Out of Body: Stories

by Chris Vanjonack

A wildly inventive collection of interconnected speculative stories—spanning the multiverse, demonic attachment, and life after death—from an electrifying new voice in fiction.

An aimless ghost haunts his ex-girlfriend for evidence that she’s actually upset about his death.

A group of teens discovers a machine that purports to predict the best day of its users’ lives.

A young woman is horrified to discover that an aggressive stranger she met on a night of bar-hopping now manifests in every photo that is taken of her.

A drunken posse descends into the woods in search of clowns that have been terrorizing their small town.

Chris Vanjonack’s fiction is haunted not only by specters of death, but by the elusive questions of life, and above all, the wonder and horror of the infinite. Uncanny, surreal, and infectiously clever, the stories in this linked collection contain horrors great and small, fueled as much by the fantastic as by longing, dread, and all-too-human frailties.

Morbidly funny and brilliantly observed, Out of Body is an atmospheric, dead original feast for the senses.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Science Fiction, Adult, Short Story Collection, Anthologies

Audible Audio

Expected publication September 22, 2026

About the author

Chris Vanjonack is a writer and educator from Denver, Colorado. A recipient of an AWP Intro Journals Award, his fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared or are forthcoming in One Story, Book of the Month Club's Volume 0, Barrelhouse, Electric Literature, Ninth Letter, DIAGRAM, CRAFT Literary, Quarterly West, and elsewhere. He holds an MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and teaches creative writing at the Lighthouse Writers Workshop and at the Denver School of the Arts.

His debut short story collection, Out of Body, is forthcoming from William Morrow in September 2026.

Reviews

[Cherish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was a wild ride! This is a collection of 10 interconnected horror stories, the last of which, “Heaven Is Fine For Girls Who Miss Their Mothers”. This one is the longest and we get tie ins with previous characters. The author does a great job giving a ton variety within these stories. I was thoroughly engaged throughout, but I couldn’t ever guess what would happen next. I took my time with these stories, reading about one a day. This is a very introspective book. If you are a fan of horror or sci-fi, or just love a complicated, bizarre universe, I think this book is for you!

[Devin The Book Dragon]

DNF at 30%. I don’t think this is a bad book by any means, but it wasn’t for me. The short stories not only had a bit too much political and social commentary for me, but they were also very twilight zone-esque. If you were a fan of black mirror or twilight zone, you might like this. Unfortunately it just wasn’t for me.

Provided via Netgalley in exchange for a review.

[Brittany | Lady in Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

Often reading a book of short stories, it seems common to prefer some over others. Or maybe there’s a story or two you just don’t vibe with. This collection is one of those rare ones for me where I loved every story. Every single one. I even pre-ordered the book before I finished it.

Reading each of them was like reading a script for a Black Mirror episode, where sci-fi and horror and humanity converge into something you can’t quite explain. A story where a kid can invent anything just by thinking about it. A story where a machine can tell you the date of your best day ever. A story where an Elevator Ritual can send you to a parallel reality. And so on, and so on. I loved how each of these stories focused on relationships through the lens of science or the supernatural - the final story (really, a novella), “Heaven is Fine For Girls Who Miss Their Mothers,” pulling details and characters from the other stories to build an experience I can’t even compare to anything else I’ve read.

The collection as a whole felt so organic, the writing and storytelling and world-building feeling beautifully effortless. I’m sure it took Vanjonack time to bring this book into the world, but it really felt like he just sat down one day and made a work of art that just fell out of his head. And this is his first book. Can you imagine what else he has living up there in his noggin?? I can’t wait to see.

*Thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Chris Vanjonack for this eARC. This review contains my honest, authentic thoughts and opinions.*

[Lady Georgette (ieatpagesforbreakfast) · Rating 5 out of 5]

• BOOK REVIEW •

NEW ARC READ!
Date of Release: 22nd Sept 2026

Date : 26th August 2026
Book : Out Of Body
Author : Chris Vanjonack
Genre : Short Stories (Interconnected) / Horror / Sci-Fi

Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you , @williammorrowbooks , @harpercollins , @netgalley and the author for the invitation to read this #gifted e-ARC.🖤✨

I’m loving that this year I’ve been given the chance to read a bunch of short stories honestly. This is another book that has a Black Mirror vibe. I would say that each story (and there are 10) could be considered a standalone however it somehow interconnects in a way.

I definitely took my time with this book by reading a story every other day as a filler to my other current reads. I definitely recommend this to be read during fall season. It was a fun but at the same time touched certain topics on grief. Definitely made me question how my life would look like or turn out if I had made a different choice. Would I regret it or would I yearn for that something.. well, that made me ponder after reading this.

Read this if you want a mood shift 😂 Because you’ll be laughing one sec and then go deep in thought. I love books like this honestly!

#bookstagram #bookrecommendations #scifibooks #shortstories

[Ali]

⭐️⭐️⭐️

It is always difficult to rate a collection of stories, so I am averaging in my score. My favorites in this book were Invent Everything and Phases. There were some very cool concepts in this collection: a a haunting from the perspective of the ghost, a group of girls who learn the date of best day of their lives and all the consequences that come with this knowledge, a man who wants to time travel to assume the identity of his past self. These are the beginnings of fantastic Sci-Fi storylines. Sadly, there is a consistent lack of resolution that feels unsatisfying, almost as if these were ideas not fully fleshed out or nobody was sure where to go once the concepts were established. I also struggled to maintain attention through numerous meandering parts in each story, and I don't know that I totally grok the final story in the book, which was supposed to bring everything together. It could be that I just don't like to work this hard when I am reading for fun (in other words, I may be the problem here).

There were elements of the writing style that reminded me of Yoko Ogawa, so if you are a fan of her horror writing style, this might be a good fit for you.

Thank you to NetGalley, Chris Vanjonack, and William Morrow for sharing an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

[Krista B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this collection with excitement, because I love a collection of science fiction stories that are all about horrible, genius inventions and how they ruin people's lives. I will suspend my disbelief for the sake of a really well done story.

The first story started off strong--oh, a kid has invented some Terrible Things! So automatically, I was like, so the rest of this story is going to be about those Terrible Things, I can't wait!

Well, ... it wasn't, really. The Terrible Inventions make an appearance, but there's less of them than I expected. A machine that tells you what your best day will be, time travel pills, a way to break into the multiverse by riding an elevator a certain way. Those are all the ones I can really think of, a day after having finished the book and mulled it over. The rest of the stories are mostly about, um, really horrible relationships, and maybe Denver?

Maybe I was not the target audience for this book, specifically because I live in Denver and I also spent many years living in Fort Collins. (I will admit I got a spike of shock when I read about the characters going to Pour House in Old Town and then turning onto College Avenue-- imagine me shouting to no one, "OMG my home town? My old stomping grounds?") The problem was that the name drops happened constantly, a few times every story. The author takes a lot of time to illustrate how people went to CSU, how they are now on the corner of Speer and Colfax, how they are at this one really specific bar in downtown Denver, how they're looking at Denver Weather, how they went to the Denver Museum of Art.... you get my point.

Maybe if I weren't from Denver, I would read through all this extra detail and not really care. But because I have spent a significant portion of my life in Colorado, it really took me away from the ability to get lost in the magic of the Terrible Inventions and all the philosophical ways they interplay with the characters' lives. There was so much focus on grounding each story in the Real World that that the element of magic was just lost on me. I am a huge sucker for magical realism intertwined with science fiction, and something here was lost for me.

Coming to my thoughts on the philosophical intertwinement of science fiction and lofty ideas? I found it to be increasingly more grueling to get through each story. There are so many people in awful, abusive relationships, or neglectful relationships, or fizzled ones, or people just plain cheating on each other (I believe this happens in at least two stories). At least two of the stories' premises are entirely just based on loser men who can't get over their manic pixie dream girls. I mean, not to say that unrequited love can't be a topic of a story, but it didn't feel like it brought anything new to the table.

Finally, my last and greatest disappointment was this: almost all the stories are part of one whole overarching narrative! My favorite author's trick, to have short stories that seem separate but actually have glimpses of characters we've seen before, or characters we will see later! New perspectives come to light! More angles of the timeline!

The final story was meant to be the culmination of this, all the stories drawn into one. It's also, by far, the longest. I STRUGGLED my way through this one. It is the story of a woman who accesses the multiverse and starts living lives over and over, at some point, it seems, just for fun, to seek out the timelines that would be fun for her to experience (like getting killed repeatedly by a falling piano. We have seen this character before, and I was thinking, oh, this is going to be so cyclical and magical!

Girl no. The author slips from third person into second person and then spends so much time dragging their way through SO MANY TIMELINES. I don't care about all of those timelines, omg, there are too many. The prose really takes off and by that I mean it rambles. I felt like I, too, was being tortured in the multiverse. So if that was the intention of this story, then fine, it worked.

Unfortunately, It was not enjoyable whatsoever and I did not close the book satisfied with any sort of theme or meaning that was tied in through the multiverses. I got to the point where the woman being tumbled through all of this seems to be reflecting on EVERY SINGLE THING that ever happened or could have happened, that I felt that I was stuck in the fabled torment nexus

Oh, PS, my random nitpick: the story where a guy and a girl decide to have sex in every national park and have ghosts watch them. I did feel the theme of this story, as in the guy enjoyed the world's aimlessness while his partner did not. I also felt relieved that I wasn't really forced to have any "output" during COVID and could just rot, guilt-free, in my house (NOT having crazy sex for ghosts' voyeurism.) But at the same time it was just so very offputting to me and seemed so divorced from the rest of the science fiction concept of the book. Like huh?

By the end of the story, all I could really conclude is, I feel like every MC felt slightly the same-ish, maybe a reflection of the author themselves... and because of that, I kind of felt like I was watching the author's thoughts right as they graduated from college and were missing all the clubbing and pub crawls and hookups.

However, I really did enjoy the premise of the science fiction inventions, and I also liked the first story a lot (what IF the best day of your life was already over and you knew that for a fact????) so for that I round up from 2.5 to 3 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Kate Connell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the stories in this collection feel half-baked, as if a few more rounds of editing could have made it a fully fleshed short story. Most of these lack the depth of emotional connection or a conclusion that could make them feel more complete. A story lacking emotion and conclusion, as a majority of these stories do, makes for a disconnected and apathetic reader. Almost every story in this collection is a great or interesting idea in the vein of Sci-Fi and then goes absolutely nowhere.


Invent Everything: One day in 9th grade science class, Jimmy Hammer opens an interdimensional portal under a classmate and realizes that he is a science fiction inventor. He invents his way through life, not considering until it feels too late exactly what the purpose of all of his creations is, or what matters most. 3.5/5

Elizabeth Kaplan's Best Day Ever: Seems the theme here, or at least the tie between the first two stories is how considering or not considering the future and impacts of your actions, can impact your actions. Three friends find a 'Best Day Ever' machine in high school in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and discover their best days. One girl's best day was her tenth birthday party, and she dies a short time later. Another's first day is when she's in her fifties, and she is content with this discovery. The final girl's best day is in 2019, and as it approaches it becomes all she can think about, and she wonders how much, if any, control she has over her own life. 3.5/5

Open Spaces: A couple that meets on a dating app in early COVID decides to spend quarantine together traveling to haunted parks across the U.S. to have sex in front of the ghosts. They find the idea transgressive and interesting, but too much of anything can start to feel normal, and with one of them having a lot more to return to at the end of quarantine, their relationship seems to also have a deadline attached. Kind of a nothing short story. 3/5

What We Look Like Together: Lilith (don't call her Lily) loves her local dive bar and taking pictures in the photo booth. On one visit, her friends aren't in the mood for a photo and an odd man at the bar bothers Lilith in line and ends up sticking his head in the booth for her pictures, telling her that she'll never be alone again. He then shows up in every picture ever taken of her. Literally nothing happens. The entire story is the setup and then just kind of nothing. 2.75/5

Phases: Ever since Henry died, he spends most of his time following around his girlfriend, Sol. He is also part of a ghost support group and 'hooking up' with a fellow ghost, as best ghosts can do. This author seems to take good and interesting ideas and turn them into a story where nothing happens. 3/5

There's Clowns in the Woods: Remember in August 2016 when creepy clowns in the woods in South Carolina made everyone obsessed with the idea of creepy clowns lurking? Vanjonack takes it a step further and sets up a story in which the creepy clowns are taking children from the neighborhood, and Lee needs to put a stop to it. A couple months ago he beat up a nineteen-year-old who was wearing a clown outfit and now his girlfriend needs space, so when a friend's son is abducted by one of the clowns, Lee takes a couple buddies into the words to hunt them down. 3/5

The Spirit Moves You: I don't even know what to say about this one... Too short to review without spoiling. 2/5

No Future: A man gets fired and broken up with and when he finds himself at rock bottom, he decides to become a time traveler for work to fix all of his mistakes. 2/5

Going Up: If you go to the CDC website, you will learn about the current phenomenon of bizarre phone calls from 'The Speaker' (well YOU won't but the characters in this story will). Kate has recently moved in with her boyfriend Tom and is contemplating her life choices. Is she happier here with him, teaching kindergarten than she would have been with her ex-girlfriend trying to make it as an artist? When Kate starts receiving calls from The Speaker, her boyfriend jumps into overdrive to figure it out while Kate wonders how long she can ignore them for. 2/5

Heaven is Fine for Girls Who Miss Their Mothers: We are reunited with Elizabeth Kaplan who has made prior appearances in the second and fifth story of this collection. In the beginning she dies in the car accident that we know killed her and then follows around the loved ones she left behind. One night, she enters the ocean and is brought back to her birth. Her life follows the same pattern, but there is no crash that night, and Elizabeth sees another version of her life. She watches as this version of herself lives a full life until she dies, at which point she is brought to her birth again, in yet another universe. She follows herself through many variations of her life (this story takes up about 30% of the book), and it connects to many of the other stories. 3.5/5

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this novel.

[Jada · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to HarperAudio Adult, William Morrow, and NetGalley for providing this ALC for review.

Vanjonack's short story collection explored some very fascinating concepts! From ghosts, the multiverse, and far-fetched inventions, if you enjoy sci-fi or speculative fiction, you'll be sure to find a story that piques your interests.

I really enjoyed how the stories were interconnected! Unfortunately, I felt like most stories ended too abruptly. I can't even remember how many of them ended because very few endings felt like real endings. They could have ended pages earlier and left me with the exact same feeling of incompleteness. After each story, I mulled over what could have possibly been the point of it. Was Vanjonack trying to deliver a complex metaphor that is going right over my head? Is he exploring relationships and the human condition and leaving the conclusion with the reader? Or are these stories creative writing without a deeper meaning?

My favorite story was "What We Look Like Together." I'm not sure if this was Vanjonack's point, but I took The Stranger in photos as a metaphor for how trauma follows victims around long after the traumatic event. I actually really liked the ending where Lilith goes back to the photobooth and takes another picture. Even though the ending is similar to the other stories in the way that nothing is really concluded, I think that Lilith confronting her trauma head on is a beautiful way of showing us that she is healing. We don't know for sure if The Stranger appears in the photobooth photo or not, but that's not the point and doesn't really matter. What matters is that Lilith is confronting her trauma and not letting it keep her down. This is how I viewed it, anyway. This was the only story where I felt like something clicked.

"There's Clowns in the Woods" and "Going Up" were spine tingling! While I'm not sure what exactly Vanjonack was trying to convey, they had that cosmic horror vibe that will take your brain down a rabbit hole if you linger on them!

Ultimately, this collection left me with a lot to ponder over, and I'm very glad I got the chance to experience it!

Narration Review: I love when a book is narrated by the author, but I found Vanjonack's reading to be a little too dry. There were absolutely no variations in the character voices. I wasn't confused about who was speaking (until the final story, but I think the reader was supposed to begin to feel a little disoriented at that point) due to how each story was written, but I didn't find his narration to be very engaging. I think I would have preferred the stories if I had read them instead of listened to them.

[Syndrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of ten stories that I have to admit I did not fully appreciate until hitting the final three stories. The first seven stories were mostly all just okay for me — not bad by any means but nothing that really wowed me either. If anything, these first seven just felt like they only skimmed the surface of what they could offer and really left me wanting more. (However the fourth story, “What We Look Like Together,” was an outlier here because I did enjoy that one quite a lot.)

So as I was reading through the first chunk of stories I was fully prepared to settle on an average three star rating and call it a day, but then the final three stories came into play and they completely changed my mind about the entire collection. “No Future” and “Going Up” both had some interesting ideas that grabbed my attention quickly while being just long enough to pull off what felt like a proper full story arc. Although out of these two, I’d have to say “Going Up” manages to be a bit more of a standout and even though I was perfectly satisfied with the length and the ending of the story, I kind of want a full book in this particular universe as well. The idea of The Speaker, who is an unknown entity that randomly calls people and begs them to take ownership of a still beating heart, is perfectly creepy and mysterious and the world seems to have no idea why this phenomenon is actually happening.

But the final, and longest, story is the absolute standout of this collection. Spanning the final 35% of the book, “Heaven is Fine for Girls Who Miss Their Mothers” managed to be a moving and powerful story that also made me sit back and reflect on some of the earlier stories as well. It really re-framed the collection as a whole for me and I definitely gained a new appreciation for those stories that I had originally been writing off as just okay. I don’t want to give too much away here because I really think going into “Heaven…” blind will offer the best reading experience, so I’ll just say that reading it really made pushing through the beginning half of the book absolutely worth it for me.

I’d definitely recommend this to readers who are interested in speculative fiction and aren’t afraid to just sit back and trust the process. I may be rating this as a four overall due to some of the less interesting stories, but I’d argue that sitting through all of them is definitely worth it for those final three — which I would individually rate at a 4, 4.5 and 5 respectively.

(I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher, William Morrow, via NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.)

[Megan Janae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short story collections have always been the trickiest thing for me to review. There’s no single narrative thread to pull on — just a series of moments, moods, and worlds that each bring something different to the table. Rating them feels almost unfair, because you’re essentially averaging out a whole spectrum of experiences into one number.

Out of Body is exactly that kind of collection — wildly uneven in the best and most frustrating ways.

The concepts here are genuinely distinctive. Vanjonack is clearly working in a space where sci-fi meets horror, and the result is this eerie, atmospheric blend of the mundane and the otherworldly. Grief, confusion, consequence, the weird texture of real life — all of it gets filtered through scenarios that feel both unsettling and somehow deeply human. When it works, it really works. But here’s my honest issue: some of these stories have such strong, compelling openings that when they don’t fully stick the landing, it stings more than it would have otherwise. A few left me wanting — not in the delicious, haunting way good horror should, but in a wait…that’s where we’re going? kind of way. So close. Just not quite there.

My attention drifted in and out depending on the story, which isn’t always a knock on the writing — collections just hit differently depending on the day, the mood, the reader. But a handful of these? Complete wild rides that had me fully locked in.
What I keep coming back to is how badly I want more of each world. Every idea here feels like the seed of something bigger — a novel, a film, a limited series. The concepts are clever enough and specific enough that I genuinely think they could sustain that. In a way, that’s the collection’s biggest strength and its most bittersweet quality: you leave wishing you could stay longer.

If you love sci-fi horror and don’t mind a mixed bag, Out of Body is worth the ride. It might be the perfect read for fans of slow burns, atmospheric unease, and stories that linger in your head even when they don’t fully deliver.

Just go in knowing it’s a spectrum — some stops hit harder than others, and that’s okay. Three stars feels right: not every story landed for me, but enough of them did to make it worthwhile.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity and the ARC.

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC.
Pub Date Sep 22 2026
Good concepts, but the focus was on the unlikable main characters and the sci-fi elements were just in the background. Most of the plots revolved around the main characters and their personal struggle with relationships, loses, despair and desire. Usually I love character driver stories, but I failed to connect to any of the MCs. I was intrigued by the concepts and ideas, but disappointed by the endings. Some of the stories could be a good Black mirror episode. This being a debut author, I would still want to read what they publish next. I have one favorite story and that is There's Clowns in the Woods.
My individual ratings are as follows:
Invent Everything – 2/5 It felt like introduction to the whole collection, a lot of ideas stuck together
Elizabeth Kaplan's Best Day Ever – 4/5 this was interesting, the ending wasn’t satisfying, but most endings here aren’t
Open Spaces – I tend to dislike highly sexual stories and this was a DNF for me
What We Look Like Together – 4.5/5 loved it till the very end, this deserved a better conclusion. There is a scene that actually terrified me. This could be a cool concept for a movie, felt like a Black mirror episode
Phases – 2.5/5 Meh
There's Clowns in the Woods – 5/5 my favorite story in here, I even liked the ending. This is the most horror story in here
The Spirit Moves You – 3/5 again too sexual, but I liked the concept, if it have been longer and more horrifying, I would have like it more
No Future – 2/5 What a great idea with the time travel agents, but it was underdeveloped and once again focused on the character’s relationships, instead of presenting coherent sci-fi story
Going Up 4/5 – The idea of the Speaker is fantastic and horrifying, but the awful characters just ruined it for me. I hated this ending the most; the ambiguity of it could have been more impactful. Also, the title should have been plainly the Speaker, but we went to that elevator game for I don’t know in how many books I’ve already read about it
Heaven is Fine for Girls Who Miss Their Mothers – DNF sorry Elizabeth, but I just don’t care

[Sam Rude · Rating 3 out of 5]

Out of Body is difficult to describe without automatically making an 'out of body experience' joke. However, the collection is not dissimilar to what it says on the tin. These stories are rewarding but the rewards can sometimes be a little hard fought. You'll have to spend quite a bit of time with characters that are annoying (always in much the same way) and plenty of descriptions of sex that I can only describe as detached. Some of these stories feel really stuck in a specific time (2016 clowns in the woods anyone?) but at the very least Vanjonack doesn't try to hide this.

For the most part the scifi and horror elements are there as set dressing and are a focus of the story only if you squint. I would have preferred a stronger focus on those elements and less on bad relationships but I prefer scifi to lit fic generally. I think the interconnected nature of these stories also improves the whole collection and adds to the scifi themes. Viewing the stories collectively improves them as opposed to looking at them all as individuals.

So often in short collections story blend together unwittingly or the stories start high and end low. Vanjonack's skills shine in the story endings. I think they all generally end about where they ought to and they end conclusively and satisfactory. That culminates into the last story in the collection "Heaven Is Fine for Girls Who Miss Their Mothers" which while long is probably the strongest of the bunch. While I didn't relish every story (again I say 2016 clowns in the woods anyone?) there is much to entertain and enjoy here and I look forward to more by Vanjonack in the future.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Brittany | Lady in Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

Often reading a book of short stories, it seems common to prefer some over others. Or maybe there’s a story or two you just don’t vibe with. This collection is one of those rare ones for me where I loved every story. Every single one. I even pre-ordered the book before I finished it.

Reading each of them was like reading a script for a Black Mirror episode, where sci-fi and horror and humanity converge into something you can’t quite explain. A story where a kid can invent anything just by thinking about it. A story where a machine can tell you the date of your best day ever. A story where an Elevator Ritual can send you to a parallel reality. And so on, and so on. I loved how each of these stories focused on relationships through the lens of science or the supernatural - the final story (really, a novella), “Heaven is Fine For Girls Who Miss Their Mothers,” pulling details and characters from the other stories to build an experience I can’t even compare to anything else I’ve read.

The collection as a whole felt so organic, the writing and storytelling and world-building feeling beautifully effortless. I’m sure it took Vanjonack time to bring this book into the world, but it really felt like he just sat down one day and made a work of art that just fell out of his head. And this is his first book. Can you imagine what else he has living up there in his noggin?? I can’t wait to see.

*Thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Chris Vanjonack for this eARC. This review contains my honest, authentic thoughts and opinions.*

[Katie May · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5

Sorry to say the structure of the book is what absolutely didn’t work for me. The stories were 10/10 BUT THEY DIDNT HAVE ANY ENDINGS LOL

I guess the idea was to make them interconnected by having one story (the last one) have the ‘main character’ and all the other stories be possible time lines for them. But it wasn’t put together in a satisfactory way (in my opinion) and if you miss the blurb where it explains that they are interconnected you’re just left with a bunch of stories that feel unfinished (and that doesn’t necessarily mean they should all stop abruptly; they could have all just been part of one world). I thought about DNFing this after story 2 that ended like 1 page before the story was over. And that happens at every single story. If this were a physical book I’d think it was damaged haha.

The speculative ideas were so good but the characters were just awful people. Bad relationships, whining about trivial stuff, generally being crappy to each other. Not too interested in reading about them. The stories are also unnecessarily sexual in my opinion. I could have lived without the ghost bang a thon.

Content: 8/10
Execution: 2/10

Really niche complaint that applies only to me: as a nurse during covid it absolutely grates on my last nerve to know that people were whining about not having concerts and seeing their friends while I was trying to keep meemaw alive and not die myself. But to read about it in a book? For pleasure? YUCK

Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow Publishing for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Deanna Flores · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shoutout to William Morrow and NetGalley for this Advanced Copy in exchange for my honest review.

5 stars, I won’t stop thinking about this one for a while.

When it comes to short story collections/anthologies, there tends to be heavy hitters and some that fall through the cracks, but I did not feel that way about Out of Body. There was at least one (if not more) quote I found to be very telling of the human condition in each story, and I found that very beautiful.

This bleak, dark, and interconnected collection of stories kept me up WAY too late each night trying to finish the next one. I have a deep apprecation for the author’s ability to create such distinct voices and worlds within such a short space.

While some of the stories stood out to me more than others, each one contained memorable moments and thought-provoking ideas, and they all build to the final story “Heaven is fine for girls who miss their mothers”…which had me staring at the wall after finishing.

Fans of Black Mirror (myself included!) -- I highly recommend checking this out! I have a feeling that in the future, I might mis-remember this as an episode (in a good way!).

For readers who don’t enjoy endings that aren’t clear cut, or those who always need someone to root for, this might not be the book for you. These just so happen to be things I love -- complicated characters that are made more human by showing us how flawed they are, and how many of life’s questions go unanswered.

I cannot wait to have a physical copy on my shelves.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got a hold of a pre-publication ARC of this book at my job, and I don’t even remember the last time I wrote a review on Goodreads, but I love everything about this title. I am enamored with the way subjects of life, death, mortality, the universe and whatever this thing is we call reality, are handled and navigated in surprising, interesting, and very unexpected ways.

It is a short story collection, but I never felt like it was, which is to say the way each story feels connected, even by the tiniest thread, feels so deliberate and so intentional, I really saw it as a novel. I kept thinking that all the reasons I love Cloud Atlas seem to be present here.

I felt like this book also came into my world at a time when much of what is brought up thematically is right where I am, what with being in my mid-thirties, considering what life is, what we know as humans, what we will never know. We are all at the mercy of whatever happens because it is what happens. That is it, and I felt many waves of that in this book. Yet, it was so poetically written, so lyrical and imaginative, I never felt swallowed by that heaviness.

Which I will say, if you are someone who like to avoid a potentially “sad” book, or “depressing” book (all subjective of course) you should prepare for parts of this book, those parts that hit a deep, minor chord, but a minor chord that, for me, rang out beautifully across the multiverse.

as they say: 5 out of 5.

[annanoelreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a weird little set of stories that ranged from sci fi to horror and I loved it. It touches on themes of life, death, consciousness, happiness, love, and relationships. I was truly haunted by the story about the clowns in the woods, especially since I was finishing it whilst waiting for Muse to go on stage at a wooded, somewhat dilapidated amphitheatre. It really added to the vibes, though! This particular story gave me Absolution (Southern Reach #4) vibes, but it was somehow even more horrifying (if you've read it, then think of the end part, but with less cursing). Other stories reminded me of Under Story by Chloe Benjamin. I felt like the last story dragged a bit in its repetition, and though I understand the point of it, it did feel a bit long. I also thought several of the other stories ended right before the action really started, so I would have loved to see more in those cases. It felt more unfinished instead of just an ambiguous ending, but that may have just been me! I liked how the stories were interconnected, sometimes in small ways. I would love a follow up that continued with some of these. Overall, I did really enjoy this set of stories. I would not recommend this to everyone, as it contains a lot of dark themes and some gory scenes. I know I'll be thinking about this one for a long time, but hopefully not the clown story (lol).

Thanks to Netgalley and William Morrow for the e-arc for my honest thoughts!

[Sacha · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This is an intriguing collection of, as noted in the synopsis, an interconnected group of speculative stories. While I enjoyed a lot of the content and the thought provoking nature overall, I also felt like I was in my own time loop at some points and really experienced the darkness of these.

There is a lot of death in this collection, and what's interesting to me about this is that it's frequently the same person dying over and over again, which is tough to read. There are elements of this situation that are hopeful; you could be having an entirely different (living!) experience in another reality. But there is just so much focus on death and grief, and that was a lot.

Because there is so much explanation of similar themes, characters, etc., the collection also felt a bit repetitive at times. I was interested in how the "interconnected" texts would build on each other, but for me, it was more _Backrooms_-y (piling on until the recognizable becomes something not quite functional) than full of new, profound discoveries.

Despite some of my challenges with the collection overall, I still enjoyed the experience and will definitely look forward to more from this author.

*Special thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Chris Connolly at HarperCollins for this widget and alc, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whenever reading a collection of short stories, there typically are bound to be some hits and misses among them. Unfortunately, I feel that sentiment here in Out of Body.

The first short story started very strong - a kid who makes a terrible invention and then continues to invent more and more terrible things. It had a punchy ending and fit the sci-fi horror theme. From there, there is a mixed bag of sci-fi horror or paranormal-based horror.

However, each story feels out-of-body (kind of on the nose as the title implies) - each character seems like they are gliding through their lives and actions, never feeling fully there or recognizing how their actions impact the trajectory of their lives or others'. The novel presents them as transitory - nothing stays the same even when wished to be so.

Overall, it's a representation of possibilities in the sci-fi horror space, filled with punchy shorts and slowburn moments. While being a mixed bag, there should be at least a story for everyone to sink their teeth into and savor.

My Takeaways:
- wow, lots of young adults doing teen-like things
- inventions is the bame of the game, whether created or found
- feeling floaty with some of these stories
- strong starts, sometimes decent endings

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Out Of Body is an interconnected science fiction/horror short story collection. And boy are some of these stories weird and crazy.

Stories include: A dead man haunts his girlfriend in hopes that she misses him, a group of friends find a machine that predicts their best days ever, a couple has relations across the country at haunted state parks, and many more.

Like all short story collections some of the stories shine a bit more than others. The best stories of the collection are: Elizabeth Kaplan's Best Day Ever, Open Spaces, Phases, and Heaven Is Fine for Girls Who Miss Their Mothers. Heaven Is Fine for Girls Who Miss Their Mothers is the true heart and jewel of this collection. Get ready for a good cry. I was pretty sure I was going to rate this a 3-3.5 star read, but the final story bumped up the rating.

The stories all start off really strong and every concept was an interesting one. But, if you like stories to have a conclusive ending this one probably isn't for you. Many of the stories seem to just end, which was probably my biggest gripe with the collection. However, Heaven is Fine For Dead Girls Who Miss Their Mothers does tie everything up pretty nicely.

Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for the eARC of Out Of Body by Chris Vanjonack!

[Elisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m sorry to say that this story collection was not for me. The stories are all interconnected, and they could broadly be described as science fiction. They’re the kind of stories that will make some readers stop and think, but I think I’m either too rooted in the material world—or simply not the right reader—to fully appreciate what they’re doing. The writing itself is good, but the stories are filled with inner monologues and long reflections on the meaning of life and climate anxiety (seriously, there’s something about climate anxiety in every single story). I imagine some readers will find these passages profound and thought-provoking; I found them a little pretentious at times. The collection is also quite political, which isn’t something I enjoy in my fiction and it made it harder for me to connect with the stories. The one I really enjoyed was “What We Look Like Together,” which is unapologetically creepy and exactly the kind of unsettling story I was hoping for. Unfortunately, the rest of the collection just wasn’t for me.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/William Morrow.

[Janine · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This is series of ten interconnected horror and speculative fiction stories that explore the universe, ghosts, demonic possession and life after death.

I usually avoid short stories - though they were my favorite genre when teaching because students got to finish something during the semester. This book has some clever stories for readers who like quicker storytelling. Some of these include (1) a group of teens finding a machine that can predict their best day in life; (2) a ghost haunting an ex-girlfriend to see if she’s upset over his death; (3) a drunken posse searches for clowns invading their town; and (4) a woman who keeps seeing a stranger she met one night in all her pictures.

The stories are written well. Some are scarier than others or so it seemed to me. Since I’d prefer one complete story I wasn’t as drawn into to this book as someone who might enjoy short stories more than I do might. Still is was a good read and perfect for lovers of speculative fiction with tinges of horror and demons.

My thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for granting me access to this ARC.

[ScarlettAnomalyReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh what a fun collection of stories and one of my favorite kinds, interconnected ones, that weave together into a full story, little winks to previous characters here and there but all fully there own story.

Some of my favorites were Elizabeth Kaplans Best Day Off, everything you do shapes the future, in small ways and in large ones. So when three friends find a cool machine in the wake of a hurricane, who wouldn't want to relive their best day ever?? Then what happens after their best days is concerning until there is only one left with her best day ever fast approaching..

Open Spaces, I do not even know how to start with this one, it's set during covid and two people meet on a dating app, totally normal, however they like to have sex in front of ghosts, which okay I guess. But things with their relationship seems to be coming to a end quick in more ways then one.. This one was weird lol.

This was a pretty good collection of weird and well out of body experiences, would definitely check out more by Chris.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

i had high hopes for this collection of short stories. the beginning of each one was great - immersive world-building in alternate realities or weird stuff happening, but the endings just dropped off.

some of these tie into others, while others don't. the last story is the longest and explores one of the characters that we learn about in a few of the other stories. it was way too lengthy and the themes and topics not flushed out, but rather went off on very long tangents that lacked substance.

i read all but the last 2 stories in digital format, and then was approved for the audiobook which is how i finished the last 2 stories. i always appreciate when an author narrates their own stories, as they know their work the best. This audiobook though was read with zero inflection and tone change, absolutely completely flat of personality.

while this may be a great read for others, this was not for me. thank you to harper audio as well as william & morrow for the advanced reader and listener copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own and my review is left voluntarily.

[nyanuit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Out of Body is a stunning collection of ten short stories that ruminate on both bodily experience and incorporeality, the breadth of tangible emotion, and the infinite horrors of existential dread. Particular standouts were “Open Spaces,” “What We Look Like Together,” and “There’s Clowns in the Woods.” Each mournful narrative surges with regret, with wanting; and I savored every last word.

Notably, “Heaven Is Fine for Girls Who Miss Their Mothers” was the weakest link for me. Comprising the final 35% of the book, I found it a touch repetitive and arduous to get through for how long it was. It was, though, still an inherently satisfactory read.

All in all, while there is a certain grimness to it, I also found Out of Body to be witty and sexy, and I very much enjoyed reading this collection. I’d easily recommend it to anyone in the mood for a bleak softcore sci-fi.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this book.

[Tee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I found this to be an entertaining short story collection.


While I enjoyed some stories more than others, I thought all the short stories were good. I liked that all of them were a mixture of sci-fi, horror, and humanity, in a way that I personally have never read before. Each story focused on relationships through the lends of the supernatural and/or science. And I thought it was cool that the final story pulled details and characters from other stories for the grand finale.

I will say that some of the relationships were rather toxic and abusive, which aren’t always my favorite to read about. Especially since unhealthy relationships were featured in more than one story; it started to feel a bit repetitive for me personally.

All in all though, I think a lot of people will enjoy this collection if the blurb interests them.


Thank you so much to NetGalley and William Morrow for allowing me to read the eARC!

[Robswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I flew through the first nine stories in Out of Body. They were compelling, unpredictable, and thought-provoking, and I loved seeing where each one would take me. They set up the premise for the final story without spoiling what would happen or who would be involved. I loved the interconnectedness woven throughout.

The final story acts as a culmination of the first nine, and while I really enjoyed the ideas it explored, it was noticeably slower and longer than the rest of the collection. I think it could have been just as impactful with a little less explanation. Some of it was absolutely necessary, but there were moments where it felt like the point was being shown to me over and over again just to make sure it landed. Tightening that final story would have kept my attention more consistently without losing what made it effective.

Overall, a solid four stars. The first nine stories absolutely flew by, and I loved how unpredictable this collection was.

[Chuck Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks go to NetGalley and William Morrow for the Advance Reader Copy of Out of Body to read in exchange for an honest review.

This collection...was not great, if I'm being honest. The stories were billed as "interconnected speculative stories" and in bits and pieces they did interconnect at times (like Elizabeth Kaplan's Best Day Ever and Heaven is Fine for Girls Who Miss Their Mothers) but for the most part, I feel like I missed something becuase I didn't understand how some were connected to each other.

The feeling I had at the end of too many of these stories was "Is that it?" Pretty much all of these included stories felt unfinished, or the point of the story was missing. Too many involved gratuitous amounts of sex that started to feel WAY overplayed by the end of the collection, and many of the stories failed to ever capture my attention fully. Some presented very intriguing ideas (like The Speaker in Going Up or No Future, but were not given the time to fully coalesce into a full story, and so much potential was left out.

I really struggled with this collection and was really hoping for more substance based on the descriptions of the included stories.

[Shelby Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

How to even describe this collection? If you are looking for perfectly neat endings, this book is not for you. Each story functions as a vignette of life, finding the human experience even in the most absurd of circumstances. It’s magical realism and sci-fi. It’s a lot of stories about the pursuit and loss of love that so many of us know all too well. The novella was a bit repetitive at times but worth the payoff.

Vanjonack has done an excellent job crafting stories that make me as uncomfortable as life does. If you find yourself asking what could have been if only things had been a little different, this collection does a great job of forcing to sit with the idea that you will never really know. That you need to make peace with this, or else.

The prose throughout was as poetic as it is thought provoking. Minus one star for the excessive masturbating

[Carl Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Out of Body is one of those books that I finish without knowing how I feel about it. Did I like it? I'm certainly glad I read it. Was it intriguing? Absolutely. Did it satisfy me? Possibly... sometimes... yes, and also no.

Part of the pleasure of reading these short stories was discovering the common threads among them. Out of Body rewards attentive readers, with small details uniting the stories into a somewhat cohesive whole. The concepts are fascinating as well, touching on themes of cultural dissociation, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, what it means to be alive, and changing relationships in the digital age.

Vanjonack's lack of explanation of what is happening is both a strength and a weakness of the collection. He relates the narrative, leaving readers to draw from it what they will. At its best, the ambiguity made the stories linger. At other times, I was left wondering whether there was something I missed.

Thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Chris Vanjonack for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.