Booklife Review

This haunting collection from Golaski (author of Color Plates) blends the supernatural with the mundane as it plunges the heart and explores, with empathy, confrontations with the supernatural. The book is divided into two broad parts, with seven stories each, and concluding with one last uncategorised tale—"A Rainbow Summer.” In the first part, each story features an object serving as a conduit for an internal darkness. The narratives range from a stone head sprouting a third eye, to a haunting musical record, to a refrigerator that invites one into it; each forces characters to confront a disturbing aspect in their lives, leading to an unnerving revelation. In one, this aspect is the myth of “Kari Kari” that grips young Mary in constant fear. When her sister Lucy is murdered, Mary is convinced Kari-Kari was responsible, and becomes obsessed with the lore. Golaski beautifully captures Mary falling into a slow disarray, forgetting the distinction between her bracelet and Lucy’s, and thereby the reality of her existence and Lucy’s death.

The second part delves into the realm of childhood innocence, desires, and uncanny imagination. In “Unfinished House,” 8 year-old Adam is distraught after the sudden disappearance of his best friend Andy, and, oddly enough, his entire house. When he enters another “unfinished house,” he is transported into a parallel reality, where he, now an adult, is married to Andy’s sister and resides in a castle eerily similar to one Andy’s father had built for them to play in in their backyard. Golaski skilfully blends lines between memory, dream, and reality throughout this section, with each story uncannily featuring an “Adam” as a new, distinct character.

Golaski's exploration of the human experience through the supernatural is immersive and self-exploratory. The final story, "A Rainbow Summer," employs storytelling itself as a potent instrument. A father breathes life into the animals in Noah’s Ark, masterfully capturing the very essence of Stone Gods and what Golaski achieves within these memorable, sharply crafted stories.

Takeaway: Accomplished supernatural fiction blending horror and humanity.

Comparable Titles: Lisa Tuttle’s Riding the Nightmare, Josh Malerman’s Spin a Black Yarn.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A