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A Darker Shade: New Stories of Body Horror by Women Writers
Joyce Carol Oates assembles an outstanding cast of authors—including Margaret Atwood, Tananarive Due, and Megan Abbott—to explore, subvert, and reinvent one of the most vital subgenres of horror. Featuring brand-new stories by : Margaret Atwood, Tananarive Due, Joyce Carol Oates, Megan Abbott, Aimee Bender, Cassandra Khaw, Lisa Lim, Elizabeth Hand, Valerie Martin, Raven Leilani, Sheila Kohler, Joanna Margaret, Lisa Tuttle, Aimee LaBrie, and Yumi Dineen Shiroma.
WHILE THE COMMON BELIEF is that "body horror" as a subgenre of horror fiction dates back to the 1970s, Joyce Carol Oates suggests that Medusa, the snake-haired gorgon in Greek mythology, is the "quintessential emblem of female body horror." In A Darker Shade of New Stories of Body Horror by Women Writers, Oates has assembled a spectacular cast to explore this subgenre focusing on distortions to the human body in the most fascinating of ways.
"Should we know nothing of the female monsters of antiquity," Oates writes in her introduction to the volume, "still we would know that body horror in its myriad manifestations speaks most powerfully to women and girls. To be female is to inhabit a body that is by nature vulnerable to forcible invasion, susceptible to impregnation and repeated pregnancies, condemned to suffer childbirth, often in the past early deaths in childbirth and in the aftermath of childbirth."
WHILE THE COMMON BELIEF is that "body horror" as a subgenre of horror fiction dates back to the 1970s, Joyce Carol Oates suggests that Medusa, the snake-haired gorgon in Greek mythology, is the "quintessential emblem of female body horror." In A Darker Shade of New Stories of Body Horror by Women Writers, Oates has assembled a spectacular cast to explore this subgenre focusing on distortions to the human body in the most fascinating of ways.
"Should we know nothing of the female monsters of antiquity," Oates writes in her introduction to the volume, "still we would know that body horror in its myriad manifestations speaks most powerfully to women and girls. To be female is to inhabit a body that is by nature vulnerable to forcible invasion, susceptible to impregnation and repeated pregnancies, condemned to suffer childbirth, often in the past early deaths in childbirth and in the aftermath of childbirth."
264 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 2023
101 people are currently reading
2992 people want to read
About the author
Joyce Carol Oates
847 books9,489 followersJoyce Carol Oates is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels Black Water (1992), What I Lived For (1994), and Blonde (2000), and her short story collections The Wheel of Love (1970) and Lovely, Dark, Deep: Stories (2014) were each finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. She has won many awards for her writing, including the National Book Award, for her novel Them (1969), two O. Henry Awards, the National Humanities Medal, and the Jerusalem Prize (2019).
Oates taught at Princeton University from 1978 to 2014, and is the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor Emerita in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing. From 2016 to 2020, she was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught short fiction in the spring semesters. She now teaches at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
Oates was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2016.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.
Oates taught at Princeton University from 1978 to 2014, and is the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor Emerita in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing. From 2016 to 2020, she was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught short fiction in the spring semesters. She now teaches at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
Oates was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2016.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 159 reviews
July 21, 2025
I was thrilled to see a Joyce Carol Oates-edited anthology about body horror written by women authors! Especially after that weird and ridiculous incidence last year in which she was called “not hot enough” to be able to understand or write about Marilyn Monroe and the way she has been sexualized, and this seemed like an adequate clapback to me, given that, in the words of Nat Cassidy, women (ALL of them) never get to forget they have a body.
The anthology starts very very strong, but unfortunately fails to keep up that initial oomph, partly because it distances itself from its ambition of representing body horror, the concept of the anthology gradually falling apart and dissolving into more contemporary writings of anything involving a woman and a bodily change in the widest sense. An example would be Margaret Atwood's featured story “Metempsychosis, or the Journey of the Soul”, which explores alienation and estrangement through a snail's soul that possesses a young woman's body, and which lacks an unsettling or transgressive tone that characterizes horror. Granted, not every horror work needs to be written in that tone, but then at least the subject matter on itself should be horrifying to compensate. This here is weird fiction at best. Surely I don't mean to gatekeep horror, it has a wide definition and don't get me wrong - this story and others are excellent stories, as expected from giant names that contributed. But when you put “body horror” in the title though, you put a certain expectation in your readers, and if you fail to deliver that, well...
My highlights were: Aimee Benders' “Frank Jones” revolving around a woman who builds a puppet out of her skin tags and how that affects the relationship to her work mates; “Dancing by Tananarive Due, amazing and on the spot short story that does everything right – when a woman can't stop dancing after the death of her aunt, she needs to get to the heart-shattering root of what's happening; and finally “Concealed” by Lisa Tuttle, an acutely current piece of writing that pokes the wound of what has been going on concerning women's bodily autonomy, and how it affects all of us.
Although not all the stories appealed to me, I want to emphasize that it is a very worthwhile anthology - just look past the marketing category and concentrate on the content, and you will surely find something for your taste.
The anthology starts very very strong, but unfortunately fails to keep up that initial oomph, partly because it distances itself from its ambition of representing body horror, the concept of the anthology gradually falling apart and dissolving into more contemporary writings of anything involving a woman and a bodily change in the widest sense. An example would be Margaret Atwood's featured story “Metempsychosis, or the Journey of the Soul”, which explores alienation and estrangement through a snail's soul that possesses a young woman's body, and which lacks an unsettling or transgressive tone that characterizes horror. Granted, not every horror work needs to be written in that tone, but then at least the subject matter on itself should be horrifying to compensate. This here is weird fiction at best. Surely I don't mean to gatekeep horror, it has a wide definition and don't get me wrong - this story and others are excellent stories, as expected from giant names that contributed. But when you put “body horror” in the title though, you put a certain expectation in your readers, and if you fail to deliver that, well...
My highlights were: Aimee Benders' “Frank Jones” revolving around a woman who builds a puppet out of her skin tags and how that affects the relationship to her work mates; “Dancing by Tananarive Due, amazing and on the spot short story that does everything right – when a woman can't stop dancing after the death of her aunt, she needs to get to the heart-shattering root of what's happening; and finally “Concealed” by Lisa Tuttle, an acutely current piece of writing that pokes the wound of what has been going on concerning women's bodily autonomy, and how it affects all of us.
Although not all the stories appealed to me, I want to emphasize that it is a very worthwhile anthology - just look past the marketing category and concentrate on the content, and you will surely find something for your taste.
September 23, 2023
As with any short story collection, there were some that I could have done without; however, most were very well done and a few were downright scary! Some very well-known authors are in here, like Joyce Carol Oates and Margaret Atwood. I also discovered some new-to-me authors that I'll be looking into for their other works. I'm glad to have won this in a LibraryThings giveaway as my library did not have the e-book. Thank you to the authors and publisher.
October 9, 2023
I really enjoyed reading this! I thought the beginning section was the strongest, with only one or two stories from the other sections that I really liked.
My favs:
“Dancing” by Tananarive Due
“Scarlet Ribbons” by Megan Abbot
“Metempsychosis, or the journey of the soul” by Margaret Atwood
“Nemesis” by Valerie Martin
My favs:
“Dancing” by Tananarive Due
“Scarlet Ribbons” by Megan Abbot
“Metempsychosis, or the journey of the soul” by Margaret Atwood
“Nemesis” by Valerie Martin
October 25, 2023
About 3.5 ⭐ overall.
This anthology includes some great stories by women encompassing various forms of body horror.
As expected, some are very disgusting. The majority were quite interesting and unique. Out of 15 stories, there are only 5 I didn't really care for.
My favourite stories were by Tananarive Due, Megan Abbott, Margaret Atwood, Lisa Tuttle, Aimee LaBrie, Valerie Martin and Sheila Kohler.
Even though I'm familiar with many of the authors, it was my first time reading any of them, except for two. I'll definitely be seeking out more works by my favourites.
This anthology includes some great stories by women encompassing various forms of body horror.
As expected, some are very disgusting. The majority were quite interesting and unique. Out of 15 stories, there are only 5 I didn't really care for.
My favourite stories were by Tananarive Due, Megan Abbott, Margaret Atwood, Lisa Tuttle, Aimee LaBrie, Valerie Martin and Sheila Kohler.
Even though I'm familiar with many of the authors, it was my first time reading any of them, except for two. I'll definitely be seeking out more works by my favourites.
October 26, 2025
Selected this as a 'spooky read' for Halloween, but I would say it leaned more towards weird/literary fiction than horror - not a fault on the book really, but on my own expectations!
I loved 'Dancing' by Tananarive Due and its haunting ending; 'Breathing Exercise' (Raven Leilani) was a tense tale unfolding the struggles of a Black female artist, while 'Her Heart May Fail Her' (Yumi Dineen Shiroma) was a short but sweet modern retelling of Dracula. 'The Chair of Tranquility' by Joyce Carol Oates was my favourite - its repetitive, mantra-like rhythm absorbed me into the narrative, which provided a visceral glimpse into the historical treatment of women's mental health. There were also some absurdly humorous stories - 'Frank Jones' by Aimee Bender and 'Metempsychosis' by Margaret Atwood - which I felt broke up the collection in a fun way.
Despite the above highlights and the good pacing and variation within the book, I wasn't gripped throughout. Some of the other stories felt unsatisfying or unmemorable, some with an overwrought writing style or an overdone theme. Not a bad collection, just didn't pack as much of a punch as I expected, so probably leans towards the higher end of 3 stars.
I loved 'Dancing' by Tananarive Due and its haunting ending; 'Breathing Exercise' (Raven Leilani) was a tense tale unfolding the struggles of a Black female artist, while 'Her Heart May Fail Her' (Yumi Dineen Shiroma) was a short but sweet modern retelling of Dracula. 'The Chair of Tranquility' by Joyce Carol Oates was my favourite - its repetitive, mantra-like rhythm absorbed me into the narrative, which provided a visceral glimpse into the historical treatment of women's mental health. There were also some absurdly humorous stories - 'Frank Jones' by Aimee Bender and 'Metempsychosis' by Margaret Atwood - which I felt broke up the collection in a fun way.
Despite the above highlights and the good pacing and variation within the book, I wasn't gripped throughout. Some of the other stories felt unsatisfying or unmemorable, some with an overwrought writing style or an overdone theme. Not a bad collection, just didn't pack as much of a punch as I expected, so probably leans towards the higher end of 3 stars.
June 8, 2025
Антология с 16 боди хорър разказa написани от жени. Имаше няколко доста добри, и изненадващото за мен бе, че разказите на по-популярните автори ми се сториха по-слаби. Ще напиша оценките си, както и кратко описание на разказите:
-Frank Jones от Aimee Bender - Жена прави кукла от брадавици/папиломи, която оживява. 3/5
-Dancing от Tananarive Due - След смъртта на бабата си дългогодишна настойничка изпада в неконтролируем танц. 4/5
-Scarlet Ribbons от Megan Abbot - Прокълната къща, която "преследва" посетителите си. 5/5
-Malena от Joanna Margaret - Артистка-скулптор създава фигури на жени с липсващи части и открива, че „подаръкът“ ѝ се проявява и в собственото ѝ тяло. 3.5/5
-Dancing with mirrors от Lisa Lim - история с илюстрации описващи семейна трамва по оригинален начин. 4/5
- Metempsychosis, or The Journey of the Soul от Margaret Atwood - духът на охлюв започва да обитава тялото на банкова служителка. 2/5
-Concealed Carry от Lisa Tuttle - Лондончанка се мести да живее в САЩ където законите за огнестрелни оръжия пораждат противоречиви емоции. 3/5
-Gross Anatomy от Aimee LaBrie - разказ за насилието над жените, с доза некорфилия. 4,5/5
-Breathing Exercise от Raven Leilani - жена започва да изпитва проблеми с дишането, след като непознат започва да й пише. 3/5
-Muzzle от Cassandra Khaw - история за трансформацията на жена във върколак. 2/5
-Her Heart May Fail Her от Yumi Dineen Shiroma - различен поглед към персонажите на Люси и Мина от "Дракула" 2/5
-The Chair of Tranquility от Joyce Carol Oates - разказ показващ методите на "лечение" на "женска истерия". 4/5
-The Seventh Bride от Elizabeth Hand - разказ за актриса, която играе ролята на една от булките в "Синята брада". 4,5/5
-Nemesis от Valerie Martin - история за чаровен манипулатор и майка, която се опитва да преборъ въздействието му. 4,5/5
-Sydney от Sheila Kohler - жена открива робот в къщата на мъжа си. Разказът прилича на епизод от Black Mirror. 5/5
-Frank Jones от Aimee Bender - Жена прави кукла от брадавици/папиломи, която оживява. 3/5
-Dancing от Tananarive Due - След смъртта на бабата си дългогодишна настойничка изпада в неконтролируем танц. 4/5
-Scarlet Ribbons от Megan Abbot - Прокълната къща, която "преследва" посетителите си. 5/5
-Malena от Joanna Margaret - Артистка-скулптор създава фигури на жени с липсващи части и открива, че „подаръкът“ ѝ се проявява и в собственото ѝ тяло. 3.5/5
-Dancing with mirrors от Lisa Lim - история с илюстрации описващи семейна трамва по оригинален начин. 4/5
- Metempsychosis, or The Journey of the Soul от Margaret Atwood - духът на охлюв започва да обитава тялото на банкова служителка. 2/5
-Concealed Carry от Lisa Tuttle - Лондончанка се мести да живее в САЩ където законите за огнестрелни оръжия пораждат противоречиви емоции. 3/5
-Gross Anatomy от Aimee LaBrie - разказ за насилието над жените, с доза некорфилия. 4,5/5
-Breathing Exercise от Raven Leilani - жена започва да изпитва проблеми с дишането, след като непознат започва да й пише. 3/5
-Muzzle от Cassandra Khaw - история за трансформацията на жена във върколак. 2/5
-Her Heart May Fail Her от Yumi Dineen Shiroma - различен поглед към персонажите на Люси и Мина от "Дракула" 2/5
-The Chair of Tranquility от Joyce Carol Oates - разказ показващ методите на "лечение" на "женска истерия". 4/5
-The Seventh Bride от Elizabeth Hand - разказ за актриса, която играе ролята на една от булките в "Синята брада". 4,5/5
-Nemesis от Valerie Martin - история за чаровен манипулатор и майка, която се опитва да преборъ въздействието му. 4,5/5
-Sydney от Sheila Kohler - жена открива робот в къщата на мъжа си. Разказът прилича на епизод от Black Mirror. 5/5
July 24, 2024
A very disappointing collection that barely qualifies as body horror most of the time. The stories were quite weak and often an excuse for strange imagery without an actual plot. Some of them also felt over explained and over written to compensate once again for a lack of anything interesting happening. A lot of the stories qualify more as silly than unsettling. It’s a shame that one of the few good stories in this collection I couldn’t even finish because it was extremely triggering to me. But at least it means it was probably well written. Overall do not recommend.
January 30, 2025
Was it the best? No! Was it bad? No! I guess I’m just disappointed because it’s not really body horror and a lot of the stories felt rushed and unfinished… I would finish a story and be like “oh that’s it?” The last story was my favourite tho!
But I do think this is a great starting point for body horror because it does have that bizarre aspect to it
But I do think this is a great starting point for body horror because it does have that bizarre aspect to it
October 12, 2025
I think this was okay, I was expecting a little bit more horror and maybe more unique commentary. I understand the inherent body horror of pregnancy especially in a society where reproductive rights are dwindling and where female sexuality is still relatively taboo but like. It just got a little old? Don't get me wrong it's important to keep talking about but I just think there's so much more that could be expressed in an anthology like this.
Stories I liked:
Dancing by Tananarive Due, in which a woman starts uncontrollably dancing following the death of her grandmother. She was haunted by the ghost of her grandmother, who wasn't allowed to take ballet due to her skin colour. An interesting take with commentary on race and some generational trauma, and I think the way this take was expressed was very well done. I especially enjoyed the ending, where she's collapsed on the ground, broken in a blazing room, tapping her finger to the rhythm of the flames.
Dancing with Mirrors by Lisa Lim, in which the narrator's mother is overtaken by vanity. I feel like a lot of women and girls can relate to the body image issues that come particularly from their mother's influence. This story and its illustrations were incredibly wacky and brought the point home of the absurdity of destroying your body for a beauty standard you will never reach.
Concealed Carry by Lisa Tuttle, a commentary mixing the issue of reproductive rights with the issue of gun control in the United States. While I didn't really enjoy this one, I thought the body horror was an interesting way of intertwining these two issues.
Gross Anatomy by Aimee LaBrie, not the one I enjoyed the most but definitely the one that had the level of body horror/disgust I was expecting from this book. I don't know what scared me more, the visceral descriptions of the illness the main character undergoes, or being stuck in his narration, the mind of a rapist and necrophiliac. I personally think this story was the most effective in the book.
Muzzle by Cassandra Khaw, a story about lycanthropy. I really enjoyed the descriptions in this one, it was also visceral and intense. I also felt the fear of the impending attack, and so it was very effective in that sense.
Nemesis by Valerie Martin, a Dorian Gray-esque story about vanity. This story was incredibly vivid.
Stories I liked:
Dancing by Tananarive Due, in which a woman starts uncontrollably dancing following the death of her grandmother. She was haunted by the ghost of her grandmother, who wasn't allowed to take ballet due to her skin colour. An interesting take with commentary on race and some generational trauma, and I think the way this take was expressed was very well done. I especially enjoyed the ending, where she's collapsed on the ground, broken in a blazing room, tapping her finger to the rhythm of the flames.
Dancing with Mirrors by Lisa Lim, in which the narrator's mother is overtaken by vanity. I feel like a lot of women and girls can relate to the body image issues that come particularly from their mother's influence. This story and its illustrations were incredibly wacky and brought the point home of the absurdity of destroying your body for a beauty standard you will never reach.
Concealed Carry by Lisa Tuttle, a commentary mixing the issue of reproductive rights with the issue of gun control in the United States. While I didn't really enjoy this one, I thought the body horror was an interesting way of intertwining these two issues.
Gross Anatomy by Aimee LaBrie, not the one I enjoyed the most but definitely the one that had the level of body horror/disgust I was expecting from this book. I don't know what scared me more, the visceral descriptions of the illness the main character undergoes, or being stuck in his narration, the mind of a rapist and necrophiliac. I personally think this story was the most effective in the book.
Muzzle by Cassandra Khaw, a story about lycanthropy. I really enjoyed the descriptions in this one, it was also visceral and intense. I also felt the fear of the impending attack, and so it was very effective in that sense.
Nemesis by Valerie Martin, a Dorian Gray-esque story about vanity. This story was incredibly vivid.
Read
November 4, 2024ik wil ook wel een slak zijn
June 15, 2025
Like all anthologies, some stories are stronger than others.
February 18, 2024
Very good selection! My favourite was Metampsychosis or Malena
The things some people come up with!!! Crazy!!!
The things some people come up with!!! Crazy!!!
April 5, 2024
These are "body horror" stories in the loosest sense of the concept. Much of what's going on here is descriptions of decaying bodies or rotting, pustulent wounds—which is gross, sure, but doesn't really play upon the abject or inspire significant discomfort in the way that body horror should. A few gems in parts I and III but a lackluster collection overall.
November 27, 2024
In a way terrifying, mostly disgusting, which I'm still very here for.
Ranking of fav stories :
Muzzle
Her heart may fail her
Frank Jones
Malena
Dancing
The chair of tranquility (scariest shit evrr)
Sydney
Nemesis
Special mention for Gross Anatomy bc I will forever be traumatized wtf I don't understand If I liked it or not bc it was so icky I wanted to crawl out of my skin bye
Ranking of fav stories :
Muzzle
Her heart may fail her
Frank Jones
Malena
Dancing
The chair of tranquility (scariest shit evrr)
Sydney
Nemesis
Special mention for Gross Anatomy bc I will forever be traumatized wtf I don't understand If I liked it or not bc it was so icky I wanted to crawl out of my skin bye
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 12, 2023
Overall a good, diverse selection. There will be a story for every horror fan. Some of these stories were disturbing, some were downright gross, and others were just weird. My favourite, unsurprisingly, was by Margaret Atwood about a snail unhappily reincarnated in the body of a human woman. Body horror is often not my cup of tea but I enjoyed this collection, even as some of the stories were too much for my tastes, many left me thinking about them long after I finished.
March 10, 2025
"Everything felt wrong. The world. The air. Her body. Everything." - Tananarive Due
Joyce Carol Oates collects a wide variety of authors such as Margaret Atwood, Tananarive Due, Joyce Carol Oates, Megan Abbott, Aimee Bender, Cassandra Khaw, Lisa Lim, Elizabeth Hand, Valerie Martin, Raven Leilani, Sheila Kohler, Joanna Margaret, Lisa Tuttle, Aimee LaBrie, and Yumi Dineen Shiroma.
This collection focuses on the subgenres of body horror. The stories are divided into three parts. The first is called "You've created a Monster", "Morbid Anatomy" and "Out of Body, Out of Time."
There were several stories that I can remember vividly and will no doubt stick with me for a wee bit. As with many collections there were also a few I don't recall.
Overall though this was a great way to discover new authors and a dark collection that I really enjoyed.
Joyce Carol Oates collects a wide variety of authors such as Margaret Atwood, Tananarive Due, Joyce Carol Oates, Megan Abbott, Aimee Bender, Cassandra Khaw, Lisa Lim, Elizabeth Hand, Valerie Martin, Raven Leilani, Sheila Kohler, Joanna Margaret, Lisa Tuttle, Aimee LaBrie, and Yumi Dineen Shiroma.
This collection focuses on the subgenres of body horror. The stories are divided into three parts. The first is called "You've created a Monster", "Morbid Anatomy" and "Out of Body, Out of Time."
There were several stories that I can remember vividly and will no doubt stick with me for a wee bit. As with many collections there were also a few I don't recall.
Overall though this was a great way to discover new authors and a dark collection that I really enjoyed.
February 20, 2024
What a fun anthology! I expected a lot of gore, but these writers certainly have explored 'body horror' in a variety of ways. My favourites were 'Scarlet Ribbons' by Megan Abbott, 'Gross Anatomy' by Aimee LaBrie, and 'The SEventh Bride, or Female Curiosity' by Elizabeth Hand, but really, there's not a bad story in here.
September 26, 2024
2,5 stars.
There are some interesting and disturbing stories in here, but all in all I found it really uneven. I lost interest towards the end and skipped one of the stories.
My favorite stories were:
Frank Jones
Scarlet ribbons
Malena
Metempsychosis, or the journey of the soul
There are some interesting and disturbing stories in here, but all in all I found it really uneven. I lost interest towards the end and skipped one of the stories.
My favorite stories were:
Frank Jones
Scarlet ribbons
Malena
Metempsychosis, or the journey of the soul
February 2, 2025
Beginning to think that short fiction is not for me... A handful of the short stories were good but most were unfortunately not. Also very few of them, in my opinion, could actually be considered body horror.
December 21, 2023
It was fun to pick up every now and then and read a story or two. Most of them were pretty good, only a few I could’ve done without.
January 21, 2024
probably more of a 3.5 ⭐️ some stories were morbid and freaky but idk, maybe i’m not easily grossed out 😭
May 15, 2024
Margaret Atwood’s fable “Metempsychosis” features.
October 6, 2024
This is a fantastic collection for horror lovers. Some of these stories are definitely not for the faint of heart.
October 27, 2024
Un libro que merece -y mucho- la pena por los relatos de Aimee Bender, Tananarive Due, Lisa Lim o Lisa Tuttle. El resto también son interesantes, pero quizá no tan redondos. Para mí, sin duda, los mejores son los dos primeros, el de Bender y el de Due, de manera que luego se me hizo complicado mantener el ritmo. Yo diría que es un 3,5, pero como esta red no deja poner medios puntos, lo dejo en 4 porque la editorial en castellano (Horror Vacuii) son un amor.
January 21, 2025
favorites short stories :
- scarlett ribbons by megan abbott
- malena by joanna margaret
- the chair of tranquility by joyce carol oates
- nemesis by valerie martin
- scarlett ribbons by megan abbott
- malena by joanna margaret
- the chair of tranquility by joyce carol oates
- nemesis by valerie martin
June 30, 2025
3.5 stars. Solid collection. My favorites were the stories by Margaret Atwood, Lisa Tuttle, and Aimee Bender.
October 15, 2025
it can be hard to rate a short story collection by diverse authors…. as usual, some were very compelling and others left me wanting. body horror? not exactly. a fun quick read ? sure.
January 30, 2024
I'm getting into anthropology stories at the minute, so when I saw this was based on a selection of body horror related stories by female writers. I had to give it a go. Overall it was a strong selection, although I could have easily lived without Margret Atwood's story.
April 6, 2024
Shoutout to the snail in a woman’s body and the regency pox story, the rest of y’all… I’m not angry I’m just disappointed
November 25, 2024
3.5⭐️
My favorites would be Scarlet Ribbons by Megan Abbott, Malena by Joanna Margaret, The Chair of Tranquility by Joyce Carol Oates and Nemesis by Valerie Martin
My favorites would be Scarlet Ribbons by Megan Abbott, Malena by Joanna Margaret, The Chair of Tranquility by Joyce Carol Oates and Nemesis by Valerie Martin
Displaying 1 - 30 of 159 reviews