Small Animals

by Alison Moore

‘Eerie, claustrophobic and disconcerting – a pitcher plant of a story’ Michael Marshall Smith

Genres: Horror

14 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2012

About the author

Born in Manchester in 1971, Alison Moore lives next but one to a sheep field in a village on the Leicestershire-Nottinghamshire border, with her husband Dan and son Arthur.

She is a member of Nottingham Writers’ Studio and an honorary lecturer in the School of English at Nottingham University.

In 2012 her novel The Lighthouse, the unsettling tale of a middle-aged man who embarks on a contemplative German walking holiday after the break-up of his marriage – only to find himself more alienated than ever, was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heather, a retired teacher and child psychologist, is taken by her friend Marilyn to Kath’s house, which is built into the side of a hill. Kath’s daughter Nina is asleep upstairs and Marilyn is very keen for Heather to meet her. To say more would spoil it (this is a story where the less you know the better) and I wouldn’t want to deprive you of discovering a gripping, increasingly frightening tale that ticks along with precision. Short, sharp, elegant and jagged, this is a great piece of writing, a worthy addition to the Nightjar stable and I highly recommend it.