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Melancholy Delusions
Melancholy Delusions is Yolanda Sfetsos' debut story collection. A dark gathering of 17 melancholy horror tales where mothers, lovers, friends and monsters intersect with disastrous and tragic consequences.
- GenresHorror
202 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 28, 2025
About the author
Yolanda Sfetsos
78 books241 followersWriter. Bibliophile. Collector. Animal lover. Horror freak.
My name is Yolanda, and I live in Australia. I write horror tales that bleed into other genres. I'm a horror freak from way back and a total bibliophile! I also collect cute stuff, love cozy vibes, and enjoy going for walks.
My name is Yolanda, and I live in Australia. I write horror tales that bleed into other genres. I'm a horror freak from way back and a total bibliophile! I also collect cute stuff, love cozy vibes, and enjoy going for walks.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 2, 2025
Melancholy Delusions is a horror short story collection, written by Yolanda Sfetsos, published by Cemetery Gates Media. A well-woven collection with a wide range of stories, mostly with an overarching theme of loneliness, loss, and eventually death; seventeen proposals that give us a great idea of Sfetsos' ability.
It is difficult to choose a favourite when there's such a variety; personally I feel there was a more spine chilling component on those that explored monstrous creatures, especially paired with Sfetsos' descriptions. Among those stories that stood with me, All My Pretties, the one that started the collection was particularly great, a bit gory but leaving gaps to fill with imagination.
To highlight another few ones, I would pick A Portrait of Death, playing with the concept of flirting with the literal Death; and The Girls Devoured by the Wood, which eventually gives a try to develop its own mythology.
Overall, Melancholy Delusions is a great collection; seventeen spine chilling stories that only leaves you wanting to read more by Yolanda Sfetsos. A must read if you want to explore loneliness and death!
It is difficult to choose a favourite when there's such a variety; personally I feel there was a more spine chilling component on those that explored monstrous creatures, especially paired with Sfetsos' descriptions. Among those stories that stood with me, All My Pretties, the one that started the collection was particularly great, a bit gory but leaving gaps to fill with imagination.
To highlight another few ones, I would pick A Portrait of Death, playing with the concept of flirting with the literal Death; and The Girls Devoured by the Wood, which eventually gives a try to develop its own mythology.
Overall, Melancholy Delusions is a great collection; seventeen spine chilling stories that only leaves you wanting to read more by Yolanda Sfetsos. A must read if you want to explore loneliness and death!
January 17, 2025
Mark your calendars for the 28th of this month, when this incredible debut short story collection is released! I thoroughly DEVOURED and loved all 17 stories, which is a rare feat for a short story collection. Sfetsos demonstrates impressive range and versatility in the horror genre, and showcases her ability to masterfully tackle a wide variety of horror tropes. From supernatural entities like ghosts, vampires, and werewolves to human monsters and cosmic beings, Sfetsos crafts stories that are so engrossing, you’ll forget to breathe!
Picking a favorite is extremely difficult, as the majority of these stories was a 4-5 star read for me. However, 'All My Pretties', which opens the collection, was a fantastic starting point and immediately drew me in. The idea of killer dolls in a cozy cottage in the woods was simply amazing 🤩 I'll also highlight 'Other Side of Me', a thought-provoking story about an antique mirror reflecting the discarded aspects of a woman who, consumed by self-loathing, underwent plastic surgery to achieve a perfectly sculpted body - You’ll have to read this to see what happens next!
Overall, this book is exceptional, and I would love to see some of these stories expanded upon in the future. The characters are all messed up, and they meet horrific fates that are just plain disastrous. If you're a horror fan, who enjoys bleak stories with a melancholic tone and unexpected twists, you owe it to yourself to read this.
Many thanks to the author and the publisher Cemetery Gates Media for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.
Picking a favorite is extremely difficult, as the majority of these stories was a 4-5 star read for me. However, 'All My Pretties', which opens the collection, was a fantastic starting point and immediately drew me in. The idea of killer dolls in a cozy cottage in the woods was simply amazing 🤩 I'll also highlight 'Other Side of Me', a thought-provoking story about an antique mirror reflecting the discarded aspects of a woman who, consumed by self-loathing, underwent plastic surgery to achieve a perfectly sculpted body - You’ll have to read this to see what happens next!
Overall, this book is exceptional, and I would love to see some of these stories expanded upon in the future. The characters are all messed up, and they meet horrific fates that are just plain disastrous. If you're a horror fan, who enjoys bleak stories with a melancholic tone and unexpected twists, you owe it to yourself to read this.
Many thanks to the author and the publisher Cemetery Gates Media for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.
January 17, 2025
I loved this collection. Every entry was thoroughly enjoyable. My favorites are A Portrait of Death, The Man in the Red Suit (I want a series of Sierra Fox stories!), All My Pretties and Finding Survival.
Also, can we take a moment to gush about this cover!! I always love Cemetery Gates covers, especially when they work with Luke Spooner and Carrion House. This one is my absolute favorite!
Thank you to Yolanda Sfetsos and Cemetery Gates for the ARC copy for an honest review!
Edit: Just saw there are 5 Sierra Fox books out there. I need to find them!
Also, can we take a moment to gush about this cover!! I always love Cemetery Gates covers, especially when they work with Luke Spooner and Carrion House. This one is my absolute favorite!
Thank you to Yolanda Sfetsos and Cemetery Gates for the ARC copy for an honest review!
Edit: Just saw there are 5 Sierra Fox books out there. I need to find them!
January 29, 2025
I love Yolanda’s stories, in book or short story form, and this set didn’t disappoint! These stories have an over arching theme of loneliness, loss, fitting in/belonging, isolation, motherhood, familial relationships, heartbreaking friendships, love in various ways, revenge/vengeance, and most of all, death in all forms.
You can tell that Yolanda writes many stories from an interest in discovering all the angles in which death plays with us and haunts us, even while we live. All the stories are well-written with vibrant and developed characters, most of whom I’d like to encounter again. And the monsters and ghosts, extraordinarily creative and imaginative as well, whether actual monsters and spooks or human.
Yolanda’s descriptions are always on point, no matter the length of the story, she’s almost always able to give the reader a complete visual view of the surroundings, letting you immerse into the story as if you were there (or the character!).
Though I might have ordered these stories differently in the collection, the collection was extremely strong, particularly from middle to end I couldn’t stop reading fervently. My very favorite stories, though I really did like almost all of them, were:
The Girls Devoured by the Woods
Shoreline
The Man in the Red Suit (need more Sierra Fox stories!)
A Portrait of Death (2nd FAVE)
Lady of the House (MY FAVE - beautifully written)
Finding Survival (surprisingly, as I don’t like zombies!)
Overall -
A deliciously deep collection of imaginative stories filled with lonely and lost people, some loathsome and some to be cheered for, surrounded by death and monsters in all forms - unlikely creatures, ghosts, zombies, vampires, werewolves, Death herself, and much more. With beautiful descriptions, macabre settings, evil and gore, these stories will transport you to the bleak side of life. You’ll be better for it though, maybe think about humanity and the human spirit at longer length, linger for a while in its depths.
Can’t wait for her next collection. Recommend!!
***
Thank you to the publisher Cemetery Gates Media for this copy for review consideration.
You can tell that Yolanda writes many stories from an interest in discovering all the angles in which death plays with us and haunts us, even while we live. All the stories are well-written with vibrant and developed characters, most of whom I’d like to encounter again. And the monsters and ghosts, extraordinarily creative and imaginative as well, whether actual monsters and spooks or human.
Yolanda’s descriptions are always on point, no matter the length of the story, she’s almost always able to give the reader a complete visual view of the surroundings, letting you immerse into the story as if you were there (or the character!).
Though I might have ordered these stories differently in the collection, the collection was extremely strong, particularly from middle to end I couldn’t stop reading fervently. My very favorite stories, though I really did like almost all of them, were:
The Girls Devoured by the Woods
Shoreline
The Man in the Red Suit (need more Sierra Fox stories!)
A Portrait of Death (2nd FAVE)
Lady of the House (MY FAVE - beautifully written)
Finding Survival (surprisingly, as I don’t like zombies!)
Overall -
A deliciously deep collection of imaginative stories filled with lonely and lost people, some loathsome and some to be cheered for, surrounded by death and monsters in all forms - unlikely creatures, ghosts, zombies, vampires, werewolves, Death herself, and much more. With beautiful descriptions, macabre settings, evil and gore, these stories will transport you to the bleak side of life. You’ll be better for it though, maybe think about humanity and the human spirit at longer length, linger for a while in its depths.
Can’t wait for her next collection. Recommend!!
***
Thank you to the publisher Cemetery Gates Media for this copy for review consideration.
February 6, 2025
Meloncholy Delusions by Yolanda Sfetsos
A short story collection of 17 disturbing tales that are bound to give you a fright!
There is a wide range horror here, which is always the greatest strength of this type of publication. It is also a great introduction to Yolanda's writing, who is able to find the heart of each story quickly and with unexpected endings.
Some of my favorites:
All My Pretties: this one kicks off the collection with crazy killer doll and plushy gore. These toys are a witch's kids and there is more at play with the goings on in the woods that surround her cottage.
Clara's Phone: told through online chat and text messages. A spin on the Bloody Mary game that manages to be quite scary, and I think it's because of the bare-bones texts. The details are all in your head. 💀
Somewhere To Belong: Lovecraftian and creepy because of some ghost kids, but I found this one to be bittersweet!
Other Side Of Me: narcissism, mirrors, and lots of blood. Self-love in all the wrong ways.
The Girls Devoured by the Woods: this had a great sense of place and felt like it had its own mythology, which I'd love to see more of! Bring on the forest demons!
A Portrait of Death: this was my FAVORITE. I didn't want it to end. An artist may have the opportunity of a lifetime--flirt with Death and save his own life in the process. I love the way Death was described, she was strong, wise, beautiful, and charming, so I pictured Anne Hathaway 😍😛
Allure: a sensual vampire story that I appreciated for the down to earth chit-chat that felt like real flirting, and the story was given enough time to breathe so that the shocking ending was impactful. I didn't know where this was going!
Finding Survival: you will never guess what the title means. Gosh, this floored me. I've never read a zombie story like this. It's all I can say. Despairing, and oh God, the horror! the horror! If you are a parent.
A short story collection of 17 disturbing tales that are bound to give you a fright!
There is a wide range horror here, which is always the greatest strength of this type of publication. It is also a great introduction to Yolanda's writing, who is able to find the heart of each story quickly and with unexpected endings.
Some of my favorites:
All My Pretties: this one kicks off the collection with crazy killer doll and plushy gore. These toys are a witch's kids and there is more at play with the goings on in the woods that surround her cottage.
Clara's Phone: told through online chat and text messages. A spin on the Bloody Mary game that manages to be quite scary, and I think it's because of the bare-bones texts. The details are all in your head. 💀
Somewhere To Belong: Lovecraftian and creepy because of some ghost kids, but I found this one to be bittersweet!
Other Side Of Me: narcissism, mirrors, and lots of blood. Self-love in all the wrong ways.
The Girls Devoured by the Woods: this had a great sense of place and felt like it had its own mythology, which I'd love to see more of! Bring on the forest demons!
A Portrait of Death: this was my FAVORITE. I didn't want it to end. An artist may have the opportunity of a lifetime--flirt with Death and save his own life in the process. I love the way Death was described, she was strong, wise, beautiful, and charming, so I pictured Anne Hathaway 😍😛
Allure: a sensual vampire story that I appreciated for the down to earth chit-chat that felt like real flirting, and the story was given enough time to breathe so that the shocking ending was impactful. I didn't know where this was going!
Finding Survival: you will never guess what the title means. Gosh, this floored me. I've never read a zombie story like this. It's all I can say. Despairing, and oh God, the horror! the horror! If you are a parent.
June 9, 2026
There is a familiarity in some of these dark tales that I found quite comforting. A feeling of almost knowing them in a way. Elements of The Wizard of Oz, Hansel and Gretel were in there, but don't think this is just a twisted copy of those tales. It's absolutely not. It's just sort of beneath the surface, you know? Some might not even notice it, but I did.
But these tales are obviously darker. There were a few I thought about long after, too. Like SHORELINE and OF YOU, THE END. They were the special ones for me. They just came from nowhere... Just so good.
So, what we've got is a real mixed bag of dark tales. Even some for vampire and werewolf fans as well.
You should check out Yolanda's work if you haven't already.
She's great.
Five stars.
But these tales are obviously darker. There were a few I thought about long after, too. Like SHORELINE and OF YOU, THE END. They were the special ones for me. They just came from nowhere... Just so good.
So, what we've got is a real mixed bag of dark tales. Even some for vampire and werewolf fans as well.
You should check out Yolanda's work if you haven't already.
She's great.
Five stars.
January 25, 2025
I can’t believe this is a debut story collection. Yolanda Sfetos absolutely nails it with these 17 stories. They’re dark and completely absorbed me.
Some standouts were:
▪️Somewhere to Belong: A simple check on a child becomes a turning point. Cosmic ⭐
▪️Shoreline: With the weight of loss heavy on her, she asks the ocean to bring him back, and to her surprise, the water listens. Cosmic/grief ⭐
▪️A Portrait of Death: literally flirting with death ⭐
▪️Finding Survival: zombies and an ending that kinda reminded me of Tender Is The Flesh ⭐
This collection is everything I LOVE about dark, thoughtful storytelling. Highly recommend this author! 👏🏻
Some standouts were:
▪️Somewhere to Belong: A simple check on a child becomes a turning point. Cosmic ⭐
▪️Shoreline: With the weight of loss heavy on her, she asks the ocean to bring him back, and to her surprise, the water listens. Cosmic/grief ⭐
▪️A Portrait of Death: literally flirting with death ⭐
▪️Finding Survival: zombies and an ending that kinda reminded me of Tender Is The Flesh ⭐
This collection is everything I LOVE about dark, thoughtful storytelling. Highly recommend this author! 👏🏻
February 5, 2025
Every single story in this collection was an engaging read. Combining eerie, spooky and dark, there's a full spectrum of horror on display. Best enjoyed in the dark just before bed, or on a stormy night, when the wind rattles your windows!
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December 30, 2024Welcome to my debut short story collection!
After decades of writing dark short stories, I finally collated, rewrote and revised 17 melancholy tales featuring a variety of human and monstrous characters with strange and dangerous lives.
A special thank you goes to Cemetery Gates Media for publishing my collection. ☺️
I hope you enjoy your stay.
After decades of writing dark short stories, I finally collated, rewrote and revised 17 melancholy tales featuring a variety of human and monstrous characters with strange and dangerous lives.
A special thank you goes to Cemetery Gates Media for publishing my collection. ☺️
I hope you enjoy your stay.
February 14, 2025
Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen King, and others famously identified the short story as the most effective vehicle for horror fiction. I'm on board with that assessment, and Yolanda Sfetsos's MELANCHOLY DELUSIONS proves that the format is alive (or undead?) and well.
This collection feels like a much-needed contemporary update to some of the classics I devoured when I was younger (Skipp and Spector's BOOK OF THE DEAD comes to mind). Most of the main characters and narrators are women, which isn't the case in a lot of those older anthologies. Lovecraftian sea monsters, creepy children, a gorgon visiting the 1980s to terrorize its victim...what's not to like? "Somewhere to Belong" genuinely creeped me out, and "The Man in the Red Suit" puts a cool supernatural spin on the noir/private-investigator tale similar to Cassandra Khaw's Persons Non Grata series.
A handful of the stories retread familiar ground ("Shoreline" is an aquatic update to the classic "Monkey's Paw" blueprint, "Of You, the End" is reminiscent of the Cenobites in Barker's THE HELLBOUND HEART/HELLRAISER, and "Other Side of Me" is a much more graphic reimagining of any number of classic mirror stories), but even the werewolves and zombies are in good form here. Recommended, especially if you're looking to take a break from the usual big names in horror with a promising new author.
Thank you to Cemetery Gates Media for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review, and kudos to Luke Spooner and Carrion House for the excellent cover.
This collection feels like a much-needed contemporary update to some of the classics I devoured when I was younger (Skipp and Spector's BOOK OF THE DEAD comes to mind). Most of the main characters and narrators are women, which isn't the case in a lot of those older anthologies. Lovecraftian sea monsters, creepy children, a gorgon visiting the 1980s to terrorize its victim...what's not to like? "Somewhere to Belong" genuinely creeped me out, and "The Man in the Red Suit" puts a cool supernatural spin on the noir/private-investigator tale similar to Cassandra Khaw's Persons Non Grata series.
A handful of the stories retread familiar ground ("Shoreline" is an aquatic update to the classic "Monkey's Paw" blueprint, "Of You, the End" is reminiscent of the Cenobites in Barker's THE HELLBOUND HEART/HELLRAISER, and "Other Side of Me" is a much more graphic reimagining of any number of classic mirror stories), but even the werewolves and zombies are in good form here. Recommended, especially if you're looking to take a break from the usual big names in horror with a promising new author.
Thank you to Cemetery Gates Media for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review, and kudos to Luke Spooner and Carrion House for the excellent cover.
January 21, 2025
I very much enjoyed reading Melancholy Delusions by Yolanda Sfetsos. Each story was exquisitely unique and drew me into the book more!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews