The Best of Both Worlds

by S.P. Miskowski

Roland and his sister Pigeon are the kind of people most visitors to the small town of Skillute never notice: ordinary, hardworking folk who keep to themselves. They obey the speed limit and pay their taxes on time. Yet something isn’t quite normal about these adult siblings who perform strange rituals in the basement and tend to their garden late at night.

To their affluent new neighbors, caught up in a fantasy of pastoral family life, Roland and Pigeon might as well be invisible. Old acquaintances take them for granted, as though they’re part of the fragmented landscape. In truth, no one knows what secret worlds they may inhabit, whether stalking the living or speaking to the dead.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Short Stories, Adult

80 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2020

About the author

S.P. Miskowski is a recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships. Her books have received four Shirley Jackson Award nominations and two Bram Stoker Award nominations. Her second novel, I Wish I Was Like You, won This Is Horror Novel of the Year 2017 and the readers' choice Charles Dexter Award from Strange Aeons.

Her stories have been published in Nightmare Magazine, Vastarien, Cosmic Horror Monthly, Supernatural Tales, Black Static, Identity Theory, and numerous anthologies.

She is represented by Danielle Svetcov at Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency.

Author site:
https://spmiskowski.wordpress.com/

Reviews

[Sadie Hartmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up in a pretty small town at the base of the Sierra Nevada foothills in Northern California. I spent forty years of my life in a rural, retirement community. Believe me when I emphatically tell you, that a quaint, idyllic town is far more threatening to you than big city life. The idea is that everyone who lives in a small town knows everyone else and this somehow creates security and a sense of comfort. If you know everyone by first and last name and everything about who they are, where they live, and what they do--the chances are slim that any harm from these people that you “know” will befall you. This could not be further from the truth. All families have secrets that they keep hidden behind locked doors. Sure, they might go to the local church on Sunday at their finest with a big smile on their face but that’s just for show. You might bump into someone at the store and they seem friendly, but what do you know about them, really?

Skillute, WA. A fictional, rural town in the Pacific Northwest was created by the author, S. P. Miskowski. Many, if not all of Miskowski’s books take place in Skillute. The first book I read, KNOCK, KNOCK got my attention and made me an instant fan. I read, DELPHINE DODD, THE WORST IS YET TO COME, and now this novella, THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS.

Skillute, as it turns out, is not the kind of place you’d want to raise a family. Just like I mentioned early, this rural town has a lot of secrets. Roland and Pigeon are adult siblings that inherited the family farm after both of their parents passed away.
They both work at a nearby school. He’s a janitor and she works in the lunch cafeteria. They pretty much keep their heads down and mind their own business, only preferring the company of each other.

Miskowski is the master of drawing readers into the lives of her protagonists. With a skilled sleight of hand, readers are invited to invest, emotionally, before they really know what they’re getting into. Reading the back of the book, it’s telegraphed that Roland and Pigeon are not healthy, morally functional people but by the time the reader makes the discovery of what is actually going on, it’s too late--there is a natural-born attachment to these characters that feels weird and shameful like you’re rooting for the bad guys.
Everything seen is right up close; impossible to look away.
This is a classic story of ‘hurt people, hurt people. It’s a painful journey. Miskowski even brings some supernatural elements into the plotline that I think rubs against the ‘true crime’ style narrative and makes it shine, indicative of Miskowski’s storytelling and present in all her books. I recommend this one to readers who enjoy quick, fast-paced stories, short chapters, complicated characters, small-town horror, suspense, and the unexpected.
~Sadie Hartmann

[asapidox · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5⭐

I picked up this one because the premise sounded right up my alley—dark domestic horror, identity, and suburban unease.

The setup is great, it had so much potential, but the writing style—while beautifully crafted—felt dense and distant. I never felt close to the protagonist, and the story moved at such a slow, abstract pace that I lost interest.

There’s definitely an audience for this kind of lyrical, atmospheric horror, but it just wasn’t for me. I wanted something that hit harder emotionally or narratively, and this one left me cold.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Right off the bat I should point out that S.P. Miskowski’s horror novella The Best of Both Worlds is not a standalone novel. In order to not feel like you’re really missing something, particularly at the end, you need to have read The Worst Is Yet To Come. On the plus side, I enjoyed that book well enough that I went back and re-read it before reading this one, and it was quite worth it. So just make sure you read them in order.

Pigeon and Roland Dempsey are sister and brother. Pigeon works in the school cafeteria, and Roland is the school’s janitor. Both of them go unnoticed much of the time. Women in Pigeon’s mother’s family are born with the ability to speak to the dead, but Pigeon doesn’t have that gift. She seems somehow plugged into the town, however, and she follows rituals to keep her and her brother safe. Roland brings her the, uh, supplies, needed for her rituals.

This is an intriguing story. It’s the flip side of The Worst Is Yet To Come, taking place at the same time. Roland has been following Briar and Tasha, the two girls at the heart of that other book, and finds himself caught in the middle of the strangeness going on around them. He knows one of the girls has gone bad, and that there’s something very strange about her, but he can’t put his finger on any of it.

I can’t say much more without spoiling this short work, so I’ll just say that if you enjoyed that other Miskowski book, you should absolutely read this one!


Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2020/06/s...

[Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miskowski's books set in Skillute, WA, keep getting better as her invented world expands (and gets that much more horrific). For people who like interconnected stories taking place in fictional but very grounded locales, this is a fantastic series.

[David Thirteen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miskowski always transports readers to strange, unsettling places, and I don’t just mean Skillute, her frequently written about haunted town. The main characters in The Best of Both Worlds straddle the line between likable and appalling as the brother captures and kills people for the sister’s occult rituals. In most stories, they would simply be the villains, but here, there is enough development and backstory to make them sympathetic. There are also far worse things than serial killers in Skillute, as they find out.

I’m only giving a lower than a five-star rating to this because it is a companion piece to Miskowski’s earlier novella, The Worst is Yet to Come, and even though it can be read on its own, I believe it would seem incomplete and be harder to make sense of without the background of the earlier book.

[Christi Nogle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A chilling companion to the novel The Worst is Yet to Come. Both books are part of a larger Skillute cycle also including Knock Knock, Delphine Dodd, Astoria, and In the Light. I love the ambition behind this project and have enjoyed all of the books I've read from it (still need to read In the Light, though). This particular one might appeal to those who enjoyed the first season of True Detective.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read all of the Skillute books and I have approached each with mixed trepidation and glee, but the cover of this book with its at-first-glance appearance of benign magical wonderment unnerved me more than usual. Even had I not noticed the body on the ground, I know Skillute and I know that benign and magical and wonderment are not words typically used to describe it. So what was the cover telling me?

A brother and sister, young adults, Roland and Pigeon are living alone after the timely demise of their abusive father. They live in a nondescript house, work at nothing jobs … they avoid notice. Their Skillute roots go back generations and they know there are mysteries and horrors roiling beneath the ground but they are just now beginning to realize their individual connections to the town legacy. They had different mothers, both dead, and with no living relations Roland and Pigeon have no one to guide them. Their special talents are hardly benevolent and yet as it turns out, of the many evil founders, ancestors, and residents of Skillute, Roland and Pigeon are almost innocents. They have a dark sweetness about them. The book cover speaks volumes.

S.P., thank you for new bread crumbs. I believe, and hope, that this story promises more.

[Virginia Palencia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very brief novella that is a companion to another book in the series. The author does a really great job of drawing you in to the main characters you are far in when you realize they are not morally correct in any sense of the word and yet you find yourself rooting for them.

This is definitely horror, but more in a twisted, character development sense. To make complete sense of the ending, you will have had to have read the other book in the series.

I

[Thomas Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pigeon and her brother, Roland, live alone in the house once owned by their late father. It is quite apart from any other homes in Skillute, which is most fortunate as we learn throughout the book. Pigeon’s mother, Sophie, was born a Dodd, and those who have read the other Skillute books will recognise that name. Dodd women have long been known to practice witchcraft, a fact not lost on Pigeon as she strives to unlock her own abilities, something that is proving difficult. For this reason, and knowing as all Skillute-natives did, that the answer to the town’s mystical lore lay in the ground beneath their feet, Pigeon refuses to leave the town. Even when the abuse she and her brother faced at the hands of a brutal father forced Roland to leave.

But he couldn’t travel far enough away to escape the nagging voice of his sister in his head, confirming the strength of the bond they shared. This is something that is established early, and Miskowski makes it seem effortless. Through the dialogue between them and the inner dialogue of Roland, just a few paragraphs pass and we can feel the love between the two. It is the love of survivors. The love of two siblings who have faced abuse, and fought back. In doing so, Roland’s dark secret, known only by himself and his sister, takes an even more sinister turn and becomes something he refers to as his “craving”. We aren’t immediately privy to what that is – although it is hinted at in a disturbing scene at the beginning of the story, one which is actually reminiscent of a subplot in The Worst is Yet to Come – but Miskowski does an excellent job of allowing the revelation to unravel naturally.

This craving leads Roland to become fixated on two young girls who attend the high school where he works as a janitor, and his sister as a cook in the kitchen. Thus begins the entanglement with the previous novel, as Pigeon and Roland’s storyline becomes increasingly intertwined with that of Briar Kenny and Tasha Davis. He has long been warned by his sister to notice the inconsistencies in the pattern of life. He looks for signs everywhere; signs that show when a situation is not right, or that there is something unusual about a person. He senses something unusual about the two girls and so begins to pay them more than the usual amount of attention.

To say much more about the story would possibly lead to spoiling not only this novella, but also the preceding novel. Miskowski has indicated on social media and in interviews that this story is best enjoyed as a “companion piece” to the novel. Indeed, it was originally intended as a sub-plot of that book, but was deemed to be pulling attention away from the main story of Tasha and Briar and the darkness that ensnares them. Although this novella could possibly be read and enjoyed alone, there are certain elements introduced toward the end that directly reference the outcome of the novel and, in our opinion, to get the most satisfaction out of the story, we agree with the author. In reading both books, we can see how the novella further develops the story of Skillute and the darkness that permeates the town from beneath, without detracting from the novel. There are subtle connections throughout (the cottonwood fibres, the fate of Tyler Blanchard, the appearance – and disappearance – of two sinister little children) which, while insignificant in the grand scheme of this story, does enhance the reading experience when having read the novel first.

If the town of Skillute had only ever existed within the pages of Knock Knock and Miskowski had never felt the need to explore it further, it would have been real enough to haunt the memories of any reader who visited that one book. But, having continued her examination of the disturbing town and its cursed inhabitants, she has created something akin to King’s Castle Rock. Through the eyes of multiple generations of women, from the town’s founding to the present day, and the relationships they form with each other, she has shown us the worst that human nature has to offer. Seemingly ordinary people guided by a dark presence. I say it with the nicest of intentions, but Miskowski has a real knack of creating the most tenebrous characters. While this novella differs slightly from the previous work, the key components of a Skillute story are still clearly evident. The setting is as tangible as words on a page can get, the descriptions drawing us into the story as effectively as scenes on a screen. We are instantly intimate with the inner thoughts of the main characters through the most effectual and economical use of inner dialogue, yet we still wish to learn more, such is the author’s tremendous capacity for potent characterisation. The power of great storytelling lies in the author’s ability to create a world as real as our own and fill it with such compelling and engaging characters so that we can’t resist bearing witness to the horror as it unfolds. It is a power that Miskowski has in abundance, as is proven by her body of work in general, and this novella in particular. While I may not want to live an entire lifetime in Skillute, Washington, I will happily pay a visit anytime S.P. Miskowski extends the invitation.

[Daniel C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love the Skillute series, and I'm sure I'm not alone when I say: more, more, more. I feel we've only just begun to dissect the wonderous mysteries of Skillute.