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The Mothers of Voorhisville
From multiple World Fantasy Award winner and Nebula, Bram Stoker, International Horror Guild, Sturgeon, and British Science Fiction Award nominated author Mary Rickert comes a gorgeous and terrifying vision of the Mothers of Voorhisville, who love their babies just as intensely as any mother anywhere. Of course they do! And nothing in this world will change that, even if every single one of those tiny babies was born with an even tinier set of wings.
155 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 30, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
October 2, 2019
happy mother's day to all the creepy mothers and creepier children!
Being a mother, I figure, is like going a little bit crazy all the time.
i read this one in a panic after i decided to up my reading challenge to 290 on december 30, even though i had only finished 288 books at that point. i thought "well, i am only 100 pages from finishing that one book, and i will read a tor short to make it 290 - simple dimple."
but this one fooled me by being one of those rare tor shorts that goes on for eight screens instead of just the neat and tidy single screen. and it's not even like it's long by typical book-standards, but it was unexpected and i was a little concerned that it was going to be my undoing, even though i was grateful for the illustrations that took up some of the room.
and - yes - i could have just chosen another tor short to read, but that would be cheating and i am very obedient to my own code of reading behavior.
but - this is another tor short that i didn't love. i liked it, but i didn't like-it like it.
the premise is good - a mysterious stranger driving a hearse, smelling like lemons, rolls into and out of town and nine months later, many of the town's women - married and unmarried, old and young - give birth to babies. and all these babies share an unusual physical characteristic.
and you might think, "i have SEEN this before:"
but while it does share some of the building blocks of that one, in this situation, the babies have wings, not tails. they are more like sharp pointy bat wings than feathered bird wings, and it makes for an incredibly painful birthing process.
the new mothers bond together over their babies, although initially they try to keep both the wings and the baby's dubious paternity out of the conversation.
“It’s quite clever of you to start without the man hanging around. Everything you need from him, you’ve already got.”
the man is expendable, forgettable, and all that matters now are the babies, and the mothers become protective to the point of possessive.
The mothers like to believe they were driven to the horrible things they did by mother-love. I can tell you, though; they have always been capable of cruelty.
eventually, the truth about the wings comes out, and from there the story takes a sharply dark nosedive where it has the potential to be a stunner, but it never quite came together for me.
part of the problem i had was that it was told in a number of different voices, intended as a written testimony of the events surrounding the births. but instead of this technique providing a welcome multiplicity of perspectives serving to broaden the reader's understanding of the situation, it just hobbles on in a fragmented, repetitious way. there are portions written collectively as "the mothers," in greek-chorus fashion, and portions voices by individual mothers, swapping off the chronicling when one becomes overburdened or digressive:
As far as I can figure out, that is the beginning. But is it? Is it the beginning? There are so many of us, and maybe there are just as many beginnings. What does “beginning” mean, anyway? What does anything mean? What is meaning? What is? Is Timmy? Or is he not? Once, I held him in my arms and he smiled and I thought I loved him. But maybe I didn’t. Maybe everything was already me throwing babies out the window; maybe everything was already tiny homemade caskets with flies buzzing around them; maybe everything has always been this place, this time, this sorrowful house and the weeping of the mothers.
i mean, that's all blah blah blah before it gets to the interesting shit at the end, but then frustratingly switches voice again immediately after.
i found it rather shallowly written. during one of the big action sequences, characters are running around confusedly, saying and doing things that don't really fit the situation, and it would have been farcical if it hadn't turned so horrifying.
i liked it very much when it started shifting into a waco-type situation, but even that twist never came to much - the situation kind of came to a halt - stagnating in lockdown without progressing the story or deepening its themes. so many intriguing elements: madness, incest accusations, murder, secret burials, manic baking, jelly murals, and lines like “You better be careful. If Emily finds out you’re eating the house, she’s going to kill you,” but a lot of it was just flash with no depth. there was too much left unresolved and unexplained - what about that thing that happens when the wings are touched? how did this all go so bad so fast? is the september 11th thing just to place this in time?
it just doesn't have a very cohesive narrative, which considering how much longer this shorty is, is kind of a shame. obviously, the sacrifice and fierceness of motherhood is a central theme:
What mother wouldn’t kill to save her babies?…We mothers take the blame because we understand, someone has to suffer. So we do. Gladly.
but it's far from the ONLY theme, and i feel like had it been confined to the shorter tor short length, it could have been tighter and more effective overall, instead of spiking out into half-explored offshoots. but what do i know - this one has really high ratings here, so it might just be me having this cold response. i have been wrong at least twice before, after all.
read it for yourself here:
http://www.tor.com/stories/2014/04/th...
come to my blog!
Being a mother, I figure, is like going a little bit crazy all the time.
i read this one in a panic after i decided to up my reading challenge to 290 on december 30, even though i had only finished 288 books at that point. i thought "well, i am only 100 pages from finishing that one book, and i will read a tor short to make it 290 - simple dimple."
but this one fooled me by being one of those rare tor shorts that goes on for eight screens instead of just the neat and tidy single screen. and it's not even like it's long by typical book-standards, but it was unexpected and i was a little concerned that it was going to be my undoing, even though i was grateful for the illustrations that took up some of the room.
and - yes - i could have just chosen another tor short to read, but that would be cheating and i am very obedient to my own code of reading behavior.
but - this is another tor short that i didn't love. i liked it, but i didn't like-it like it.
the premise is good - a mysterious stranger driving a hearse, smelling like lemons, rolls into and out of town and nine months later, many of the town's women - married and unmarried, old and young - give birth to babies. and all these babies share an unusual physical characteristic.
and you might think, "i have SEEN this before:"
but while it does share some of the building blocks of that one, in this situation, the babies have wings, not tails. they are more like sharp pointy bat wings than feathered bird wings, and it makes for an incredibly painful birthing process.
the new mothers bond together over their babies, although initially they try to keep both the wings and the baby's dubious paternity out of the conversation.
“It’s quite clever of you to start without the man hanging around. Everything you need from him, you’ve already got.”
the man is expendable, forgettable, and all that matters now are the babies, and the mothers become protective to the point of possessive.
The mothers like to believe they were driven to the horrible things they did by mother-love. I can tell you, though; they have always been capable of cruelty.
eventually, the truth about the wings comes out, and from there the story takes a sharply dark nosedive where it has the potential to be a stunner, but it never quite came together for me.
part of the problem i had was that it was told in a number of different voices, intended as a written testimony of the events surrounding the births. but instead of this technique providing a welcome multiplicity of perspectives serving to broaden the reader's understanding of the situation, it just hobbles on in a fragmented, repetitious way. there are portions written collectively as "the mothers," in greek-chorus fashion, and portions voices by individual mothers, swapping off the chronicling when one becomes overburdened or digressive:
As far as I can figure out, that is the beginning. But is it? Is it the beginning? There are so many of us, and maybe there are just as many beginnings. What does “beginning” mean, anyway? What does anything mean? What is meaning? What is? Is Timmy? Or is he not? Once, I held him in my arms and he smiled and I thought I loved him. But maybe I didn’t. Maybe everything was already me throwing babies out the window; maybe everything was already tiny homemade caskets with flies buzzing around them; maybe everything has always been this place, this time, this sorrowful house and the weeping of the mothers.
i mean, that's all blah blah blah before it gets to the interesting shit at the end, but then frustratingly switches voice again immediately after.
i found it rather shallowly written. during one of the big action sequences, characters are running around confusedly, saying and doing things that don't really fit the situation, and it would have been farcical if it hadn't turned so horrifying.
i liked it very much when it started shifting into a waco-type situation, but even that twist never came to much - the situation kind of came to a halt - stagnating in lockdown without progressing the story or deepening its themes. so many intriguing elements: madness, incest accusations, murder, secret burials, manic baking, jelly murals, and lines like “You better be careful. If Emily finds out you’re eating the house, she’s going to kill you,” but a lot of it was just flash with no depth. there was too much left unresolved and unexplained - what about that thing that happens when the wings are touched? how did this all go so bad so fast? is the september 11th thing just to place this in time?
it just doesn't have a very cohesive narrative, which considering how much longer this shorty is, is kind of a shame. obviously, the sacrifice and fierceness of motherhood is a central theme:
What mother wouldn’t kill to save her babies?…We mothers take the blame because we understand, someone has to suffer. So we do. Gladly.
but it's far from the ONLY theme, and i feel like had it been confined to the shorter tor short length, it could have been tighter and more effective overall, instead of spiking out into half-explored offshoots. but what do i know - this one has really high ratings here, so it might just be me having this cold response. i have been wrong at least twice before, after all.
read it for yourself here:
http://www.tor.com/stories/2014/04/th...
come to my blog!
January 6, 2015
Something terrible has occurred in Voorhisville. No spoiler here, it’s revealed in the very second paragraph. And the mothers of Voorhisville would like to set the record straight, thank you very much — especially in light of “our later actions, which we take responsibility for,” they say.
So this won’t end well.
Especially when the mothers add this:
Reminiscent of The X-Files episode “Small Potatoes,” the small, working-class town of Voorhisville suffers a spate of births all in the same month, mostly to women with no man in their lives: all gorgeous blue-eyed, curly-haired, dimpled boys — with tiny bat-like wings. Were the women enchanted? Were they simply at a loose end? A passing stranger — glowing, blue-eyed Jeffrey who drives a hearse, of all things — turns out to be the father of all of these children. So are they angels? Demons? Children of the Corn?
How could I help myself? Just like the women of Voorhisville, the mothers of Voorhisville, that is, I couldn’t, and I couldn’t lay aside the Tor novella (available here for free) despite knowing how early I’d have to be up the next day.
Was it worth it? I found The Mothers of Voorhisville an interesting study in psychology. It puts me in mind of Wallace Stevens’ poem, “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.” Each of the mothers looks at the mysterious stranger, Jeffrey, and sees what she wants to see: an artist, a protector, a yogi, a gifted poet, a blue-eyed saint. He smelled of lemon. No, apples. No, he smelled of chocolate! And in each case, the women (although Elli Ratcher at 15 was but a child) were transformed, made beautiful, confident, happy.
The ending, I won’t spoil it, was a bit implausible, but I’m still glad I read it. And, unlike some other reviewers, I enjoyed the different perspectives.
So, again, was it worth staying up and getting four hours of sleep? Take a few hours and find out for yourself.
So this won’t end well.
Especially when the mothers add this:
We would gladly do it all again to have one more day with our darlings. Even knowing the damage, we would gladly agree. This is not the apology you might have expected. Think of it more as a manifesto. A map, in case any of them seek to return to us, though our hope of that happening is faint. Why would anyone choose this ruined world?
Reminiscent of The X-Files episode “Small Potatoes,” the small, working-class town of Voorhisville suffers a spate of births all in the same month, mostly to women with no man in their lives: all gorgeous blue-eyed, curly-haired, dimpled boys — with tiny bat-like wings. Were the women enchanted? Were they simply at a loose end? A passing stranger — glowing, blue-eyed Jeffrey who drives a hearse, of all things — turns out to be the father of all of these children. So are they angels? Demons? Children of the Corn?
How could I help myself? Just like the women of Voorhisville, the mothers of Voorhisville, that is, I couldn’t, and I couldn’t lay aside the Tor novella (available here for free) despite knowing how early I’d have to be up the next day.
Was it worth it? I found The Mothers of Voorhisville an interesting study in psychology. It puts me in mind of Wallace Stevens’ poem, “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.” Each of the mothers looks at the mysterious stranger, Jeffrey, and sees what she wants to see: an artist, a protector, a yogi, a gifted poet, a blue-eyed saint. He smelled of lemon. No, apples. No, he smelled of chocolate! And in each case, the women (although Elli Ratcher at 15 was but a child) were transformed, made beautiful, confident, happy.
The ending, I won’t spoil it, was a bit implausible, but I’m still glad I read it. And, unlike some other reviewers, I enjoyed the different perspectives.
So, again, was it worth staying up and getting four hours of sleep? Take a few hours and find out for yourself.
September 30, 2014
The women of the town of Voorhisville are seduced by a mysterious stranger and later give birth to strange little babies. They love their babies very much and will do anything to keep them safe. But all these mothers have a secret, one that eventually comes to light and will put them all in danger!
April 19, 2017
I know this is supposed to be slow-developing psychological fantastical horror. All I felt was annoyance at the overly-emotional idiocy of these women, as well their mysterious yet pointless obsession as they become co-opted into raising and then propagating the predatory monstrous babies.
December 23, 2019
Day 21 in my 24 Days of Shorts
This was pretty long, more of a novella than a short story. It was too long, if you ask me. For the first half it vacillates between farcical and serious, apparently unsure what tone to adopt. Finally it settles on farcical, which was a bad choice. A bunch of comments on the tor site describe this as “chilling” but I wasn’t feeling that at all. It was just a hot mess.
There are multiple POVs, which was not successful, because each voice sounded the same. Yes, Rickert tried to differentiate Maddy by giving her poor grammar, but everyone else sounded identical.
Rickert seems to have quite a few themes she wants to play with: small towns, good vs evil, smells, perception vs reality, various character archetypes, angels and demons, Rosemarys baby, 9/11, etc. She throws all of those pretty marbles into the bag, shakes it up, lets them roll around in fairly random ways, and dumps them all out into the page. Not a single one of these themes was developed in a satisfying way. Most of them were left to die a slow gasping death. What was the point?
This was a really interesting idea that just fell apart.
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2014/04/30/the-mo...
My 24 Days of Shorts
1. File N°002 by Sylvain Neuvel
2. File N°247 by Sylvain Neuvel
3. Skinner Box by Carole Johnstone
4. The Weight of Memories by Liu Cixin
5. A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong
6. If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again by Zen Cho
7. Meat And Salt And Sparks by Rich Larson
8. Seven Birthdays by Ken Liu
9. Where Would You Be Now? by Carrie Vaughn
10. Old Media by Annalee Newitz
11. Nine Last Days on Planet Earth by Daryl Gregory
12. Sweetlings by Lucy Taylor
13. An Unexpected Honor by Ursula Vernon
14. Hell is the Absence of God by Ted Chiang
15. A Love Story by Samantha Hunt
16. The Lake by Tananarive Due
17. Ghost Hedgehog by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
18. Finnegan's Field by Angela Slatter
19. Among the Thorns by Veronica Schanoes
20. Rag and Bone by Priya Sharma
21. The Mothers of Voorhisville by Mary Rickert
22. As Good as New by Charlie Jane Anders
23. Twixt Firelight and Water by Juliet Marillier
24. The Christmas Show by Pat Cadigan
What mother wouldn’t kill to save her babies? The only thing unusual about our story is that our children can fly.
This was pretty long, more of a novella than a short story. It was too long, if you ask me. For the first half it vacillates between farcical and serious, apparently unsure what tone to adopt. Finally it settles on farcical, which was a bad choice. A bunch of comments on the tor site describe this as “chilling” but I wasn’t feeling that at all. It was just a hot mess.
There are multiple POVs, which was not successful, because each voice sounded the same. Yes, Rickert tried to differentiate Maddy by giving her poor grammar, but everyone else sounded identical.
Rickert seems to have quite a few themes she wants to play with: small towns, good vs evil, smells, perception vs reality, various character archetypes, angels and demons, Rosemarys baby, 9/11, etc. She throws all of those pretty marbles into the bag, shakes it up, lets them roll around in fairly random ways, and dumps them all out into the page. Not a single one of these themes was developed in a satisfying way. Most of them were left to die a slow gasping death. What was the point?
This was a really interesting idea that just fell apart.
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2014/04/30/the-mo...
My 24 Days of Shorts
1. File N°002 by Sylvain Neuvel
2. File N°247 by Sylvain Neuvel
3. Skinner Box by Carole Johnstone
4. The Weight of Memories by Liu Cixin
5. A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong
6. If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again by Zen Cho
7. Meat And Salt And Sparks by Rich Larson
8. Seven Birthdays by Ken Liu
9. Where Would You Be Now? by Carrie Vaughn
10. Old Media by Annalee Newitz
11. Nine Last Days on Planet Earth by Daryl Gregory
12. Sweetlings by Lucy Taylor
13. An Unexpected Honor by Ursula Vernon
14. Hell is the Absence of God by Ted Chiang
15. A Love Story by Samantha Hunt
16. The Lake by Tananarive Due
17. Ghost Hedgehog by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
18. Finnegan's Field by Angela Slatter
19. Among the Thorns by Veronica Schanoes
20. Rag and Bone by Priya Sharma
21. The Mothers of Voorhisville by Mary Rickert
22. As Good as New by Charlie Jane Anders
23. Twixt Firelight and Water by Juliet Marillier
24. The Christmas Show by Pat Cadigan
July 15, 2015
A mysterious man with brilliant blue eyes impregnates most of the fertile women in a little American town. Each of the babies has bat wings, hearty appetites, and grows rapidly. Eventually the mothers piece together what has happened and huddle together in an old farmhouse in hopes of protecting their strange children.
It could have been a cool remix of the Village of the Damned, but instead it just felt rambling and pointless. Eventually it devolves into surreal nonsense. On the one hand, I liked that Jeffrey's identity and the babies' purpose are never really explained; on the other, this felt far too long with far too little meat to it.
It could have been a cool remix of the Village of the Damned, but instead it just felt rambling and pointless. Eventually it devolves into surreal nonsense. On the one hand, I liked that Jeffrey's identity and the babies' purpose are never really explained; on the other, this felt far too long with far too little meat to it.
October 16, 2015
Too long to be called a short story and took too long to get to the point.
July 4, 2016
Why did I even read this? Two stars is certainly less than The Mothers of Voorhisville (it would be more honest, pehaps, to leave it wiout rating at all) deserve, it's just that I hate this kind of stories. Remember that movie where everyone got pregnant with creepy blonde evil children? As if getting pregnant isn't terrifying on its own? That's exactly it. Only with a twist (which makes it worse).
Read it at tor.com, I dare you.
Read it at tor.com, I dare you.
May 20, 2014
Once again, M. Rickert does a great job of creeping me out and giving my brain some stuff to chew on. This one's a story about what mothers will do for their children, but there are bigger issues about tribalism and what we'll do to protect our own. There are a number of characters here, and Rickert does good things with the different voices.
December 18, 2015
A blue-eyed angel comes to town in a hearse, and the women of Voorhisville can't help but succumb to him--and every single one becomes pregnant. Yet it takes a tragedy for the women to realize that they're in this together, for who else can they turn to when their babies start flying?
An entertaining and unique horror novella.
An entertaining and unique horror novella.
May 28, 2017
“Holy shit, JoJo,” I said. “You’ve got wings.”
Pretty sure this is the longest Tor short I've read yet, and it really did allow a lot more development; this was absolutely a novelette rather than a short story.
The mothers were interesting, but I did feel like there could have been more exploration of .. most of it. It was still good, but I wouldn't go much further than good :)
Pretty sure this is the longest Tor short I've read yet, and it really did allow a lot more development; this was absolutely a novelette rather than a short story.
The mothers were interesting, but I did feel like there could have been more exploration of .. most of it. It was still good, but I wouldn't go much further than good :)
August 12, 2016
A nicely executed version of the "A stranger comes to town." trope. The weirdest part was the bit at the end with news reports of hunters shooting down the babies, and the news anchors just being utterly blasé about it.
February 28, 2015
As the mother of a new baby, this was hard to read.
November 29, 2017
★★★★★ (5/5)
Favourite passages
* Theresa Ratcher, slowly, carefully, sank to the ground, kneeling in the dirt, smiling, and running her hand over her baby’s hair, just five yards away from Elli, who keened over hers.
* Sylvia’s roses grow limp from lack of care and—just as some dying people glow near the end—emit the sweetest odor
* June in Voorhisville. The leaves of oaks and elms and the famous chestnut tree on Main Street grow until the Voorhisville sun filters through a green canopy. Everything, from faces, to flowers, to food, appears tinged with a shade usually associated with alien masks or Halloween witches
* Who can be bothered with keys, in this world that no one wants? Tamara wishes she had a sheet of paper so she could write that thought down.
* She had to go to the bathroom. It did not seem possible that such a simple bodily function would take precedence over her sorrow, but it did
* We feel bad that we are reduced to such cold calculation, but our life now depends on calculating
* The house is getting smaller. Maddy Melvern is eating it
Favourite passages
* Theresa Ratcher, slowly, carefully, sank to the ground, kneeling in the dirt, smiling, and running her hand over her baby’s hair, just five yards away from Elli, who keened over hers.
* Sylvia’s roses grow limp from lack of care and—just as some dying people glow near the end—emit the sweetest odor
* June in Voorhisville. The leaves of oaks and elms and the famous chestnut tree on Main Street grow until the Voorhisville sun filters through a green canopy. Everything, from faces, to flowers, to food, appears tinged with a shade usually associated with alien masks or Halloween witches
* Who can be bothered with keys, in this world that no one wants? Tamara wishes she had a sheet of paper so she could write that thought down.
* She had to go to the bathroom. It did not seem possible that such a simple bodily function would take precedence over her sorrow, but it did
* We feel bad that we are reduced to such cold calculation, but our life now depends on calculating
* The house is getting smaller. Maddy Melvern is eating it
January 3, 2022
This one was weird and creepy. I bookmarked it in 2015 and finally got around to it in Pocket. It was engaging, but not sure that I liked it. I suspect that most of my GR friends wouldn't find it to their taste either.
A stranger comes to town and is gone in short order. 9 months later, several babies are born. And they have little wings. We get the story from the perspective of several of the mothers, all coming from different life journeys, and the structure is interesting.
I think I'd like the bigger context story of what is happening around this event better than just this slice of it, but like a good short story or novella it leaves you wanting more. At least kind of.
Rating: R, for strong language (f-words), implied sex, and some non-graphic violence
***SPOILERY THOUGHTS***
A stranger comes to town and is gone in short order. 9 months later, several babies are born. And they have little wings. We get the story from the perspective of several of the mothers, all coming from different life journeys, and the structure is interesting.
I think I'd like the bigger context story of what is happening around this event better than just this slice of it, but like a good short story or novella it leaves you wanting more. At least kind of.
Rating: R, for strong language (f-words), implied sex, and some non-graphic violence
***SPOILERY THOUGHTS***
May 23, 2017
Quick, strange read
I'd never heard of Tor Shorts, but they are apparently quick reads with a sci-fi or supernatural emphasis. This one was strange and somewhat surrealistic, but I enjoyed it, mainly for the multiplicity of characters and viewpoints.
This novella, excellent for reading while traveling (short, not too taxing, easily set down and picked up later, quick enough that reading electronically isn't torture), focuses on a small town where lots of women get pregnant at the same time, and all the babies have the same strange characteristics (all boys, too, but that's not what I mean by "strange"). Narrated in alternating voices by the various women (two of whom are teens), the plot is fairly straightforward with a good pace.
It's interesting that only a week or less after finishing, I can't remember how it ended -- but what I was left with was strange images and impressions. Enjoyable overall.
I'd never heard of Tor Shorts, but they are apparently quick reads with a sci-fi or supernatural emphasis. This one was strange and somewhat surrealistic, but I enjoyed it, mainly for the multiplicity of characters and viewpoints.
This novella, excellent for reading while traveling (short, not too taxing, easily set down and picked up later, quick enough that reading electronically isn't torture), focuses on a small town where lots of women get pregnant at the same time, and all the babies have the same strange characteristics (all boys, too, but that's not what I mean by "strange"). Narrated in alternating voices by the various women (two of whom are teens), the plot is fairly straightforward with a good pace.
It's interesting that only a week or less after finishing, I can't remember how it ended -- but what I was left with was strange images and impressions. Enjoyable overall.
February 28, 2020
A stranger upends the quiet town of Voorhisville by seducing the women and fathering sons that aren't quite human. As the novel unfolds, the women slowly pull back the curtains on a secret they believe they hide from the others and the rest of town for fear of what could become of their children- their sons can fly. The Mothers weave together a narrative of death and loss as they isolate themselves in a standoff situation with law enforcement, each starving themselves just so their child can be safe and loved somewhere if not with them. Rickert did a fantastic job of ramping up the suspense and the stakes as the novel went on but while I understand the mysterious Jeremy served his purpose to the story, I can't help but wish the one opportunity we had to learn more about what he is hadn't ended up the way it had. I loved how this had an equal parts Hitchcock meets Rod Serling vibe going and I wish there were more!
October 23, 2019
I don't know how to feel about this one. It was compelling, but it felt so disjointed, I had a hard time following the narrative at first.
It's obviously a town of the bewitched, full of women doing deeply irrational things to protect their children. Perhaps never having been a mother myself (nor am I likely to ever be, that is now not physically possible for me) I had a hard time connecting with some of the stuff going on. I dunno.
Still, I did read it all the way to the end, where it was sort of a whimper and not a bang of an ending. It was just overall disquieting.
It's obviously a town of the bewitched, full of women doing deeply irrational things to protect their children. Perhaps never having been a mother myself (nor am I likely to ever be, that is now not physically possible for me) I had a hard time connecting with some of the stuff going on. I dunno.
Still, I did read it all the way to the end, where it was sort of a whimper and not a bang of an ending. It was just overall disquieting.
May 18, 2022
3.5 stars
This is a fascinating story. Like some of the other reviews suggest I don’t think it completely connects thematically across the entire story. But I was still engaged and disturbed enough to keep reading and I liked what the author was trying to do, so I am inclined to rate it higher than it may actually deserve, but I think 3.5 stars is a fair representation of my feelings on the story.
This is a fascinating story. Like some of the other reviews suggest I don’t think it completely connects thematically across the entire story. But I was still engaged and disturbed enough to keep reading and I liked what the author was trying to do, so I am inclined to rate it higher than it may actually deserve, but I think 3.5 stars is a fair representation of my feelings on the story.
July 21, 2018
if i had to read “we are such stuff as dreams are made on” one more time i was gonna punch myself in the face
July 27, 2015
This unresolved supernatural-horror novella plays gender/motherhood like a metaphor, but then never formulates the equation. A mysterious man rolls into a small town in a hearse, has sex with a sizable percentage of the women [married, widowed, single, mothers, daughters, teens . . .] and then moves on. With each woman, the single night affair leads to easy pregnancy and difficult birth of a male monstrous baby.
Multiple POVs are utilized to tell the tale including a group voice for "The Mothers." This, along with the variety of reactions from the different mothers to both their individual and shared circumstances were the highlights of this novella. Missing, was any sort of reason or ending to the story.
The Mothers of Voorhisville appears in The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Novellas: 2015 edited by Paula Guran and published by Prime Books. It first appeared in Tor.com, April 30, 2014.
What we want for our babies is the same thing all mothers want. We want them to be happy, safe, and loved. We want them to have the opportunity to be the best selves they can be . . . . We do not know what our children will grow into. No mother can know that. But we know what we saw in them; something sweet and loving and innocent . . . We saw something in our children that we, the mothers, agree might even have been holy. After all, isn't there a little monster in everyone? . . . Every child must be reined in, given direction, taught right from wrong. Loved.
Multiple POVs are utilized to tell the tale including a group voice for "The Mothers." This, along with the variety of reactions from the different mothers to both their individual and shared circumstances were the highlights of this novella. Missing, was any sort of reason or ending to the story.
The Mothers of Voorhisville appears in The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Novellas: 2015 edited by Paula Guran and published by Prime Books. It first appeared in Tor.com, April 30, 2014.
March 26, 2015
The Mothers of Voorhisville by Mary Rickert is another SFF novella from Tor.com and a Nebula nominee. This sff horror story begins with a stranger passing through a small town and seducing a group of women. Nine months later, there is a baby boom. But there is something different about these babies. The mothers will go to great lengths to protect them from those who might hurt them.
This story begins on a ominous note and ends quite well. Unfortunately, the middle drags rather badly. Narrated through journal entries by the different mothers, the reader never meets the babies' "father," the man or creature that so easily seduced the women of this little town. The mothers -- some of them children themselves, others married, divorced, single, or widowed -- are secretive at first. They love their little monsters too much to care what they are or they will be getting up to. This story is fantasy/horror. With the exception of little monster babies with tiny wings, the fantasy side in this novella is left to the reader's imagination since there are no real explanations as to what they are, where they come from, or what the real purpose of their existence is. The real horror in this story lies on the mother's disquieting actions once the "mother's instinct" comes into play, the rest is mild in content.
This story begins on a ominous note and ends quite well. Unfortunately, the middle drags rather badly. Narrated through journal entries by the different mothers, the reader never meets the babies' "father," the man or creature that so easily seduced the women of this little town. The mothers -- some of them children themselves, others married, divorced, single, or widowed -- are secretive at first. They love their little monsters too much to care what they are or they will be getting up to. This story is fantasy/horror. With the exception of little monster babies with tiny wings, the fantasy side in this novella is left to the reader's imagination since there are no real explanations as to what they are, where they come from, or what the real purpose of their existence is. The real horror in this story lies on the mother's disquieting actions once the "mother's instinct" comes into play, the rest is mild in content.
July 15, 2015
This is a 2015 World Fantasy Award nominee for Best Novella.
This is a horror story.
I don't like horror stories.
I like this horror story.
A very handsome man named Jeffrey comes to the dingy small town of Voorhisville, and charms all the women he meets. They aren't even put off by the fact that he drives around in a hearse. The story unfolds for us in a number of voices--fifteen-year-old Ellie, her mother Theresa, widowed Sylvia, and others, as well as a collective voice calling itself "The Mothers."
Each becomes pregnant, and each gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. Jeffrey, by this time, is long gone.
The babies all have wings. Hard, sharp, black wings you can cut yourself on.
Each of the women hides the secret of her baby's wings, for as long as she can. They are even slower to realize that they have all had the same lover. But as their babies start to fly, one by one, they realize the other women have the same problem.
The horror builds slowly, in their paranoid protection of their babies, in the reactions of those around them, in their almost accidental gathering at the Ratcher farm, and in the utterly reasonable-seeming tone of the Mothers' collective account of their decisions and actions.
Beautifully written, subtle, and effective. Highly recommended.
This is a horror story.
I don't like horror stories.
I like this horror story.
A very handsome man named Jeffrey comes to the dingy small town of Voorhisville, and charms all the women he meets. They aren't even put off by the fact that he drives around in a hearse. The story unfolds for us in a number of voices--fifteen-year-old Ellie, her mother Theresa, widowed Sylvia, and others, as well as a collective voice calling itself "The Mothers."
Each becomes pregnant, and each gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. Jeffrey, by this time, is long gone.
The babies all have wings. Hard, sharp, black wings you can cut yourself on.
Each of the women hides the secret of her baby's wings, for as long as she can. They are even slower to realize that they have all had the same lover. But as their babies start to fly, one by one, they realize the other women have the same problem.
The horror builds slowly, in their paranoid protection of their babies, in the reactions of those around them, in their almost accidental gathering at the Ratcher farm, and in the utterly reasonable-seeming tone of the Mothers' collective account of their decisions and actions.
Beautifully written, subtle, and effective. Highly recommended.
December 25, 2015
I enjoyed the initial concept of the story, but things really started to drag once the lock down started. Nearing the end, it felt like the story would just keep going on and on and on - the POV went from a sort of coherent progression from one character to another to total anarchy, with mothers talking left and right. I suppose that that's a good reflection of the situation in the house in general, but it just went on too long for me.
And then, when the ending finally came, there was very little resolution. We don't know what became of the babies. We don't know what's up with Emily. We don't know if the mothers ever get out of the house alive.
For all that, I did enjoy the first half of the story, the lead-up to the reveal that *gasp!* all the babies have wings!!!
...I spent most of the story just being depressed though, because the premise made me remember how there's probably never going to be an ending to The Great and Secret Show.
And then, when the ending finally came, there was very little resolution. We don't know what became of the babies. We don't know what's up with Emily. We don't know if the mothers ever get out of the house alive.
For all that, I did enjoy the first half of the story, the lead-up to the reveal that *gasp!* all the babies have wings!!!
...I spent most of the story just being depressed though, because the premise made me remember how there's probably never going to be an ending to The Great and Secret Show.
May 29, 2015
Oh geez. This story. The descent is unrelenting.
In short: A story of a small town in which many of the women are seduced by the same "man" and find themselves pregnant. They give birth to male babies that (the reader can see) are more than just human babies. Insanity slowly ensues. With subtle, haunting details.
So many things to ponder on - Group think. Motherhood. Family. Small town life. Fatherhood. What happens when you feel like your back is against the wall. Dreams. Rational thought. Change. Even a few measures of race and privilege.
I love that throughout this creepy, unfolding drama surrounding this small town, we are actually given insight into a myriad of different personalities - each distinct. And most interesting, as the women are ... forced? Compelled?... together, you still get a sense of what each one is thinking and doing, separate from the rest.
It feels like everyone (aside from maybe the character of Raj) is slowly suffering from a gas leak - reader included - as the story goes on....
I'm gonna go clear my head.
In short: A story of a small town in which many of the women are seduced by the same "man" and find themselves pregnant. They give birth to male babies that (the reader can see) are more than just human babies. Insanity slowly ensues. With subtle, haunting details.
So many things to ponder on - Group think. Motherhood. Family. Small town life. Fatherhood. What happens when you feel like your back is against the wall. Dreams. Rational thought. Change. Even a few measures of race and privilege.
I love that throughout this creepy, unfolding drama surrounding this small town, we are actually given insight into a myriad of different personalities - each distinct. And most interesting, as the women are ... forced? Compelled?... together, you still get a sense of what each one is thinking and doing, separate from the rest.
It feels like everyone (aside from maybe the character of Raj) is slowly suffering from a gas leak - reader included - as the story goes on....
I'm gonna go clear my head.
dnf
December 16, 2023A quarter of the way in, I knew I didn’t really want to finish this story, but I tried until I got half way through.
The writing is good, but aside from being told through far too many points of view (sometimes as a group POV), most of whom seem like they’re cardboard cutouts or drugged out. Drugs, at least conventionally, don’t really seem to enter into it, but there’s something affecting them.
A beautiful man driving a hearse breezes into town, seduces everyone above the age of 14 (yes, really: the youngest mother in the story is only 15) who has a chance at conceiving that day, and disappears. Later, strange babies are born. The mothers love them, even when they figure out what must have happened, and take steps to protect the rapidly-growing, half-human monsters. Nothing is ever really explained with regards to the father or the babies, though maybe that changes later, and the text just drags on and pointlessly on.
And I’m never happy with dead children in a story, so perhaps there’s a personal bias here, too.
The writing is good, but aside from being told through far too many points of view (sometimes as a group POV), most of whom seem like they’re cardboard cutouts or drugged out. Drugs, at least conventionally, don’t really seem to enter into it, but there’s something affecting them.
A beautiful man driving a hearse breezes into town, seduces everyone above the age of 14 (yes, really: the youngest mother in the story is only 15) who has a chance at conceiving that day, and disappears. Later, strange babies are born. The mothers love them, even when they figure out what must have happened, and take steps to protect the rapidly-growing, half-human monsters. Nothing is ever really explained with regards to the father or the babies, though maybe that changes later, and the text just drags on and pointlessly on.
And I’m never happy with dead children in a story, so perhaps there’s a personal bias here, too.
coletâneas-coletados
January 10, 2025Li aqui, marquei lido aqui: Some of the Best from Tor.com, 2014 edition.
Em uns dois terços do conto eu dormi. Tava lá num momento em que todas as mães de Voorhisville estavam reunidas na casa de uma delas e as coisas começaram a degringolar: pessoas agiram horrivelmente, elas reagiram, seus filhos fizeram coisas reprováveis (pra dizer o mínimo e não dar spoiler), muitas coisas se acumularam e foi tudo pro inferno. Dormi nesse momento do conto e tive pesadelos horríveis com gente invadindo a minha casa, quebrando meus móveis, bagunçando minhas coisas, comendo minha comida bem no clima apocalíptico do conto. Climão pesado que parte de uma premissa meio simples, mas que tem consequências catastróficas. Muito bom. Com certeza vou procurar essa autora pra ler.
Em uns dois terços do conto eu dormi. Tava lá num momento em que todas as mães de Voorhisville estavam reunidas na casa de uma delas e as coisas começaram a degringolar: pessoas agiram horrivelmente, elas reagiram, seus filhos fizeram coisas reprováveis (pra dizer o mínimo e não dar spoiler), muitas coisas se acumularam e foi tudo pro inferno. Dormi nesse momento do conto e tive pesadelos horríveis com gente invadindo a minha casa, quebrando meus móveis, bagunçando minhas coisas, comendo minha comida bem no clima apocalíptico do conto. Climão pesado que parte de uma premissa meio simples, mas que tem consequências catastróficas. Muito bom. Com certeza vou procurar essa autora pra ler.
November 11, 2015
As other revieweres have pointed out, this novella is similar to the "Small potatoes" episode in X-files, and not only does it share some basic plot points with that episode, but also the great sense of whimsy and ironical take on horror that a few tongue in cheek X-file episodes shared (the best ones in my opinion).
That is not to say that "The Mothers..." is plagiaristic in any way, or that it doesn't have merits of its own. The atmosphere of the small town is greatly rendered (great use of alternating POVs and distictive voices) and also the concept of motherhood is thoroughly explored: not the syrupy idea of motherhood but the low-level crazyness, unexpected and contradictory feelings, etc.
Great read!
That is not to say that "The Mothers..." is plagiaristic in any way, or that it doesn't have merits of its own. The atmosphere of the small town is greatly rendered (great use of alternating POVs and distictive voices) and also the concept of motherhood is thoroughly explored: not the syrupy idea of motherhood but the low-level crazyness, unexpected and contradictory feelings, etc.
Great read!
March 2, 2015
This novella is on the Nebula short list. I found it compelling enough to read the whole thing, though I found myself quite frustrated in the end. The biggest question from the very start was, "What is Jeffery?" This man came into town and managed to impregnate every woman of fertile age, causing them to bear children from sharp wings. I wanted to know what he was, what his motivation really was (it's not clear that he seduced them for this own enjoyment, even), what the children were, why they were a threat beyond the town. The actions of the mothers were disturbing but made sense, in their own way. The writing was good--it certainly pulled me along--but I really prefer stories with tidier conclusions.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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