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Grackle
Andi’s on a road trip to a famously haunted town, Drakesburg. It was supposed to be partly a research trip for her thesis, partly one last sister’s trip to a cabin in the woods to spend time together and tell ghost stories; just like they used to do with their mother when she was alive. But an argument after their grandmother’s funeral put a stop to that. Instead, Andi’s taking a fellow student she barely knows, Emmanuelle, along for the drive – hardly the fun trip she envisioned. Emmanuelle starts to tell a ghost story as they travel through the night – towards a stranger destination than either of them expected to find – and before long Andi finds herself in a tale inside a story, and who knows how to get out?
- GenresHorrorContemporary
88 pages, ebook
Published June 1, 2024
49 people want to read
About the author
A.C. Wise
161 books407 followersA.C. Wise's fiction has appeared in publications such as Uncanny, Shimmer, and Tor.com, among other places. She had two collections published with Lethe Press, and a novella published by Broken Eye Books. Her debut novel, Wendy, Darling, is out from Titan Books n June 2021, and a new collection, The Ghost Sequences, is forthcoming from Undertow Books in October 2021. Her work has won the Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, as well as being a two-time Nebula finalist, a two-time Sunburst finalist, an Aurora finalist, and a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. In addition to her fiction, she contributes review columns to the Book Smugglers and Apex Magazine, and has been a finalist for the Ignyte Award in the Critics category.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 24, 2024
(3.5) I haven’t read anything from PS Publishing for a while, and when I went to browse their recent releases, this – a new novella from the author of
The Ghost Sequences
– caught my eye. Grackle follows master’s student Andi as she travels to the ‘famously haunted town’ of Drakesburg on a research trip. With her sister reluctant to join in, she ends up with fellow student Emanuelle in tow. And it’s Emanuelle who tells her the story of Grackle, a piece of folklore she’s never heard before... and a story that, thereafter, seems to haunt her all over Drakesburg.
Grackle is not as good as the strongest stories in Sequences; for my money, ‘The Nag Bride’ is a more successful treatment of some of the themes also found here (grief, family ties, folklore). I liked the investigation elements best, and would have preferred more clue-chasing, less abstract stuff. It has bags of atmosphere, though, and the kind of evocative description that makes it easy to imagine a film adaptation.
Grackle is not as good as the strongest stories in Sequences; for my money, ‘The Nag Bride’ is a more successful treatment of some of the themes also found here (grief, family ties, folklore). I liked the investigation elements best, and would have preferred more clue-chasing, less abstract stuff. It has bags of atmosphere, though, and the kind of evocative description that makes it easy to imagine a film adaptation.
October 19, 2024
Ooh that was deliciously creepy! A gorgeous novella full of ghost stories and mystery, loved it!
November 23, 2024
Creepy ghost story. Which plays with the idea of what a ghost story is. Really enjoyed this one!
July 25, 2024
They called her Grackle because she was the saint of lost things, and all the birds would do her bidding. And they called her Grackle because of the boys she drowned.
Author of Wendy Darling & Hooked turns her hand back to the realms of the strange and unknown in this tale of grief and loss.
Upon the loss of their grandmother, sisters Andi and Jenn have arranged a trip to Drakesburg to commemorate their mother who told them ghost stories as children, and also for Andi to gain some information for her college thesis. However, as emotions run high Andi and Jenn’s relationship disintegrates leaving Andi to drive to Drakesburg herself.
Setting off on her trip, she unwittingly gains a passenger on her trip, the aloof Emannuelle, another student who grew up in the same town as Andi.
With boredom setting in on the long drive, Andi requests some interaction from her passenger who tells her the story of Grackle, an urban legend of the area.
This is the first time reading the works of A.C. Wise and I must say that they bowled me over with this story. The prose is absolutely gorgeous drawing you into the story little by little. As the story moves on you soon realise that the story metamorphoses into something that you don’t expect, and what you think is the story initially, turns out to be something else entirely.
I loved the characters of Andi and Emanuelle, and whilst you think that they are worlds apart, they are far closer than what is initially described. Andi is raw with grief for both the loss of her mother and the breakdown of her relationship with her sister, whilst Emmanuelle is cold and aloof. However, her scars run much deeper and we see the reason for her return to Drakesburg as the story progresses.
This is a haunting tale of grief and loss that I thoroughly enjoyed with its lush prose and beautifully realised characters.
Author of Wendy Darling & Hooked turns her hand back to the realms of the strange and unknown in this tale of grief and loss.
Upon the loss of their grandmother, sisters Andi and Jenn have arranged a trip to Drakesburg to commemorate their mother who told them ghost stories as children, and also for Andi to gain some information for her college thesis. However, as emotions run high Andi and Jenn’s relationship disintegrates leaving Andi to drive to Drakesburg herself.
Setting off on her trip, she unwittingly gains a passenger on her trip, the aloof Emannuelle, another student who grew up in the same town as Andi.
With boredom setting in on the long drive, Andi requests some interaction from her passenger who tells her the story of Grackle, an urban legend of the area.
This is the first time reading the works of A.C. Wise and I must say that they bowled me over with this story. The prose is absolutely gorgeous drawing you into the story little by little. As the story moves on you soon realise that the story metamorphoses into something that you don’t expect, and what you think is the story initially, turns out to be something else entirely.
I loved the characters of Andi and Emanuelle, and whilst you think that they are worlds apart, they are far closer than what is initially described. Andi is raw with grief for both the loss of her mother and the breakdown of her relationship with her sister, whilst Emmanuelle is cold and aloof. However, her scars run much deeper and we see the reason for her return to Drakesburg as the story progresses.
This is a haunting tale of grief and loss that I thoroughly enjoyed with its lush prose and beautifully realised characters.
January 9, 2025
"What is a ghost if not something lonely, trapped, repeating the same cycles again and again?"
This short, engrossing novella starts with two near-strangers on a road trip, hunting down old ghost stories - only to discover things far eerier and more disturbing than they'd expected. I absolutely loved this - it's not just a ghost story, but a story *about* ghost stories, about why we the living find ghosts so compelling, why we're drawn to invent ghosts and cling to them and so enjoy the fear and nostalgia they carry with them. It's hard to say much more than that without getting spoiler-y, but I'll also note that there's a sweet note of queer romance in the backdrop of eeriness.
This short, engrossing novella starts with two near-strangers on a road trip, hunting down old ghost stories - only to discover things far eerier and more disturbing than they'd expected. I absolutely loved this - it's not just a ghost story, but a story *about* ghost stories, about why we the living find ghosts so compelling, why we're drawn to invent ghosts and cling to them and so enjoy the fear and nostalgia they carry with them. It's hard to say much more than that without getting spoiler-y, but I'll also note that there's a sweet note of queer romance in the backdrop of eeriness.
October 6, 2024
I've been a fan of A. C. Wise's work for years, and I have yet to read a bad story by her. This was a beautifully written novella that explains the way people, places, and events haunt us. I fell into Andi and Emmanuelle's lives and wrestled with their ghosts. This is a lonely, but ultimately hopeful, tale for fans of quiet, literary horror. Highly recommended.
April 1, 2025
A great bitesize spooky read that lures you in and spits you out! Admittedly the end was confusing but I was pleasantly surprised to see it was also very sapphic themed! I'd recommend for something quick and short to help you get out of that book block!
August 25, 2024
When one thinks of birds, many will refer to Daphnie DeMaurier's 1952 novella that became the basis for the Hitchcock film, The Birds. Part folk horror, part fantasy, and part childhood redemption story, you have Grackle by Canadian, A. C. Wise. The author returns to a reversed childhood from her previous work,
Wendy, Darling
, when a grown-up Wendy faces the dilemma of a missing daughter needing rescue from the very person who helped her before. Peter Pan.
You can read Terry's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.
You can read Terry's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews