Goblin by Josh Malerman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Goblin, originally published in 2017, was rereleased by Del Rey in 2021 with this stunning new cover. As soon as I set eyes upon it, I knew I had to have it.
It’s giving me the colors, ambiance and haunted house vibes that I crave. It has to be incredible, right?
Unfortunately, for me, I never should have judged this book by the cover.
Goblin consists of six novellas, well summarized by the publisher in the book synopsis. It also begins with an interesting Intro and then pulls it all the way through with the Epilogue.
I love the idea behind this. Six separate stories, all set in one creepy town and even though they are separate, there are places, people and themes that keep coming up throughout. These were the aspects that I enjoyed the most.
I think Malerman did a great job of creating this place and the corresponding lore to go with it.
For me, what lost me was the writing of the individual stories. I was just bored. There’s really no sugar-coating that. It felt overwritten for what I got out of each one. I just wanted it to end.
While I can appreciate why a lot of Readers enjoyed this one, it never hit for me. The first story was my least favorite and it ended up setting the tone for the rest of my read. I was completely turned off to it after that.
My favorite of the collection was The Hedges, which is the final story before the Epilogue and what I believe the cover is influenced by. Standing on its own, I would give that story 4-stars. It was engaging.
As always, I would encourage you to give this one a go for yourself if you think it sounds interesting. Please do not let my opinion sway you either way.
There’s a Reader for every book and a book for every Reader. Unfortunately, this one just wasn’t for me.
Thank you to the publisher, Del Rey, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate having the opportunity to share my opinion.
Eternal Frankenstein is a short-story collection consisting of various tales all inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. I would actually give this a 3.5-star rating (if given the option Goodreads, ahem…). Frankenstein in its original form is one of my favorite books of all time. I think generally people automatically think HORROR when they think ofFrankenstein and although it is horrific in many ways, it is also lyrical, thought-provoking and darkly beautiful. This collection I felt paid lovely homage to that original text.