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Twisted Reveries II
Suspense author, Meg Hafdahl, delivers another collection of spine-tingling stories in this second volume of the Twisted Reveries series. Inspired by the first book's Willoughby and Moira Kettlesburg stories, Meg takes us on a journey into the mid-western town of Willoughby where forgetting is a way of life. Delve into its macabre history and origins. Explore the strange and unsettling events that plague Willoughby's unsuspecting citizens in this new collection of thirteen horrifically outstanding tales.
- GenresHorror
229 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 23, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 30, 2020
This was my first foray into Willoughby, the town that serves as organizing principle and could be fairly described as the central antagonist of this and the collection that preceded it. And make no mistake, Willoughby is a character, as fully fleshed out as one could hope for. Willoughby is no mustachioed villain, spelling out some elaborate scheme that makes you love and hate him in equal measure. It is much more than that. Willoughby is equal parts the malevolence that hides behind mock civility and the collective guilt we all bear for turning a blind eye to the bones our ease is built upon.
Here you will find forgetting as a recurring theme. And it’s really just an exaggerated version of the history we gloss over so as not to acknowledge the suffering that paid and continues to pay for our comforts. Willoughby is a place of unparalleled beauty and gentility by day and a place where at night everyone stays off the streets and lets the town take its due. These stories are full of unreliable narrators and the madness that comes from living in perpetual cognitive dissonance. And underlying this is what can only be described as an addiction. Very few ever really want to leave Willoughby. The superficial price is conformity but the real horror is what that conformity often entails.
But the malevolence doesn’t extend only to permanent residents. The darkness calls to those who might just be passing through, finds the darkness in them and calls it home, sometimes with bloody and permanent consequences.
In this collection, Hafdahl offers hints at the nature of the malevolence but never reveals too much. There are two stories here in particular that get at the source of the evil, but it’s never clear whether these represent its origin or if they were simply drawn to what was already there. I like to think the ground itself is simply sour, and all the other malignancies just found a home there early on, but it would ruin the spirit of the stories to make it too plain. Better for the reader to live with the same confusion as the residents themselves have on the rare occasions their minds shake free of the perpetual fog.
All of the stories were interesting and the variety of characters and times - some stories go back to the 1800’s - also kept me from ever being bored with the collection. The first story in the collection is a real banger, and in general the women are the real stars here. Although a favorite of mine was Jasper Dewitt - I’m a sucker for anything that references Dyatlov.
Front to back, this is a solid collection that legitimately gave me the creeps in several instances. Check it out.
Here you will find forgetting as a recurring theme. And it’s really just an exaggerated version of the history we gloss over so as not to acknowledge the suffering that paid and continues to pay for our comforts. Willoughby is a place of unparalleled beauty and gentility by day and a place where at night everyone stays off the streets and lets the town take its due. These stories are full of unreliable narrators and the madness that comes from living in perpetual cognitive dissonance. And underlying this is what can only be described as an addiction. Very few ever really want to leave Willoughby. The superficial price is conformity but the real horror is what that conformity often entails.
But the malevolence doesn’t extend only to permanent residents. The darkness calls to those who might just be passing through, finds the darkness in them and calls it home, sometimes with bloody and permanent consequences.
In this collection, Hafdahl offers hints at the nature of the malevolence but never reveals too much. There are two stories here in particular that get at the source of the evil, but it’s never clear whether these represent its origin or if they were simply drawn to what was already there. I like to think the ground itself is simply sour, and all the other malignancies just found a home there early on, but it would ruin the spirit of the stories to make it too plain. Better for the reader to live with the same confusion as the residents themselves have on the rare occasions their minds shake free of the perpetual fog.
All of the stories were interesting and the variety of characters and times - some stories go back to the 1800’s - also kept me from ever being bored with the collection. The first story in the collection is a real banger, and in general the women are the real stars here. Although a favorite of mine was Jasper Dewitt - I’m a sucker for anything that references Dyatlov.
Front to back, this is a solid collection that legitimately gave me the creeps in several instances. Check it out.
December 6, 2018
4.5 stars, actually.
I read the author's novel featuring this short story's same town, Willoughby, first. I'm glad I did. Because with the framework of the novel in my head, including some characters that I found in this book (hi Edwin! hi Doris!) I could fit each story like a puzzle piece into the picture of Willoughby's murder-and-hate filled history to create a whole.
I might not have had the satisfaction of that synthesized portrayal of a daytime-bucolic but nightime-horrific town without the novel first. So I totally recommend reading that.
The stories here I found fell into three different types for me, although all of them contained the kind of gut-twisting, visceral encounter with horror that I've come to see as one of Hafdahl's specialties, especially with the language focusing on blood, mucous, and guts.
The first type of stories featured women as their main emotional focus, usually ones who were broken in some way, like Penny with an upset stomach obsessed with cleanliness, or Adelaide grossed out by her working-class lug of a husband. These stories take everyday, common issues and run with them into horror territory.
The second type of stories were kind of backstory horror stories featuring characters I knew from Her Dark Inheritance. I LOVED finding out more about Edwin's realization about the evil in Willoughby. I also LOVED finding out Doris Woodhouse's backstory and how she came to live in Fred Willoughby's house. The most chilling story, hands down, for me was the librarian who helps the main character of Her Dark Inheritance. Here we get a glimpse of a terrible tragedy in her life that ended up blind-siding me with revelations about the grossness of predatory men.
The third kind of story involved unreliable narrators (my favorite kind) who seemed to be victims, but who I ended up enjoying their horrific punishment. Leon Small, a farmer who prides himself on the newness and neatness of his farm, finds a basket with an infant on his porch one night, and what transpires is a fitting punishment for the control-freak.
So a creepy collection of stories revolving around the evil in Willoughby. Just .5 star taken away because I think having the overall narrative of the fiction novel (Her Dark Inheritance) creates a fuller picture of the town-- without which, this collection might at times lack a cohesive center.
I read the author's novel featuring this short story's same town, Willoughby, first. I'm glad I did. Because with the framework of the novel in my head, including some characters that I found in this book (hi Edwin! hi Doris!) I could fit each story like a puzzle piece into the picture of Willoughby's murder-and-hate filled history to create a whole.
I might not have had the satisfaction of that synthesized portrayal of a daytime-bucolic but nightime-horrific town without the novel first. So I totally recommend reading that.
The stories here I found fell into three different types for me, although all of them contained the kind of gut-twisting, visceral encounter with horror that I've come to see as one of Hafdahl's specialties, especially with the language focusing on blood, mucous, and guts.
The first type of stories featured women as their main emotional focus, usually ones who were broken in some way, like Penny with an upset stomach obsessed with cleanliness, or Adelaide grossed out by her working-class lug of a husband. These stories take everyday, common issues and run with them into horror territory.
The second type of stories were kind of backstory horror stories featuring characters I knew from Her Dark Inheritance. I LOVED finding out more about Edwin's realization about the evil in Willoughby. I also LOVED finding out Doris Woodhouse's backstory and how she came to live in Fred Willoughby's house. The most chilling story, hands down, for me was the librarian who helps the main character of Her Dark Inheritance. Here we get a glimpse of a terrible tragedy in her life that ended up blind-siding me with revelations about the grossness of predatory men.
The third kind of story involved unreliable narrators (my favorite kind) who seemed to be victims, but who I ended up enjoying their horrific punishment. Leon Small, a farmer who prides himself on the newness and neatness of his farm, finds a basket with an infant on his porch one night, and what transpires is a fitting punishment for the control-freak.
So a creepy collection of stories revolving around the evil in Willoughby. Just .5 star taken away because I think having the overall narrative of the fiction novel (Her Dark Inheritance) creates a fuller picture of the town-- without which, this collection might at times lack a cohesive center.
April 5, 2022
‘I shouldn’t be alone. Not now, not at night’ – prelude to an evening of terrifying stories
Minnesota author Meg Hafdahl writes horror and suspense stories that have been included in anthologies as well as her own short story collections, novels, and series – The Willoughby Chronicles (three volumes) and Twisted Reveries - three volumes, of which this book is the second volume. She has also co-authored The Science of Monsters, The Science of Women in Horror, The Science of Stephen King, and The Science of Serial Killers. Meg is the co-host of the podcast Horror Rewind.
Meg opens this collection of stories from mid-western town of Willoughby ‘where forgetting is a way of life’ with a series of excellent, atmospheric pen and ink drawings of the town
Capitalizing on the current advances in feminine impact (#HerToo, #HerStory, #MeToo, etc), Meg’s stories are driven by strong women leads. Her prose is elegant and able to draw the reader into the thirteen suspense-filled, terrifying tales. An example from the final story – WILLOUGHBY - validates her stature as a writer: ‘Inside Willoughby grocery you will find everything you might need of a quick stop. You can purchase three flavors of spaghetti sauce and mint ice cream with little chocolate cows mixed inside. You’ll find batteries and whipped cream in a can, and you can even pick up Sudoku books and gum at the checkout. But everyone in Willoughby, Minnesota, knows not to shop here for more than a bag full. Instead they get the kids strapped into the car, iPads in hand, and drive the thirty-five minutes to the Fergus Falls Super Foods. Willoughby Grocery is simply for the times you forgot olives or the bread, or you couldn’t wait another minute for a candy bar. Amanda knew that her family’s store was an in-between; an over-priced convenience, a stop for either the forgetful or the lazy. She quite liked it this way, because it meant her nights at work were spent reading and dreaming.’ With that setting the stage for horror to come is set.
That is but one of the thirteen throbbing, pulsating tales that fill this fine collection. Meg Hafdahl has mastered the horror/macabre genre. She is most assuredly an artist of importance. Highly recommended.
Minnesota author Meg Hafdahl writes horror and suspense stories that have been included in anthologies as well as her own short story collections, novels, and series – The Willoughby Chronicles (three volumes) and Twisted Reveries - three volumes, of which this book is the second volume. She has also co-authored The Science of Monsters, The Science of Women in Horror, The Science of Stephen King, and The Science of Serial Killers. Meg is the co-host of the podcast Horror Rewind.
Meg opens this collection of stories from mid-western town of Willoughby ‘where forgetting is a way of life’ with a series of excellent, atmospheric pen and ink drawings of the town
Capitalizing on the current advances in feminine impact (#HerToo, #HerStory, #MeToo, etc), Meg’s stories are driven by strong women leads. Her prose is elegant and able to draw the reader into the thirteen suspense-filled, terrifying tales. An example from the final story – WILLOUGHBY - validates her stature as a writer: ‘Inside Willoughby grocery you will find everything you might need of a quick stop. You can purchase three flavors of spaghetti sauce and mint ice cream with little chocolate cows mixed inside. You’ll find batteries and whipped cream in a can, and you can even pick up Sudoku books and gum at the checkout. But everyone in Willoughby, Minnesota, knows not to shop here for more than a bag full. Instead they get the kids strapped into the car, iPads in hand, and drive the thirty-five minutes to the Fergus Falls Super Foods. Willoughby Grocery is simply for the times you forgot olives or the bread, or you couldn’t wait another minute for a candy bar. Amanda knew that her family’s store was an in-between; an over-priced convenience, a stop for either the forgetful or the lazy. She quite liked it this way, because it meant her nights at work were spent reading and dreaming.’ With that setting the stage for horror to come is set.
That is but one of the thirteen throbbing, pulsating tales that fill this fine collection. Meg Hafdahl has mastered the horror/macabre genre. She is most assuredly an artist of importance. Highly recommended.
April 28, 2022
The Review
This was a truly incredible, emotional yet terrifying collection of short stories. The horror genre is alive and well in this collection, with threats and dangers that sway from monstrous beings hiding in the shadows to more sinister and everyday human evils that the town of Willoughby draws towards it. Although this is my first foray into the author’s work and the Twisted Reveries series of short stories, the author does an amazing job of crafting narratives that feel both isolated and well contained on their own while also connecting to a more broad and small-town vibe and mythos.
What stood out to me as a reader was the well-balanced and captivating protagonists found within the story. Each story had characters that readers could either get behind and cheer on to stop the threat they were facing, or grimace as the tables turned and the protagonist quickly became the antagonist. The complexities of each story’s protagonist and their backstory felt worthy of a short film or television anthology, and the twists and turns these stories take will have readers talking long after the final page drops.
The Verdict
Gripping, exhilarating, and thoughtful in its approach, author Meg Hafdahl’s “Twisted Reveries II: Tales From Willoughby” is a must-read collection of horror short stories that readers are not going to want to miss out on. The overall theme permeating this collection follows how every small town, every city, and even every person, no matter how beautiful and picturesque they may appear on the outside in the light of day, has the potential to hide great darkness and hardship within their foundation, which waits for night to descend to roam free to draw others into its web. A truly haunting collection of stories, this is one short story read you won’t want to miss.
This was a truly incredible, emotional yet terrifying collection of short stories. The horror genre is alive and well in this collection, with threats and dangers that sway from monstrous beings hiding in the shadows to more sinister and everyday human evils that the town of Willoughby draws towards it. Although this is my first foray into the author’s work and the Twisted Reveries series of short stories, the author does an amazing job of crafting narratives that feel both isolated and well contained on their own while also connecting to a more broad and small-town vibe and mythos.
What stood out to me as a reader was the well-balanced and captivating protagonists found within the story. Each story had characters that readers could either get behind and cheer on to stop the threat they were facing, or grimace as the tables turned and the protagonist quickly became the antagonist. The complexities of each story’s protagonist and their backstory felt worthy of a short film or television anthology, and the twists and turns these stories take will have readers talking long after the final page drops.
The Verdict
Gripping, exhilarating, and thoughtful in its approach, author Meg Hafdahl’s “Twisted Reveries II: Tales From Willoughby” is a must-read collection of horror short stories that readers are not going to want to miss out on. The overall theme permeating this collection follows how every small town, every city, and even every person, no matter how beautiful and picturesque they may appear on the outside in the light of day, has the potential to hide great darkness and hardship within their foundation, which waits for night to descend to roam free to draw others into its web. A truly haunting collection of stories, this is one short story read you won’t want to miss.
May 9, 2018
This is the second book of short stories by Meg Hafdahl and I really loved it. The best part is they all take place in the same fictional town that her debut novel is set in so the world is expanded and fully realized. I love reading female characters that aren’t perfect and this book delivers complicated, interesting characters and gripping stories.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews