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Mother: Tales of Love and Terror
Mothers protect, nurture, love, and adore...but what if they are more than just their title? In these 33 stories and poems, we examine what motherhood is and explore mothers of all kinds. With over 300 pages of horror, dark fantasy, science fiction, and poetry, we introduce the motivations and compulsions that make up a mother—both good and evil. Whether they are robot mothers, evil stepmothers, or sociopathic mothers-to-be, these stories will illuminate what's really going on inside of that woman we think we know so well...Mother.
Featuring brand new stories and poems:
“The Sire,” by Steven Rasnic Tem
“Last Leaf of an Ursine Tree,” by Hailey Piper
“Of a Thousand Arms and More,” by Ai Jiang
“Passed,” by Elizabeth R. McClellan
“Mother Made Cake,” by Nicoletta Giuseffi
“Puerperium,” by Donyae Coles
“Pelican,” by Gemma Files
“Fracture,” by Mercedes M. Yardley
“When Auntie’s Due,” by Sarah Read
“Vé’otsé’e (Warpath Woman),” by Shane Hawk
“Stone’s Blood,” by Nick Bouchard
“Shields,” by Christina Sng
“The Bone Child,” by Ryan Cole
“The Wives of Tromisle,” by Dan Coxon
“Duties Terrible and Dear,” by John Langan
“Worry Dolly,” by Nadia Bulkin
“(sub)Maternal Instincts,” by K.M. Veohongs
“720º,” by Steve Toase
“Number ONE,” by Frances Lu-Pai Ippolito
“Here in the Cellar,” by R. Leigh Hennig
“She’s Untouchable,” by Renee Cronley
“Lida’s Beach,” by Stephanie Nelson
“Instruments of Bone and the Flesh Songs They Create,” by Nikki R. Leigh
“Transformative Love,” by Tehnuka
“The Withering Depths,” by Todd Powell
“Waiting for Mother,” by Brian Evenson
“Unchild,” by Jonathan Louis Duckworth
“Take Care,” by S.P. Miskowski
“Mother Trucker,” by Wailana Kalama
“The Last Sin,” by Gabino Iglesias
“Jacob’s Mother,” by Katie McIvor
This gorgeous book also includes 14 brand new art plates from award-winning illustrators around the world and an introduction by editors Willow Dawn Becker and Christi Nogle.
Featuring brand new stories and poems:
“The Sire,” by Steven Rasnic Tem
“Last Leaf of an Ursine Tree,” by Hailey Piper
“Of a Thousand Arms and More,” by Ai Jiang
“Passed,” by Elizabeth R. McClellan
“Mother Made Cake,” by Nicoletta Giuseffi
“Puerperium,” by Donyae Coles
“Pelican,” by Gemma Files
“Fracture,” by Mercedes M. Yardley
“When Auntie’s Due,” by Sarah Read
“Vé’otsé’e (Warpath Woman),” by Shane Hawk
“Stone’s Blood,” by Nick Bouchard
“Shields,” by Christina Sng
“The Bone Child,” by Ryan Cole
“The Wives of Tromisle,” by Dan Coxon
“Duties Terrible and Dear,” by John Langan
“Worry Dolly,” by Nadia Bulkin
“(sub)Maternal Instincts,” by K.M. Veohongs
“720º,” by Steve Toase
“Number ONE,” by Frances Lu-Pai Ippolito
“Here in the Cellar,” by R. Leigh Hennig
“She’s Untouchable,” by Renee Cronley
“Lida’s Beach,” by Stephanie Nelson
“Instruments of Bone and the Flesh Songs They Create,” by Nikki R. Leigh
“Transformative Love,” by Tehnuka
“The Withering Depths,” by Todd Powell
“Waiting for Mother,” by Brian Evenson
“Unchild,” by Jonathan Louis Duckworth
“Take Care,” by S.P. Miskowski
“Mother Trucker,” by Wailana Kalama
“The Last Sin,” by Gabino Iglesias
“Jacob’s Mother,” by Katie McIvor
This gorgeous book also includes 14 brand new art plates from award-winning illustrators around the world and an introduction by editors Willow Dawn Becker and Christi Nogle.
316 pages, Paperback
First published October 3, 2022
7 people are currently reading
367 people want to read
About the author
Christi Nogle
63 books136 followersChristi Nogle is the author of the Bram Stoker Award® winning novel Beulah and the short story collections The Best of Our Past, the Worst of Our Future; Promise; and One Eye Opened in That Other Place. Follow her at http://christinogle.com and on most social media @christinogle
Christi is co-editor with Willow Dawn Becker of the Bram Stoker Award® nominated Mother: Tales of Love and Terror and with Ai Joang of Wilted Pages: An Anthology of Dark Academia.
Her short stories have appeared in over fifty publications including Strange horizons, PseudoPod, Vastarien, and Dark Matter Magazine along with anthologies such as C.M Muller’s Nightscript and Flame Tree’s American Gothic and Chilling Crime.
Selected Praise:
One Eye Opened in That Other Place
“An utterly mesmerizing and dreamlike collection. Christi Nogle has a gift for conjuring disquieting stories, often bite-sized, of oddities and secrets, inner selves, and lasting mysteries. In One Eye Opened in That Other Place, things are never quite what they seem. Realities transform, veils are lifted, and you are shepherded across unsettling thresholds like dreams half-remembered. Haunting long after you put the collection down. If you’re after atmospheric tales with indescribably dream-logic, you will find no better.”
—Sofia Ajram, author of COUP DE GRÂCE
Promise
”There's a melancholy underneath every Nogle story, a creeping dread willing to fill any absence it can find. Promise is an exploration of our strange futures all tethered to this unmistakable voice, one that will guide you home through the void it knows all too well."
--Andrew F. Sullivan, author of The Marigold
"Beautifully written tales of the strange possible futures threatening to impinge on us. By turns strange and tender, Nogle's weird SF captures that feeling of disorientation that is at the heart of what it means to be (or to try to be) human in a transforming, damaged world and in all the worlds adjacent to it."
—Brian Evenson, author of The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell
The Best of Our Past, the Worst of Our Future
"An astonishingly original collection of dark tales - mysterious, haunting, challenging and disturbing, written in crystalline prose as compressed as poetry. Read and then reread and be doubly rewarded!"
-- Ramsey Campbell, author of Fellstones
"Without a doubt, Christi Nogle is one of my favorite new voices in horror. Her fiction is by turns devastating, horrifying, and beyond beautiful. With her collection, The Best of Our Past, the Worst of Our Future, she's created something truly remarkable, the kind of horror that's filled with grit and heart. Don't miss this book; it's sure to be one of the very best collections of 2023."
-- Gwendolyn Kiste, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Rust Maidens and Reluctant Immortals
Christi is co-editor with Willow Dawn Becker of the Bram Stoker Award® nominated Mother: Tales of Love and Terror and with Ai Joang of Wilted Pages: An Anthology of Dark Academia.
Her short stories have appeared in over fifty publications including Strange horizons, PseudoPod, Vastarien, and Dark Matter Magazine along with anthologies such as C.M Muller’s Nightscript and Flame Tree’s American Gothic and Chilling Crime.
Selected Praise:
One Eye Opened in That Other Place
“An utterly mesmerizing and dreamlike collection. Christi Nogle has a gift for conjuring disquieting stories, often bite-sized, of oddities and secrets, inner selves, and lasting mysteries. In One Eye Opened in That Other Place, things are never quite what they seem. Realities transform, veils are lifted, and you are shepherded across unsettling thresholds like dreams half-remembered. Haunting long after you put the collection down. If you’re after atmospheric tales with indescribably dream-logic, you will find no better.”
—Sofia Ajram, author of COUP DE GRÂCE
Promise
”There's a melancholy underneath every Nogle story, a creeping dread willing to fill any absence it can find. Promise is an exploration of our strange futures all tethered to this unmistakable voice, one that will guide you home through the void it knows all too well."
--Andrew F. Sullivan, author of The Marigold
"Beautifully written tales of the strange possible futures threatening to impinge on us. By turns strange and tender, Nogle's weird SF captures that feeling of disorientation that is at the heart of what it means to be (or to try to be) human in a transforming, damaged world and in all the worlds adjacent to it."
—Brian Evenson, author of The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell
The Best of Our Past, the Worst of Our Future
"An astonishingly original collection of dark tales - mysterious, haunting, challenging and disturbing, written in crystalline prose as compressed as poetry. Read and then reread and be doubly rewarded!"
-- Ramsey Campbell, author of Fellstones
"Without a doubt, Christi Nogle is one of my favorite new voices in horror. Her fiction is by turns devastating, horrifying, and beyond beautiful. With her collection, The Best of Our Past, the Worst of Our Future, she's created something truly remarkable, the kind of horror that's filled with grit and heart. Don't miss this book; it's sure to be one of the very best collections of 2023."
-- Gwendolyn Kiste, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Rust Maidens and Reluctant Immortals
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 28, 2023
Has there ever been such a paradox as a mother? A woman who gives of herself until she has nothing left, and then gives some more.
Unfortunately, not everyone is cut out for motherhood, and some you will meet in this book have nothing to give but ugliness, evil, and violence.
Powerful stories, poems, and illustrations with the theme of motherhood fill these pages. Motherless children and childless mothers abound. But you won't find any Carol Brady or June Cleavers here. Mothers in these stories give life, take life, and ruin lives. There is ugliness and violence in these stories of the bonds of motherhood and of severing those ties. Fathers don't play much of a role in these tales, but occasionally an unusual father results in an exceptionally special child or even a litter of them. Some of my favorite stories involved very strange children.
If you are a fan of dark and weird fiction this anthology is for you.
4 out of 5 stars
My thanks to Weird Little Worlds
Unfortunately, not everyone is cut out for motherhood, and some you will meet in this book have nothing to give but ugliness, evil, and violence.
Powerful stories, poems, and illustrations with the theme of motherhood fill these pages. Motherless children and childless mothers abound. But you won't find any Carol Brady or June Cleavers here. Mothers in these stories give life, take life, and ruin lives. There is ugliness and violence in these stories of the bonds of motherhood and of severing those ties. Fathers don't play much of a role in these tales, but occasionally an unusual father results in an exceptionally special child or even a litter of them. Some of my favorite stories involved very strange children.
If you are a fan of dark and weird fiction this anthology is for you.
4 out of 5 stars
My thanks to Weird Little Worlds
December 28, 2022
Another anthology from Weird Little Worlds (the same press that did Humans are the Problem, also an excellent anthology.) This time it’s mom in all her glory and gore – good moms, bad moms, absent ones, and ones maybe you wish were gone. This is a fantastic exploration of moms and motherhood from all angles, with a cast of amazing writers and poets.
May 16, 2024
A very nice small press anthology. Perhaps nothing exactly groundbreaking inside, but all the tales were good or even better, so, congratulations to the editors. Trigger warnings included for those who might need them, and I think it's a good idea here, as the concepts surrounding maternity carry a serious emotional punch, and the authors used that well.
January 30, 2023
Where do I start?! They did such an amazing job selecting the stories that went into this book. Every single one was a joy (or terror) to read. I love how it was broken up into 5 different themes to group the stories. I definitely have a few new authors I need to read more from. ❤
February 13, 2023
a look into motherhood?
a good anthology, some stories really put a perspective on motherhood and birth giving. others were just fun to read. a few were not page turners and i skipped those.
a good anthology, some stories really put a perspective on motherhood and birth giving. others were just fun to read. a few were not page turners and i skipped those.
March 19, 2023
One of the strongest horror anthologies I've read to date. A few stories are going to haunt me for a long time to come.
November 1, 2023
Mother: Tales of Love and Terror is the latest anthology from Weird Little Worlds Press. It’s divided into five sections: Mother Nurtures, Mother Protects, Mother Instructs, Mother Adores, and Mother Remembers. From ghost stories to monstrous mothers to dark fantasy to sci-fi, there are pieces here which will appeal to everyone. There’s a lot of variety in style, though the prose leans towards lush, descriptive, character-driven pieces, and many stories are influenced by fairy tales. The end result is a creative collection featuring established and emerging writers which achieves a remarkable balance of breadth and depth.
For many humans, “mother” is their first and most important caregiver, a source of comfort and survival. Because mothers occupy such a disproportionately powerful role when we are at our most vulnerable, the concepts of “mother” and “motherhood” have a powerful hold over us all our lives. Even those of us who aren’t raised by mothers and/or don’t become mothers are haunted by all the cultural anxieties and ambivalent emotions ascribed to motherhood.
Yet, as the authors in Mother demonstrate, mothers are (usually) just people, capable of cruelty and kindness–sometimes simultaneously. Their stories scrutinize the internal and external pressures of motherhood and the vulnerabilities both mothers and children face in an increasingly complex and isolating world.
I am grateful for books like Mother which dig into the aspects of motherhood polite society doesn’t like discussing: the darkness, grief, fear, rage, and pain which exist alongside and sometimes overpower joy, love, and fulfillment. I’d recommend this collection to any horror fans, but if you have any triggers regarding pregnancy and/or birth in particular, I’d recommend checking the content warnings in the back.
*
All of the stories are fantastic, but I did have a few favorites:
“The Bone Child” by Ryan Cole:
Malcolm is a fifteen-year-old boy whose fairly normal life is thrown into turmoil when a parasitic “child” starts growing inside him. Body horror and grief mix with moments of hope and sweetness in this coming-of-age story.
“It was purely scientific: a matter of excess calcium in the tendon, a sac of stray embryonic fluid from my birth, and a healthy dose of luck that formed a pea-sized, skeletal, parasitic being that made its home in the soft tissue of my right shoulder.”
“Last Leaf of an Ursine Tree” by Hailey Piper:
Elle lives in a world where a person’s menstrual cycle summons a very real, very hungry bear to their side. This is routine and bears obey their people, but what if you can’t trust your mother and her bear to protect and love you unconditionally? A dark, bloody fairy tale with a heart-wrenching ending.
“Mother can’t hide her needs. A mother bear must feed to make more bears. Something has to die so someone can be born, and Mother is hungry like Elle.
Between hunger and love, eventually hunger wins.”
“Mother Trucker” by Wailana Kalama:
After the narrator’s mother hits a pregnant moose during a long haul trucking run, a horrible, long-buried secret is revealed. This story is atmospheric and deeply unsettling, and the ending (and its implications) will haunt you.
“They say having a child is like having your heart taken out of your body. And it’s still beating, pumping with that same wild instinct, only now it’s outside and open season for all the storms and landslides and whatever else the world lifted from Pandora’s evil box.
I guess some people, they’re just too weak for all that.”
“Transformative Love” by Tehnuka:
A gorgeous narrative poem about a mother’s literal shape-shifting to protect and comfort her daughter and her helplessness as she watches her daughter suffer despite all her sacrifices.
“When the formula ran out
I became a warm, full bottle, until
milk-stained mouth smiling
she let go
I rolled over worn carpet, drained. But
bruises didn’t matter,
I was all my sweetheart needed
–emergency teething ring, substitute rattle–
changing often, in her baby days."
“Fracture” by Mercedes M. Yardley (Nominated for the 2022 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction):
Layla’s daughter, Crystal, is made of glass. Layla loves and protects Crystal, but Crystal yearns for the freedom to see the world despite the unique perils it holds for someone made of glass. A lyrical meditation on love and happiness.
“She was safe and she was loved, but that wasn’t enough. One night when the moon was full and the air was as clear as Crystal herself, she donned her warmest cloak and fled into the night.
She ran like a rabbit. She ran like a stream. She ran like her mother so many years ago, her human heart thumping against her fragile ribs, her legs shining in the dark. While her mother had carried a precious unborn child of glass, Crystal carried her fragile, human heart.”
*
Reading this collection will make you reexamine your understanding of “motherhood” while terrifying and entertaining you. I highly recommend it to horror fans everywhere!
For many humans, “mother” is their first and most important caregiver, a source of comfort and survival. Because mothers occupy such a disproportionately powerful role when we are at our most vulnerable, the concepts of “mother” and “motherhood” have a powerful hold over us all our lives. Even those of us who aren’t raised by mothers and/or don’t become mothers are haunted by all the cultural anxieties and ambivalent emotions ascribed to motherhood.
Yet, as the authors in Mother demonstrate, mothers are (usually) just people, capable of cruelty and kindness–sometimes simultaneously. Their stories scrutinize the internal and external pressures of motherhood and the vulnerabilities both mothers and children face in an increasingly complex and isolating world.
I am grateful for books like Mother which dig into the aspects of motherhood polite society doesn’t like discussing: the darkness, grief, fear, rage, and pain which exist alongside and sometimes overpower joy, love, and fulfillment. I’d recommend this collection to any horror fans, but if you have any triggers regarding pregnancy and/or birth in particular, I’d recommend checking the content warnings in the back.
*
All of the stories are fantastic, but I did have a few favorites:
“The Bone Child” by Ryan Cole:
Malcolm is a fifteen-year-old boy whose fairly normal life is thrown into turmoil when a parasitic “child” starts growing inside him. Body horror and grief mix with moments of hope and sweetness in this coming-of-age story.
“It was purely scientific: a matter of excess calcium in the tendon, a sac of stray embryonic fluid from my birth, and a healthy dose of luck that formed a pea-sized, skeletal, parasitic being that made its home in the soft tissue of my right shoulder.”
“Last Leaf of an Ursine Tree” by Hailey Piper:
Elle lives in a world where a person’s menstrual cycle summons a very real, very hungry bear to their side. This is routine and bears obey their people, but what if you can’t trust your mother and her bear to protect and love you unconditionally? A dark, bloody fairy tale with a heart-wrenching ending.
“Mother can’t hide her needs. A mother bear must feed to make more bears. Something has to die so someone can be born, and Mother is hungry like Elle.
Between hunger and love, eventually hunger wins.”
“Mother Trucker” by Wailana Kalama:
After the narrator’s mother hits a pregnant moose during a long haul trucking run, a horrible, long-buried secret is revealed. This story is atmospheric and deeply unsettling, and the ending (and its implications) will haunt you.
“They say having a child is like having your heart taken out of your body. And it’s still beating, pumping with that same wild instinct, only now it’s outside and open season for all the storms and landslides and whatever else the world lifted from Pandora’s evil box.
I guess some people, they’re just too weak for all that.”
“Transformative Love” by Tehnuka:
A gorgeous narrative poem about a mother’s literal shape-shifting to protect and comfort her daughter and her helplessness as she watches her daughter suffer despite all her sacrifices.
“When the formula ran out
I became a warm, full bottle, until
milk-stained mouth smiling
she let go
I rolled over worn carpet, drained. But
bruises didn’t matter,
I was all my sweetheart needed
–emergency teething ring, substitute rattle–
changing often, in her baby days."
“Fracture” by Mercedes M. Yardley (Nominated for the 2022 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction):
Layla’s daughter, Crystal, is made of glass. Layla loves and protects Crystal, but Crystal yearns for the freedom to see the world despite the unique perils it holds for someone made of glass. A lyrical meditation on love and happiness.
“She was safe and she was loved, but that wasn’t enough. One night when the moon was full and the air was as clear as Crystal herself, she donned her warmest cloak and fled into the night.
She ran like a rabbit. She ran like a stream. She ran like her mother so many years ago, her human heart thumping against her fragile ribs, her legs shining in the dark. While her mother had carried a precious unborn child of glass, Crystal carried her fragile, human heart.”
*
Reading this collection will make you reexamine your understanding of “motherhood” while terrifying and entertaining you. I highly recommend it to horror fans everywhere!
May 25, 2023
Not the strongest collection, but a few stood out and made the book worth it to finish.
December 19, 2023
Some stories were very god, others didn't resonate with me.
January 16, 2024
A mixed bag. Not all of them felt like horror, most were fun to read.
Read
April 17, 2024DNF
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews