What do you think?
Rate this book
Monster She Wrote
Nightmare Flower
This collection of eighteen short tales, a novelette and a short novel takes the reader inside the dark imagination of Elizabeth Engstrom, author of acclaimed horror classics like When Darkness Loves Us.
In these stories, you will read about a woman asked to be complicit in her own mother’s death, a grandmother with a macabre hobby, a bizarre, phallic-shaped flower that portends evil for a married couple, a father whose son is caught up in a sinister government experiment. These are weird and unsettling tales that will linger with the reader.
In her introduction to this new edition, Lisa Kröger writes, “There are true horrors that await readers in all of Engstrom’s works ... reminds me of another giant of horror literature, Shirley Jackson.”
In these stories, you will read about a woman asked to be complicit in her own mother’s death, a grandmother with a macabre hobby, a bizarre, phallic-shaped flower that portends evil for a married couple, a father whose son is caught up in a sinister government experiment. These are weird and unsettling tales that will linger with the reader.
In her introduction to this new edition, Lisa Kröger writes, “There are true horrors that await readers in all of Engstrom’s works ... reminds me of another giant of horror literature, Shirley Jackson.”
312 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1992
12 people are currently reading
863 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Engstrom
65 books449 followersElizabeth (Liz) Engstrom grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois (a Chicago suburb where she lived with her father) and Kaysville, Utah (north of Salt Lake City, where she lived with her mother). After graduating from high school in Illinois, she ventured west in a serious search for acceptable weather, eventually settling in Honolulu. She attended college and worked as an advertising copywriter.
After eight years on Oahu, she moved to Maui, found a business partner and opened an advertising agency. One husband, two children and five years later, she sold the agency to her partner and had enough seed money to try her hand at full time fiction writing, her lifelong dream. With the help of her mentor, science fiction great Theodore Sturgeon, When Darkness Loves Us was published.
Engstrom moved to Oregon in 1986, where she lives with her husband Al Cratty, the legendary muskie fisherman. She holds a BA in English Literature with a concentration in Creative Writing, a Master’s in Applied Theology, and a Certificate of Pastoral Care and Ministry, all from Marylhurst University. An introvert at heart, she still emerges into public occasionally to teach a class in novel or short story writing, or to speak at a writer’s convention or conference.
After eight years on Oahu, she moved to Maui, found a business partner and opened an advertising agency. One husband, two children and five years later, she sold the agency to her partner and had enough seed money to try her hand at full time fiction writing, her lifelong dream. With the help of her mentor, science fiction great Theodore Sturgeon, When Darkness Loves Us was published.
Engstrom moved to Oregon in 1986, where she lives with her husband Al Cratty, the legendary muskie fisherman. She holds a BA in English Literature with a concentration in Creative Writing, a Master’s in Applied Theology, and a Certificate of Pastoral Care and Ministry, all from Marylhurst University. An introvert at heart, she still emerges into public occasionally to teach a class in novel or short story writing, or to speak at a writer’s convention or conference.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
January 30, 2021
Excellent set of short stories from author Elizabeth Engstrom writer of "When Darkness Loves Us," one of my favorite reads of last year. Really enjoyed these tales which range in page count from flash fiction to novella length. Standouts for me include "Music Ascending," a science fiction story about a man collecting sounds to create a very unique experience and "The Jeweler's Thumb is Turning Green," a strange tale of a maimed jeweler seeking a second chance. The two novellas that end the collection are also two of the best stories in the book. I particularly liked "Fogarty and Fogarty," a weird tale of a homeless man who finds himself living with two strange companions. The story has a mysterious, alluring ambiguity that, for me, made it the best of the bunch.
August 23, 2020
A short story collection I took my time with if only to savor Elizabeth Engstrom’s excellent writing, Nightmare Flower is full to the brim with short tales (and two novellas) that almost defy classification: I guess one could call them “weird fiction”, with healthy splashes of horror and sci-fi.
Even though I didn’t quite love every entry here—a few stories are just too short, feeling like unformed sketches—the highlights more than make up for them, and Engstrom’s sheer writing ability carries even the stories I didn’t love. I find myself already wanting to reread this, hoping to pick up on things I didn’t catch the first time.
Perfect for fans of When Darkness Loves Us, these stories are quality reading for horror fans, and I’m glad to know it’s soon being re-released by Valancourt Books.
Even though I didn’t quite love every entry here—a few stories are just too short, feeling like unformed sketches—the highlights more than make up for them, and Engstrom’s sheer writing ability carries even the stories I didn’t love. I find myself already wanting to reread this, hoping to pick up on things I didn’t catch the first time.
Perfect for fans of When Darkness Loves Us, these stories are quality reading for horror fans, and I’m glad to know it’s soon being re-released by Valancourt Books.
dnf
February 1, 2021DNF. I love horror stories, and the ones in this book are well-written. However, I don't want to read anymore stories that allude or blatantly discuss abuse or rape. I might revisit this at a later date; but right now I have no interest in finishing "Nightmare Flower."
November 27, 2020
Engstrom's better with longer-form fiction, I think, so it's not surprising that my favorite work in this collection by far was the enigmatic novelette "Fogarty & Fogarty". ("Project Stone", a novella and Engstrom-atypical foray into sci-fi thriller, is also very solid, with a surprisingly bleak, cynical, utterly unsentimental ending.) The short stories that make up the remainder of the collection are uneven: some come off as underdeveloped, some as surprisingly clunky and amateurish in their execution. Some are well-executed but suffer from fundamentally weak central concepts ("Grandma's Hobby" goes from effectively creepy and emotionally moving to a dad joke punchline of an ending). But others are extremely good, with the unique premises, visceral horror, deadpan humor, and realistic scenes of mundane American life that mark my favorite Engstrom works. The title story's nightmarish take on heterosexuality and the unusual spin on a common urban legend trope in "The Jeweler's Thumb is Turning Green" are standouts. "Genetically Predisposed", the only story in here that could potentially be described as erotica, is also excellent.
August 21, 2021
I believe this is the first time I’ve read any of Elizabeth Engstrom’s writing and I hope it won’t be the last. It’s hard to pin down her work in this collection, but if I had to describe it, it wouldn’t be entirely unlike Shirley Jackson: Effortlessly often placing the uncanny in mundane settings.
Often poetic and delightfully ambiguous, this was right up my alley and I suspect I’ll be back for more. The one weakness of this collection is that I at times was left thinking that some of the shorts would have benefited from being longer.
Short summaries below (I’ve marked my favorites with an ‘*’)
-The Old Woman Upstairs: *
A short and poignant tale dealing with a warm but complicated mother/daughter relationship, growing old and taking control of your own life (or in this case; death). Although the story is only 9 pages long, I found it interesting how deeply Engstrom managed to describe this mom & daughter duo and the ambivalent feelings the daughter holds about both her mother and the suicide she’s committing. Nothing short of impressive and a great start to the collection.
-Nightwind:
Reads like lover’s (breakup) poem to the wind, poignant and flows beautifully.
-Rivering: *
Margaret is a riverer, meaning she goes hunting for slivers/souls of the (sometimes) dearly departed that seem to inhabit rivers. Quite an interesting take on the afterlife and idea of souls that also managed to give a fascinating look into Margaret’s background and complicated history with the most central male figures of her life.
-Fifty-five Days of Silence:
A sci-fi short about a couple being torn apart by ‘Silence’, a condition which has left the husband completely unable to communicate and stuck with a vacant smile on his face. Through these few pages we are also privy to how the complete lack of communication has driven the wife ‘to sin’ and how far (or not) each are willing to go for the other.
-Will Lunch Be Ready on Time?:*
Two police men are on a house call checking up on the kids in a house who have been scared by some drunk scoundrels. After they leave, we learn the real horrors those walls held and just where the father went.
-Rain:
A poetic short in which the stormy weather is only matched by the main protagonist. Devilishly ambiguous.
-Grandma’s Hobby:*
Once again, a story that masterfully weaves the uncanny into a framework of the completely mundane. The protagonist is living with her grandma for a few weeks while waiting for her new house to be finished and this brings back both fond memories and not quite forgotten fears; namely the cellar where her grandfather died. Wanting to confront her fears, she goes ahead and cleans it when she finds a jar of mysterious jelly. Her grandma was a master at canning fruits and making jelly, this is something very different though.
-The Final Tale:
A group of people take turns telling scary tales in the dark when a dark visitor joins in and seems to literally feed on it. I really enjoyed this story and it’s twist of plagiarism.
-Quiet Meditation:*
Not all is what it seems here as we follow old Nessie down memory lane from courting to marriage and child. A sad tale dealing with the power of denial.
-The Night of a Hawaiian Sky:
A long and ecstatic nightly dance ends in a sad welcome home.
-The Pan Man:*
Constance is alone while her husband is hunting when a stranger bearing cookware arrives on her porch. Initially suspicious, she finds some of the items oddly compelling and she has to have them. The price remains to be seen; the items will exact a price, maybe a lost lamb or an unlucky hunting trip. Tension builds as we find out that Constance is pregnant after years of trying and as she holds off using the 2nd of the two items in fear of what the price might be.
-Seasoned Enthusiast:
A story with two parallel lines: A dark and deadly dance, and a woman embittered and near-consumed by jealousy of her ex-husband’s new wife.
-Spice:*
“The plural of mouse is mice. The plural of spouse is spice”
Clara is not entirely unlike Bluebeard. She likes playing (deadly )pranks on her husbands. The question is not if she can dish it out, but if she can take it. A surprisingly lighthearted dark tale which I enjoyed.
-Music Ascending:
A sound engineer (of sorts) is able to create experiences for his clients. He’s approached by a rich man who wants to experience death but live to tell about it.
-A Living Legacy:
Laura’s mother has just passed away and she’s the last link to work on a multigenerational quilt. This is a story about life’s losses tangibly told through fabric.
-The Jeweler’s Thumb Is Turning Green:*
Jeweler Harold Hansen recently lost his dominant arm in an accident, rendering him unable to continue his craft. That is, until he notices a finger (which turns into an arm) growing out of his wallet. He manages to attach it to where his missing limb was and is pleased to see how artistically gifted his new limb is. Or, at least until it starts taking a few too many liberties.
-Genetically Predisposed:
A 40 y.o woman is going through a life crisis: An empty-nester, she’s also found out that her husband is cheating on her. She ends up in a tattoo parlor and feels like her life has boiled down to getting a massive snake tattoo. The snake tattoo is no regular tattoo and we’re in for a ride where it’s not entirely certain how much is down to the agency of the snake or projection from the woman.
-Nightmare Flower:
A young couple are fixing up a derelict house when a plant grows in a ‘bad spot’ in the garden. The husband becomes more and more unhinged as the plant grows larger.
-Fogarty & Fogarty:
Fogarty meets a mysterious woman who seems to share his name one night (although she doesn’t really speak) and is dragged into a very strange living arrangement when he decides to make her his wife and take her home. A very strange and murky story complete with a creepy baby boy. I enjoyed how something as banal as housework/changing nappies & hygiene served as such an effective tension builder.
-Project Stone:*
A secret gov project in which there’s a walled-in town in the desert and the inhabitants function to a tone & die if they’re not exposed to it or out of range.
The longest story in this collection and a wholly immersive read.
Often poetic and delightfully ambiguous, this was right up my alley and I suspect I’ll be back for more. The one weakness of this collection is that I at times was left thinking that some of the shorts would have benefited from being longer.
Short summaries below (I’ve marked my favorites with an ‘*’)
-The Old Woman Upstairs: *
A short and poignant tale dealing with a warm but complicated mother/daughter relationship, growing old and taking control of your own life (or in this case; death). Although the story is only 9 pages long, I found it interesting how deeply Engstrom managed to describe this mom & daughter duo and the ambivalent feelings the daughter holds about both her mother and the suicide she’s committing. Nothing short of impressive and a great start to the collection.
-Nightwind:
Reads like lover’s (breakup) poem to the wind, poignant and flows beautifully.
-Rivering: *
Margaret is a riverer, meaning she goes hunting for slivers/souls of the (sometimes) dearly departed that seem to inhabit rivers. Quite an interesting take on the afterlife and idea of souls that also managed to give a fascinating look into Margaret’s background and complicated history with the most central male figures of her life.
-Fifty-five Days of Silence:
A sci-fi short about a couple being torn apart by ‘Silence’, a condition which has left the husband completely unable to communicate and stuck with a vacant smile on his face. Through these few pages we are also privy to how the complete lack of communication has driven the wife ‘to sin’ and how far (or not) each are willing to go for the other.
-Will Lunch Be Ready on Time?:*
Two police men are on a house call checking up on the kids in a house who have been scared by some drunk scoundrels. After they leave, we learn the real horrors those walls held and just where the father went.
-Rain:
A poetic short in which the stormy weather is only matched by the main protagonist. Devilishly ambiguous.
-Grandma’s Hobby:*
Once again, a story that masterfully weaves the uncanny into a framework of the completely mundane. The protagonist is living with her grandma for a few weeks while waiting for her new house to be finished and this brings back both fond memories and not quite forgotten fears; namely the cellar where her grandfather died. Wanting to confront her fears, she goes ahead and cleans it when she finds a jar of mysterious jelly. Her grandma was a master at canning fruits and making jelly, this is something very different though.
-The Final Tale:
A group of people take turns telling scary tales in the dark when a dark visitor joins in and seems to literally feed on it. I really enjoyed this story and it’s twist of plagiarism.
-Quiet Meditation:*
Not all is what it seems here as we follow old Nessie down memory lane from courting to marriage and child. A sad tale dealing with the power of denial.
-The Night of a Hawaiian Sky:
A long and ecstatic nightly dance ends in a sad welcome home.
-The Pan Man:*
Constance is alone while her husband is hunting when a stranger bearing cookware arrives on her porch. Initially suspicious, she finds some of the items oddly compelling and she has to have them. The price remains to be seen; the items will exact a price, maybe a lost lamb or an unlucky hunting trip. Tension builds as we find out that Constance is pregnant after years of trying and as she holds off using the 2nd of the two items in fear of what the price might be.
-Seasoned Enthusiast:
A story with two parallel lines: A dark and deadly dance, and a woman embittered and near-consumed by jealousy of her ex-husband’s new wife.
-Spice:*
“The plural of mouse is mice. The plural of spouse is spice”
Clara is not entirely unlike Bluebeard. She likes playing (deadly )pranks on her husbands. The question is not if she can dish it out, but if she can take it. A surprisingly lighthearted dark tale which I enjoyed.
-Music Ascending:
A sound engineer (of sorts) is able to create experiences for his clients. He’s approached by a rich man who wants to experience death but live to tell about it.
-A Living Legacy:
Laura’s mother has just passed away and she’s the last link to work on a multigenerational quilt. This is a story about life’s losses tangibly told through fabric.
-The Jeweler’s Thumb Is Turning Green:*
Jeweler Harold Hansen recently lost his dominant arm in an accident, rendering him unable to continue his craft. That is, until he notices a finger (which turns into an arm) growing out of his wallet. He manages to attach it to where his missing limb was and is pleased to see how artistically gifted his new limb is. Or, at least until it starts taking a few too many liberties.
-Genetically Predisposed:
A 40 y.o woman is going through a life crisis: An empty-nester, she’s also found out that her husband is cheating on her. She ends up in a tattoo parlor and feels like her life has boiled down to getting a massive snake tattoo. The snake tattoo is no regular tattoo and we’re in for a ride where it’s not entirely certain how much is down to the agency of the snake or projection from the woman.
-Nightmare Flower:
A young couple are fixing up a derelict house when a plant grows in a ‘bad spot’ in the garden. The husband becomes more and more unhinged as the plant grows larger.
-Fogarty & Fogarty:
Fogarty meets a mysterious woman who seems to share his name one night (although she doesn’t really speak) and is dragged into a very strange living arrangement when he decides to make her his wife and take her home. A very strange and murky story complete with a creepy baby boy. I enjoyed how something as banal as housework/changing nappies & hygiene served as such an effective tension builder.
-Project Stone:*
A secret gov project in which there’s a walled-in town in the desert and the inhabitants function to a tone & die if they’re not exposed to it or out of range.
The longest story in this collection and a wholly immersive read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 30, 2021
Long has it been since I last read such original stories, all in one book. Engstrom covers a wide palette of human emotions, such as grief, love, depression and determination inside a highly dark spectrum of literary creations. Her short novel at the end, "Project Stone", is in my opinion a form of praise to Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World", and it was a read of quite high standards.
November 1, 2021
Story collection: 4/5 ☆
Fogerty & Fogert 2/5 ☆
Project Stone ☆
Loved the short stories in the beginning of this collection. Dark, feminine, mysterious, speculative, and disturbing.
The first novella was very weak and not an enjoyable read for me.
The second novella was better but more sci-fi than horror, which is my preferred genre.
Fogerty & Fogert 2/5 ☆
Project Stone ☆
Loved the short stories in the beginning of this collection. Dark, feminine, mysterious, speculative, and disturbing.
The first novella was very weak and not an enjoyable read for me.
The second novella was better but more sci-fi than horror, which is my preferred genre.
February 28, 2021
God I love Engstrom.
March 17, 2020
A collection of varying quality and interest: some short and punchy stories - The Old Woman Upstairs, Rivering, Will Lunch be Ready on Time? The Pan Man and the titular Nightmare Flower - are excellent examples of the effectiveness of the short form, but there are also a lot of unpublished works here, and many of them seem vignettes, ideas for longer stories that did not come, and some of them almost as unformed as writing exercises. But the bulk of the collection - fully half the book - comprises the heartfelt and melancholic novella Fogarty & Fogarty, a tale of homelessness and loss which refuses to explain its fantastic oddities, until you realise - heartbreakingly - perhaps it has none, and the short novel Project Stone, a slice of New Age paranoia which pulls few punches in upsetting what appears to be a standard riff on the The Stepford Wives or Invasion of the Body Snatchers formula.
February 26, 2021
The final science fiction novella in this volume, "Project Stone," on its own is worth the price of admission and earns the book five stars. What makes this collection so remarkable, however, is the breadth of different moods and genres represented. Elizabeth Engstrom takes the reader on a tour of dark fiction across the spectrum of Gothic, fantasy, science fiction, and slice-of-life storytelling. I'm so glad Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson recommended this gem in Monster, She Wrote and Valancourt Books brought it back as part of the Monster She Wrote series. I look forward to reading more by Engstrom.
October 24, 2021
I love that the non-fiction book Monster She Wrote has inspired a book series much like Paperback From Hell. And I love the lineups. Two of the early titles that had me most excited were a re-release of Engstrom’s seminal collection Nightmare Flower and a new collection The Dead Hours of Night by Lisa Tuttle. I love the cover and interior art that ties back to that in Monster She Wrote. And the craftsmanship and care in these is evident.
Engstrom is a master of using mundanity to wrong-foot you before delivering a gut-punch. She also provides excellent voice for the horror that impacts the rural poor. This collection shows off her range from quiet and moody to heady and thoughtful and comfort across genre lines that include science fiction, fantasy, horror, and The Weird.
“The Old Woman Upstairs” is an excellent opener to this collection. It lulls you in with domestic ritual and tradition while closing in a manner such that you know that nothing is safe. “Rivering” is an lovely dark fantasy story about the endless struggle of reconciling with your past. “The Final Tale” is a wonderful meta tale about telling spooky stories and the things in the dark that scare us. The titular “Nightmare Flower” is a deeply unsettling must-read.
Engstrom is a master of using mundanity to wrong-foot you before delivering a gut-punch. She also provides excellent voice for the horror that impacts the rural poor. This collection shows off her range from quiet and moody to heady and thoughtful and comfort across genre lines that include science fiction, fantasy, horror, and The Weird.
“The Old Woman Upstairs” is an excellent opener to this collection. It lulls you in with domestic ritual and tradition while closing in a manner such that you know that nothing is safe. “Rivering” is an lovely dark fantasy story about the endless struggle of reconciling with your past. “The Final Tale” is a wonderful meta tale about telling spooky stories and the things in the dark that scare us. The titular “Nightmare Flower” is a deeply unsettling must-read.
November 11, 2025
Favorite selections include:
The Old Woman Upstairs - A woman’s elderly mother announces her intention to die that day.
Rivering - A woman fishes for souls for profit and to find her dead husband and father.
Grandma’s Hobby - A woman discovers a disturbing jar of jelly while helping her grandma clean the fruit cellar.
The Final Tale - A strange man joins a group of authors workshopping scary stories.
The Night of a Hawaiian Sky - A woman hanging laundry feels herself drawn to a strange ritual by music only she can hear.
The Pan Man - A cookware peddler offers Constance his wares for no money, warning that whatever she takes will exact its own price.
Music Ascending - An artist who recreates experiences with sound is commissioned to gather the sounds necessary to recreate the experience of death.
Genetically Predisposed - A neglected wife gets an enormous tattoo of a snake, which comes alive after its completion.
Nightmare Flower - A man ignores his pregnant wife as a mysterious plant grows in his garden.
Project Stone - A man goes to visit his estranged wife and son after they move to a government funded town where the inhabitants are addicted to the sound of a machine.
The Old Woman Upstairs - A woman’s elderly mother announces her intention to die that day.
Rivering - A woman fishes for souls for profit and to find her dead husband and father.
Grandma’s Hobby - A woman discovers a disturbing jar of jelly while helping her grandma clean the fruit cellar.
The Final Tale - A strange man joins a group of authors workshopping scary stories.
The Night of a Hawaiian Sky - A woman hanging laundry feels herself drawn to a strange ritual by music only she can hear.
The Pan Man - A cookware peddler offers Constance his wares for no money, warning that whatever she takes will exact its own price.
Music Ascending - An artist who recreates experiences with sound is commissioned to gather the sounds necessary to recreate the experience of death.
Genetically Predisposed - A neglected wife gets an enormous tattoo of a snake, which comes alive after its completion.
Nightmare Flower - A man ignores his pregnant wife as a mysterious plant grows in his garden.
Project Stone - A man goes to visit his estranged wife and son after they move to a government funded town where the inhabitants are addicted to the sound of a machine.
January 14, 2023
I discovered Elizabeth Engstrom, alongside Lisa Tuttle, via Valancourt's Paperbacks from Hell series. The title novella in When Darkness Loves Us was literally jaw-dropping, but the novella it was paired with left me cold. And that's the way it's always going to be with Engstrom for me, I'm afraid. I don't care for her prose. Tuttle's stories along similar themes resonate with me more. Only every other story is strong enough for the concept to outweigh the execution.
But. There is a certain raw chthonic power to Engstrom's stories, like a collective voice channeled through a single pen. They read like folk tales, urban legends, TV episodes, scary stories whispered from person to person until the original meaning is lost. For me, the most upsetting story in this collection is "Nightmare Flower," and the most enigmatic is "Fogarty and Fogarty." Although nothing here quite approaches "When Darkness Loves Us," the brutality and willingness to sacrifice everything for a story is notable in each one.
But. There is a certain raw chthonic power to Engstrom's stories, like a collective voice channeled through a single pen. They read like folk tales, urban legends, TV episodes, scary stories whispered from person to person until the original meaning is lost. For me, the most upsetting story in this collection is "Nightmare Flower," and the most enigmatic is "Fogarty and Fogarty." Although nothing here quite approaches "When Darkness Loves Us," the brutality and willingness to sacrifice everything for a story is notable in each one.
April 12, 2021
Another fantastic collection in the Monster, She Wrote series from Valancourt Books! Elizabeth Engstrom's stories are strange, spooky and twisted. Some of my favourites include: "Will Lunch Be Ready on Time?", "Grandma's Hobby", "Nightmare Flower" and "Project Stone" which gave me some strong Shirley Jackson, Stephen King and the Twilight Zone vibes. I will definitely look into more works by Engstrom, especially When Darkness Loves Us, soon.
I'm so happy that weird stories by the women featured in Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction are being brought to a wider audience to enjoy, inspire and terrify a little. Plus these books have the most stunning covers I've ever seen!
I'm so happy that weird stories by the women featured in Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction are being brought to a wider audience to enjoy, inspire and terrify a little. Plus these books have the most stunning covers I've ever seen!
March 8, 2021
3.5 stars
When I first heard about Valancourt’s Monster, She Wrote series, I got excited. A previous Valancourt horror anthology really failed in terms of widening the representation of its writers, and I was enthused to read some forgotten works of women’s literature. I decided I needed to start from the very beginning of the line with Nightmare Flower by Elizabeth Engstrom. Not only will the collection kickstart my exploration of the series, but it will also give me a good avenue to see if Engstrom’s writing was for me or not.
Now that I’ve finished the book, I can definitely say that Engstrom has some real talent and skill, but the collection carries the same uneven qualities that plague most short story collections.
Read the rest of the review here.
When I first heard about Valancourt’s Monster, She Wrote series, I got excited. A previous Valancourt horror anthology really failed in terms of widening the representation of its writers, and I was enthused to read some forgotten works of women’s literature. I decided I needed to start from the very beginning of the line with Nightmare Flower by Elizabeth Engstrom. Not only will the collection kickstart my exploration of the series, but it will also give me a good avenue to see if Engstrom’s writing was for me or not.
Now that I’ve finished the book, I can definitely say that Engstrom has some real talent and skill, but the collection carries the same uneven qualities that plague most short story collections.
Read the rest of the review here.
May 23, 2023
Engstrom, Elizabeth - Nightmare Flower
I should have liked this collection; I wanted to like this collection. But I couldn’t, for a number of reasons.
The stories, by and large, have a remote, cool tone, as if each narrator was disengaged. Consequently, I never felt sympathetic with characters, let alone their activities.
Two titles, “Nightwind” and “Rain”, pits characters against elemental weather, although I wondered, what was the point of each?
I won’t kick other tales, wasting your time and mine.
The last, longest, and finest, is the novella “Project Stone”. This seems more a conspiracy thriller than horror yarn. An anxiety ridden urbanite finds refuge in a gated desert enclave. Peace of mind comes with a price, of which she contentedly ignores. This feels like a very 90’s take, akin to an “X-Files” episode from that period.
Valencourt books are always affordable and worth a look, but, for me, this was wet powder.
I should have liked this collection; I wanted to like this collection. But I couldn’t, for a number of reasons.
The stories, by and large, have a remote, cool tone, as if each narrator was disengaged. Consequently, I never felt sympathetic with characters, let alone their activities.
Two titles, “Nightwind” and “Rain”, pits characters against elemental weather, although I wondered, what was the point of each?
I won’t kick other tales, wasting your time and mine.
The last, longest, and finest, is the novella “Project Stone”. This seems more a conspiracy thriller than horror yarn. An anxiety ridden urbanite finds refuge in a gated desert enclave. Peace of mind comes with a price, of which she contentedly ignores. This feels like a very 90’s take, akin to an “X-Files” episode from that period.
Valencourt books are always affordable and worth a look, but, for me, this was wet powder.
February 19, 2025
A genre-crossing collection of wonderfully original short stories (and two novellas) that span horror, weird fiction, and sci-fi, Nightmare Flower really showcases the power of the short story and Elizabeth Engstrom’s range as a writer.
Ranging from novellas to two-page vignettes that are but seeds of stories, this collection is rooted in the mundanity of American life and the horror that lurks within. There is the fable-like “Pan Man” whose cookware bears a terrible price to the fantasy-esque “Rivering” in which souls of the deceased flit like fish in the silvery waters of the river.
The title story “Nightmare Flower” is a twisted take on romance and fertility while “Project Stone” is the standout of the whole collection, a New Age sci-fi horror story with a surprisingly defeatist ending that demonstrates Engstrom’s writing at its apex.
Ranging from novellas to two-page vignettes that are but seeds of stories, this collection is rooted in the mundanity of American life and the horror that lurks within. There is the fable-like “Pan Man” whose cookware bears a terrible price to the fantasy-esque “Rivering” in which souls of the deceased flit like fish in the silvery waters of the river.
The title story “Nightmare Flower” is a twisted take on romance and fertility while “Project Stone” is the standout of the whole collection, a New Age sci-fi horror story with a surprisingly defeatist ending that demonstrates Engstrom’s writing at its apex.
December 23, 2023
Here's another fine collection of short stories, a novella, and a short novel by Elizabeth Engstrom. If you're familiar with the "Paperbacks From Hell" reissue of 1984's 'When Darkness Loves Us', you'll have some idea of what lies within. My favorites were the longer pieces, especially the closing 'short novel' "Project Stone", which, for some reason, reminded me of an old Outer Limits episode. Many of her short stories possess a eerie, dream-like quality. At times, the "modern day Shirley Jackson" comparisons are not that far off. Ms. Engstrom's been around for awhile, and has quite a few other books I'd like to read. "Black Ambrosia" is next.
And of course, I recommend this!
And of course, I recommend this!
November 6, 2021
This was a weird and delightful collection of stories that felt vaguely like a cross between Shirley Jackson and Stephen King. Most of the stories are compelling and easy to read. My favorites are probably The Pan Man and The Old Woman Upstairs (cw for suicide in that one and the final story Project Stone). My least favorite was Fogarty & Fogarty.
The final story, Project Stone, is a sci fi thriller novella that feels very Stephen King. Just a good intense page turner.
The final story, Project Stone, is a sci fi thriller novella that feels very Stephen King. Just a good intense page turner.
August 5, 2021
Love, Love, LOVED this book!! The way that the authors told their stories gave me tunnel vision. It was so intriguing. I blacked everything out of my surroundings and just let the book take me to whatever story I was reading.
It is definitely a book worth reading. Especially if you would like something different from what you normally read.
It is definitely a book worth reading. Especially if you would like something different from what you normally read.
October 28, 2022
There is such a great collection of stories here. My personal favorites include: Rivering, Will Lunch Be Ready on Time?, Quiet Meditation, A Living Legacy, the titular Nightmare Flower, and the short novel Project Stone. But seriously, there's not a dud in the bunch.
And Valancourt gets me with these covers every single time.
And Valancourt gets me with these covers every single time.
October 15, 2021
Not a bad collection, with some great short stories in there.
January 28, 2022
Very compelling and memorable collection. Overall well balanced
March 2, 2023
I’m giving this a 3.75. I did enjoy the majority of the stories, but I was unhappy with the final one. It just seemed too abrupt.
April 15, 2025
All the short stories were lowkey mid except the last one. The last one was INCREDIBLE
November 11, 2020
Highlights of this entertaining collection of Weird Fiction include the title story, "Rivering," "The Pan Man," "The Jeweler's Thumb was Green," and the novella "Fogerty and Fogerty," which features probably Engstrom's strongest prose (she expertly captures her homeless male protagonist's voice). The short novel that closes out the book, "Project Stone," features a strong paranoiac plot but some clunky dialogue and several unsatisfactorily drawn secondary characters. There's also a few very short pieces that feel under-baked that I would have jettisoned. But overall glad this is getting reprinted by the lovely Valancourt Books—flaws and all, it's a unique, offbeat collection that I would recommend to adventurous fans of dark fiction. 3.5 outta 5.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews