Tell Me Pleasant Things about Immortality: Stories

by Lindsay Wong

From the bestselling, Canada Reads-shortlisted author of The Woo-Woo comes a wild, darkly hilarious, and poignant collection of immigrant horror stories. They'll haunt and consume you--in strange and unsettling ways.

Living forever isn't everything it's cracked up to be. Hearts can still break, looks can still fade, and money still matters, even in eternity. The ghosts, zombies, and demons in this collection are all shockingly human, and they're ready to spill their guts. Vanity, love, and tragedy are all candidly explored as the unfulfilled desires of the dead are echoed in the lives of modern-day immigrants. Story-by-story, the line between ghost and human, life and death, becomes increasingly blurred. There's a courtesan from 17th century China who, try as she might, just can't manage to die. Grandmama Wu, who returns from the dead to protect her grandchildren from bullies. Not to mention an Internet-order bride who inadvertently brings the apocalypse to Nebraska City. From Shanghai to Vancouver, the women in this collection haunt and are haunted--by first loves, troublesome family members, and traumatic memories. Intertwining horror, the supernatural, and mythology, Tell Me Pleasant Things about Immortality riotously critiques contemporary life and fearlessly illuminates the ways in which the past can devour us. A collection about transformation and what makes us human, it solidifies Lindsay Wong as one of the most vital and electrifying voices in Canadian literature today.

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Fiction, Fantasy, Canada, Audiobook, Anthologies

288 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2023

About the author

Lindsay Wong holds a BFA in Creative Writing from The University of British Columbia and a MFA in Literary Nonfiction from Columbia University in New York City.

Wong has been awarded fellowships and residencies at The Kimmel-Harding Nelson Center in Nebraska City, Caldera Arts in Oregon, and The Studios of Key West, among others. Currently, she is writer-in-residence at The John Howard Society and The Community Arts Council of Vancouver.

Reviews

[inciminci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite the surprise pleasure, I didn't know what to expect from this Chinese-immigrant supernatural stories at all. I have to say though, even though collections usually are a mixed bag, sometimes funny, sometimes cruel, sometimes sad, I clearly preferred the first few stories which were also much lighthearted than the ones that come next and have a rather grave tone.

My highlights;

Happy Birthday!
Hilarious story of a family gathering for family father's birthday, but there's an unwanted guest who turns everything upside down. The perfect way to open a story collection, very enthralling, shocking and funny.

Tell Me Pleasant Things About Immortality
The titular story is also an amusing account of China's oldest person, who attained the title through a sort of curse by eating a certain flower and is meanwhile literally falling apart.

The Ugliest Girl
The “ugliest” girls in China are being collected and taken to a place where they are being exploited for the one thing they can offer better than anyone else; their sorrow. This was so touching, really, and the social commentary on class society and the treatment of women really pungent.

The Noodley Delight
A despotic and crazy grandma does her grandchildren one last (maybe even first?) favor after dying.

Furniture
Gregor Samsa was yesterday, you can actually turn into a piece of furniture! A couch like this guy in this story maybe?

I did enjoy Tell Me Pleasant Things About Immortality, but have to admit that it starts much more promising than it ends up to be.

[johnny ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

dark, disturbing, funny, disgusting. laced with rich history, i really think lindsay wong has not only done an extreme amount of research, but also brought chinese mythology to life as well as immigrant experiences.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a strange and unique collection of Chinese-Canadian supernatural horror stories. (There were many descriptions of gore and cannibalism-- those who are squeamish may want to steer clear.)

My favorite tale was The Ugliest Girls, which was probably the most disgusting but also the story that held the most substance. It was a stark metaphor about the rich and privileged few literally consuming the poor and "ugly".

As someone who does not read a ton of literary fiction, I wanted a little more plot or substance than was present in the stories overall. I also found some of the language to be rather repetitive. It was an interesting read, and I think there are definitely folks who will enjoy this book more than I did.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a diverse and darkly funny collection of short stories from Canada Reads author Lindsay Wong. Many of the stories had fantasy/paranormal elements (from ghosts to other elements), which I wasn't expecting but weirdly worked for me. I was impressed with the range of stories and the different types of characters and I think my favorite story was Noodley delight, featuring the ghost of a dead grandmother. Good on audio narrated by a full cast. Much thanks to Librofm for an ALC!

[Ron S · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most surprising and original book I've read in ages.Gloriously perverse and wonderfully weird.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most unique horror anthologies I have ever read! I almost didn't get through it but only because I was listening to the audiobook and I did nottt like the first narrator but the stories definitely made up for it.

[Salma · Rating 2 out of 5]

10% plot
90% descriptions of mutilation and cannibalism

[Marie Barr · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up
Creepy short stories. Loved it. Fave was colony farm confessions. But I really enjoyed them all. Will be reading more from this Winnipeg author

[Giada · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

This was actually so good? The stories are,,, awful and icky and NICE

[e b · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ceaselessly surprising, funny, horrifying, and delightful.

[T.J. Dallas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of Asian Canadian horror stories. Some of these will stick with me for a while! Brilliantly written and definitely spine-tingling.

[Yolanda | yolandaannmarie.reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a collection of 13 short stories, all with themes of body horror/gore/supernatural elements with Asian characters.
I liked the familiarity of the Metro Vancouver locations when used, but a lot of the content just wasn’t for me. However, if this is a genre you particularly like, I can see the potential appeal here.

tw: cannibalism, suicide attempts, fatphobia, physical abuse, death/murder

A bit about what you can find from some of these stories:

Happy Birthday!
A birthday dinner for the mmc father who is possessed by the ghost of his latest victim as a serial killer.

Tell Me Pleasant Things about Immortality
If you ingest the Night-Blooming Deathlily plant, it will either kill you or grant you immortality. The fmc of this story is the only one who has survived the deathlily, but after centuries, her body has slowly started to show signs of deterioration.

The Ugliest Girls
A group of the ugliest girls are rounded up. They are all riddled with deformities, and people that look like them are often eaten at birth by their own family or sent off and used for profit/entertainment for their disparity.

Sinking Houses
An apocalyptic end of the world situation.

Wreck Beach
The story is based on Wreck Beach, which is a real place in Vancouver, BC, Canada

The Noodley Delight
Set in Burnaby, BC, Canada where the dead grandmother appears as a ghost, and the narrator is transgender.

Furniture
The father turns into a sofa that also shape shifts…

[Debbie Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

---- April 21, 2025----
Cue: I don't want to live forever by Taylor Swift and Zayn
So I picked this book up because the title sounded cool didn't realize it was a group of short stories but I decided to read the short story Tell me pleasant things about immortality. I think this is supposed to be some kind of horror short story, but all I felt was a little bad for the main character being a skeptical the "Chinese Government's National Treasure." This story takes place where there is a national death lily eating contest with people in search for immortality. The story opens saying the Night-Blooming Death Lily is an ancient and strage plant in China and legend has it that it can grant you enternal life or kill you. People have tried to seek immortality but our narrator in this short story is the only one who has survived. Its quiet a chilling story to think about your body falling apart and then the Chinese Government putting plastics on you and preserving you in a freezer so tourists in a musum to look at you.

Even though this is a fictional story and that there is no Death Lily, The title and content of the story contradict each other. Often we think living forever and immortality is facinating I mean look at the folkloric history with the undead such as Vampires I think its so facinating that we are scared of death that we invent these folktales of people "cheating death" and its fun to watch and read don't get me wrong I'm a sucker for a sexy vampire tale that we forget just how grotesque and frail we really are if we live forever.

I found Wong's writing to be alright, some sentences were beautiful in the story others were eh. Based on this short story alone I give it two big booms BOOM! BOOM! (2 starts)

I am not sure if I would get a chance to read the rest of these short stories. I have no intention of reading the whole thing, I mean maybe when I go catch my flight but for now thats all I really wanted to read. I have a few other books on my TBR that need reading so we'll see where that gets me, I see some reviews on goodreads talking about how these stories are mainly gore and canebalism and i'm quiet scheemish luckily Tell me pleasant things about immortality wasn't too grotesque so if you want to dip your toes in these stories start with this one.

[Laurie Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

I savoured this one slowly, a few here and there, and like a book of favourite fairy tales; except creepy as heck, dripping with Chinese lore and myth. I enjoyed Lindsay Wong’s “The Woo- Woo” when I read it a few years ago. I also enjoyed these stories very much. Good for people who like horror, myth and symbolism. #asianheritagemonth #canlit #immigrantexperience #bookstagram #alwaysreading #tellmepleasantthingsaboutimmortality

[Terra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know what I expected from this book but I loved it! I thought these short horror stories based on folklore were so unique and twisted. Some stories were better than others, my personal favourites being the title story and The Ugliest Girls. Would definitely recommend to any lover of horror stories!

[Tyra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visceral, stunning stories that straddle the line between Chinese folklore and modern myth. These stories were super descriptive (if you’re easily grossed out, I’d stay away) and immersive. This reminded me a little bit of Welcome to Nightvale (but better IMO). Such a great collection.

[joleeennnneeeee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up for goodreads

[Ellie-Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lmfao I went into this not even reading the dust jacket and I'm so glad I did. That was a wild story Ms. Wong. 🤙

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird and grotesque. Last third of the book was pretty good, but overall this wasn't my favourite of this genre. I did however enjoy the tidbits of info about East Asia that provided context to the stories.

[Christian Harfman · Rating 4 out of 5]

at first I thought I didn't "get it", but as I went on reading this collection I started to understand the mood. great read.

[Greg Barbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious. I’ll read anything Lindsay writes. Her stories had me literally laughing out loud at various times.

[Vmndetta ᛑᛗᛛ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book thinking about immortality. Turns out, it didn't live up to that expectation.

[Sydne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story collection! So funny. Full of family drama, body horror, scary folklore, and dark humor. LISTEN to the audio if you can. The narrators are superb.

[Trâm · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Катюша · Rating 5 out of 5]

equal parts disgusting and hilarious and devastating

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

TELL ME PLEASANT THINGS ABOUT IMMORTALITY by Lindsay Wong is the perfect book to read in May since it’s Asian Heritage Month and short story month! I loved these stories!! This book is one of my fave fiction reads of 2023. I loved the horror elements especially the body horror and Chinese mythology. I loved the mentions of Vancouver such as wreck beach and Crystal Mall. I loved the ghost stories and the weird humour. My fave stories are The Ugliest Girls and Sorry, Sister Eunice.

I had the pleasure of attending Lindsay’s event at Vancouver Public Library and it was so great to hear her talk about her process. These stories are like delicious sausages! I’m very excited to read her memoir The Woo-Woo and I already have a copy of it in my Tbr pile.

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for my gifted review copy!

[noella · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has to be hands down some of the best horror writings I’ve ever read period, and easily my favourite collection of short stories I’ve ever read from a writer before, fuck Edgar Allen Poe this shit left me physically nauseated and with new ideas of what literal hell could be. And the inclusion of so much intricate Chinese mythology as well as accurate (but obviously turned fantastical) aspects of Chinese history and culture weaved together to create a very specific and immersive tone of reality that overlayed all the stories — gave room in that “suspension of belief” for humour and dark satire that created the most memorable and relatable moments of the book. It’s admirable, it’s one thing to effectively execute a real horror-comedy story that profoundly hits both emotional points without diffusing the other; but for Lindsay Wong to use Chinese history and culture to make it work in unison, seamlessly meshing comedy and horror to the point where they kindle each other in an inseparable way, fuck man I’m gonna remember this book.

The first story “Happy Birthday” is the first introduction into the whimsically satirical suspended reality that all of Wong’s stories take place in, quickly moving on to the titular “Tell Me Pleasant Things About Immortality” which went absolutely fucking insane and rocked my brain and soul to its core and gave me new ideas for the circles of hell. After finishing the story in one sitting I had to stand up and close the book. That ending was real horror. My stomach was in knots, and I honestly couldn’t stop contemplating the disturbing end and new hypothetical form of personal hell for me that Wong has written into existence. It’s worth acknowledging that the end of this story would not feel nearly as horrifying and unimaginably painful if Wong did not write it the way she did—her individual strength as a writer making it hit as hard and real as it does, the ending sticking in your stomach and leaving a twisted feeling in your chest.

I don’t even know where to begin with “Ugly Girls”. This has to be the first time reading an actual horror book where I *had* to stop reading and take a break and be awake from the book. Let myself recover. Refresh before I rejoin the impossibly dark and bleak tone drowning you with its atmosphere. I would say it’s maybe the only story in the book that might veer into the torture porn area (which is incredibly easy and tempting for many weak writers to fall into) but writing that down makes me realize… that that is literally the whole point… and comes back around to a significant plot point that I’m now realizing is an obvious commentary on tragedy porn (ESPECIALLY tragedy porn about women of colour) and the way whole groups of people consume peoples worst tragedies and hardships as entertainment and emotional restoration. Truly dark and disturbing, hit hard and moved on fast like a bullet.

I loved the most modern and realistic story “Wreck Beach”, which felt like a modern and new update to an old Chinese myth made to assuage families and fill in the gaps where our losses were. Her writing at the end was rich and left me feeling gaping.

Moving past the animated and immersive other stories, “Furniture” was one of the highlights of the collection. The story of a family that has to literally become furniture in order to stay in the same room together, but if that makes you think that’ll get them outta their lifetime servitude to the family business then you clearly have never seen the Chinese work ethic in practice (badumpSSSH) My Chinese grandmother would always tell me we can sleep when we’re dead—she also owed a heavy debt to her own family restaurant growing up, but unlike the main character managed to escape from the suffocation of family and run away from home at 15. Parallels I did not notice until writing this down now. But details aside, I think the strength of this story is in how relatable this story feels for many, a portrait of a family holding each other at a distance for the same reason they’re held so tightly together. The sadness and bitterness of the main character at the end is one I think any daughter of a fucked up family will recognize deeply and feel seen by.

Honestly every story in this book deserves an in depth review and breakdown of themes and ethos, but I’ve gone on enough. Some of the stories keep you on edge the entire time, a sick feeling of discomfort carrying over with her words as she delves deep into the insanely creative characters and realities she created. Truly, it is worth noting, Lindsay Wong is SO creative and her brain comes up with the most TWISTED ideas and just out there and complex worlds. And so much of those worlds pay homage to a rich and vivacious history and mythology. And that connection to history strengthens her writing, and in turn gives her a chance to put a spotlight on her vigorous and twisted talents as a writer.

I’m going to resist the temptation to prattle on about Chinese horror and how it goes so hard because we as a people have always gone balls to the wall hard at anything we’ve decided as a nation to do and our general culture of *never* half-assing no matter *what*. But, I will say, Lindsay Wong does not half-ass the horror in this book.

For best effects, try to read each story in one sitting. It creates the most memorable whirlwind effect. With each story being about 20 pages each, it makes it very easy to just sit down and read in one go, just remember it’s only 20 pages. Right when you feel like the story will never end, it ends. Beware, existential and psychological horror, body horror, paranormal horror, folk horror, apocalyptic horror, this book has it all!! Truly an underrated gem, will leave a discomforting feeling in your stomach and heart 👍🏻💖💖🙌🏻

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange, grim stories, some better than others. I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the last, but I think it's mostly because the narratives started to feel a bit repetitive. Wong has a beautifully dark imagination and I like a book that is haunted, but the enjoyable shock of the macabre wore off after awhile and I found myself losing interest.

The parts that were darkly funny were my favorite and I would have liked more of that.

If you're going to read this prepare for gore and a fair dose of torture.

[Sephy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. The stories were good. As cookie cutter as it sounds, that kind of sums it up.

I love me some magical realism. But I found that I liked the concepts more than the execution (pun intended) more often than not. I liked that they were dark, unique, combined Chinese culture with Vancouver living, and travelled across time. But the characters didn’t overly grip me and the writing was good and most definitely skilled but didn’t resonate in a way I’d consider /great/.

[lisa the worm · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly a disappointment.

I know short story collections tend to have hit or misses in the mix but, I only enjoyed four of the thirteen stories here (“The Ugliest Girls”, “Wreck Beach”, “Kind Face, Cruel Heart”, and “Sorry, Sister Eunice”).

I don’t know if the disconnect came from horror not being my go-to genre, or just the author’s writing style, but this collection wasn’t my cup of tea.