Riding the Nightmare

by Lisa Tuttle, Neil Gaiman (Introduction)

Over the past few decades, Lisa Tuttle has quietly established her place as one of today's very best writers of weird and horror fiction. Her previous collection, The Dead Hours of Night , was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award, and now she is back with this new volume containing twelve more unsettling tales. In 'Bits and Pieces', a woman is surprised to find her lover has left behind his foot in her bed, but it's only the first of many macabre mementoes. 'The Wound' tells of a platonic friendship between two male coworkers that begins to turn into something very different when one of them notices he has started to bleed. The protagonist of 'The Hungry Hotel' is contacted years later by an old one-night stand and goes to meet him at a strange hotel, with unforeseen consequences. These and nine other weird and often frightening tales showcase Lisa Tuttle's unique ability to disturb and unnerve her readers. This collection also includes the rare novella 'The Dragon's Bride', newly revised and expanded for this edition, and an introduction by Neil Gaiman, who has called Lisa Tuttle 'the finest practitioner of unsettling fiction writing today'.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, Anthologies, Collections, Short Story Collection

233 pages, Paperback

First published August 22, 2023

About the author

(Wife of Colin Murray) aka Maria Palmer (house pseudonym).

Lisa Tuttle taught a science fiction course at the City Lit College, part of London University, and has tutored on the Arvon courses. She was residential tutor at the Clarion West SF writing workshop in Seattle, USA. She has published six novels and two short story collections. Many of her books have been translated into French and German editions.

Reviews

[Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

RIDING THE NIGHTMARE exceeded my expectations while at the same time being slightly unsatisfying. What do I mean by that? Let me elaborate.

All of these tales kept my interest and never once did I consider putting this book down. Why am I saying that I'm not satisfied? Mostly because of the "unsettling factor." What do I mean by that? With some authors, especially authors of what I'm going to call "weird fiction," their point is to leave you disturbed. Not to scare you, (though some of these tales do do that), but to mess with your mind. I put Roger Aikman firmly in that category and after reading this, I put Lisa Tuttle in that category as well.

Some of the stories here are more horrific than others but all of them have an element of weirdness to them that I really liked. I feel that the stories progressed from the weird to the horror as the book went on. My favorite was THE MAN IN THE DITCH which contained the weird and the horrific all wound up into one kickass tale.

I really liked all of these tales, but as I said some of them left me feeling disturbed, mulling over this or that aspect of each. I've also found that when you think you're done with this, stories will keep popping into your head long after you finish. For me that is the hallmark of a good book.

Lisa Tuttle can write, that's all there is to it. She's created tales here that are going to haunt my mind for weeks as I turn them over and inspect them from different angles. I absolutely love when stories make me think like that, and for this reason I rated RIDING THE NIGHTMARE 4 stars. Though I freely admit that rating my go up as I continue to mull.

*Thank you to Valancourt Books via NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll admit I hadn’t heard of Lisa Tuttle but I was intrigued by the title and the cover, so I didn’t know what to expect but I’m positive I would not have been able to expect this book. These stories are bizarre, sometimes horrific, and the kind of stories that worm their way into your brain and don’t leave. This wasn’t a book of short stories that I devoured in one go because I found myself stopping after one or two so I could really absorb and process. I think I really liked The Wound and it took a twist I wasn’t really expecting which is always fun, I really liked The Dragon’s Bride as well even if I saw those twists coming. A couple of the stories were ok but lacked the heavy weirdly creepy factor I really enjoy from this author. I would definitely read more from Lisa Tuttle.

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent collection of unsettling, weird short stories with all of them concerning sex, death or both. I enjoyed them all but my favourite was definitely the last story and the longest in the collection ‘The Dragons Bride’. Impossible to stop reading this one!

[Brennan LaFaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

You have to be a special kind of storyteller to solicit an introduction by Neil Gaiman, and Lisa Tuttle wastes no time erasing any niggling doubt the reader might have harbored. Perhaps the best word to describe the collection of stories in Riding the Nightmare would be fearless. Tuttle attacks concepts like sex and death, ideas that are hardly strangers to the horror genre, and makes them feel fresh and exciting. She also manages to include these themes in manners that are somehow simultaneously thoughtful, but bold and brash. Not for the faint of heart.
Of the twelve stories contained within, there is no filler. Every one has a unique voice and something to say with it. There were, however, a few that followed me around like a ghost even days after reading them. Some of my favorites included "Riding the Nightmare", "Bits and Pieces", "The Man in the Ditch", and "A Home in the Sky". Each entry subtly tiptoes between subgenre, but they are all firmly rooted in horror and entirely Lisa Tuttle.

[Irene Well Worth A Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riding The Nightmare had me galloping through the pages, It is loaded from cover to cover with delightfully dark and disturbing tales from one of the best storytellers in horror, Lisa Tuttle.

A secret weekend tryst will haunt a happily engaged woman in The Hungry Hotel.
A picture is worth a thousand words in The Mezzotint, but only if the warning is heeded in time. Home ownership is part of the American dream especially if you are an adult stuck returning to your childhood bedroom but a room in your parents' house may be safer than A Home In The Sky.
The Man In The Ditch is another story of a warning that went ignored when a woman who should have trusted her own instinct lets her husband convince her that there is nothing to fear.
Two old friends reconnect on Halloween in The Last Dare and forgotten memories return too late.
The title story Riding The Nightmare is a chilling play on words when the actual mare shows up at the window for a night ride.
These were my favorites in the collection but all of the stories are wonderfully weird and unsettling. It was also a refreshing change of pace to have so many stories from a female main character's point of view.


My thanks to Valancourt Books

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars - I liked it.

This book contains 12 short stories, some I thought were great and others felt really unsatisfying. Some of these didn't really feel like horror, more strange and fever dream like. I really enjoyed the writing and weirdness of each story.

my favourites were:
-The Mezzotint
-After The End
-The Third Person
-The Man In The Ditch
^^ All of these were so bizarre and made me feel uneasy.

the ones I didn't like:
-The last Dare
-A Home In The Sky
-Voices In The Night
^^ for me personally, these were confusing, felt like they weren't finished.

Overall, a fun read of short stories.

Thanks to netgalley and Valancourt Books for sharing a digital copy for me to read and review. As always, opinions are my own 🤘🏻💀🤘🏻

[Carla (Carla's Book Bits) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this!!! Definitely a new favorite book.

Every story in this collection was gripping, disturbing, and horrifying in its own way. I was just glued to this from start to finish.

Trust me, Lisa Tuttle's writing style and range is incredible to behold. I'm really kicking myself for not reading anything by her sooner. Really recommended!

A big thank you to Netgalley and Valancourt Books for this free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for NetGalley and Valancourt Books for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

First, I need to mention how much I love this cover. It is absolutely mesmerizing and it pulled me into the book. Riding the Nightmare is a collection of previously published short stories by the author. The stories are fantastically weird and terrifying and most of the stories show the complications of relationships (romantic, friendship) and in one case, parenting.

My favorite stories were:
Riding the Nightmare: Children just get in the way!

Bits and Pieces: Oh, hey you left a body part in my bed!

The Mezzotint: Did that picture just move? I loved this story so much. Even though it was perfect I still wish it was a bit longer.

The Dragon's Bride: Maybe a bit of amnesia isn't too bad!

The author did a great job of telling such disturbing tales. I was completely unsettled at times. Highly recommend to readers who love horror and downright weird tales.

[nellancholia✨️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riding the Nightmare is an absolutely marvelous blend of macabre, dark, and twisted short stories. This is the first book I've read written by Lisa Tuttle, and it was an easy five-star read for me.
I love short stories and each of these are a whirlwind of equally brilliant and disturbing characters- I honestly don't think I have a favorite story! Centering around relationships and diving into the darkest parts of the mind, every story shows a glimpse of the desire for connection and the neverending need for self-fulfillment. Tuttle writes fluidly and the character personalities, backgrounds, world-building, and intense emotions/relationships are all seamless and natural.
A literal fever dream. I loved every bit of it!

[Alex Z (azeebooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and Valancourt Books for an advance review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Available August 22 2023.

4 stars

Riding the Nightmare is a collection of 12 stories that are weird, unsettling and bizarre. They all kind of leave you hanging in the end, but in the best way possible that means you’re left thinking about it for days on end.

There’s truly some fantastic horror reads here, with my favourites being The Mezzotint, Bits and Pieces, The Wound and The Man in the Ditch. Lisa Tuttle explores horror, sci-fi, gender roles, and just pure obscurity in these tales and every one is so different and wonderful.

A must read for lovers of weird horror!

[Marjorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Grim-Mama · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neil Gaiman starts his introduction for this book of short stories with the sentence… “Here are the twelve words that conclude the twelve stories in this volume: pitiless, choice, alive, ending, successful, lies, ditch, it, absolute, darkness, end and father”.

These twelve stories are strange. Horror-ish in some ways, fantastically odd in all ways. They leave you feeling a bit off when you finish them. While they were all unique in their own they mostly seemed to spin around relationships - with self, family, and partner(s). Once again, no one is telling the other exactly what they are feeling or seeing which always leads to an issue.

The writing was good and the stories were bizarre, but as much as they left me feeling off-kilter when I finished each one (good) I did not feel satisfied with what I read and I now struggle to remember them (bad). However I think this will hit different for others that like those disturbing stories that don’t always knit up the way you expect in the end - it might just not have been the right stories for my current mood.

The ones that seemed to stick in my memory (although I know they were not my favorites at the moment) were Riding the Nightmare, Home in the Sky, and The Dragon’s Bride.

I believe this collection might be of stories that were previously published individually in other sources. Recommend for those that like bizarre, weird, and strange short stories.

Read as a NetGalley Arc. Publication set for Aug 22, 2023.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll forever be still trying to find my footing in "weird stories," but this one was a really enjoyable read. The stories, by and large, follow people as they encounter some sort of supernatural whatsit, whether it's a haunted tiny house or a curse or some sort of time loop. They are solid and varied; even when thee sequence at first makes them seem a little too similar (back to back stories about living spaces, for example), things quickly turn in surprising ways.

Other notes: these are adult stories, which means occasionally they are sexually explicit. I know there's that sort of gray area between horror and sexy exploitation, which this mostly didn't feel like. Instead, Tuttle explores some odd pairings and throuples, etc. And this willingness to look at sex plainly gives her access to saying some interesting things-- to paraphrase Alex Garland's movie, sometimes the horror is just men. And at other times, it allows for a matter-0f-factness about the fact that women are having a lot of bad sex, sex being used to manage relationships in ways that is kind of sad and scary in its own low-level way.

Good stuff, though I didn't love the novella at the end. Still, a really solid collection of stories, almost entirely in the 3rd person. I want to spend some time with one more closely, to study how she moves through it.

[Milt Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any collection of Lisa Tuttle's work is undoubtedly a treat: 12 short stories, one of which is a novella, showcasing Tuttle's amazing talent in short story form. Most of the stories display her exceptional skill in characterization, and her inimitable style of multi-level narration, oscillating between description and allegory. Neil Gaiman warns these tales are not your standard kind of horror, if horror at all; he's absolutely right: most of the stories are bizarre, weird, singular in payoff yet so familiar in perspective. My favorites were the opening story, "Riding the Nightmare," a story about parenthood, life choices, and personal desires, that puts into question one's priorities in life by turning dreams into nightmares; "Bits and Pieces," the story that follows immediately after, full of creepy imagery and a wonderful ending, a story that can be read either literally or metaphorically; "The Man in the Ditch," an original ghost story with a very unexpected ending; and the short novella ending the book, "The Dragon's Bride," that could have been a novel in itsef, full of atmosphere and a genuinely twisty ending!

Thank you to Netgalley and Valancourt Books for the early read!

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lisa Tuttle crafts such personal stories. Nest of Nightmares, her first short story collection from the 80s, is one of my favorite books.

This collection of dreamy horrors is kind of an odds and ends assembly of her works from magazines and anthologies since the 80s; mixed with some of her more recent stuff (including a reworked novella).

She writes such compelling pieces of womens’ identity and sexual longing. I find her perspective brutally honest in how her characters are laid bare for the reader. What should historically be kept private is exposed and examined.

It’s fascinating to read her anxiety about gender, and sexuality in the 80s through to the Aughts, but it’s also emotionally heavier than I was expecting.

There weren’t quite the standouts that there were in Nest of Nightmares, but I was really into the vibes. I didn’t feel compelled to scream through it. One story at a time felt satisfying.

There were a few homage pieces that collectively started feeling precious, and kind of relied on the reader knowing MR James, and EA Poe, and the novella had winks to Bram Stoker, but honestly they individually were fantastic stories and totally worthwhile.

Totally enjoyed this.

[Miles Madonna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story collection. I hadn't heard of Lisa Tuttle but saw it was introduced by Neil Gaiman, which piqued my interest. In his introduction, he writes that these "are stories about sex and the dead" which is pretty on point. Lots of them felt very dreamlike and surreal, most following women in some kind of terrible situation. Quite a few were classic kinds of scary stories with solid twist endings, which is always fun to read. My favorites were Bits and Pieces, The Third Person, Home in the Sky, and The Man in the Ditch. A super solid story collection which has left me a new fan of Lisa Tuttle, I'll definitely pick up any other collections I see from her!
Thank you to Valancourt Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

[Petri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an early reader copy for this book from NetGalley for free.

12 short stories that were cool, creepy and surprising. I really enjoyed the authors writing style and how her stories don't rely on big scares and shock factor, but instead have this uneasiness about them before evolving to full horror by the end.

[Miriam]

Listen to our Craftwork interview with Lisa Tuttle.

[alice ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Riding the Nightmare ,The Last Dare, and Voices in the Night were all winners for me. However, the rest of the stories had me either grappling, feeling like I missed something, or I found to be unimpressive.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are scary stories and disturbing stories and then there are creepy stories. This is a collection of creepy stories — some deliciously so and some that made me shudder and pitch the book to the floor.

[Juliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

love me some weird and fucked up short stories 🥰
also lisa tuttle’s writing is gorgeous

[Kasey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Omg!!! Let me start by saying the cover fits the book perfectly. It’s weird and ominous which are words I would use to describe this collection. The collection is comprised of short stories previously published by the author. There is good variety in the stories so there is something that most horror readers would like. It was the perfect weird ambiguous horror I love

My favorite stories were Bits and Pieces and Voices In The Night

Thanks NetGalley and Valencourt Books for a copy of this book in exchange for review

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Lisa Tuttle’s short stories. They are sometimes gruesome, sometimes sweet, always thought provoking. I usually go to bed still thinking about the story.

Riding the Nightmare began with a wonderful forward by Neil Gaiman and ended with the novella, The Dragon’s Bride.

My favorite was the short story, The Wound. It was visceral and horrifying. I didn’t know where the story was leading me until the middle. A man begins a platonic relationship with another man, but this is not our world, but one vastly different in regards to gender and sexuality. Still thinking about this one.

Amazing stories all around. Highly recommend for something weird and not what the reader might expect.

[B. Zelkovich · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF'd after the second story. Tried to move on to the third but it was more of the same: hetero couples who are miserable, have lackluster sex, and something weird happens.

The writing is perfectly fine, but the subject matter just isn't for me.

[J.A. Ironside · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC provided by NetGalley. All opinions are my own.


Overall, this collection of Tuttle's short fiction was just ok for me. I haven't read enough of her vast body of work to know whether it was just these stories I found lacklustre or whether her writing is just not for me. Or perhaps whether the focus of the collection - the connection between sex and death, and sex overriding the bounds of decent behaviour, sense and social contract - just didn't wow me. Perhaps I would do better with her long form fiction - I did actually enjoy the final tale which made up 25% of the book (making it a novella) - The Dragon's Bride. (It's also worth noting here that despite being a huge Stephen King fan, the shorter a piece of his writing is, the less likely I am to enjoy it! This could be a me problem - I look for very specific things in short stories.)

Anyway, the stories were technically very accomplished and definitely managed to cross the weird/ disquieting line. I note that Gaiman says in the introduction that Tuttle writes real female characters and while I hate to disagree with him, I don't think she does. Her characters are slices of a very specific type of female character always set in such a way as to present a fixed viewpoint on the subject. I also disliked the endless pairing of sex with violence, especially sexual violence. Story after story seemed to have that at its bedrock and it began to feel very one note. I didn't actually care much for Tuttle's writing itself. It's hard to explain but if you won't give me a full character I can sink my teeth into, then the writing itself needs to be a banquet or at least a square meal. Instead I was just left with the impression of thinness and dry, flavourless words. Again, possibly a me problem because not everyone's writing will be for everyone.

I did quite like the titular story - Riding the Nightmare. While I didn't like Bits and Pieces, I thought it was clever. The Dragon's Bride was the best of the bunch but still somehow unsatisfactory. I notice I'm in the minority with this opinion however, so if you like weird fiction go for it. It just didn't quite land for me.

[Mindy'sBookJourney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy for review through NetGalley.

This new collection from a Lisa Tuttle collects stories previously published between 1986 and 2017 with a new expanded version of 'The Dragon's Bride'. The stories seem to fit together in that they all explore unconventional types of relationships from the female prospective. The plots themselves are varied. Some worked better for me than others. This is a great release from Valancourt Books from this great author of Nest of Nightmares and Familiar Spirit.

Ride the Nightmare: Being second to a man in an open marriage isn't easy. For Tess it brings on a prophetic nightmare.The nightmare imagery is great. 4 stars

Bits and Pieces: A woman realizes the men that leave her life leave parts of themselves behind. In the pursuit of creating a perfect man she goes to great lengths to get what she wants. 3 stars

The Mezzotint: A woman finds a picture in her partner's office that reminds her of the messotint in the M. R. James story. 3 stars

After the End: This story tells that last case of C. Auguste Dupin. A very gothic feeling story. 3 stars

The Third Person: A woman asks her best friend to use her apartment once a week to have an affair which leads to unforeseen circumstances. 3 stars

The Wound: Two male teachers become friends over a love of opera that can become more complicated that you would think. 3 stars

The Man in the Ditch: A woman sees a man in the ditch on the drive to see their new home. She keeps having visions of this same man over her time in the house. This one has a great ending. 4 stars

The Last Dare: Two friends pass on the story of their experience in The Tower House, a creepy house in the neighborhood, to their grandchildren. Those grandchildren decide to explore the house as well. 4 stars

A Home in the Sky: A woman who has dreams of owning her own house has a strange experience in a miniature version of house being built in the area. 4 stars

The Hungry Hotel: A woman has a fling with a traveling musician while her fiance is out of town. 4 stars

The Dragon's Bride: A woman has repressed her visit to her aunt's house in England. When she returns after the death of her aunt she begins to remember. 4 stars

Average Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

[Vultural · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tuttle, Lisa - Riding The Nightmare

A new Lisa Tuttle collection is pretty much a must-buy for me.
Stories here range from the 1980’s to recent.

“Bits & Pieces” is an unexpected delight. After each casual encounter, Fay discovers a missing part left behind. Foot, arm, passive, not so passive. Better, she can connect them!

“The Mezzotint” speaks M. R. James. This clever take hears Mel, our protagonist, declare she has never seen that picture before. “Don’t give it too much thought,” her new partner suggests. Of curious disposition, however, is Miss Mel.

A twisted homage to C. Augustus Dupin unfolds in “After The End.”

Forming new friendships can be difficult, especially if you are an introvert. And an opera lover? “The Wound” features one of the more surprising and unusual twists I have read in years.

Night Visions 3 was where I first read “The Dragon’s Bride.” I did not recall reading the story, until the end when one scene popped with clarity.
For this collection, Tuttle has revised and expanded this brooding tale.
Isobel has been summoned to her aunt’s in England. Even as her own mother presses her to visit, Isobel stalls, then detours into New York. Something about her aunt, about an unremembered experience when she was there as a child, fills her with dread.
Fate, however, coaxes, pulls, and draws her closer and closer to the dragon.

A diverse collection, inventive throughout, and a lot of fun.

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could not wait to read Lisa Tuttle and Neil Gaymans Riding The Nightmare and although some of the stories were really good and all were interesting I wouldn’t put them all under horror enough so there a type of story I call hide and seek horror. Where most of the story is just general fiction and the horror is revealed in the last few sentences and while some may like that I only find it OK. That’s not to say there weren’t some stand out story such as the mezzanine which became very creepy, not to mention being in that stage of a relationship where your partner wants to cuddle and although you’re over him it would be too much trouble to deny him. And the one who’s name I cannot remember where the girl makes a lover out of parts of her axle lovers… That was weird and good and the rest were good as well they just weren’t something I would call hora altogether though I would definitely put this as a three star solid read and if you’re worried about any triggers there’s really not any except for murder the dismantling of the human and I believe that’s it. I still definitely recommend this book as I am usually a rare opinion but also because I love Neil Gaiman books and despite them not being “horror“ the stories are still very very interesting. I want to thank Net Galley AN Valancourt books for my free Ark copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you so much to RDS Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC; it is greatly appreciated.

This cover is perfectly suited to the first story in this collection, which also shares the book's name: Riding the Nightmare. The creativity that is shown throughout these stories is superb. There are subtleties, and things left unsaid that weave these stories into darker tales than you might think at first glance.

Horror might not seem like the correct genre at first, but these stories are meant to sit with you a bit and let the true horror sink in. I found myself reading the last paragraph or two of some stories over again to make sure that I really understood what was going on. It may be a quick read, but there are stories in here that will really grab your attention and make you shiver.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a collection of short stories that are weird with horror. The stories are written smoothly and takes you into the experiences of the characters in the story. It is a collection of stories that I won’t forget. These stories are all the more terrifying for the horrors that grow out of the characters vulnerable moments of shared intimacy. I find it rare to read and find each story good. Often I have read collections where the stories always have at least one story I wondered why it was included but not this book. I will be reading more of the author’s works.

Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I wasn’t obligated to write a favorable review or any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.