Night & Day

by John Connolly

Following the highly acclaimed Nocturnes and Night Music, Night & Day is filled with eerie surprises and dark delights.

Night & Day takes us from the dusty shelves of an uncanny library filled with fictional characters to a bunker deep beneath the earth where scientists seek revenge on old Nazis, from an English marsh haunted by a mother and her son to a country house where a grieving widower finds comfort from a most unlikely source.

Concluding with the author's account of how an obscure horror film brought him closer to his lost father, and how nostalgia can help to keep us sane, this is a collection that will move, entertain, and keep you reading late into the night.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal, Thriller, Audiobook

370 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 31, 2024

About the author

John Connolly was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1968 and has, at various points in his life, worked as a journalist, a barman, a local government official, a waiter and a dogsbody at Harrods department store in London. He studied English in Trinity College, Dublin and journalism at Dublin City University, subsequently spending five years working as a freelance journalist for The Irish Times newspaper, to which he continues to contribute.

He is based in Dublin but divides his time between his native city and the United States.

This page is administered by John's assistant, Clair, on John's behalf. If you'd like to communicate with John directly, you can do so by writing to contact-at-johnconnollybooks.com, or by following him on Twitter at @JConnollyBooks.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See other authors with similar names.

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, so first things first: When the blurb says that this collection of stories “conclud[es] with the author's account of how an obscure horror film brought him closer to his lost father,” we're literally talking about the entire second half of the book. The first half is short stories, the second half is a meandering nonfiction piece about a horror film that probably 98% of the people who will read this book have never seen. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I suppose, unless what you're hoping for is an entire book of Connolly's short stories (which are always fantastic).

And the short stories in Night and Day are indeed fantastic. They're sometimes spooky and sometimes funny, and they're always entertaining. There are two stories that revolve around the Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository, which is a very special sort of library. There are also monsters and bears and ghosts, and as someone who often doesn't really “get” short stories, I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed all of them (except I guess I'm also not really surprised, because I am a John Connolly fangirl).

The monograph about the obscure horror film Horror Express, however? Meh. It's fine, although I only made it about halfway through Part 2 before I started skimming a little … or, okay, maybe a lot. There's talk about Connolly's father and trains and airplanes and the people responsible for creating the film, and it's all decently interesting. It's obvious that Horror Express means a lot to the author. However, I have to confess that I would have much rather had another nine short stories instead. Sorry, John. If it's any consolation, The Book of Lost Things is still one of my top three favorite novels of all time.

So, yeah. If I were asked to write a TL;DR for this review, it'd probably go something like “great stories, too much nonfiction.” The stories are really well-written, however, and if you've enjoyed Connolly's previous story collections, you'll likely enjoy this one too. Just don't expect an entire book of short fiction, because that's definitely not what you're getting here.

My overall rating: Four stars - five shiny stars for the first half and three for the lengthy (and somewhat less entertaining) conclusion.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. Its expected publication date is October 22, 2024.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC for review. To be published October 22, 2024.

This is an odd one. We’ve got nine short stories and then the author’s honor’s thesis which takes up a full half of the book.

First the stories. As always with a batch of stories this was a mixed bag, but there were a couple I thought were strong, including one that relates a surprising encounter with a bear called, “The Bear,” and another that recounts a new way to deal with war criminals in “Abelman’s Line.”

Now for the weirdness, the author’s four part dissertation on a B-horror movie he saw as a lad, “Horror Express” (1972). This is a deep, deep, DEEP dive into the movie’s themes, the full careers of the stars and the studios involved and the whys, whens and hows of its importance to him. And then, after the first two sections, he wants you to watch the movie before reading the last two sections.

Fellow readers, I did it. I am that girl. I plowed my way through those first two sections, at times propping my eyelids open at noon, and then my sucker self paid ACTUAL U.S. DOLLARS ($1.99) to download the movie on YouTube and I watched before I read the last two section. I will give you a moment for you to applaud/laugh at me in your head. Thank you.

The movie? Well, to quote critic Tom Milne, “as bad horror films go….it isn’t all that bad.” I have certainly seen worse. Now, don’t get Tom and me wrong, it was bad, but it could have been much worse. It stars Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Telly Savalas who is chewing scenery and almost visibly spitting it out. I won’t spoil it more than that.

I honestly don’t know what to say about the book. If you are curious, read it. If you don’t stop for the film it won’t take more than a few hours.

[Char]

I absolutely adored the fictional stories here, especially the ones related to the Caxton Library. However, this book ends with a long-ish non fiction piece that was just not working for me at the time, and it's not working now. I may come back to it at another time, but for the time being I've DNFed. No rating, no review.

[Obsidian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This took me several months to complete and I really wish I had DNFed it. I didn't because I love John Connolly so much, but honestly this anthology was not great. And when I realized 50 percent of the book is in essence a biography of Christopher Lee and his involvement with a film called "Horror Fest" I should have been fully done.

I adore the Charlie Parker series since Connolly has done a great job of blending mystery/horror/magical realism, etc. I was hoping for more of the same here. But honestly most of the short stories were not that great, and when we get to the behemoth of the last 50 percent I was over it.

"The Pilgrim's Progress: A Tale of the Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository" (4 stars)-Fans know about the Caxton Private Lending Library, here Connolly gives you a story about its origins. It was honestly a little bit long and I found myself drifting a bit while reading.

"And All the Graves of All the Ghosts" (5 stars)-Honestly I thought this was a great short story with a surprise ending. And sadly poignant. Typical Connolly (in a good way).

"The Evenings With Evans" (5 stars)-A story about grief. It had a great ending in my mind.

"Abelman's Line" (2 stars)-I was really bored while reading this and confused. I mean I got what it was about, but I was confused. I never really like stories about time travel or paradoxes.

"The Mire at Fox Tor" (2 stars)-This was honestly just boring to me.

"The Bear (1 star)-It just read unfinished to me. I love magical realism, but I was like, is this all we are getting? It did have illustrations though which was nice.

"The Flaw" (2.5 stars)-It takes forever to get going and the ending was a bit of a letdown.

"Unquiet Slumbers: A Tale of the Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository" (2 stars)-I usually love stories involving this library. Again this read as unfinished to me. And I think we are supposed to just know what character dropped in.

"Our Friend Carlton" (3 stars)-This one was interesting and at times funny and sad.

"Horror Express: Extended Edition" (1 star)-This deals with the making of this film, but mostly the actors involved. Connolly goes into how he published a novel at one time about the fictionalized life of Stan Laurel (I had no idea). It just gives context into why he got interested in filmmaking. But this goes on and on. There are three parts to this thing. It did not need it. Also when this story starts it's at 50 percent (my Kindle showed me that). When it's finally blessed done we are now at 96 percent. Also this is essence is an autobiography of Connolly, he talks about everything and how he started to get interested in this, he goes pages on a shot for shot description of the film. I was ready to tear my hair out. Was it interesting to read about Christopher Lee (who knew Tolkien) and others? Yes. Did I want to devote so much time to this, absolutely not.

[Donna Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Surely, once a book is out in the world, and being read, the world is altered, for better or worse.”

John Connolly is one of my favorite authors, and because of this, I automatically snap up any book that appears with his name on it. But this one is unlike the others I’ve read, and that might be good news for some, but not for others. One way or the other, my thanks go to NetGalley and Atria Books for the review copy. This book is for sale now.

Night and Day is an odd one. The first half is dedicated to nine outstanding short stories, all in the horror genre; the second half is a nonfiction discussion of a film titled Horror Express. This is such a strange thing that I don’t believe it at first, and I read the first half of the film critique expecting the characters to come bursting onto a busy freeway, or commence kidnapping and eating employees at the film studio. Once I discover that this is truly the world’s longest film review, and of a film I haven’t seen, I am annoyed. The author says that one needn’t necessarily have seen the film to find interest in his article, but I must respectfully disagree. On the other hand, I am not much of a film buff.

Now let’s talk about the first half, where I have much nicer things to say. When Connolly writes fiction, he is incomparable. All of these short stories are of stellar quality, and hugely memorable. The last, titled “Our Friend Carlton,” is my favorite; it’s about a friend that really, really overstays his welcome. The first story, “The Pilgrim’s Progress: A Tale of the Caxton Private Lending Library and Book Depository,” is about a most unusual library. Here’s an excerpt that describes it:

“On a basic level, the operation of the Caxton was easily explained. When a novel achieved a singular status with the reading public (generally after the death of its author), a first edition of the book in question, wrapped in brown paper and tied with string, would appear on the Caxton’s doorstep, soon to be followed by the fictional character or characters responsible for its popularity.”

As you might have guessed, characters from The Canterbury Tales are squabbling in the back yard, and that’s just the beginning. It’s hilarious, despite the fact that I barely remember the Chaucer I studied in high school. Trust me, you don’t need a lot of backstory to enjoy it.

The above two stories are my favorites, but all of them are excellent.

Now comes the question of how to rate the book as a whole. Obviously, if you love brilliant horror short stories and have seen the movie discussed in the book’s second half, this is a five star book. My own sense is that the short stories are so wonderful that even if you stop reading after the first half, the book is worth having. But that’s easy for me to say; I read it free. Had I paid full cover price plus tax, and done so believing I was getting an entire book of the usual Connolly fare, I might be churlish enough to crank it down to three stars. Some readers will obtain the book for free via other means, such as libraries, subscription services and the like. And so, I will split the difference and rate it four stars; as for you, now you know what you’re getting, and you can decide accordingly.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories written by another of my favourite authors. I decided not to rate or give descriptions of each story as some were only ten minutes in length while others longer, so I’m going with an overall feeling of those.

I found most of the short tales to be a bit predictable even though I did enjoy them. They sometimes felt like the sort of stories you’d tell when you were a kid to get a scare out of your friends. Some of the longer ones were actually quite good but had familiar tones of tales told before. The best stories in the book were The Caxton Private Lending Library and The Pilgrims Progress; they were different than all the others and I really wish there were more of them. The worst one was the longest and at the end of the book which I couldn’t engage with at all and didn’t to finish reading as frankly I was bored.

I think I expected something more, something less predictable or different which is why I was a bit underwhelmed by the book. 2.5 I’m sad to say rounded up because of the library and some of the shorter stories..

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Night & Day – My thoughts story by story.

The Pilgrims’ Progress: A Tale of the Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository – What a disappointment. One of the most boring stories I think I have ever read.

And All the Graves of All the Ghosts – Seems to be building to be a decent ghost story but it ends with no real resolution, which doesn’t satisfy at all.

The Evenings with Evans – A sweet little ghost story which I really enjoyed.

Abelman’s Line – WTF was that? Too long and a real sleeper.

The Mire at Fox Tor – Creepy little story

The Bear – A very odd story. It didn’t take much of a stretch to figure out who the bear was. Weird one.

The Flaw – Sounds exactly like something I’ve read before

Unquiet Slumbers – I didn’t get it. No idea who Cathy is.

Our Friend Carlton – Sigh……

Horror Express: Extended Edition – This monograph or essay or whatever it is takes up about half the book and although I know it means a lot to John, I had no more interest than scan my way through most of it.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Connolly’s latest story collection is literally a mixed bag. Half the book is made up of nine short stories while the second half of the book contains his Phd thesis written on a film, The Horror Express, that was important to him as a young boy and, perhaps, in his development as writer. Among the stories are two more involving the Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository which I enjoy. There is also Abelman’s Line, a sci fi tale that reminded me of Stanislaw Lem’s writing. I enjoyed all of the stories, most featuring gothic or ghostly subjects.

Then on reaching the halfway point, the nature of the writing changes to what Connolly calls his monograph titled The Horror Express. Some of Connolly’s readers will find this an interesting read but others, expecting more of his stories, are apt to be disappointed. Some may well be enthralled. I found myself somewhere in the middle. This section deals with the horror movie which Connolly saw when he was young, with the genre of horror filmmaking especially in Europe in the mid to late 20th century, and some of his favorite actors and personalities involved. There does seem to be a strong relationship between his obvious interest in this movie genre and his chosen subjects for his novels. Personally, I do read and enjoy his Charlie Parker novels but I’m not as fascinated by the details of filmmaking. I did watch my share of creature double features when I was young, so I did appreciate learning how one of these films was actually made.

Rating 3.5* rounded to 3.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for access to an eARC on this book.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read this author's crime novels because it's not my kind of thing. My brother loaned me this book of short stories as there are two about the Caxton Lending Library which I love. I had intended just reading those two but when I got started I couldn't stop. There was only one that I skipped, it didn't grab me at all but I thoroughly enjoyed the rest. The last part of the book is the author talking about a film he saw when he was very young called The Horror Express. He talks about how it came into being and it's littered with references to his own childhood and growing up in Dublin which I found very interesting. He certainly has a way with words and is also very witty!
A very enjoyable read and if you're a John Connolly fan definitely a must read!!

[Indieflower · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I saw this book on the shelf at my local library, I thought "short stories by John Connolly? Yes please!"
And indeed, there are some good stories here, however a good chunk of the book is taken up with a non fiction piece. This takes up the last half of the book and concerns an in depth analysis of an obscure horror film the author watched as a kid with his father. 50% is a lot when you're expecting an anthology of short stories. Unfortunately, said piece was boring and I had zero interest in it so I skipped it, no regrets, it seems plenty of other readers have done the same. The standout stories for me were Our Friend Carlton, The Fox at Mire Tor and The Evenings with Evans.
Only 3 stars for this one, would've been 4 but dropping a star due to the long, random and unexpected thesis 🫤.

[Books_the_Magical_Fruit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the short stories in here, and once again, John Connolly has proven to be a very entertaining author. However, I was not super keen on the essay that took up a lot of the latter part of the book. Probably it’s because I never saw the movie he was talking about, but I wanted to give a heads up to others that might not find it to be their thing, either.

My favorite story was the one about the entity in the dining room of a recently-purchased house. So spooky and interesting!

My thanks to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the eARC. I am writing this review voluntarily.

[Jessica]

I've met John Connolly, but this was the first of his books that I've read, and now I'm eager for more! I don't LIKE ghost stories, and yet I actually teared up over one these! Also, that other one, so creepy! And the monogram at the end almost convinced me to watch Horror Express. Almost. Maybe. Not today, though.

*I am not rating books read for the World Fantasy Award.*

[Jaksen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book. Great writer, often with creepy twists and turns in both his novels and short stories. Especially like the two stories featuring the Caxton Lending Library and Book Despository, a place where great novels - and the characters in them - go to dwell.

(Seriously, he needs to write an entire series about the Caxton! Or a novel. I love these!)

The stories:

And All the Graves and All the Ghosts: About a family moving into a new (old) house who learns to live with a 'presence,' or do they?

The Evenings with Evans: About a 'manservant' who just can't leave, but serves a tidy glass of wine.

The Mire at Fox Tor: Simple, elegant, creepiest of the lot. A quick, fast shot of horror-mit-treacle! (And yeah, I know what treacle is. Read it again.)

The Bear: Cute and comical but I liked it. A bear comes to vist - what next??

The Flaw: Second best! Classic creepiesness and you almost KNOW what will happen, but you have to keep reading to find out. A man looks out at an old henge - a series of stones arranged in a circle on his property - then receives a painting of the same thing. What. Will. Happen. (Read late at night with wine and a fire in the hearth.)

Our Friend Carlton: Kind of gangsta-guys get haunted. Weird but good.

The two Caxton stories: Lovely. Elegant. Quaint. Imaginative. A library for the characters - good and bad, ugly and not-so-ugly - to live in. Like I already said/wrote: wish Mr. Connolly would write an entire book about this!

So why four stars? Because I got bogged down in the very long article at the end which goes into a movie, 'The Horror Express,' that influenced/affected the writer. This goes on for a while, delves into why a writer writes what he writes about and similar. It sort of drags on...

I didn't finish that one, but the stories! Wunderbar!

Four stars.

[Moonkiszt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first part of this book has nine interesting tales of horror. . .for me the best part of the book. The last part was an analysis of a movie I've never seen and certainly won't now. He clearly enjoyed it.

So why did I read the book? It was October and I loved the cover. I thought we were going somewhere I wanted to go - it wasn't quite. That first part gave good reads. The last. . .well. I wasn't of the group to who he was writing. And that's ok.

*A sincere thank you John Connolly, Atria Books, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.* #NightandDay #NetGalley 25|52:4d

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

I liked 2 of the stories, loved the rest, hence the slight score reduction.
The stories I just liked was the one with the bear and the sci-fi one.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Connolly; he's a masterful storyteller, isn't he? I enjoy his writing so much I'd probably give his shopping list five stars. But I'm not here to review his shopping list. Instead, allow me to tell you what I thought of Night and Day.

As you've probably guessed, I enjoyed this book immensely. Nine brand new short stories, and an essay on the old Hammer classic, Horror Express; what's not to like?
The short stories were superb, providing chills, a sense of unease, and a little humour. I loved The Bear, and The Mire at Fox Tor. The two stories set in the Caxton Lending Library and Book Depository were my favourites however.

I didn't expect to be entertained by the essay on Horror Express, but I was. I do love a Hammer Horror, but I must confess, I haven't seen Horror Express. I do plan to watch it sometime soon, and then I will read the essay again, and perhaps appreciate it a little more.

So there you have it folks. While Horror Express: Extended Edition might not appeal to everyone, if tales of ghosts and the supernatural are your bag, you can't go wrong with Night and Day.

[Samuel Durey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nocturnes is one of my favourite books and Night Music was great, if not as good as the first, so when I saw the Night & Day was coming out I was more than excited to read a new collection of spooky short stories from John Connolly. However, when I read that half the book was an essay of an old horror movie that many people found too long and boring, I was disappointed. Still, there were nine new stories and that was better than nothing. I was surprised to find that while I did love some of the stories, I found myself uninterested in most of them. (I believe this is due more to the poor choice of voice actors. I don’t know about you, but I can't stand listening to someone read in an American accent that they struggle with. Their repeated slips back into their own accent in every other sentence ruined it for me.) At the halfway point I was disheartened and was not looking forward to the second part. What I did not expect was to love the essay more than the short stories. The Hollywood history, the actors' backstories, the production’s problems, I found it all so fascinating. But the thing that made it so great for me was the personal connection. The childhood memories, family relationships and exploration of nostalgia. Like all Connolly’s collections, I look forward to revisiting it later where I am sure I will enjoy it even more.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent group of short stories take up the first half of the book, but unfortunately the second half is a nonfiction story that just could not hold my interest.

[Arkrayder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this ARC from Atria/Emily Bestler Books and NetGalley in return for a fair and honest review.

Night and Day is a collection of nine short stories that blend crime and supernatural elements, and a monogram of the film Horror Express starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Telly Savalas. The stories themselves are entertaining and thought provoking with Abelman’s Line and Our Friend Carlton, for me, being stand outs. The concluding half of the book is the authors monogram on Horror Express which for me was entertaining and interesting. If Connolly decided to write a biography on Lee or Cushing I would definitely buy it. I highly recommend this book and look forward to the author’s future books.

[Shauna · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of my favorite books is by Connolly and everything of his I've read, I've enjoyed. And for the most part, this book was the same. However, half of the book was an essay that was incredibly drawn out and, I hate to say, boring. So boring that I did stop reading at about 65% of the book.

Now the first half of the book is great. There's 9 shorter stories that are all a little odd but so good! There's 2 stories about a very interesting library. Some stories were a little spooky, some a little sad. One that was on the longer side, Abelman's Line, got a little wordy with a lot of history and science but was still pretty satisfying. I feel like it could've been it's own book with as much backstory and history that it could have. But my favorite of the stories was the last one, Our Friend Carlton. I don't want to spoil it but it was even a bit funny. I honestly want to talk about each of the stories but it would be so hard to and not spoil them. Most of them had an O Henry feel to them, or Bentley Little, not exactly a big twist but more of an ah-ha moment.

I wish I could give this book a higher rating, I would have loved a second half filled with more short stories instead of an essay that was more personal experience about a very obscure movie.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Anschen Conradie]

#Night&Day – John Connolly
#HodderStoughton
#JonathanBall

Horror and nostalgia appear to be on opposite sides of a neutral spectrum, but gothic horror, as a subgenre, does indeed rely on a yearning for the past - for simpler times, if you will - as enticing lure. Connolly is well-known for his Charlie Parker-series, where the protagonist faces challenges involving elements of the supernatural, but in this collection of short stories and essays, the approach is different, although it is and should still be classified as horror.

Nostalgia is examined in both the subtext and the central themes. Such an investigation should, of course, start out with an attempt to define the concept, namely that nostalgia is “…craving a place that no longer exist(ed), or not as it once had.” (198) The collection comprises two short stories that are interlinked, since both tell the tale of an extraordinary private library where a first edition, wrapped in brown paper, finds its way to the doorstep thereof as soon as the novel in question achieves singular status – usually upon the death of the author. But the mystery is compounded by the fictional characters responsible for the novel’s popularity, then also arriving at the library – as creatures of flesh and blood.

Seven other short stories all engage the supernatural, but engage nostalgia throughout, quite often clothed as grief, described as follows: “What is grief, after all but a kind of nostalgia, an intense longing, both temporal and spatial, a desire not only to return, but to have someone returned…” (350)

The largest portion of the collection (171 of 350 pages) is devoted to the extended version of a monograph penned by the author with reference to a 1972 horror film, “Horror Express”, starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, and Telly Savalas. The motivation for choosing this specific film being nostalgia. The author first saw the film as a child: “I can see them now, can almost smell my father’s cigarettes and my mother’s perfume, can hear their voices as they enter the house.” (209) He admits that “…it’s as much memoir as film criticism” (183) but it does provide valuable insight into the horror genre, nevertheless, detailing the interconnectivity between science-fiction and horror, in this film, specifically, but also as to the origin thereof, dating back as far as 1931.

As the creator of horror novels, the author reveals the difference in his approach when writing short stories, as : “A supernatural short story… is under no obligation to elaborate or elucidate… “ (249) and “…centres on incidents of brief, traumatic exposure of the otherworldly” (250) whilst a novel “…generally requires a beginning, a middle and an end…” (353)

The collection is recommended for lovers of the horror genre who still fondly remembers Christoper Lee as Dracula (1958), and Carpenter’s “The thing” (1982) and who understands that nostalgia follows this genre as much as night follows day.

#Uitdieperdsebek

[Sohnia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the short stories and just a bit of The Horror Express extended half. Saved that for when I finally get around to reading the absolute tome that is Shadow Voices.
I love mr. Connolly's style as it is so it was interesting to read the tone of some of these. His writing style is a mix of folklore-y, grim, dry humour, factual reporting and very, very descriptive. Some of these stories read like he leaned into one style completely.

Abelmans Line was phenomenal and I have my fingers crossed he will turn it into a complete novel one day.

The Bear was an unexpected story of grief, it hit like a fist to the chest.

An interesting collection! Took me longer to read then I usually do with any of his books. Due to the tone shift and not because i didnt enjoy reading.

[Paul Kerr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yup. Start of the reading year and a five star review has landed already. Too much celebrating leading to a dehabilitating sense of what is a good book? Nope. It was heading to a solid 4 stars with some creepy short stories (memo to self - don’t go walking alone in a moor - never a good ending) but unexpectedly the last segment pushes us up to a 5 star. The latter is a nostalgic look at the author’s love of horror and gothic through reminiscing about an obscure 70s horror film. It is immediately relatable, and his observations on Lee, Cushing and - wait for it- Telly Savalas - are hilarious. An unexpected delight

[Mary Fagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5.I enjoyed all the short stories apart from ‘Abelman’s Line’ a science fiction story about seeking revenge on old Nazis via the concept of time splitting.
The monograph on the film’Horror Express’ was interesting and informative.I liked the way the author explored nostalgia and his relationship with his father through the medium of the film.

[Conor Tannam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories were good fun. The stuff about memory and horror movies was decent. A long treatise on an obscure horror film felt indulgent and I didn't feel like watching it so I could then appreciate the writer's insights. Felt like that segement was used as padding. Would have prefered a shorter publication sans some nonsense.I like the author and will happily return to his work!

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Technically didn't finish as the last story (almost half the book) is a non-fiction deep dive into an obscure horror movie which didn't really engage me. The other short stories were a mixed bag, I particularly enjoyed 'And all the graves of all the ghosts'.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ebook ARC of this short story collection. All of the stories included here were exceptional, and I now want to read all of the other fiction works that Connolly has written.

I did not, however, read the monograph thrown into the end of the book. It was about a horror film, which frankly, I couldn’t care less about.

[Jevante · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good short stories but ass at the end

[Raphael Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

If on finishing this book you are intrigued and want to watch the 1972 motion picture Horror Express - don’t. It’s not worth it

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dunno that I wanted to watch Horror Express. I did though. You did that John Connolly.