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The End of the Sentence
It begins with a letter from a prisoner...
As he attempts to rebuild his life in rural Oregon after a tragic accident, Malcolm Mays finds himself corresponding with Dusha Chuchonnyhoof, a mysterious entity who claims to be the owner of Malcolm's house, jailed unjustly for 117 years. The prisoner demands that Malcolm perform a gory, bewildering task for him. As the clock ticks toward Dusha's release, Malcolm must attempt to find out whether he's assisting a murderer or an innocent. The End of the Sentence combines Kalapuya, Welsh, Scottish and Norse mythology, with a dark imagined history of the hidden corners of the American West.
Maria Dahvana Headley and Kat Howard have forged a fairytale of ghosts and guilt, literary horror blended with the visuals of Jean Cocteau, failed executions, shapeshifting goblins, and magical blacksmithery. In Chuchonnyhoof, they've created a new kind of Beast, longing, centuries later, for Beauty.
As he attempts to rebuild his life in rural Oregon after a tragic accident, Malcolm Mays finds himself corresponding with Dusha Chuchonnyhoof, a mysterious entity who claims to be the owner of Malcolm's house, jailed unjustly for 117 years. The prisoner demands that Malcolm perform a gory, bewildering task for him. As the clock ticks toward Dusha's release, Malcolm must attempt to find out whether he's assisting a murderer or an innocent. The End of the Sentence combines Kalapuya, Welsh, Scottish and Norse mythology, with a dark imagined history of the hidden corners of the American West.
Maria Dahvana Headley and Kat Howard have forged a fairytale of ghosts and guilt, literary horror blended with the visuals of Jean Cocteau, failed executions, shapeshifting goblins, and magical blacksmithery. In Chuchonnyhoof, they've created a new kind of Beast, longing, centuries later, for Beauty.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2014
14 people are currently reading
1514 people want to read
About the author
Maria Dahvana Headley
76 books1,612 followersMaria Dahvana Headley is the New York Times-bestselling author of, most recently, THE MERE WIFE (out July 17, 2018 from MCD/FSG). Upcoming in 2019 is a new translation of BEOWULF, also from FSG. As well, she is the author of the young adult skyship novels MAGONIA and AERIE from HarperCollins, the dark fantasy/alt-history novel QUEEN OF KINGS, the internationally bestselling memoir THE YEAR OF YES, and THE END OF THE SENTENCE, a novella co-written with Kat Howard, from Subterranean. With Neil Gaiman, she is the New York Times-bestselling co-editor of the monster anthology UNNATURAL CREATURES, benefitting 826DC.
Her Nebula,Shirley Jackson and World Fantasy award-nominated short fiction has appeared on Tor.com, and in The Toast, Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, Nightmare, Apex, The Journal of Unlikely Entomology, Subterranean Online, Glitter & Mayhem and Jurassic London's The Lowest Heaven and The Book of the Dead, Uncanny, Shimmer, and more. It's anthologized in Best American Fantasy and Science Fiction, as well as the 2013 and 2014 editions of Rich Horton's The Year's Best Fantasy & Science Fiction, & Paula Guran's 2013 The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, in The Year's Best Weird Volume 1, ed. Laird Barron, and in Wastelands, Vol 2, among others. She's also a playwright and essayist.
She grew up in rural Idaho on a sled-dog ranch, spent part of her 20's as a pirate negotiator and ship marketer in the maritime industry, and now lives in Brooklyn in an apartment shared with a seven-foot-long stuffed crocodile.
Her Nebula,Shirley Jackson and World Fantasy award-nominated short fiction has appeared on Tor.com, and in The Toast, Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, Nightmare, Apex, The Journal of Unlikely Entomology, Subterranean Online, Glitter & Mayhem and Jurassic London's The Lowest Heaven and The Book of the Dead, Uncanny, Shimmer, and more. It's anthologized in Best American Fantasy and Science Fiction, as well as the 2013 and 2014 editions of Rich Horton's The Year's Best Fantasy & Science Fiction, & Paula Guran's 2013 The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, in The Year's Best Weird Volume 1, ed. Laird Barron, and in Wastelands, Vol 2, among others. She's also a playwright and essayist.
She grew up in rural Idaho on a sled-dog ranch, spent part of her 20's as a pirate negotiator and ship marketer in the maritime industry, and now lives in Brooklyn in an apartment shared with a seven-foot-long stuffed crocodile.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 91 reviews
September 26, 2023
First, I would like to explain I do not read horror novels. I am a wuss. So when I bought this novella--I'm an admirer of Kat Howard's short stories--and realized it was spooky, I decided to read it in the mornings so I wouldn't be too scared. But what I didn't take into consideration is that I get up at 5:00 am, and it's still dark! Therefore, even though this isn't particularly frightening, I still managed to freak myself out every morning reading it:) For example, one night at 2:00 in the morning I woke up and turned on the light, said something, turned off the light and went back to bed. This is weird behavior for me. When I woke the next dark morning and started reading, I convinced myself that I'd said "The end of the sentence approaches." So I was thoroughly scaring myself. (I'm normally a very calm person, though if I keep insisting this no one will believe me.) I woke my husband up and asked him what I'd said, and he told me I said "I'm sorry I turned the light on. I don't know what I'm doing," and went back to bed. And I suppose I believe him because that does sound like something I would say.
I realize this review has said nothing of the novella. It's a ghost story, a story of loss and recovery from grief, a perfect novella for October. The style reminded me a bit of Christopher Barzak. Very well written, and I love how inclusive of gender and identification differences it is, without the story being "about" that. It's cheap for the ebook, and perfect for a Halloween read.
I realize this review has said nothing of the novella. It's a ghost story, a story of loss and recovery from grief, a perfect novella for October. The style reminded me a bit of Christopher Barzak. Very well written, and I love how inclusive of gender and identification differences it is, without the story being "about" that. It's cheap for the ebook, and perfect for a Halloween read.
January 3, 2018
3.5 stars. Enjoyed this novella of a weird house and a dead/alive convict writing letters to the new owner of said weird house. Has a slightly spooky feel, with ghostly happenings in the house, and some mystery surrounding the events that put the man (?) in jail many years ago.
September 27, 2018
The End of the Sentence is a collaboration between Maria Dahvana Headley and Kat Howard. That alone is a serious indicator of the quality the reader can expect, but it's truly magical how well these two write together. Usually with a collab, you can pick out each voice here and there, but this time I genuinely wasn't able to do so - it was everything good about both of them.
Malcolm Mays is a man at the tail end of a whole lot of nothing good. He's lost his family, appears to have no friends, but the one thing he did have was $3000 to buy the house in the middle of nowhere. But now that he's here, and the house is taking care of him, it turns out this refuge from disaster just might come at a higher price than he thought he'd have to pay.
Malcolm Mays is a man at the tail end of a whole lot of nothing good. He's lost his family, appears to have no friends, but the one thing he did have was $3000 to buy the house in the middle of nowhere. But now that he's here, and the house is taking care of him, it turns out this refuge from disaster just might come at a higher price than he thought he'd have to pay.
April 17, 2015
After a personal tragedy, Malcolm Mays spends the last of his funds to purchase a rundown house in a remote Oregon town. Upon arrival, Malcolm receives letters from a Dusha Chuchonnyhoof who claims to own Malcolm's house. Dusha writes that he is a prisoner in a nearby jail serving two lifetimes and a day –117 years-- and the end of his sentence approaches, upon which he shall return to his house, Malcolm's new house. In preparation for his homecoming, Dusha requires Malcolm to perform a gruesome task. Malcolm first thinks this a prank of sorts, subsequently considers he may be losing his mind, then finally begins to fear that it may actually be real. There is mounting evidence to support Dusha's unusual claim-- the house provides Malcolm's needs seemingly by magic, information about the house's prior occupants, the circumstances behind an event in the neighboring house, library resource materials that provide background on Dusha.
As the ominous date of the end of Dusha's sentence approaches, Malcolm prepares as best as he can, torn between running away and doing as directed and every option in between. He is uncertain as to Dusha's nature-- is he simply an innocent man unjustly sentenced or an evil one or is he a man at all? Whatever Dusha may be, Malcolm is about to find out.
This story had me on tenterhooks the entire time. Between Malcolm's very tragic personal story and Dusha's seemingly supernatural and equally engaging one, my interest was held and kept. Eerieness abounds in these individual's tales, in the house in question, and even in the town and its inhabitants. The pages of THE END OF THE SENTECE are populated by mystical creatures, ancient rituals and mysterious spirits. Relatable, suspenseful, creepy, with a satisfying ending-- all necessary ingredients to a spooky tale.
As the ominous date of the end of Dusha's sentence approaches, Malcolm prepares as best as he can, torn between running away and doing as directed and every option in between. He is uncertain as to Dusha's nature-- is he simply an innocent man unjustly sentenced or an evil one or is he a man at all? Whatever Dusha may be, Malcolm is about to find out.
This story had me on tenterhooks the entire time. Between Malcolm's very tragic personal story and Dusha's seemingly supernatural and equally engaging one, my interest was held and kept. Eerieness abounds in these individual's tales, in the house in question, and even in the town and its inhabitants. The pages of THE END OF THE SENTECE are populated by mystical creatures, ancient rituals and mysterious spirits. Relatable, suspenseful, creepy, with a satisfying ending-- all necessary ingredients to a spooky tale.
March 16, 2015
Rate this one at a strong 3 stars. I'm a great believer that many great tales of dark fiction are told best as novellas or short novels--and perhaps this is just the sort of exception that proves the rule. The early chapters are such a crash-dive into a series of convenient-to-the-plot oddities that it all felt a bit sketchy--as if the authors were more concerned with the poetic concision with which they kept the protagonists world off-kilter.
I found it very strange indeed that I was wanting this tale to be significantly expanded in those beginning stages. And then I found the final chapters to be heavy on detail as the complex nature of this strange world was fully explained and its driving forces rectified.
In between? The middle section of this book was where I was gripped. There's a scene at a prison that's written brilliantly. It's the fulcrum inserted to set up more-direct tensions for those readers who might be getting too comfortable with simply following along with the spooky surroundings.
The "goblin" about whom the story revolves, well he's quite the unique character.
So I'm left with a set-up that had me begging for a more placid pace, a riveting pivot (and the prison sequence isn't the only moment that succeeds to this extent--there's a moment where a thin coat of paint becomes oh so important...it's a real eyeball-grabber), and then an extended denouement that's just a bit overbusy.
I liked it, and at times loved it. Dark fantasy, well told on the whole.
I found it very strange indeed that I was wanting this tale to be significantly expanded in those beginning stages. And then I found the final chapters to be heavy on detail as the complex nature of this strange world was fully explained and its driving forces rectified.
In between? The middle section of this book was where I was gripped. There's a scene at a prison that's written brilliantly. It's the fulcrum inserted to set up more-direct tensions for those readers who might be getting too comfortable with simply following along with the spooky surroundings.
The "goblin" about whom the story revolves, well he's quite the unique character.
So I'm left with a set-up that had me begging for a more placid pace, a riveting pivot (and the prison sequence isn't the only moment that succeeds to this extent--there's a moment where a thin coat of paint becomes oh so important...it's a real eyeball-grabber), and then an extended denouement that's just a bit overbusy.
I liked it, and at times loved it. Dark fantasy, well told on the whole.
January 13, 2015
Love, loss, sacrifice. Yeah, this hit me right in the feels. Comes with a delicious undercurrent of dread and possible menace.
Read
October 13, 2014A fun creepy novella about monsters, ghosts, and madness.
October 9, 2017
“Nobody who hasn’t been hurt can work a miracle.”
Oooh, that was lovely and strange and refreshingly original!
Malcolm Mays has run from grief to an old abandoned house in a small town. The house takes a liking to him, as does its long dead occupants who write to him daily. They have requests and will not be denied because the sentence is ending - there is price to be paid.
History, new mythology, magic, monsters, guilt, and ghosts - the more I think about this story the more I like it.
Special thanks to Subterranean Press for commissioning and binding this gorgeous book!
Look at that typeset!
Look at that signature sheet!
And black leather binding has never felt so sexy. Book heaven people, book heaven.
September 29, 2014
Malcolm Mays is very close to the end of his rope. After the collapse of his terrible marriage, after a horrific tragedy, he has spent close to his last dollars on a house in rural Ione, Oregon. His first sight of the house confirms that there’s plenty of work to be done, but also that there’s something good to work with. When he opens the front door to his new home for the first time, he finds a huge pile of mail written to the dead owner of the house from an inmate at the federal prison two hundred miles away in Salem. As he explores the house, he receives a letter from the prison himself, delivered, apparently, without the need for a postal worker or any other human agent. The letter is from Dusha Chuchonnyhoof, who tells him that there will be a plate set out for him in the icebox, and flowers beside the bed. It is too long, Dusha says, since he was in that house; he’s been in prison for one hundred and seventeen years for a crime he didn’t commit. His sentence was two lifetimes and a day, and it’s about to come to an end. And then he’ll come home, to the house Malcolm thinks is his own. In the meantime, Dusha says, the house will welcome him.
For the house is magical. When Malcolm goes to the refrigerator, supper is ready for him, complete with wine — cold despite the fact that the electricity hasn’t been hooked up yet. Invisible hands prepare Malcolm’s bed, set out his clothes, draw his bath, wash his dishes, prepare all his meals. And the letters continue to come, instructing Malcolm to prepare things for Dusha’s return. Dusha wants Malcolm to makes things ready for him, to perform a task so horrible that Malcolm quails — except that Dusha promises what he wants most in return.
Maria Dahvana Headley and Kat Howard have taken the darker aspects of fairy tales and come up with a new tale set in contemporary America, complete with contemporary American problems of automobiles and broken marriages. These horrors that happen every day are combined with the horrors of a supernatural creature that seems to soothe in order to terrify, to provide for all his victim’s needs so long as that victim might be useful. As the story progresses, and as Malcolm toys with the notion of doing as his correspondent asks, the reader’s apprehension mounts.
The authors’ style is simple but beautiful. For example, there’s this passage describing Malcolm’s thought after he burns a patch of mint:
"The smell of crushed mint and smoke, and I remembered for an agonizing moment my old life, a glass of ice, bourbon, mint, sugar, my wife smiling at me, her face lit up with love. A sunset. Trees dark and tall. Fireflies starting to blink on and off around the edge of the yard, her hand in mine."
In addition, the epistolary nature of the story allows the authors to reveal much at the same time they conceal from Malcolm — and the reader — precisely what’s going to happen. As we grow to like and sympathize with Malcolm, our dread increases. Will he lose his house? What does Dusha mean when he says he’s coming home? It’s a tricky way to build suspense, but Headley and Howard pull it off.
This is a beautiful novella, a modern fairy tale that any reader of the French tale “Beauty and the Beast” will recognize, but so different from that story that it is something entirely new. Subterranean Press continues to do us all a tremendous service by publishing novellas by some of the best talent writing today, as this example shows.
Originally published at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi....
For the house is magical. When Malcolm goes to the refrigerator, supper is ready for him, complete with wine — cold despite the fact that the electricity hasn’t been hooked up yet. Invisible hands prepare Malcolm’s bed, set out his clothes, draw his bath, wash his dishes, prepare all his meals. And the letters continue to come, instructing Malcolm to prepare things for Dusha’s return. Dusha wants Malcolm to makes things ready for him, to perform a task so horrible that Malcolm quails — except that Dusha promises what he wants most in return.
Maria Dahvana Headley and Kat Howard have taken the darker aspects of fairy tales and come up with a new tale set in contemporary America, complete with contemporary American problems of automobiles and broken marriages. These horrors that happen every day are combined with the horrors of a supernatural creature that seems to soothe in order to terrify, to provide for all his victim’s needs so long as that victim might be useful. As the story progresses, and as Malcolm toys with the notion of doing as his correspondent asks, the reader’s apprehension mounts.
The authors’ style is simple but beautiful. For example, there’s this passage describing Malcolm’s thought after he burns a patch of mint:
"The smell of crushed mint and smoke, and I remembered for an agonizing moment my old life, a glass of ice, bourbon, mint, sugar, my wife smiling at me, her face lit up with love. A sunset. Trees dark and tall. Fireflies starting to blink on and off around the edge of the yard, her hand in mine."
In addition, the epistolary nature of the story allows the authors to reveal much at the same time they conceal from Malcolm — and the reader — precisely what’s going to happen. As we grow to like and sympathize with Malcolm, our dread increases. Will he lose his house? What does Dusha mean when he says he’s coming home? It’s a tricky way to build suspense, but Headley and Howard pull it off.
This is a beautiful novella, a modern fairy tale that any reader of the French tale “Beauty and the Beast” will recognize, but so different from that story that it is something entirely new. Subterranean Press continues to do us all a tremendous service by publishing novellas by some of the best talent writing today, as this example shows.
Originally published at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi....
January 14, 2015
Absolutely amazing. Draws you in right from the start and holds your attention to the end and beyond. A very well told and engaging story. The authors paint a vivid picture while bringing the story to life.
February 26, 2015
Oregon gothic, with ghosts and generations of terrible sacrifices. Good start and an intriguing haunted house, but it just seemed to go on and on, and by the end I was beyond caring about Malcolm or any of the people or how it turned out. No doubt this has an audience, but not my dish of blood.
June 23, 2015
An exquisite ghost / monster / love story about loss and pain and repentance set in the Oregon desert and spanning hundreds of years. Haunting, lovely, atmospheric as all hell, and truly inventive. Highly, highly recommended.
June 14, 2017
An amazing concept, and a refreshing take on several horror tropes. I've devoured the first half of this novella, anxious to find out what happens next. In the second half, however, everything seemed to happen too fast, the protagonist was merely reduced to the narrator of the story, with little agency, and the ending left me a little disappointed. There's too much in this story to fit in a novella, although it's still a beautiful one.
December 25, 2019
pretty incomprehensible - had an impossible time flowing this one. way too much jammed into it.
November 17, 2018
In some ways it was well-crafted and it built up a sense of foreboding and horror at the unknown of what was going to happen. But the resolution didn't feel particularly worth it to me, the last few chapters were almost random in comparison to the rest of it.
September 22, 2018
this is...exquisite and terrifying and Weird. part folk horror, part fairy tale, part psychogeography, part...something else entirely. emotionally rich, vividly imagined, and deftly (co-)written. very strongly recommended.
March 13, 2021
Nobody who hasn't been hurt can work a miracle.
This book kept me up until 3 AM. Frightening, beautiful, bewildering prose wrapped around a surprisingly compassionate core.
A lot of world-building details are packed into the very end, which made me slow down when all I wanted to do was continue zooming through the story like a bullet. But aside from that, this book was pretty nearly perfect.
This book kept me up until 3 AM. Frightening, beautiful, bewildering prose wrapped around a surprisingly compassionate core.
A lot of world-building details are packed into the very end, which made me slow down when all I wanted to do was continue zooming through the story like a bullet. But aside from that, this book was pretty nearly perfect.
April 29, 2015
The End of the Sentence is a slightly creepy character piece. The narrative protagonist purchases a dilapidated house in a small town, after experiencing an initially unrevealed trauma. Within the house he uncovers a small mountain of letters. All were sent from a nearby prison. All indicate that the writer is soon to leave the prison, and return to the house. At the same time, the house begins to behave in unexpected and (at least initially) unexplainable ways.
This is really a piece about both mood and character. The first person format is mixed with the protagonist reading and writing letters, which gives an interesting change in perspective. But mostly, the reader is dropped into the protagonist’s world, and slowly shown what it is that has driven him to escape to the middle of nowhere. At the same time, we’re left with the mystery of who is sending him seemingly endless letters from prison, how long they have done so, and exactly what it is that they want.
This central mystery is nicely staged – as the protagonist searches for clues and understanding, they also react much as anyone might – trying to evade, disbelieve or argue against their apparently assumed obligation. The truth behind the mysterious ‘sentence’ of the letter writer is eked out to both the central character and the reader at the same time – we as much in the dark as he, which helps evoke the atmosphere of confusion and fear that the piece is going for.
The text isn’t afraid to delve into the depths of character; how the protagonist reacts under the slowly building pressure is, simply put, marvellous. Strained, disbelieving, determined and somewhat afraid – and terribly human. The authors have managed to find a unique voice here, one which is entirely believable. At the same time, their supporting characters suffer a little – this is partially a function of viewpoint, I think; as the reader is so mired in the protagonist’s perspective, it’s hard to tease personality details from other members of the cast. Still, they serve their roles well enough, and one, at least, manages to be highly emotive and effective foils to the central character; it’s just a shame that there wasn’t room to explore them further.
The other side of the piece is the mood, and it’s marvellously done. The initial banality, with a slight suggestion of hidden depths is terribly Twin Peaks, and very readable. As the reader and protagonist get further into the text, it becomes possible that something outside of the initial experience is occurring. The sense of gradual, creeping horror starts on the first page, but by the middle of the text, the frantic protagonist is matched by a reader perturbed by an unspoken mood of grinding terror. This isn’t a book full of jump scares, or a bloody demise – instead, it leaves to the imagination the potential horrors that are alluded to through the text, leaves both protagonist and reader to draw their own conclusions, and is the better for it.
Is it worth reading? Well, it felt very short – perhaps because I felt compelled to keep turning pages to find out what would happen. But, on the other hand, as a mood and character piece, it’s spot on. The plot is plausible within the confines of the world it creates, and makes for an interesting read. Given that, I’d say it’s worth picking up – assuming you’re in the mood for a book of character mixed with a slowly building horror.
This is really a piece about both mood and character. The first person format is mixed with the protagonist reading and writing letters, which gives an interesting change in perspective. But mostly, the reader is dropped into the protagonist’s world, and slowly shown what it is that has driven him to escape to the middle of nowhere. At the same time, we’re left with the mystery of who is sending him seemingly endless letters from prison, how long they have done so, and exactly what it is that they want.
This central mystery is nicely staged – as the protagonist searches for clues and understanding, they also react much as anyone might – trying to evade, disbelieve or argue against their apparently assumed obligation. The truth behind the mysterious ‘sentence’ of the letter writer is eked out to both the central character and the reader at the same time – we as much in the dark as he, which helps evoke the atmosphere of confusion and fear that the piece is going for.
The text isn’t afraid to delve into the depths of character; how the protagonist reacts under the slowly building pressure is, simply put, marvellous. Strained, disbelieving, determined and somewhat afraid – and terribly human. The authors have managed to find a unique voice here, one which is entirely believable. At the same time, their supporting characters suffer a little – this is partially a function of viewpoint, I think; as the reader is so mired in the protagonist’s perspective, it’s hard to tease personality details from other members of the cast. Still, they serve their roles well enough, and one, at least, manages to be highly emotive and effective foils to the central character; it’s just a shame that there wasn’t room to explore them further.
The other side of the piece is the mood, and it’s marvellously done. The initial banality, with a slight suggestion of hidden depths is terribly Twin Peaks, and very readable. As the reader and protagonist get further into the text, it becomes possible that something outside of the initial experience is occurring. The sense of gradual, creeping horror starts on the first page, but by the middle of the text, the frantic protagonist is matched by a reader perturbed by an unspoken mood of grinding terror. This isn’t a book full of jump scares, or a bloody demise – instead, it leaves to the imagination the potential horrors that are alluded to through the text, leaves both protagonist and reader to draw their own conclusions, and is the better for it.
Is it worth reading? Well, it felt very short – perhaps because I felt compelled to keep turning pages to find out what would happen. But, on the other hand, as a mood and character piece, it’s spot on. The plot is plausible within the confines of the world it creates, and makes for an interesting read. Given that, I’d say it’s worth picking up – assuming you’re in the mood for a book of character mixed with a slowly building horror.
April 8, 2022
This book is about consequences. Nothing is free, so what price do we pay for our choices in life? Often we pay in money or time, but sometimes we pay in blood. This was an interesting journey and it kept me reading late into the night. The ending wasn't what I expected, but it was fitting for the story. Overall well done.
March 16, 2018
Amazing roller-coaster of a book that starts out slow in tone but adds layer upon layer of strangeness and creepiness as the story develops. While there are others among the pages, this really ends up being a story of two men, two women, and the haunted house that connects them. Great read!
September 18, 2016
I really loved this book. It takes no time to get going. The pacing is wonderful, and the style is so cinematic, it's easy to picture everything playing out on a screen in your mind.
October 19, 2014
Not only is this well crafted novella a great read, it is also a fitting companion to the autumn winds of October and the upcoming Halloween.
In equal parts ghost story and murder mystery, horror tale and modern mythos, the authors have woven a story out of elements so familiar that they feel like our own history, but they have threaded these among circumstances so foreign, and at times horrifying, that we recoil. After recoiling however, we must look back and, with the author's firm hand upon our shoulder, we are drawn back in, and deeper in.
The themes of loss and redemption, grief and hope, abandonment and determination arise again and again to intertwine with every character we meet. These are themes familiar to us all, so familiar that we can forget they are traits of other people's tales as well. And we may also forget that each of us may respond to circumstances in ways both different and perhaps horrifying.
In The End of the Sentence, Maria Dahvana Headley and Kat Howard have created a wondrous tale of a new American mythology. I anxiously await whatever they will come up with next.
In equal parts ghost story and murder mystery, horror tale and modern mythos, the authors have woven a story out of elements so familiar that they feel like our own history, but they have threaded these among circumstances so foreign, and at times horrifying, that we recoil. After recoiling however, we must look back and, with the author's firm hand upon our shoulder, we are drawn back in, and deeper in.
The themes of loss and redemption, grief and hope, abandonment and determination arise again and again to intertwine with every character we meet. These are themes familiar to us all, so familiar that we can forget they are traits of other people's tales as well. And we may also forget that each of us may respond to circumstances in ways both different and perhaps horrifying.
In The End of the Sentence, Maria Dahvana Headley and Kat Howard have created a wondrous tale of a new American mythology. I anxiously await whatever they will come up with next.
January 5, 2015
A ghost of a story
Malcolm Mays has run away from a personal Southern Gothic tragedy to rewrite a life for himself in I one, Oregon in a house he purchased from a foreclosure list. Reality ends when Malcolm walks through the door for the first time.
The End of the Sentence is a novella which I enjoyed but ultimately found frustrating because it wasn't a novel. Had it been longer the characters may have been more completely realized. I truly enjoyed the mix of legends, lore, and ghosts. However Malcolm was never more than the ghost of a character whose inner dialogue only hints at his character. I yearned to know more about him, and the magic which inhabits the house. This is a beautiful tale that is too short for a good novel or too long in the tooth for a satisfying story.
I recommend this as a read for those readers familiar with legends of PNW settlers and Native Americans.
Malcolm Mays has run away from a personal Southern Gothic tragedy to rewrite a life for himself in I one, Oregon in a house he purchased from a foreclosure list. Reality ends when Malcolm walks through the door for the first time.
The End of the Sentence is a novella which I enjoyed but ultimately found frustrating because it wasn't a novel. Had it been longer the characters may have been more completely realized. I truly enjoyed the mix of legends, lore, and ghosts. However Malcolm was never more than the ghost of a character whose inner dialogue only hints at his character. I yearned to know more about him, and the magic which inhabits the house. This is a beautiful tale that is too short for a good novel or too long in the tooth for a satisfying story.
I recommend this as a read for those readers familiar with legends of PNW settlers and Native Americans.
July 5, 2017
This book was too short. All good books are too short. I could have spent days in that strange house, with its strange happenings, its strange impersonation of domesticity. I loved every minute of my time here. But what I'd loved most about this book is how it subverted my expectations of where it was going. I'd expected cruelty, a grief at the end of the sentence, but what I found lingered like the last breath of autumn.
Beautiful. I hope those two do more collaborations.
Beautiful. I hope those two do more collaborations.
August 25, 2016
Satisfyingly creepy from beginning to end. I could wish the climactic reveal had been a bit less rushed, and the ending was ultimately tidier than I might have liked. But the tone is pitch-perfect throughout, and the imagery original and chilling.
December 29, 2014
Reviewed by Terry: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
October 21, 2019
I'm not sure when and where I first came across this book (some rabbit hole I fell into at tor.com probably), but the summary caught my attention right away and I put it onto my already massive TBR list and my wish list for kindle books. Then the 2019 Popsugar reading challenge came along, and I was scrolling my (now even more massive) TBR trying to match up books I wanted to read anyway with the prompts and I noticed this book was "written by two female authors". Yay!
Only to find it was no longer available neither in print nor in digital form. There was the audio book still, but I found the book used on the marketplace and ordered it as well. It came to me all the way from the US, a hardcover former library edition in very good shape which I'll definitely hold onto. Because I loved it. (Nice typography too!)
Fairy tales and ghost stories have always been my jam, and this is both rolled in one. It's rather short—a boon as I've yet still to finish about half of the prompts of the challenge and it is October already—but also a bane, as I really wanted this book to be longer. That's about the only complaint I have, that it felt a wee bit rushed towards the end. The authors took their time telling Malcolm's story, but there's another person with a history to them, and when they get to tell theirs, it's a pretty big info dump towards the end. It is, however, only a small complaint. This book will definitely be kept and re-read. ♥
Only to find it was no longer available neither in print nor in digital form. There was the audio book still, but I found the book used on the marketplace and ordered it as well. It came to me all the way from the US, a hardcover former library edition in very good shape which I'll definitely hold onto. Because I loved it. (Nice typography too!)
Fairy tales and ghost stories have always been my jam, and this is both rolled in one. It's rather short—a boon as I've yet still to finish about half of the prompts of the challenge and it is October already—but also a bane, as I really wanted this book to be longer. That's about the only complaint I have, that it felt a wee bit rushed towards the end. The authors took their time telling Malcolm's story, but there's another person with a history to them, and when they get to tell theirs, it's a pretty big info dump towards the end. It is, however, only a small complaint. This book will definitely be kept and re-read. ♥
September 7, 2022
This is a creepy and interesting novella. It's the kind of horror I appreciate, because the horror has lore. The monster here has history and rules he must adhere to, and his story is genuinely fascinating and creepy. However, I thought the ending didn't punch as hard as it should have. The entire story is the ramping up of tension as this monster gets closer and closer to being released back into the world, but when he finally is, Perhaps it is more of a personal preference kind of thing, but I just found the ending to be a little too happy and neat for my horror tastes.
March 12, 2022
I love a good spooky fairy story! I always know I can get one from Kat Howard and am curious to check out other works by Maria Dahvana Headley, just in case they’re as enjoyable as this one.
This story utilized its small space well. The action picked up almost right away, and immediately I was keen to know more about Malcolm and his sad history, while at the same time, felt an eerie sense of danger from the letters and their mysterious sender. It was thrilling to be so completely on the hook, and I loved getting reeled in deeper and deeper as the story progressed.
The closer to the end we got, the more chaotic and less organized the story felt. It felt slightly like a letdown, even though it had a happier ending than I was expecting. Overall, though, this was a great little book that demanded my complete attention every time I picked it up, and I loved that about it.
Side note: I must admit to the gaps in my knowledge concerning some of the mythologies mentioned in the plot synopsis, but I was super excited anytime I recognized Celtic mythology (my favorite), especially things that pertained to their myths and folklore revolving around horses. *happy sigh*
This story utilized its small space well. The action picked up almost right away, and immediately I was keen to know more about Malcolm and his sad history, while at the same time, felt an eerie sense of danger from the letters and their mysterious sender. It was thrilling to be so completely on the hook, and I loved getting reeled in deeper and deeper as the story progressed.
The closer to the end we got, the more chaotic and less organized the story felt. It felt slightly like a letdown, even though it had a happier ending than I was expecting. Overall, though, this was a great little book that demanded my complete attention every time I picked it up, and I loved that about it.
Side note: I must admit to the gaps in my knowledge concerning some of the mythologies mentioned in the plot synopsis, but I was super excited anytime I recognized Celtic mythology (my favorite), especially things that pertained to their myths and folklore revolving around horses. *happy sigh*
September 16, 2020
Michael May wants to start a new life, leaving behind a tragic past. With the last of his money, he buys a house for three grand from an auction, sight unseen. When he arrives, he finds the floor covered in unopened letters addressed to the previous occupant.
This is a nicely creepy novella. There's magic, but it's strange, and weird, and only makes sense with fairy tale logic. It is a sort of fairy tale, but not the once upon a time kind. Ghosts exist, and so do other creatures, but what are they?
And what do they want with Michael?
The writing was vivid, and I enjoyed the descriptions, especially during the more chilling moments. It was just a bit uneven. Not enough at the beginning to carry the final scenes. Just a mild criticism for a story that kept my attention all the way through.
This is a nicely creepy novella. There's magic, but it's strange, and weird, and only makes sense with fairy tale logic. It is a sort of fairy tale, but not the once upon a time kind. Ghosts exist, and so do other creatures, but what are they?
And what do they want with Michael?
The writing was vivid, and I enjoyed the descriptions, especially during the more chilling moments. It was just a bit uneven. Not enough at the beginning to carry the final scenes. Just a mild criticism for a story that kept my attention all the way through.
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