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Stuffed
Electra is a taxidermist specializing in eclectic builds, stylizing household pets in bizarre fashion after their demise. When she is approached by Raina, a mysterious, terminally ill woman with a very strange request, Electra finds herself falling for Raina both as a romantic prospect and a specimen.
Things are only complicated further as Electra is plagued by nightmares of an Appalachian cryptid she calls the she-stag. Will Electra be able to fulfill Raina's peculiar wish, or will she succumb to her most violent, carnal urges and sacrifice the biggest job of her life to appease an old god?
“Delightfully strange and full of macabre twists, STUFFED provides readers with an introspective journey into the abject. An unusual request leads to haunting secrets shedding like antler velvet, exposing questions of identity, spirituality, and what it means to be free. From Appalachian gods to eclectic taxidermy, this liminal exploration of the living and the dead holds nothing back.” -Sara Tantlinger, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Devil’s Dreamland
Things are only complicated further as Electra is plagued by nightmares of an Appalachian cryptid she calls the she-stag. Will Electra be able to fulfill Raina's peculiar wish, or will she succumb to her most violent, carnal urges and sacrifice the biggest job of her life to appease an old god?
“Delightfully strange and full of macabre twists, STUFFED provides readers with an introspective journey into the abject. An unusual request leads to haunting secrets shedding like antler velvet, exposing questions of identity, spirituality, and what it means to be free. From Appalachian gods to eclectic taxidermy, this liminal exploration of the living and the dead holds nothing back.” -Sara Tantlinger, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Devil’s Dreamland
169 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 4, 2024
3 people are currently reading
12 people want to read
About the author
Carina Stopenski
9 books17 followersqueer writer, librarian, teacher, and scholar living in pittsburgh, pa | phd student of literature | reader and writer of all things transgressive | gross little goblin obsessed with nasty, fleshy writing | they/them
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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December 18, 2024i wrote this book and i think it's really good. :)
June 28, 2025
Oh my god, this novella?? Absolutely unhinged in the best possible way. I devoured it and then just sat there blinking like “wait—how was that only that many pages??” Because let me tell you: this felt like an epic. A haunting, horny, horrifying epic.
We follow Electra, a taxidermist with a childhood steeped in Appalachian folklore and religious trauma, as she’s approached by Raina, a terminally ill woman who wants to be taxidermied—yes, really—into a kind of cryptid Electra remembers from her youth. And that’s just the starting premise.
What follows? Spicy present-day sexcapades, brutal flashbacks to Electra’s backwoods upbringing, skin-crawling dream sequences, and enough body horror to make your molars ache. But none of it felt overstuffed (lol). Every piece clicked into place, building toward Electra’s final, devastating choice. The romance? Heartbreaking. The horror? Sublime. That she-stag?? Will be haunting me forever, thank you. 👁️👁️
Electra is one of the most believable, lovable weirdos I’ve read in a while, and the “is she haunted or just traumatized” thread was handled so well. I legit teared up during the epilogue. Yes, even after all the blood, antlers, and meat.
If you love stories that are part cryptid myth, part queer tragedy, part visceral descent into madness (or divinity), Stuffed is a must-read. I will be recommending it to everyone I know with a strong stomach and a soft heart.
We follow Electra, a taxidermist with a childhood steeped in Appalachian folklore and religious trauma, as she’s approached by Raina, a terminally ill woman who wants to be taxidermied—yes, really—into a kind of cryptid Electra remembers from her youth. And that’s just the starting premise.
What follows? Spicy present-day sexcapades, brutal flashbacks to Electra’s backwoods upbringing, skin-crawling dream sequences, and enough body horror to make your molars ache. But none of it felt overstuffed (lol). Every piece clicked into place, building toward Electra’s final, devastating choice. The romance? Heartbreaking. The horror? Sublime. That she-stag?? Will be haunting me forever, thank you. 👁️👁️
Electra is one of the most believable, lovable weirdos I’ve read in a while, and the “is she haunted or just traumatized” thread was handled so well. I legit teared up during the epilogue. Yes, even after all the blood, antlers, and meat.
If you love stories that are part cryptid myth, part queer tragedy, part visceral descent into madness (or divinity), Stuffed is a must-read. I will be recommending it to everyone I know with a strong stomach and a soft heart.
March 25, 2025
Holy cow. I cannot recommend this book enough! A beautiful descent into madness with a talented taxidermist named Electra, all while tackling tough themes like family and religious trauma, mental health, sexuality, morality, and the mythology of our own American home. I will definitely be ordering a paper back version to enjoy again, this book was a delicious read. The author has a gift with heartbreaking description and I will be reading anything else she puts out!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews