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The Moon Will Look Strange
The laughter of a dead child echoes down the winding streets of a town in Spain… A mysterious stranger makes increasingly disquieting visits to a lonely English instructor in Central Europe… A woman experiences her own literal disintegration as someone – or something – from her past takes over her life…but who is the possessed and who is possessing? In return for the ability to touch the miraculous, the residents of an isolated mountain community are busily manufacturing items they don’t understand in preparation for a future they cannot imagine… With eight reprints from the pages of such publications as Black Static, The Third Alternative, and Supernatural Tales and three original tales, this chilling debut collection by Lynda E. Rucker will fill you with unease and unsettle your dreams. “Lynda Rucker's great talent is that she is able to carefully build a perceptive portrayal of the real world and in the process of that exploration find that edge where the everyday dissolves and the numinous begins. Her compelling execution of this transition strongly echoes the work of Robert Aickman.” – Steve Rasnic Tem
156 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 20, 2013
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About the author
Lynda E. Rucker
99 books47 followersMy short stories have appeared or will appear in such places as The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror, The Best Horror of the Year, The Year’s Best Weird Fiction, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Black Static, Postscripts, Nightmare Magazine, and Supernatural Tales. (Full fiction bibliography here.) I also write a regular column on horror for Black Static. My first collection of short fiction, The Moon Will Look Strange, was published in 2013 by Karōshi Books. I wrote a short horror play, “#goddess,” that was presented as part of a horror anthology play, “The Ghost Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore” and ran from March 7-19, 2016 at the Tristan Bates Theatre in London. I won a 2015 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Short Story for my story “The Dying Season,” which appeared in Aickman’s Heirs. My new collection, You’ll Know When You Get There, is available now from Swan River Press.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
April 15, 2023
I’ve been impressed by Lynda E. Rucker’s stories whenever I’ve encountered them in anthologies, and this collection of weird, unsettling tales looked like it was made for me. In the introduction, Steve Rasnic Tem situates Rucker’s fiction at ‘[the] edge where the everyday dissolves and the numinous begins’, citing her ‘close, realistic character observations’ as a strong point, and comparing her work to that of Robert Aickman. This is all true: ‘No More A-Roving’ – singled out in the introduction as ‘a kind of keystone for this collection’ – particularly earns the Aickmanesque label with its tale of a backpacker who seems unable to leave a dreary, sinister hostel. Personally, I found the settings to be the major strength of The Moon Will Look Strange. A disintegrating, formerly grand flat in a Czech city in ‘The Chance Walker’; the haunted streets of Granada in the title story; a damp art studio in ‘Beneath the Drops’; the oppressive heat of a Georgia summer in ‘Different Angels’. All are beautifully, powerfully depicted, so that starting a new story feels like stepping through a portal from one place into another.
As well as creating atmosphere, these vivid settings build a strong sense of how each story’s protagonist feels at odds with the world around them. Many of the stories follow a person who feels lost, displaced; someone who cannot make themselves understood. The very best of them, ‘The Moon Will Look Strange’, is a brilliant sequence of unease about a man who believes he can resurrect his dead daughter through occult magic. It’s reminiscent of both Daphne du Maurier’s ‘Don’t Look Now’ and M. John Harrison’s The Course of the Heart, but also genuinely original, especially the apocalyptic ending. ‘The Chance Walker’ has a wonderfully chilling, self-contained feel with its story of a teacher abroad struggling to make connections – until a weird student turns up at her flat. Also strong is ‘Beneath the Drops’, a creeping tale of a relationship breakdown, art, the balance between privacy and intimacy... and relentless rain. ‘Ash-Mouth’ frames family trauma with horror effectively. ‘These Things We Have Always Known’ dips its toe into dark fantasy (not my favourite genre) with a nonetheless potent tale of a strange, doomed creative community.
The other stories are invariably well-written, but some concepts are weaker than others. ‘The Burned House’ is good, but it’s also more or less exactly what you’d expect based on the title. The extremely disjointed ‘In Death’s Other Kingdom’ didn’t work for me at all, with its themes of religious/demonic horror more effectively addressed in the later, more compelling ‘Different Angels’. ‘These Foolish Things’ is forgettable, and I was selfishly disappointed in ‘The Last Reel’ because I mistakenly thought it was going to be a lost film story.
As well as creating atmosphere, these vivid settings build a strong sense of how each story’s protagonist feels at odds with the world around them. Many of the stories follow a person who feels lost, displaced; someone who cannot make themselves understood. The very best of them, ‘The Moon Will Look Strange’, is a brilliant sequence of unease about a man who believes he can resurrect his dead daughter through occult magic. It’s reminiscent of both Daphne du Maurier’s ‘Don’t Look Now’ and M. John Harrison’s The Course of the Heart, but also genuinely original, especially the apocalyptic ending. ‘The Chance Walker’ has a wonderfully chilling, self-contained feel with its story of a teacher abroad struggling to make connections – until a weird student turns up at her flat. Also strong is ‘Beneath the Drops’, a creeping tale of a relationship breakdown, art, the balance between privacy and intimacy... and relentless rain. ‘Ash-Mouth’ frames family trauma with horror effectively. ‘These Things We Have Always Known’ dips its toe into dark fantasy (not my favourite genre) with a nonetheless potent tale of a strange, doomed creative community.
The other stories are invariably well-written, but some concepts are weaker than others. ‘The Burned House’ is good, but it’s also more or less exactly what you’d expect based on the title. The extremely disjointed ‘In Death’s Other Kingdom’ didn’t work for me at all, with its themes of religious/demonic horror more effectively addressed in the later, more compelling ‘Different Angels’. ‘These Foolish Things’ is forgettable, and I was selfishly disappointed in ‘The Last Reel’ because I mistakenly thought it was going to be a lost film story.
September 18, 2017
I first read Rucker's work in the "Aickman's Heirs" anthology edited by (the excellent) Simon Strantzas. Her story "The Dying Season" was included, although it's not included here. Later I read somewhere that this collection is "Aickman-esque," something also mentioned in Steve Rasnic Tem's introduction to this book. That's more than enough to pique my interest.
I would have to agree, these are carefully crafted, subtle stories, often with a potent sense of place. There's a dream-like quality to it all, and a suggested "otherworldliness." There's also a deep sense of loss. The characters are dislocated, lonely and in transition. There's a potent sadness under the plots, under the weirdness. And yet they're very emotionally affecting without even trying that hard.
I was far more impressed with this collection than I expected to be, knowing little about it beforehand. My personal favorites were "No More A-Roving," "Ash-Mouth," "Beneath the Drops" and "The Last Reel." The most affecting stories to me were "Ash-Mouth" and "Beneath the Drops," the latter being my favorite overall. But everything here is worth a read, best read slowly and savored.
The Burned House - I really liked this, it's a ghost story, but it's a deeply emotional one about forgotten, lonely places (and people), and the frightening possibilities of life after death. It leaves a haunting mood behind. A woman is surprised to see a little girl on the porch of an old burnt house, and follows her inside to investigate.
No More A-Roving - This has a distinctly Aickman flavor and is one of the best stories in the book. It's a sort of hazy, dreamy story, paranoid and suspicious, but this is kept subtle. Everything that happens is plausible, and yet the events create a situation full of sinister, "outre" hints. It reminds me vaguely of Aickman's "The Hospice" and "Into the Woods." A young man feeling lonely and lost on the coast of Ireland stays in a dirty hostel while hoping to track down a girlfriend. He is unnerved by several things he witnesses there, yet he puts off leaving.
The Chance Walker - This story is similar to the previous one, a carefully crafted tale of a person feeling cut-off, isolated, paranoid and lonely in a foreign place. Here there's an additional language barrier for the protagonist, and the "outre" hints are perhaps even more subtle until the very end. An American living in the Czech Republic struggles to teach the local school children English and feels increasingly isolated from those around her. Soon the only person she feels she can talk to is a mysterious young woman who comes to her for lessons.
The Moon Will Look Strange - This story has a similar feel to the previous two, but takes a chance at a much weirder ending. It wasn't among my top favorites. It's a heartbreaking story of a man trying to forget his painful past by fleeing to Spain. He once met a man and engaged in some "magick" to try and change what went wrong in his life, but failed to understand the man's real intentions.
In Death’s Other Kingdom - This is a strange, grim tale, with a lot going on thematically, and not as subtle as the others. Not my favorite, but still one of the better and more complex stories in the book. A woman falls in love with a man who seems to have saved her life and given her some stability, but when she starts to suspect he is sleeping around with other women, a dark force from her past re-enters her life.
Ash-Mouth - I really liked this one, it certainly ends with more questions than answers, and frankly I think it's better for it. It's one of the scarier stories in the bunch, going into some dark, dirty places and even though we never quite see anything, its all implied. It's a tale of childhood fears and loss that continue to haunt our lives. A young woman recalls the disappearance of his older sister and strange death of her grandfather, all connected with a creature her grandmother tells her about.
These Foolish Things - A very short little story of a man who sees his ex in many women, but learns she's something else altogether.
Beneath the Drops - Wow, this was probably my favorite. Unlike most stories here, this one starts with a bit of humor, but doesn't stay that way. It's one of the most emotional stories in the bunch, with a really potent mood. Ramsey Campbell's "Hearing is Believing" came to mind with it's theme of wet and mold. A couple move to Oregon and while the girl in the relationship is able to fit into the artsy scene and work on some obscure paintings, her boyfriend finds himself increasingly isolated and plagued by the rain, fog, and something concealing itself within it.
These Things We Have Always Known - This is another good example of implied horror going a long way. Here most everything that happens appears to be mundane family problems, but it's also a small town horror tale where the palpable horror feels like it will appear at any moment. Neil agrees to let his brother Gary come live with his family in the strange mountain town of Cold Rest. But both he and Gary can tell something is wrong in the place, and everyone seems to be preparing for the arrival of something in their own way.
Different Angels - The weird elements of this one are kept at the edges, until the end that is. It's a story of escaping from your suffocating small town, then returning home dejected. It made me think of Flannery O'Connor. I liked the mingling of good and evil, or of evil parading as good, as was found in the story "In Death’s Other Kingdom" also. Jolie returns to the small town she escaped from over a decade ago, trying to reconcile the bad memories, and the strange fears.
The Last Reel - One of the best, most fun reads, and also scariest stories in the book. There's quite a few memorable moments in this one, and it makes a lot out of a simple concept. A young man travels with his girlfriend to check out the house of her dead aunt, a black sheep of the family.
I would have to agree, these are carefully crafted, subtle stories, often with a potent sense of place. There's a dream-like quality to it all, and a suggested "otherworldliness." There's also a deep sense of loss. The characters are dislocated, lonely and in transition. There's a potent sadness under the plots, under the weirdness. And yet they're very emotionally affecting without even trying that hard.
I was far more impressed with this collection than I expected to be, knowing little about it beforehand. My personal favorites were "No More A-Roving," "Ash-Mouth," "Beneath the Drops" and "The Last Reel." The most affecting stories to me were "Ash-Mouth" and "Beneath the Drops," the latter being my favorite overall. But everything here is worth a read, best read slowly and savored.
The Burned House - I really liked this, it's a ghost story, but it's a deeply emotional one about forgotten, lonely places (and people), and the frightening possibilities of life after death. It leaves a haunting mood behind. A woman is surprised to see a little girl on the porch of an old burnt house, and follows her inside to investigate.
No More A-Roving - This has a distinctly Aickman flavor and is one of the best stories in the book. It's a sort of hazy, dreamy story, paranoid and suspicious, but this is kept subtle. Everything that happens is plausible, and yet the events create a situation full of sinister, "outre" hints. It reminds me vaguely of Aickman's "The Hospice" and "Into the Woods." A young man feeling lonely and lost on the coast of Ireland stays in a dirty hostel while hoping to track down a girlfriend. He is unnerved by several things he witnesses there, yet he puts off leaving.
The Chance Walker - This story is similar to the previous one, a carefully crafted tale of a person feeling cut-off, isolated, paranoid and lonely in a foreign place. Here there's an additional language barrier for the protagonist, and the "outre" hints are perhaps even more subtle until the very end. An American living in the Czech Republic struggles to teach the local school children English and feels increasingly isolated from those around her. Soon the only person she feels she can talk to is a mysterious young woman who comes to her for lessons.
The Moon Will Look Strange - This story has a similar feel to the previous two, but takes a chance at a much weirder ending. It wasn't among my top favorites. It's a heartbreaking story of a man trying to forget his painful past by fleeing to Spain. He once met a man and engaged in some "magick" to try and change what went wrong in his life, but failed to understand the man's real intentions.
In Death’s Other Kingdom - This is a strange, grim tale, with a lot going on thematically, and not as subtle as the others. Not my favorite, but still one of the better and more complex stories in the book. A woman falls in love with a man who seems to have saved her life and given her some stability, but when she starts to suspect he is sleeping around with other women, a dark force from her past re-enters her life.
Ash-Mouth - I really liked this one, it certainly ends with more questions than answers, and frankly I think it's better for it. It's one of the scarier stories in the bunch, going into some dark, dirty places and even though we never quite see anything, its all implied. It's a tale of childhood fears and loss that continue to haunt our lives. A young woman recalls the disappearance of his older sister and strange death of her grandfather, all connected with a creature her grandmother tells her about.
These Foolish Things - A very short little story of a man who sees his ex in many women, but learns she's something else altogether.
Beneath the Drops - Wow, this was probably my favorite. Unlike most stories here, this one starts with a bit of humor, but doesn't stay that way. It's one of the most emotional stories in the bunch, with a really potent mood. Ramsey Campbell's "Hearing is Believing" came to mind with it's theme of wet and mold. A couple move to Oregon and while the girl in the relationship is able to fit into the artsy scene and work on some obscure paintings, her boyfriend finds himself increasingly isolated and plagued by the rain, fog, and something concealing itself within it.
These Things We Have Always Known - This is another good example of implied horror going a long way. Here most everything that happens appears to be mundane family problems, but it's also a small town horror tale where the palpable horror feels like it will appear at any moment. Neil agrees to let his brother Gary come live with his family in the strange mountain town of Cold Rest. But both he and Gary can tell something is wrong in the place, and everyone seems to be preparing for the arrival of something in their own way.
Different Angels - The weird elements of this one are kept at the edges, until the end that is. It's a story of escaping from your suffocating small town, then returning home dejected. It made me think of Flannery O'Connor. I liked the mingling of good and evil, or of evil parading as good, as was found in the story "In Death’s Other Kingdom" also. Jolie returns to the small town she escaped from over a decade ago, trying to reconcile the bad memories, and the strange fears.
The Last Reel - One of the best, most fun reads, and also scariest stories in the book. There's quite a few memorable moments in this one, and it makes a lot out of a simple concept. A young man travels with his girlfriend to check out the house of her dead aunt, a black sheep of the family.
October 31, 2015
Lovely, sinister stories of dislocation. As someone who often feels out of place, I had an almost-instant kinship with the thematic bent of Rucker's stories. It doesn't hurt that I once spent several soggy days stalled out in a decrepit hostel on the west coast of Ireland, as does the narrator in "No More A-Roving," or that I also found the Czech Republic to be a chilly, disorienting place, like the expat English teacher in "The Chance Walker." ("This whole country is haunted. Can't you feel it?")
October 7, 2025
Aickman's name gets bandied about in the reviews for this. There are certainly Aickman-esque elements in some of the stories. I really don't consider the writing to be Aickman-like for the most part. It's too cluttered with mundane details for me, but I understand a lot of horror fans like this.
October 11, 2015
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Author’s Note
The Burned House
No More A-Roving
The Chance Walker
The Moon Will Look Strange
In Death’s Other Kingdom
Ash-Mouth
These Foolish Things
Beneath the Drops
These Things We Have Always Known
Different Angels
The Last Reel
Acknowledgments
This is a collection of weird fiction. The second half of the book was, for me, stronger than the first half. The stories as a whole are, for me, closer to four stars than to three. I look forward to future stories from Lynda E. Rucker.
Some reviewers remarked on the ' Aickmanesque' style of some of the stories. I agree with that. But there are other types of weird fiction here too.
A story I think highly of is the Lovecraftian "These Things We Have Always Known" In a small town individuals are acting as if impelled by another force. A writer says “..but when I get back and look at the pages, I don’t remember putting down what I see there, and what I see scares me.” Another character in the story is creating "instruments..for the summoning of dead races...it came to me. In a dream..."
Another story I liked is "The Last Reel". Its an occult-horror story which is something that Richard Gavin might have written. A young woman inherits a house from her aunt. She visits the house with her boyfriend. We learn from the young woman that her aunt was into witchcraft. While in the house, it seems to me that the personalty of the young woman changes, and her boyfriend is disturbed by this. From the story,:
"“Well, stay where you are. Don’t go moving around in there when you can’t see.” But she was doing just that; he could hear her, thumping about. “Are you dancing in there?” The something reel. The witches’ reel."
Introduction
Author’s Note
The Burned House
No More A-Roving
The Chance Walker
The Moon Will Look Strange
In Death’s Other Kingdom
Ash-Mouth
These Foolish Things
Beneath the Drops
These Things We Have Always Known
Different Angels
The Last Reel
Acknowledgments
This is a collection of weird fiction. The second half of the book was, for me, stronger than the first half. The stories as a whole are, for me, closer to four stars than to three. I look forward to future stories from Lynda E. Rucker.
Some reviewers remarked on the ' Aickmanesque' style of some of the stories. I agree with that. But there are other types of weird fiction here too.
A story I think highly of is the Lovecraftian "These Things We Have Always Known" In a small town individuals are acting as if impelled by another force. A writer says “..but when I get back and look at the pages, I don’t remember putting down what I see there, and what I see scares me.” Another character in the story is creating "instruments..for the summoning of dead races...it came to me. In a dream..."
Another story I liked is "The Last Reel". Its an occult-horror story which is something that Richard Gavin might have written. A young woman inherits a house from her aunt. She visits the house with her boyfriend. We learn from the young woman that her aunt was into witchcraft. While in the house, it seems to me that the personalty of the young woman changes, and her boyfriend is disturbed by this. From the story,:
"“Well, stay where you are. Don’t go moving around in there when you can’t see.” But she was doing just that; he could hear her, thumping about. “Are you dancing in there?” The something reel. The witches’ reel."
December 27, 2013
I loved this collection of stories. While each is very different, they all share a spooky, paranormal edge. Reading these stories gave me the hazy, surreal feeling of being lost in a dream.
Lynda Rucker's writing manages to engage all the senses. I could smell the musty odor and feel the mist in the air. Locations are a big part of the stories here and Rucker captures each incredibly well. I felt like I was transported with the characters. Despite never having been to these places, I was able to experience the culture and see what the characters saw.
The content is a little dark, a little edgy. This contrasts perfectly with the beauty of each sentence. Rucker has a true gift for bringing a story to life.
Lynda Rucker's writing manages to engage all the senses. I could smell the musty odor and feel the mist in the air. Locations are a big part of the stories here and Rucker captures each incredibly well. I felt like I was transported with the characters. Despite never having been to these places, I was able to experience the culture and see what the characters saw.
The content is a little dark, a little edgy. This contrasts perfectly with the beauty of each sentence. Rucker has a true gift for bringing a story to life.
November 12, 2014
An artful collection of restrained and subtle short stories in a mode similar to Robert Aickman and Simon Strantzas. Lynda Rucker exhibits a superior craft and intelligence in every one of these pieces. Highly recommended, except for those readers who prefer their horror fiction more outwardly dynamic.
August 3, 2014
Fantastic collection of eerie, literary, somewhat 'Aickmanesque' (is that word?) short fiction. Superb.
May 30, 2016
A wonderful collection of unsettling, beautifully written stories.
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January 16, 2026I really liked these stories
November 29, 2019
If you’re looking for the modern day equivalent of M.R. James, Rucker is your writer.
December 19, 2016
I was kind of hoping for more from this book. I read one of the stories in here years ago, in one of Stephen Jones' Mammoth books, "The Last Reel," and I loved it so much it's stuck with me all this time. When I went back and found the writer and got this book off Amazon I was really excited. Some of the stories are really good, but some are just, no, too moody, too many people just acting like idiots in the face of, like, what is obviously an evil fucking supernatural entity. I thought the first story was the worst (an old woman finds ghosts inside an abandoned house) and the last was the best (the aforementioned "The Last Reel,") and everything else is kind of hit and miss. There are some good stories in here, and if you like that moody, quiet horror, this might be more your bag than mine.
March 17, 2014
Love, life, loneliness, loss: all these words begin with l, but what do they have in common apart from this fact? These feelings & sensations define us, determine how we look at others, and, eventually, decide what we make of ourselves. The stories in this collection are all about them. They would disorient you, depress you, suffocate you, and, if you are looking for escapist entertainment, probably switch you off for a really long time. But they are also lyrical, haunting, rich, evocative and tender. So readers, make up your mind. But don't shy away from this collection because of my review. These well-written stories deserve your undivided attention, and in small dosage, they are rewarding indeed.
October 3, 2019
Incredible debut - each story is short in length but so much is packed into them they have more depth than a lot of novels. Essential reading.
October 11, 2022
A strong collection of horror/weird fiction. Almost all the stories share a sense that things are slightly off, a faint tickling up your spine of something not-quite-right. There are common themes of travel to strange places, homecoming to familiar ones, being and nothingness, and belonging (or not).
In many of the stories, there's an interesting blend of the surreal and the specific, like very particular settings but a dreamlike atmosphere. Sometimes this surreality extended to the ending and I wanted something a bit more concrete, but regardless I enjoyed the collection overall.
The top stories for me were:
No More A-Roving - A subtle horror that really shows the "things a bit off" vibe of this collection, about a young man at a hostel in Ireland. The plot had vibes of some MR James stories, but the way it's written feels fresh. Good as a travel tale and as a quiet horror.
Beneath the Drops - About relationship changing, the art world, and the RAIN. Plus, something else, and off. My very top of the collection, as its so atmospheric and claustrophobic.
These Things We Have Always Known - A normal-ish family doing normal-ish things in a town where things work just a bit differently. Subtle horror that in other hands might have been contemporary fantasy. I highlighted the most quotes for my quote book from this piece.
The Last Reel - Haunting, family-focused, and one of the outright scariest. About an estranged aunt who has recently passed away - and was rumoured to be a witch - and the woman (and her partner) cleaning out her aunt's home.
In many of the stories, there's an interesting blend of the surreal and the specific, like very particular settings but a dreamlike atmosphere. Sometimes this surreality extended to the ending and I wanted something a bit more concrete, but regardless I enjoyed the collection overall.
The top stories for me were:
No More A-Roving - A subtle horror that really shows the "things a bit off" vibe of this collection, about a young man at a hostel in Ireland. The plot had vibes of some MR James stories, but the way it's written feels fresh. Good as a travel tale and as a quiet horror.
Beneath the Drops - About relationship changing, the art world, and the RAIN. Plus, something else, and off. My very top of the collection, as its so atmospheric and claustrophobic.
These Things We Have Always Known - A normal-ish family doing normal-ish things in a town where things work just a bit differently. Subtle horror that in other hands might have been contemporary fantasy. I highlighted the most quotes for my quote book from this piece.
The Last Reel - Haunting, family-focused, and one of the outright scariest. About an estranged aunt who has recently passed away - and was rumoured to be a witch - and the woman (and her partner) cleaning out her aunt's home.
April 18, 2025
This book has been on my virtual bookshelf the longest. So long, in fact, I can't even remember why I put it there. Something tells me there was possibly an article or story in Writing Magazine by this author that sparked my interest. But it's taken me years to find a copy at a reasonable price, and now that I have... meh.
It's a book of short stories and I'll admit I only read the first two, but since neither of them gripped me, I didn't want to go on. I thought there was an awful lot of waffle before getting to the point, and then the point wasn't even that good. So I've given up, but the stubborn part of me doesn't want to consign this one to the charity shop just yet. It took me so long to find a copy, I feel like I should give it another go.
It can go back, this time to a physical shelf in my house, and maybe I'll try and get through it some other time.
It's a book of short stories and I'll admit I only read the first two, but since neither of them gripped me, I didn't want to go on. I thought there was an awful lot of waffle before getting to the point, and then the point wasn't even that good. So I've given up, but the stubborn part of me doesn't want to consign this one to the charity shop just yet. It took me so long to find a copy, I feel like I should give it another go.
It can go back, this time to a physical shelf in my house, and maybe I'll try and get through it some other time.
August 4, 2017
I read both of Lynda E. Rucker's collections, and I would recommend "You'll Know When You Get There" ahead of "The Moom Will Look Strange," but this is still a very good collection. My favorite stories were the title story, "These Things We Have Always Known," "In Death’s Other Kingdom" and “The Last Reel.” Reading this collection sent me looking for uncollected stories by Rucker, of which there are many in magazines and "best of" anthologies.
August 15, 2018
The ghosts of this collection are subtle things, lurking just out of sight. In sudden departures, in quiet and looming histories. It's a collection of traveling and relationships, hauntings brief or long but scarring all the same. "Death's Other Domain," is one story that has particularly stuck with me, and I don't think I'll be forgetting it any time soon.
January 12, 2020
Like most single-author collections this is a bit uneven, but it boasts a couple stories that are just killer, most notably "No More A-Roving," which I swear is an extended metaphor for my own life. Strongly recommended for fans of genre fiction that feels almost naturalistic but for a vague, niggling suggestion that something is wrong or out of place.
April 14, 2018
More like 2.5 stars. I liked about a third of the stories, but I found the majority of them to be stale.
August 7, 2019
Strange, supernatural, subtle short stories. Some are about time, some are about place, some deal with the occult Unnerving and uncanny.
December 16, 2021
The final story in this collection made it for me.
January 9, 2022
An incredible collection of very weird, surreal horror shorts. Not a dud in the bunch but my favorites were No More A-Roving, Beneath the Drops, The Moon Will Look Strange, and The Chance Walker.
November 27, 2022
Favourite stories: The Chance Walker, No More A-Roving, In Death's Other Kingdom, The Last Reel
February 22, 2020
#78/100 + 15 PC; 199 pages; ISBN 9781988964089; introduction Steve Rasnic Tem
A fine edition, sewn, leather-bound with ribbon marker; elegant dust-jacket design, echoed on the printed endpapers. Chapter head and text breaks decorated (the latter with crescent moons). Spine blocked with volume number of this contemporary classics series (1) publishing the original stories in the 2013 paperback for the first time in hardback. All in all pleasing attention to detail - and a publisher's embossing on the title page.
The stories are more unsettling than outright horror - which may well be why it has taken me so long to read the book: time for reflection between stories needed.
A fine edition, sewn, leather-bound with ribbon marker; elegant dust-jacket design, echoed on the printed endpapers. Chapter head and text breaks decorated (the latter with crescent moons). Spine blocked with volume number of this contemporary classics series (1) publishing the original stories in the 2013 paperback for the first time in hardback. All in all pleasing attention to detail - and a publisher's embossing on the title page.
The stories are more unsettling than outright horror - which may well be why it has taken me so long to read the book: time for reflection between stories needed.
December 29, 2014
Lynda Rucker's stories are infused with the meaning of place. Scary, creepy, and oozy. Almost every one of them made me squirm. Having lived in Oregon for nearly 10 years, Lynda captures the dampness to an eerie extent in "Beneath the Drops." I was thrown back there almost immediately. Strange, lovely stories best read during the day in the sunshine.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews