Some Breakable Things

by Cassandra Khaw, Natalie Naudus (Narrator)

As though to make up for his absence in life, your father’s ghost follows you everywhere. He is hungry.

"Some Breakable Things" by Cassandra Khaw is one of 27 free short horror stories in Nightfire's audio anthology.

Come Join Us by the Fire Season 2 is the second installment of Nightfire's audio-only horror anthology, featuring a wide collection of short stories from emerging voices in the horror genre as well as longtime fan favorites. The collection showcases the breadth of talent writing in the horror genre today, with contributions from a wide range of genre luminaries including Laird Barron, Indrapramit Das, Shaun Hamill, Daniel M. Lavery, Matthew Lyons, T. Kingfisher, Seanan McGuire, Nibedita Sen, and Nightfire’s own Cassandra Khaw and Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

The full Table of Contents is as follows:
Cassandra Khaw- "Some Breakable Things"
Sarah Langan- "The Changeling"
Shaun Hamill- "Music of the Abyss"
Caitlín R. Kiernan- "Standing Water"
Tade Thompson- "Bone"
T. Kingfisher- "Origin Story"
Silvia Moreno-Garcia- "The Sound of Footsteps"
Laird Barron- "Jōren Falls"
Damien Angelica Walters- "Tooth, Tongue, and Claw"
Sunny Moraine- "If Living is Seeing I'm Holding My Breath"
Matthew Lyons- "Blood Daughter"
Jessica Guess- "Mama Tulu"
Daniel M. Lavery- "Prodigal Son"
Seanan McGuire- "Emergency Landing"
Indrapramit Das - "You Will Survive This Night"
‘Pemi Aguda- "Things Boys Do"
Kelly Link"The Specialist's Hat"
Clay McLeod Chapman- "The Fireplace"
Nibedita Sen- "Pigeons"
Camilla Grudova- "Ghost Bread"
Catherynne M. Valente- "The Days of Flaming Motorcycles"
Brian Evenson- "The Cabin"
Maria Dahvana Headley- "The Krakatoan"
Craig Laurance Gidney- "Spyder Threads"
Mariana Enriquez- "Things We Lost in the Fire"
Gabino Iglesias- "The Song of the Lady Rose"
Nick Antosca- "The Quiet Boy"

Genres: Horror, Audiobook, Short Stories

Unknown Binding

First published October 4, 2016

About the author

Cassandra Khaw is an award-winning game writer.
Their recent novella Nothing but Blackened Teeth was a British
Fantasy, World Fantasy, Shirley Jackson, and Bram Stoker
Award finalist. Their debut collection Breakable Things is now
out.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

SPOOKTOBER "DAY TWO"

some months ago, i decided that, for spooktober, i would do a version of my december short story advent calendar project in order to take advantage of the wealth of free horror audio shorts available courtesy of nightfire. and then i forgot about this plan. so i'm going to backtrack a bit here now and pretend i've been doing it all along for these past five days and then settle into a one-a-day listen. so bear with me as i catch up. i probably won't be doing too extensive a review on any of these, but i'll at least provide some links and you can check them out yourselves!


19 minutes

oof, this is a very mike flanagan kind of horror; where spookiness mingles with sadness and the haunting is both real and figurative—broken glass and grief fighting for "which one is gonna mess you up more?" khaw's claustrophobically atmospheric prose works perfectly here to establish and maintain the complicated emotional trampoline of a daughter dealing with the aftermath of an abusive parent's passing, and the narrator conveys her alternating states of helplessness, apology, and anger beautifully.

listen to it here: https://play.google.com/books/listen?...

THE STORIES:

OCTOBER 1: 57 REASONS FOR THE SLATE QUARRY SUICIDES - SAM J. MILLER
OCTOBER 3: EMERGENCY LANDING - SEANAN MCGUIRE
OCTOBER 4: THE CHANGELING - SARAH LANGAN
OCTOBER 5: THE BEASTS OF THE EARTH, THE MADNESS OF MEN - BROOKE BOLANDER
OCTOBER 6: THE FIREPLACE - CLAY MCLEOD CHAPMAN
OCTOBER 7: BONE - TADE THOMPSON
OCTOBER 8: IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING - MOLLY TANZER
OCTOBER 9: DREAM HOME - KAT HOWARD
OCTOBER 10: SPAWNING SEASON - NICHOLAS KAUFMANN
OCTOBER 11: THE GIRLS FROM THE HORROR MOVIE - GWENDOLYN KISTE
OCTOBER 12: IT WASHED UP - JOE R. LANSDALE
OCTOBER 13: BLACK NEUROLOGY - RICHARD KADREY
OCTOBER 14: WHEN THE ZOMBIES WIN - KARINA SUMNER-SMITH
OCTOBER 15: WASP & SNAKE - LIVIA LLEWELLYN
OCTOBER 16: THIS GUY - CHUCK WENDIG
OCTOBER 17: THE POND - PAUL TREMBLAY
OCTOBER 18: A LIFE THAT IS NOT MINE - KRISTI DEMEESTER
OCTOBER 19: GREENER PASTURES - MICHAEL WEHUNT
OCTOBER 20: THAT WHICH DOES NOT KILL YOU - LUCY A. SNYDER
OCTOBER 21: COLD, SILENT, AND DARK - KARY ENGLISH
OCTOBER 22: WAS SHE WICKED? WAS SHE GOOD? - M. RICKERT
OCTOBER 23: THE DAYS OF FLAMING MOTORCYCLES - CATHERYNNE M. VALENTE
OCTOBER 24: FLAYED ED - RICHARD KADREY
OCTOBER 25: MAMA TULU - JESSICA GUESS
OCTOBER 26: THE VAULT OF THE SKY, THE FACE OF THE DEEP
OCTOBER 27: EL CHARRO - JOHN LANGAN
OCTOBER 28: STANDING WATER - CAITLIN R. KIERNAN
OCTOBER 29: MIDNIGHT CALLER - STEPHEN GRAHAM JONES
OCTOBER 30: TOOTH, TONGUE, AND CLAW - DAMIEN ANGELICA WALTERS
OCTOBER 31: THE QUIET BOY - NICK ANTOSCA

come to my blog!

[Dannii Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The protagonist's father was a dominant presence during his life and continues to be so after his death.

This was such a well-produced audio, that came complete with sound effects to heighten the horror of the story-line. It also proved to be a tale as sinister as it was sad, with the dual focus on parental abuse and lingering emotions. I ultimately found I wanted more from it, despite the very short length.

[Anomaly · Rating 3 out of 5]

But no one wants to hear you’re not okay, only that you will be, can be, already are. People want to be useful, you think, as you pat the umpteenth shoulder with a tepid hand.

I read this story online for free in text form, though the audiobook is also available for free as part of a collection by Nightfire.

Framed as a ghost story, this is more accurately an exploration of the unfair burden and guilt thrust upon survivors of emotional and physical abuse when their abusers also happen to suffer from suicidal tendencies. I found it hard to connect to due to the second-person narrative, as many of the reader-insert character's decisions run directly counter to what I'd have done and I'm not a fan of imagining the father who means so much to me as a vengeful, abusive ghost. However, despite not emotionally connecting to the character, I did connect to the narrative itself - especially the quote shared at the beginning of this review.

I feel that a first-person narrative would have far better suited this tale, but that's just me being infinitely tired of the "you did this, you feel that, you think the other" nature of second-person viewpoint writing. (I wonder if maybe this is a me problem related to personal experience. I'm not a person who likes to have others insist upon what I'm thinking or what I've done.)

Overall, a decent read and a fascinating exploration of handling the death of an abusive parent. The writing was a bit too flowery for my tastes, to the point I sometimes had no clue what was going on, but I always caught up mentally after a paragraph or two.

[The Phoenix · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one didn't really catch me. It's about a woman haunted by her dad's ghost and feeling guilty.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kudos for using the word charnel in a modern horror short story.
I'd like to give another star for Naudus's narration, but I think the writing in general is a little unformed yet; needs more practice/experience to get it full-flavoured.

[Gareth Is Haunted · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable short story and thought provoking too.
Not so much about a ghost but about the ghosts within us.

[crypt reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I couldn't, in good conscience, recommend this to anyone who recently lost their father and is still dealing with that, I also can't overstate the power of this story to reach into your chest, scramble things around, and yet somehow, by the end, make you feel healed. Maybe it's the fact that I have a similar relationship with my (to my knowledge, still living) biological father as the you in Khaw's story; maybe it's the fact that I've had almost this exact nightmare about the aftermath of his passing; most likely, though, it's some combo of the two.

Either way, this was a chilling and deeply personal look at the impossibly complicated process of mourning someone who badly and repeatedly wronged you, and making peace with their ghost—or letting it consume you. Gosh, I have goose bumps! And probably will for the rest of the day. I wasn't expecting such a gut punch, and again, ALL WARNINGS TO THOSE ACTIVELY GRIEVING. However, if you ever feel ready, remember this review.

[Tasya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is short but such an impactful and suspenseful read! The narrator did a fantastic job of actually acting out the emotions, that on some parts I can see some words being italicized, if that makes sense? Then there's the sound effect of something breaking and whispering that adds to the atmosphere. It is also more than just a ghost story in how it touch the theme of abuse, family, running away, and forgiveness.

[Donald Armfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Khaw’s second person narrative is a haunting beauty. A ghost that follows you, abused you before its death. The whispering and breakage of things sets the eerie mode and the narrator, Natalie Naudus nailed the father’s ghost to your side.

[Aleria · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I learned from this, is to always take care of loose ends with family. Even those you have so much to say to or else you'll hear the fleshy sounds in the dark. Hearing them through my headphones once is good enough >.<

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very short story. It never really hit my groove. I got it cuz I wanted a ghost story on this. Didn't really do it for me. It sounded really more like this girl had some mental health issues that she hadn't worked on more than there was really a ghost there

[Alvin Ng · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

This one was only OK. This story about the main character's father's "hungry" ghost following her everywhere was more annoying than scary.

I much preferred her contribution to the first volume of Come Join Us by the Fire: "Don't Turn on the Lights" was a scary reimagining of the classic urban legend about the murdered college roommate.

[Royalty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Umm... no comment

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5

[Jacob Williams · Rating 1 out of 5]

that ending! Like it switched from being a 5 to a 1. UGH!

[Kendra Raptor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a a well written short story. I did listen to the audiobook, and the reader was very nice in putting emphasis where it needed.

There is a twinge of sadness regarding parent/s.

[Shu Wei Chin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cassandra Khaw's writing really shines when they're not trying to impress us with a thesaurus.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Didn’t find the audio, ended up reading it. Thought it was wonderful. Grief can be complicated.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s more to this than just the father’s ghost is hungry – it deals with a past of emotional abuse, and how even when one gets away from the abuser, that past can continue to haunt.