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The Drowning Machine and Other Obsessions
In these eighteen stories, Emma E. Murray navigates uncharted waters of love, lust, and loss, descending into that most darkest of the human (and inhuman) heart.
Amidst the spiral and churn, you will hear frighteningly realistic tales of parental regret, the death of innocence, carnal yearning, and creeping evil, among other voices of the damned. Some are ferocious howls from out of the deep; others, tender lullabies or deranged arias of grief—and, beneath it all, the quiet, contented hum of something which has just fed... yet hungers for more.
With stories that have been previously published in such venues as Vastarien and Cosmic Horror Monthly, as well as critically acclaimed anthologies, Emma E. Murray's virtuosic prose takes the reader to the very root of the vortex and will leave you gasping for breath.
Enter the maelstrom of THE DROWNING MACHINE and Other Obsessions, and let yourself sink—into a darkness that will devour you.
Amidst the spiral and churn, you will hear frighteningly realistic tales of parental regret, the death of innocence, carnal yearning, and creeping evil, among other voices of the damned. Some are ferocious howls from out of the deep; others, tender lullabies or deranged arias of grief—and, beneath it all, the quiet, contented hum of something which has just fed... yet hungers for more.
With stories that have been previously published in such venues as Vastarien and Cosmic Horror Monthly, as well as critically acclaimed anthologies, Emma E. Murray's virtuosic prose takes the reader to the very root of the vortex and will leave you gasping for breath.
Enter the maelstrom of THE DROWNING MACHINE and Other Obsessions, and let yourself sink—into a darkness that will devour you.
- GenresHorrorShort Stories
239 pages, Paperback
Published February 21, 2025
3 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Emma E. Murray
27 books102 followersEmma E. Murray (she/her) explores the dark side of humanity in her fiction. Her work has appeared in Vastarien and Cosmic Horror Monthly among other places. Her works includes When the Devil, Crushing Snails, The Drowning Machine and Other Obsessions, and Shoot Me in the Face on a Beautiful Day. When she isn’t writing, she is usually found playing make-believe with her young daughter or make-believe with her friends (aka D&D).
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
November 8, 2024
Haunting and compelling, beautifully written and cuts to the core.
October 23, 2025
I’d give this six stars if I could.
January 4, 2025
Well, these stories will hurt you. Several times they messed me up.
It's been a while since I came across such a triggering and disturbing collection. And I mean this in the best of ways, of course. The stories are sooo good! But that's not all.
Perhaps intentionally, Emma E. Murray's debut short story collection is a true minefield for the reviewer and a hornet's nest for all readers. Murray has cunningly placed the triggering moments in each story just where a reviewer would be reticent to mention spoilers: if I start mentioning trigger warnings (or if you just take a peek at the "Reading Advisories" list in the end), the stories will have far less impact, because you'll be expecting the twist. Unfortunately, I haven't found a way around this, so let's try to go through the collection with as little hand-waving as possible!
"The Drowning Machine and Other Obsessions" gathers together eighteen tales of varying length, five of which are original to this collection and the rest have been published in anthologies ("Ooze," for example) and magazines or podcasts (Vastarien, Cosmic Horror Monthly, and others). The stories are extreme horror, though not of the usual kind: there's the occasional gore, but no gag-inducing moments, just straightforwardly anxious, haunting, and heartbreaking tales of psychological horror. This is the kind of horror found in the bleak and honest, though mostly indirect, portrayal of school shootings, miscarriages, childhood cancer, and unresolved cases of missing kids. In each story, Murray extends an invitation to the reader to follow her into the darkness of grief or madness, all the while holding fast to the kind of vulnerability we all carry by default in daily life. She's not trying to teach us how to deal with sadness, death and loss, so that they no longer upset us - the contrary is far closer to the truth.
"An Angel of God," the opening story, is exemplary of this attitude: both grief and insanity combine with religious faith so that a young mother can find a way to deal with trauma. Similarly, though more literally, "If I Carry You," "Lavender & Dandelions," and "Golden Hour" resolve a mother's fear of future loss by taking the trauma into her own life and sense of self - each story accomplishing a haunting form of healing in radically diverse ways. The imagery and the tension in these tales grow exponentially right to their distubing ending. "Whole Again" covers pretty much the same ground, but the ending is shockingly different and far sadder: a mother's fate in this book is quite difficult to predict! The first part of the collection concludes with "A Better Mother," where motherhood and insanity blur into each other, raising the question of what counts as a good mother in the end. The second part of the collection focuses on children: "Take Control" has two young sisters playing and suddenly coming face to face with a (regretfully, rather familiar) kind of evil - the resolution needs to be approached with some care; "The Profound Pain of Letting Go" is about a boy getting lost in his school hallways after a traumatic event; "Dyin’ Aint Nothin’ But Fallin’ Asleep" gives a science fictional slant to the issue of what should count as discipling and punishing children's mistakes; "Portage Ohio in Early Autumn" is a short tale about a girl going missing during the night; "The Night Visitor" feels a bit like a creepypasta with a great punchline; and "Through the Holler into the Dark" is a supernatural tale of a teenager trying to find her missing sister at any cost. Part III takes things up a notch, starting with "Mother of Machines," an amazing tale based on the Russian "Man Dies in Lathe" video; "Blessed are the Meek" captures a very disturbing aspect of android life not included in the factory settings, as explained by the android itself (herself?); "Exquisite Hunger" is a bit graphic and predictable story of culinary horror, about a woman who craves intimate contact with her beautiful neighbor; the titular story of "The Drowning Machine" is about a woman's regret and guilt after the loss of her sister; "Vengeance is a Patient Beast" is a comparatively rather tame story of paying your dues whatever your age; and "Follow the Moon," a brilliant story about dementia and surely my favorite of the bunch, manages to convey the gradual erosion of cognitive abilities through both writing style and the description of representative situational dilemmas.
In sum, the collection hits hard, sometimes twisting conventional truth to the point of repulsion and obsession, but always in smart and attractive ways designed to keep the reader staring into what's happening, however uncomfortable they may feel. If you like reads that push your boundaries, this collection is very highly recommended!
It's been a while since I came across such a triggering and disturbing collection. And I mean this in the best of ways, of course. The stories are sooo good! But that's not all.
Perhaps intentionally, Emma E. Murray's debut short story collection is a true minefield for the reviewer and a hornet's nest for all readers. Murray has cunningly placed the triggering moments in each story just where a reviewer would be reticent to mention spoilers: if I start mentioning trigger warnings (or if you just take a peek at the "Reading Advisories" list in the end), the stories will have far less impact, because you'll be expecting the twist. Unfortunately, I haven't found a way around this, so let's try to go through the collection with as little hand-waving as possible!
"The Drowning Machine and Other Obsessions" gathers together eighteen tales of varying length, five of which are original to this collection and the rest have been published in anthologies ("Ooze," for example) and magazines or podcasts (Vastarien, Cosmic Horror Monthly, and others). The stories are extreme horror, though not of the usual kind: there's the occasional gore, but no gag-inducing moments, just straightforwardly anxious, haunting, and heartbreaking tales of psychological horror. This is the kind of horror found in the bleak and honest, though mostly indirect, portrayal of school shootings, miscarriages, childhood cancer, and unresolved cases of missing kids. In each story, Murray extends an invitation to the reader to follow her into the darkness of grief or madness, all the while holding fast to the kind of vulnerability we all carry by default in daily life. She's not trying to teach us how to deal with sadness, death and loss, so that they no longer upset us - the contrary is far closer to the truth.
"An Angel of God," the opening story, is exemplary of this attitude: both grief and insanity combine with religious faith so that a young mother can find a way to deal with trauma. Similarly, though more literally, "If I Carry You," "Lavender & Dandelions," and "Golden Hour" resolve a mother's fear of future loss by taking the trauma into her own life and sense of self - each story accomplishing a haunting form of healing in radically diverse ways. The imagery and the tension in these tales grow exponentially right to their distubing ending. "Whole Again" covers pretty much the same ground, but the ending is shockingly different and far sadder: a mother's fate in this book is quite difficult to predict! The first part of the collection concludes with "A Better Mother," where motherhood and insanity blur into each other, raising the question of what counts as a good mother in the end. The second part of the collection focuses on children: "Take Control" has two young sisters playing and suddenly coming face to face with a (regretfully, rather familiar) kind of evil - the resolution needs to be approached with some care; "The Profound Pain of Letting Go" is about a boy getting lost in his school hallways after a traumatic event; "Dyin’ Aint Nothin’ But Fallin’ Asleep" gives a science fictional slant to the issue of what should count as discipling and punishing children's mistakes; "Portage Ohio in Early Autumn" is a short tale about a girl going missing during the night; "The Night Visitor" feels a bit like a creepypasta with a great punchline; and "Through the Holler into the Dark" is a supernatural tale of a teenager trying to find her missing sister at any cost. Part III takes things up a notch, starting with "Mother of Machines," an amazing tale based on the Russian "Man Dies in Lathe" video; "Blessed are the Meek" captures a very disturbing aspect of android life not included in the factory settings, as explained by the android itself (herself?); "Exquisite Hunger" is a bit graphic and predictable story of culinary horror, about a woman who craves intimate contact with her beautiful neighbor; the titular story of "The Drowning Machine" is about a woman's regret and guilt after the loss of her sister; "Vengeance is a Patient Beast" is a comparatively rather tame story of paying your dues whatever your age; and "Follow the Moon," a brilliant story about dementia and surely my favorite of the bunch, manages to convey the gradual erosion of cognitive abilities through both writing style and the description of representative situational dilemmas.
In sum, the collection hits hard, sometimes twisting conventional truth to the point of repulsion and obsession, but always in smart and attractive ways designed to keep the reader staring into what's happening, however uncomfortable they may feel. If you like reads that push your boundaries, this collection is very highly recommended!
December 8, 2024
THE DROWNING MACHINE AND OTHER OBSESSIONS BY Emma E. Murray
A collection of 18 amazing, spine chilling, heartbreaking, morbid, haunting, anxiety inducing, lonely stories that bring grief horror to life in the most lyrical way.
Overall 4.5⭐️
An Angel of God - 4.5
If I Carry You - 4
Lavender & Dandelions - 5
Golden Hour - 4
Whole Again - 5
A Better Mother - 5
Take Control - 5
The Profound Pain of Letting Go - 4.5
Dyin’ Aint Nothin’ But Fallin’ Asleep - 3.5
Portage Ohio in Early Autumn - 5
The Night Visitor - 4
Through the Hollar into the Dark - 4.5
Mother of Machines - 5
Blessed are the Meek - 3.5
Exquisite Hunger - 4.5
The Drowning Machine - 5
Vengeance is a Patient Beast - 5
Follow the Moon - 4
A collection of 18 amazing, spine chilling, heartbreaking, morbid, haunting, anxiety inducing, lonely stories that bring grief horror to life in the most lyrical way.
Overall 4.5⭐️
An Angel of God - 4.5
If I Carry You - 4
Lavender & Dandelions - 5
Golden Hour - 4
Whole Again - 5
A Better Mother - 5
Take Control - 5
The Profound Pain of Letting Go - 4.5
Dyin’ Aint Nothin’ But Fallin’ Asleep - 3.5
Portage Ohio in Early Autumn - 5
The Night Visitor - 4
Through the Hollar into the Dark - 4.5
Mother of Machines - 5
Blessed are the Meek - 3.5
Exquisite Hunger - 4.5
The Drowning Machine - 5
Vengeance is a Patient Beast - 5
Follow the Moon - 4
March 12, 2025
A truly superb collection of dark, twisted and poignant stories centred around the theme of obsession.
From obsessive mothers to those dealing with guilt and trauma, Emma Murray has crafted and compiled a set of short stories which are as moving as they are disturbing. Her writing style is gripping, and she also deals deftly with serious themes such as grief and mental illness.
'Exquisite Hunger' is the story I found most disturbing and memorable, although the stories dealing with child loss are pretty potent too. 'Follow the Moon' deals with Alzheimer's and Dementia, and is incredibly well done. You really feel like you're in the main character's shoes.
I'll definitely be looking into more of Murray's work. Very impressed.
From obsessive mothers to those dealing with guilt and trauma, Emma Murray has crafted and compiled a set of short stories which are as moving as they are disturbing. Her writing style is gripping, and she also deals deftly with serious themes such as grief and mental illness.
'Exquisite Hunger' is the story I found most disturbing and memorable, although the stories dealing with child loss are pretty potent too. 'Follow the Moon' deals with Alzheimer's and Dementia, and is incredibly well done. You really feel like you're in the main character's shoes.
I'll definitely be looking into more of Murray's work. Very impressed.
September 28, 2025
A bold and emotional collection of stories about grief, desire, and the dark corners of the human heart. This collection blends quiet moments with flashes of visceral horror.
The title story stands out, and an oft recurring theme of child death gives many pieces an especially heavy emotional weight. The intensity can feel relentless, but the variety, from eerie realism to surreal nightmare, keeps the collection engaging.
If you like psychological horror that’s beautiful, disturbing, and deeply human, this one is well worth a spot on your shelf.
The title story stands out, and an oft recurring theme of child death gives many pieces an especially heavy emotional weight. The intensity can feel relentless, but the variety, from eerie realism to surreal nightmare, keeps the collection engaging.
If you like psychological horror that’s beautiful, disturbing, and deeply human, this one is well worth a spot on your shelf.
February 12, 2025
An anthology of 18 stories; each elegantly written and haunting. Murray tackles real topics such as miscarriage, a school shooting, dementia, lust, and insanity in a brilliant way that makes the pain palpable. Each story wrapped me in an unforgiving embrace that left me breathless. A deep, disturbing and dark collection that aims right for the heart. No near misses with this one!
February 4, 2025
In last year’s novel Crushing Snails, Emma E. Murray put us in the head of a sixteen year old girl who was also a burgeoning killer, and pulled off one of the great narrative tricks of recent horror: making us sympathize and more worryingly empathize with her. Were we right to, given the trauma she endured? Or we tricked by our narrator? Why did we empathize so strongly with her? The question haunted me, and it was meant to.
She also gave us utterly horrific and mind-numbingly traumatizing images that didn’t so much imprint themselves on my retinas as take out a lease and stay there for months.
Both of these Murray traits, wickedly effective empathy and chilling scenes of transgressive acts and violence return with a devil’s vengeance in The Drowning Machine and Other Obsessions, a collection mainly composed of Murray’s stories previously collected in anthologies, with a couple of original stories thrown in.
It’s a collection that has a remarkably consistent thematic through line – the theme, as J.A.W. McCarthy explains so vividly in the introduction to the collection, being love, in all its horrific and understandable, its obsessive and extreme manifestations. Through Murray’s gift of giving a real voice to even the most unimaginable of narrators, we are placed, across three separate parts, in the heads of those experiencing powerful emotions, some devastating, some chilling, some beautiful, all understandable, many horrific. We are forced to consider whether we can ever understand someone’s motivations – or whether we understand them too much.
Part 1 sees mothers doing understandable things in horrific situations, horrific things in horrific situations and several permutations in between. Murray makes us confront whether something can ever be truly bad if it comes wrapped in the burning, unstoppable bow of unquestioning devotion. I mean yes, probably, but if you’ve come here to judge, you’ve misunderstood the assignment.
Oh, and those chilling images return. In the opening story An Angel of God, we are put in the head of a mother grieving for her child who sees an opportunity to save them through the pain of another. The image we are confronted with here is truly, monstrously horrific – if there is a more shocking opening to a collection, let me know – and it’s not sugar coated but rather fed to us raw and seared on our brains. This is extreme love, and it asks of us extreme empathy.
Another standout is Lavender and Dandelions, where a mother must protect her daughter from the fall of nuclear bombs. The horrors are more subtle and unseen but inevitable and oncoming. Here the duality of the horror and the beauty of the mother’s devotion is stark and haunting.
In part 2, the strong emotions of children are examined as we enter their heads, and here Murray’s powerful voice echoes fierce, perhaps none more so than in Dyin Ain’t Nothin’ But Fallin’ Asleep, which presents a nightmarish society where children are executed for the tiniest crimes. The story begins discordantly as we experience the thoughts of a child with an almost adult voice. What Murray does then with this is nothing short of a remarkable exercise in narration, reminding us of the fragility of children and how foolish we are to transplant our adult voice onto them.
In another Part 2 standout, Take Control, the supposedly adult emotion of sacrifice is examined through one of the most horrific parent nightmares you can imagine – but no parents here, just children and their capacity for the purest form of love.
Finally, Part 3 sees some of the most extreme, and extremely imaginative, of Murray’s experiments in love and obsession. In Blessed Are the Meek, we see through the perspective of an android used and abused by her programmer, who journeys down unexpected pathways of pleasure and pain. Murray flips the switch here between agony and ecstasy and makes you completely feel the robot’s perspective even as you are repulsed. Then, In Exquisite Hunger, we are, with echoes of her novel Crushing Snails, forced to be in the head of a would-be killer again, and the extended horrors and gore and insanity that follows is a real example of Murray’s you-can’t look-away retina trauma. Murray loves to transgress with the act of making you watch unspeakable atrocities while forcing you to swallow the narrator’s cold mania as they explain it. It’s an unforgettable experience, much though you may try.
Then there’s the titular story The Drowning Machine, which is a quieter tale of grief and guilt, and serves as the current that pulls you and all the other stories under, showing that Murray’s subtleties can be as haunting as her grand guignol transgressions.
Overall, Murray’s collection submerges us in the worst horrors to force us to empathize with all the terrifying contours of love. An astonishing feat of narrative voice whose beautiful and terrible truths will haunt you.
She also gave us utterly horrific and mind-numbingly traumatizing images that didn’t so much imprint themselves on my retinas as take out a lease and stay there for months.
Both of these Murray traits, wickedly effective empathy and chilling scenes of transgressive acts and violence return with a devil’s vengeance in The Drowning Machine and Other Obsessions, a collection mainly composed of Murray’s stories previously collected in anthologies, with a couple of original stories thrown in.
It’s a collection that has a remarkably consistent thematic through line – the theme, as J.A.W. McCarthy explains so vividly in the introduction to the collection, being love, in all its horrific and understandable, its obsessive and extreme manifestations. Through Murray’s gift of giving a real voice to even the most unimaginable of narrators, we are placed, across three separate parts, in the heads of those experiencing powerful emotions, some devastating, some chilling, some beautiful, all understandable, many horrific. We are forced to consider whether we can ever understand someone’s motivations – or whether we understand them too much.
Part 1 sees mothers doing understandable things in horrific situations, horrific things in horrific situations and several permutations in between. Murray makes us confront whether something can ever be truly bad if it comes wrapped in the burning, unstoppable bow of unquestioning devotion. I mean yes, probably, but if you’ve come here to judge, you’ve misunderstood the assignment.
Oh, and those chilling images return. In the opening story An Angel of God, we are put in the head of a mother grieving for her child who sees an opportunity to save them through the pain of another. The image we are confronted with here is truly, monstrously horrific – if there is a more shocking opening to a collection, let me know – and it’s not sugar coated but rather fed to us raw and seared on our brains. This is extreme love, and it asks of us extreme empathy.
Another standout is Lavender and Dandelions, where a mother must protect her daughter from the fall of nuclear bombs. The horrors are more subtle and unseen but inevitable and oncoming. Here the duality of the horror and the beauty of the mother’s devotion is stark and haunting.
In part 2, the strong emotions of children are examined as we enter their heads, and here Murray’s powerful voice echoes fierce, perhaps none more so than in Dyin Ain’t Nothin’ But Fallin’ Asleep, which presents a nightmarish society where children are executed for the tiniest crimes. The story begins discordantly as we experience the thoughts of a child with an almost adult voice. What Murray does then with this is nothing short of a remarkable exercise in narration, reminding us of the fragility of children and how foolish we are to transplant our adult voice onto them.
In another Part 2 standout, Take Control, the supposedly adult emotion of sacrifice is examined through one of the most horrific parent nightmares you can imagine – but no parents here, just children and their capacity for the purest form of love.
Finally, Part 3 sees some of the most extreme, and extremely imaginative, of Murray’s experiments in love and obsession. In Blessed Are the Meek, we see through the perspective of an android used and abused by her programmer, who journeys down unexpected pathways of pleasure and pain. Murray flips the switch here between agony and ecstasy and makes you completely feel the robot’s perspective even as you are repulsed. Then, In Exquisite Hunger, we are, with echoes of her novel Crushing Snails, forced to be in the head of a would-be killer again, and the extended horrors and gore and insanity that follows is a real example of Murray’s you-can’t look-away retina trauma. Murray loves to transgress with the act of making you watch unspeakable atrocities while forcing you to swallow the narrator’s cold mania as they explain it. It’s an unforgettable experience, much though you may try.
Then there’s the titular story The Drowning Machine, which is a quieter tale of grief and guilt, and serves as the current that pulls you and all the other stories under, showing that Murray’s subtleties can be as haunting as her grand guignol transgressions.
Overall, Murray’s collection submerges us in the worst horrors to force us to empathize with all the terrifying contours of love. An astonishing feat of narrative voice whose beautiful and terrible truths will haunt you.
November 23, 2024
QOTD: Are you a short story collection fan? They only work for me sometimes, but this one was certainly did. You can read my full thoughts over at fanfiaddict.com, the link is in my bio and highlights.
"Emma E. Murray is a fiendishly talented author I discovered in January of 2024, and 10 months later I can confirm that she is a firm favourite. I adored her novelette “When The Devil,” and I adored (yes, even more) her novel “Crushing Snails,” which really goes places, and whilst she may be a new author to me, she’s been haunting the table of contents of anthologies for years. The gorgeous cover reveal, and the opportunity to read her short fiction, both new and old, was too great an opportunity to pass up! Thank you Emma for shooting me over an ARC, this one is out February 21st from Undertaker Books! A wickedly eclectic horror buffet, this collection has short stories that cover all bases, from apocalypses, to cannibals to creature features. It is not one that shies away from difficult themes, delving into the raw, painful, and sometimes gruesome facets of the human condition. “The Drowning Machine and Other Obsessions,” is a relentless tide of fucked-up, emotionally devastating and disturbing stories that deliver gut punch after gut punch; these stories drag you under and whole you there until you’re… well, drowning."
"Emma E. Murray is a fiendishly talented author I discovered in January of 2024, and 10 months later I can confirm that she is a firm favourite. I adored her novelette “When The Devil,” and I adored (yes, even more) her novel “Crushing Snails,” which really goes places, and whilst she may be a new author to me, she’s been haunting the table of contents of anthologies for years. The gorgeous cover reveal, and the opportunity to read her short fiction, both new and old, was too great an opportunity to pass up! Thank you Emma for shooting me over an ARC, this one is out February 21st from Undertaker Books! A wickedly eclectic horror buffet, this collection has short stories that cover all bases, from apocalypses, to cannibals to creature features. It is not one that shies away from difficult themes, delving into the raw, painful, and sometimes gruesome facets of the human condition. “The Drowning Machine and Other Obsessions,” is a relentless tide of fucked-up, emotionally devastating and disturbing stories that deliver gut punch after gut punch; these stories drag you under and whole you there until you’re… well, drowning."
January 26, 2025
Thank you to the author for providing a review copy.
If you want a short story collection that will pummel you emotionally at every turn, this is the one for you. With exquisite prose, Emma E. Murray crafts stories rooted in grief that are absolutely devastating. Special shoutout to Lavender and Dandelions for making me cry in the school pick up line. 4.5 stars
An Angel of God ⭐⭐⭐⭐
If I Carry You ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Lavender and Dandelions ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Golden Hour ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Whole Again ⭐⭐⭐⭐.75
A Better Mother ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Take Control ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
The Profound Pain of Letting Go ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Dyin’ Ain't Nothin’ But Fallin’ Asleep ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Portage, Ohio in Early Autumn ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Night Visitor ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Through the Holler, Into the Dark ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Mother of Machines ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Blessed Are the Meek ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Exquisite Hunger ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
The Drowning Machine ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Vengeance is a Patient Beast ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Follow the Moon ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
If you want a short story collection that will pummel you emotionally at every turn, this is the one for you. With exquisite prose, Emma E. Murray crafts stories rooted in grief that are absolutely devastating. Special shoutout to Lavender and Dandelions for making me cry in the school pick up line. 4.5 stars
An Angel of God ⭐⭐⭐⭐
If I Carry You ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Lavender and Dandelions ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Golden Hour ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Whole Again ⭐⭐⭐⭐.75
A Better Mother ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Take Control ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
The Profound Pain of Letting Go ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Dyin’ Ain't Nothin’ But Fallin’ Asleep ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Portage, Ohio in Early Autumn ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Night Visitor ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Through the Holler, Into the Dark ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Mother of Machines ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Blessed Are the Meek ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Exquisite Hunger ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
The Drowning Machine ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Vengeance is a Patient Beast ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Follow the Moon ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
November 21, 2024
THE DROWNING MACHINE is one of indie horror's most thematically consistent single-author collections. Richly lived, emotionally precise, and blood-soaked and bolstering in equal measure, Murray's stories are all real human experiences refracted through the lens of feminist horror. Well-worn avenues for terror like motherhood, childhood, and woman-hood open like petals on a flower when described by Murray's pen, leading to standout episodes like:
"If I Carry You" - I hesitate to call it body horror, as the distortion of the human body is played for wonder here instead of revulsion.
"Exquisite Hunger" - a terrific subversion on what could've been bog-standard cannibalism
"Blessed Are the Meek" - a revolting tale of an artificial woman put through her paces. One of Murray's most interesting and unique narrators.
Pick this one up come February, and prepare to squirm - and stare in awe.
"If I Carry You" - I hesitate to call it body horror, as the distortion of the human body is played for wonder here instead of revulsion.
"Exquisite Hunger" - a terrific subversion on what could've been bog-standard cannibalism
"Blessed Are the Meek" - a revolting tale of an artificial woman put through her paces. One of Murray's most interesting and unique narrators.
Pick this one up come February, and prepare to squirm - and stare in awe.
January 16, 2025
Murray's eighteen unsettling tales of grief, love, and brutal obsession are equal parts provocative and alluring. Beautifully audacious story-telling that crawls beneath your skin and drowns you from the inside. Murray's skill at evoking both unease and heartache brought me to breath-robbing tears more than once. Captivating, haunting, and relentlessly frightening, this is a collection you won't soon forget.
A huge thank you to Undertaker Books and Emma E. Murray for the ARC!
A huge thank you to Undertaker Books and Emma E. Murray for the ARC!
March 7, 2025
4.5/5
This spellbinding horror collection explores love and loss through atmospheric, visually driven stories. While characters and narrative often take a backseat, the collection excels in its thematic depth and wide range of sub-genres that are presented. Standouts for me include the following:
“If I Carry You”
“Whole Again”
“A Better Mother”
“The Profound Pain of Letting Go”
“Mother of Machines”
This spellbinding horror collection explores love and loss through atmospheric, visually driven stories. While characters and narrative often take a backseat, the collection excels in its thematic depth and wide range of sub-genres that are presented. Standouts for me include the following:
“If I Carry You”
“Whole Again”
“A Better Mother”
“The Profound Pain of Letting Go”
“Mother of Machines”
March 12, 2025
The stories in this book are short, but manage to pack a whole life of emotion into them. The horror elements are...horrific of course, but also weave together so beautifully to create whole histories in just a few short pages. I love the voice in each story, and how they're distinct but all contain the same beautiful elements. 5/5 absolutely recommend this collection to anyone who loves books with emotion, heart, and horror.
January 11, 2025
This book is not just a collection of horror short stories, it is a collection of stories about love, obsession, and letting go. Some of these stories I can see as being cathartic, depending on what you're going through or what you've gone through.
Emma E. Murray fantastically crafts narratives that are gruesomely descriptive and gripping. This is for sure one author to watch and keep tabs on.
Emma E. Murray fantastically crafts narratives that are gruesomely descriptive and gripping. This is for sure one author to watch and keep tabs on.
February 24, 2025
A shocking and haunting collection of stories told with agile and lovely prose. Murray keeps surprising me with how deeply she is willing to explore grief, evil, and the injustice of pain, and what a keen eye she has for detail. Really beautiful work here, which should appeal to fans of horror, but also others. Fans of Joyce Carol Oates will love these.
July 10, 2025
This book reads like a user’s manual for extracting beautiful blooms from poisoned landscapes. Murray grabs lust, grief, and rage by their throats, yanks them into new forms, and makes them dance until their hearts explode. All over yours.
December 11, 2024
I was impressed with crushing snails but this work she sent me has blew me away. I am so happy to have read this. Absolute best.
March 3, 2025
Awesome!
March 10, 2025
An amazing collection!
March 28, 2025
Damn good book. Amazing stories.
April 7, 2025
This is a devastating collection.
April 9, 2025
A great collection moving from moms and babies to kids to adults...each section is full of pain and terror and being tossed in that drowning machine. The last story "Follow the Moon" hit me hard.
August 1, 2025
More like 3.8. The first half was phenomenal and disturbing. The second half was still solid but the stories didn't grab my attention as much.
February 11, 2025
The Drowning Machine is a book of short stories about loss, grief, and need: need to have a loved one back, need to feel close to something, need to find or recover something. The stories do a good job exploring different aspects of creeping, obsessive need. Some of these stories and the imagery contained in them will stay with me for a long time.
All of the stories are disturbing: some allude to disturbing subject matter, some contain gore and violence, and some are psychologically disturbing as you journey into a broken psyche. Some have fantastical or more traditional horror elements, but many let the horror of deep grief and obsession over what it lost speak for itself. Many of the stories feature a unreliable narrator with some form of mental or spiritual disturbance; Emma Murray writes this perspective very well. The characters are sympathetic even as they commit atrocities.
I would highly recommend this short story collection to anyone who wants to explore grief and despair and enjoy some good writing and captivating imagery while doing so.
Trigger warning for just about everything, but especially for traumatic loss of a small child.
All of the stories are disturbing: some allude to disturbing subject matter, some contain gore and violence, and some are psychologically disturbing as you journey into a broken psyche. Some have fantastical or more traditional horror elements, but many let the horror of deep grief and obsession over what it lost speak for itself. Many of the stories feature a unreliable narrator with some form of mental or spiritual disturbance; Emma Murray writes this perspective very well. The characters are sympathetic even as they commit atrocities.
I would highly recommend this short story collection to anyone who wants to explore grief and despair and enjoy some good writing and captivating imagery while doing so.
Trigger warning for just about everything, but especially for traumatic loss of a small child.
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