Welcome to Litsy!

This was the only Paul Tremblay book I‘ve really LOVED since head full of ghosts. These short stories were SO creepy, structurally interesting and well written. Every single one was so memorable and inventive and perfect for #scarathlon2022

#teamslaughter @Clwojick

I was initially nervous about this collection, not because I had any doubts about Paul Tremblay‘s writing ability, but because many of the contemporary short story collections I‘ve tried have not been very enjoyable for me. I love many older short stories, though. Fortunately, I quickly discovered these complex and unsettling tales were perfect for my tastes!

My full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3757680481

“...the glow of nostalgia is deceptive...”
~From Paul Tremblay‘s notes in Growing Things and Other Stories

"I think most people realize that horror and comedy are so closely related. They're really like two sides of the coin. When presented with life's absurdities, you really only have two reactions. It's either you're going to recoil in horror or you're going to laugh because it's so absurd. You could have the exact same component of a story, and if you just play it slightly differently you can make it scary or funny." ~ Paul Tremblay

Reading this collection of short stories so soon after having read Difficult Women is weird. Tremblay writes horror stories, and while I will admit that some of these have made me particularly uncomfortable, Gay‘s short stories were much more horrifying because they were much more likely to actually happen. That said, Tremblay is a great writer and when the stories are scary, they are SCARY.

First read of the #newyear 📚🤓 thank you @Alora this is just my kind of book! #poutinepenpals

Well, here is my week 3 total for #scarathalon2020 I plan on reading a few more hours tonight for #readyourway I was able to finish one book that I wanted to for the read-a-thon but ended up impulse starting 2 more books 😅😱 @staycurious @TheSpineView

So now I realize this has been a thing for awhile but I just saw it this morning after first searching Instagram for the tag “virginiawoolf” to follow. What a shock this was, and did I feel judged! It reminded me of Tremblay‘s story “It Won‘t Go Away,” which is concerned with the negative effects of horror. But seriously: Reading the news puts me in more danger of self-harm than any horror story ever could.

What paternalistic crap.

Overall, a stellar anthology of stories that kept me turning the pages. Some are rather average, a few I did not get it or care, and then there are the brilliant ones. Skilfully blurring the lines between reality and imagination, Tremblay‘s ‘horrors‘ aren‘t actually scary stories but are ominous, unnerving, and horrifying in the every day and mundane, with ambiguous conclusions. Shout out to his ⬇️

#screamathon2020
#mandmchallenge2020 #mashup

I don‘t have a lot to add to what others here have said about this collection. I think how much you enjoy this will be determined by how much ambiguity you enjoy in your reading, which is personal and unpredictable. My partner and I have very aligned tastes but the story that really worked for me (“Notes for ‘The Barn in the Wild‘” which I read awake and alone at night) did nothing for him.

QOTD- What's one of your favorite short story collections?

Featuring nineteen stories, here are the ones I most recommend: Nineteen Shots of Dennisport (a boy recalls a shocking thing that happened during a family vacation); The Teacher (a literary story about the threat of adulthood); Her Red Right Hand (death, grief, and monsters); It's Against the Law to Feed The Ducks (the end of the world seen through the eyes of a little boy).

Paul Tremblay has become one of my favorite authors. 💚

Like with most short story collections, I can't say I loved all of the stories, but it's definitely a great mix and I loved more of them than I didn't.

I only finished two books this month, which is a bit disappointing, but given the circumstances it‘s not really surprising. Hopefully next month will be better. I‘ve got my book to read for #lmpbc and I‘m planning to start buddy reading Dune with a couple friends, so maybe that will help motivate me.

#booked2020: 1
#MarchWrapUp

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
All of the stories in this collection felt solid to me and I enjoyed most of them, but I‘d hoped for a few stories that would wow me and none of these quite got there. Still an enjoyable read though. My favorites were: Something About Birds and Notes for “The Barn in the Wild.”

#booked2020 #RedWhiteOrBlueTypeOnCover #catsoflitsy #Phoenix

Their father stayed in his bedroom, door locked, for almost two full days.
#FirstLineFridays

Yay! Finally! 😬

I enjoyed most of the stories in this collection, and I was very excited to see two stories involving Merry and Marjorie from A Head Full of Ghosts. These stories aren't exactly scary, but unsettling in different ways. Overall, it was a 3.5 ⭐⭐⭐🌟 read for me!

Honestly, this didn‘t work for me. The only story I liked is the one about dog walking, and that one‘s even a little on the precious/pretentious side. I only paid a little attention to the inspiration for each story wrap up at the end because I was happy I was done with it! That‘s the problem with short story collections! I stick with them all the way! #scarathlon #teamStoker 11 points.

I started reading this a few months ago and it didn‘t really capture my attention. Retrying with the audio. Hope I enjoy it! #scarathlon #teamStoker 1 point

Congrats @Librarybelle on reaching 200k! That‘s quite a milestone. 😃👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 Thanks for the giveaway!

I‘ve read two of Paul Tremblay‘s books and one of his short stories and I thought all three of them were great, so I would really like the tagged book to check out some more of his short stories.
#200kgiveaway

A good collection of stories- although there's one choose-your-own-adventure style story that will not work on audiobook (thankfully I had the arc lying around). Definitely a creepy October read! #TeamSlaughter #scarathalon @Clwojick

Some scary shiz! #TeamSlaughter #scarathalon @Clwojick #octoberreads

My library hold came in just in time for spooky season! Paul Tremblay is a master of horror, and his novels are incredible. I can't wait to read these short stories. #promotehorror #amreading #spookyseason 🎃👻💀

'Tis the time for creepy books!
Going in blind - I have no info about this book, and I like it that way.

Poignant, entertaining, engaging, scary and at times sarcastically funny.

What I found most fascinating about Growing Things and Other Stories is the opportunity of delving into the authors personal thought processes. The "Notes" at the end of the short stories provides unique details on each short story and how they relate to his other books. The author gives valuable information about how he writes, and obtains ideas for his stories.

Although an occasional miss in this collection, Growing Things is another fine entry in Tremblay's catalogue. Formally innovative (there is a haunted house story with a choose your own adventure format & I have previously posted about the format of Notes from the Dog Walkers) & emotionally varied. Out of the 19 stories in this collection, 7 are first rate. Several of these (including the aforementioned Notes etc which at 40 pages is the longest 👇

Notes from the Dog Walkers is entirely new territory for Tremblay. It's sent me scrambling for his other books to look things up. Very meta. Inserted into the story is a convincing argument about the class bias of those who give poor writing/cliched writing in so-called lit fic/MFA fic a pass, yet consistently condemn genre (especially horror) literature as inferior.

This short story is, as the title says, in the format of dog walkers' notes. Being a Tremblay story they begin friendly & informative, but soon turn sinister. KB seems to be the most disgruntled of all of the dog walkers 😂

I really loved ‘A Head Full of Ghosts‘, ‘Disappearance at Devil‘s Rock‘, and ‘the Cabin at the End of the World‘. Debated between “pick” and “so-so” but, like any short story collections, there are some you like better than others. In retrospect I think there were only a couple that I didn‘t love. Overall a very solid collection.

Slow day at work, so I treated myself to breakfast and am going to attempt to knock the rest of this one out!

"Mr. Ambiguous Horror" is at it again with these 19 unsettling stories, that even despite my distaste for ambiguous endings, managed to get me in his grasp and just wouldn't let me go! From the gruesome "The Getaway", to the choose-your-own-adventure of "A Haunted House...", to the uber-meta Notes From the Dog Walkers”...Tremblay skillfully weaves these suspenseful and unnerving tales into a collection that will keep you up late into the night!

I loved Paul Tremblay‘s collection of short horror stories with the exception of 2 of them that were way, way, above me. He has such a way of writing from a child‘s innocence. He also has a way of writing the details from the periphery that allow you to make up a much more horrifying picture. I‘m also in awe of the huge multi layered universe each one contained. These may be labeled horror but I‘d also add literary to the description. Pick!

When Paul Tremblay compliments your mousepad 😬😬😍😍😍

So with this story, Notes from the Dog Walkers, Tremblay demonstrates the different shades of horror. This story is made up of notes from the couple of dog walkers who walk this rescue puppy, Holly, that all started out like,”Holly is a great pup and loves belly rubs,” but have progressed to this hot-mess, craziness, lol. This book, it‘s great so far.

Can I get one more book done before the end of the month? Probably not, but I love Tremblay so I‘ll give it a college try!

While I did not care for the first few stories, the rest of the collection was killer! I love it when an author pulls in hints from their other books. Paul Tremblay will continue to be a autobuy author for me!

Starting this one tonight!!

This is a really interesting list. SFF authors pick 3 recommendations. Blake Crouch, Neal Stephenson, Becky Chambers & more.
https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/1551-summer-reading-from-sci-fi-fantasy-auth...

1. "The Border" - Don Winslow and "She Rides Shotgun" by Jordan Harper.
2. "In The Valley of the Sun" - Andy Davidson
3. Tagged. I love Paul Tremblay!
4. My goodreads challenge is set for 50. I'm a little behind but hoping to catch up this summer!

#thursdaysurvey

This just showed up at my door today!!!