Stuffed

by Carina Stopenski

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

234 pages, Paperback

Published February 24, 2025

About the author

queer 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

Reviews

[Carina Stopenski]

i wrote this book and i think it's really good. :)

[Rogomelec · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Jack W · Rating 4 out of 5]

"To be monitored, observed like an animal in a zoo, caged but still undomesticated, clawing at the bars with teeth and nails to break free. What a treat that would be. To be tended to and still encouraged to be wild, to tear into the day's meal with a hungry maw, to be stared at in awe rather than disgust. What a treat, what a joy, what a pleasure to be a cog in the machine of blind faith, following the instructions of a handler like a god." (Stopenski, 176)

Even before I started reading, the premise drew me in completely. Besides the wretched descriptions of monstrous gore and bone, for me the relationship between Electra and Raina is the most compelling part of the story, and later on it makes for startling moments of forbidden devotion: give, give, give...and then take. Speaking of those descriptions, I don't consider myself very sensitive to those sorts of things, especially in horror literature, but the torturous procession of bodily violation which comprises the final four chapters genuinely made me nauseous at points. The atrocious smells and textures that saturate Electra's apartment in the aftermath of the chaos are palpable, and I was touched by the ending of the gruesome tragedy.

The only substantial criticism I have that keeps me from rating this book a five is the narration style, particularly in the middle part where Electra is most alone and the breaks from dialogue give space for exposition. Although the narrator is third-person omniscient, they seem too omniscient at times -- willing to bluntly, intellectually explain aspects of Electra's background and motivations. Obviously there needs to be some of that in the story to avoid bloating the page count, and in a few moments it heightens the ends of intense chapters (see quotation above). But many times I think the narrator simply tells instead of showing strong hints of these things and leaving implications up to the reader's imagination. One would think that a book otherwise rich with visceral details (literally) would prompt that sort of approach.

All that aside, I really enjoyed this book! Would recommend to any fan of body/psychological horror!
7.8/10

[Desiree Horton · Rating 5 out of 5]

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!