sophisticated rebellious teenage girl in “White Throat Holler,” to the doom-besotted young man in “Life cycles.”Not only does she convincingly mimic different types of characters, Kay Chronister also takes her readers to far-flung places, particularly in the collection’s last three stories, “Russula’s...
What a strange, creepy little book. Every story in here is fabulous. And they are all that subtle, dreamlike horror that is super unsettling. Very excited to see more from Chronister.
These stories will haunt me for years!