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The Big Book of Malaysian Horror Stories
THE BIG BOOK OF MALAYSIAN HORROR STORIES takes us from terrors that are mythological and historical to contemporary and technological. The biggest Fixi Novo anthology yet is set in various states in Malaysia, but the most common states are Darul Distress and Negeri Scary. These brand-new stories are complemented by Chin Yew's equally spooky illustrations.
Featuring the following writers:
ATIKAH Wahid, BISSME S., Adrian CHASE, Joni CH’NG, Eileyn CHUA, CHUA Kok Yee, HADI M. Nor, ISMIM Putera, IZADDIN Syah Yusof, Nat KANG, Venoo KUPPUSAMY, LAI May Senn, Joshua LIM (twice!), Ethan MATISA, MUTHUSAMY Pon Ramiah, NADIAH Zakaria, NURUL HAFIZAH, PAUL GNANASELVAM, RAJA UMMI NADRAH, Reuel RAWAT, RIZAL Ramli, SAAT Omar, Nathaniel SARIO, TINA Ishak, Terence TOH, Malachi Edwin VETHAMANI, WONG Jo-yen, YANNA Hashri and Collin YEOH.
Featuring the following writers:
ATIKAH Wahid, BISSME S., Adrian CHASE, Joni CH’NG, Eileyn CHUA, CHUA Kok Yee, HADI M. Nor, ISMIM Putera, IZADDIN Syah Yusof, Nat KANG, Venoo KUPPUSAMY, LAI May Senn, Joshua LIM (twice!), Ethan MATISA, MUTHUSAMY Pon Ramiah, NADIAH Zakaria, NURUL HAFIZAH, PAUL GNANASELVAM, RAJA UMMI NADRAH, Reuel RAWAT, RIZAL Ramli, SAAT Omar, Nathaniel SARIO, TINA Ishak, Terence TOH, Malachi Edwin VETHAMANI, WONG Jo-yen, YANNA Hashri and Collin YEOH.
- GenresHorrorAsiaAnthologies
388 pages, Paperback
First published December 15, 2022
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June 27, 2023
The Big Book of Malaysian Horror Stories is as the title puts it, a short story anthology featuring variety of short horror stories written by several different local (Malaysian) authors. Aside from the genre, that being horror, this anthology does not have a set theme other than the tales would be set in Malaysia but there is an asterisk that comes with this particular anthology and that is the “BIG” in its title. It’s big in that it features a whopping 30 short stories.
FIXI NOVO
Fixi Novo is the English publishing arm of the main publishing company and despite being relatively young as a publishing house (10 years old as of writing), is one I would consider to be a grizzly young veteran when it comes to putting out short story anthology/collection. While I haven’t read them all (some of it are out of print), the few that I read, I do enjoy, like KL Noir White and Flesh. The one I remember loving is Chronicles of KK and the only one I hated was the Cyberpunk theme anthology. Granted, I haven’t revisited any of these short story anthologies in recent times and it’s all based on a hazy recollection but, from my experience, a Fixi Novo published short story anthology is at the very least a decent time and they really do have the bragging right to claim themselves as the king of short story anthology…in Malaysia.
STREET FOOD WITH QUESTIONABLE MEAT
I can’t remember who said it specifically, it could be the editor himself, who coincidentally is the creator of the Fixi company itself or just a marketer in the company but there was a post to announced that the selection for this anthology was done and with it was, paraphrasing here “…there are some that we didn’t select to be featured here because they were too good for us type of deal. We produced pulp in that the stories we put out are akin to street food with questionable meat.” Again, paraphrasing, but there’s a lot of ways to interpret this. Maybe the style of writing is in the vein of literary fiction, this is pulp and they want to keep it disheveled. Maybe the prose is too purple, this is pulp and they want to keep it simple. Stephen King famously said his output are akin to fast food fluff rather than COMME des GARÇONS. But Stephen King is Stephen King. Even if your literary professor dismisses someone like King to a merely genre fiction writer not worth dissecting, he, as a writer I found underrated in his prose to weave his characters and the world he created that would have their status quo turned upside down. In my opinion, of course cause I am not a literary student.
However, I still find myself scratching my head at that post because the ratio of what I read tends to be on the pulpier side of things and horror fiction is a genre I like to read but the idea that pulpy horror can’t be in the similar vein of whatever you think literary fiction’s style of writing is a bit unschooled to put it nicely.
Evidently, that shows once I crack opened the book and went through the stories in here. It’s a short story anthology but most of the writing, the prose in particular felt very similar to one another. They’re stiff and one dimension and not what I would call pulp if I am reading a horror story on the pulpier side. Most of it, prose-wise read like it’s akin to the mass-produce thriller stacked in the thriller section, your James Patterson and John Grisham or it reads like YA sci-fi/fantasy fiction.
A little comparison:
Pulp horrors that I’ve read:
What I got from this anthology:
This little comparison while is a criticism, it’s mostly use to demonstrate the difference of prose and writing that I got from this anthology and what they’re more similar to i.e., YA and your generic mass-produced thriller than what I would get normally from a pulp read. While I do sound like I'm gatekeeping/pigeonholing what pulp writing is/are, I just feel like because of the inclusion of the “street food with questionable meat” and "we produced pulp" comment, you would expect it to be on a similar plane of existence with other examples of pulp fiction but it's not, not even close.
Carried over from the issue of prose are of course the writing and the story. A lot of it lacks the mood and atmosphere to create unsettling and cloying circumstances because of how stiff and one-dimensional prose were. Horror is about losing the status quo and the safety net of normality that comes with it and it didn’t feel like it here.
There are however, a few stories that were written like Wikipedia article with dialogue written in rather than a written fiction and those are far, far worse than the ones I knock beforehand.
A MATTER OF GEOGRAPHY
For something that’s titled The Big Book of Malaysian Horror Stories, not many are beholden to Malaysia as a crutch in its story. Even ones that do and that have a specific place in their title like “What Happens in KLCC stays in KLCC” feels like you can substitute it with any other mall because KLCC in that story is just not memorable enough or hardly factors into the story. Then there’s something like “Man in The Mirror” which takes place in KK, Sabah but doesn’t read like it was from someone who’s knowledgeable about Sabah, just from the colloquies used in the character’s narration. No local "KK-ian" would say Kadazan-Dusan as if they are one uniformed thing or Murut being called Murut instead og being called as Lundayeh/Lun-Bawang. While a few, like Covet, Bipedal, They Came from The Sea and A Kulit for the Shadow King are tied closely to the nusantara myth or folklore more that it does to the "Malaysian identity" and can be altered by setting it in Indonesia or the Philippines with a change of name to the characters and still wouldn't effect much of the story.
A GIRL BRUSH RED LIVING IN BLACK AND WHITE
Normally in an anthology, there are stories that are good or great in a writing standpoint but that are other I would find I personally gravitate towards but here, the ones I like are the only ones I find to be good in term of writing as well.
In an ascending order:
The Original Mother by Atikah Wahid
Is good until the end. It felt more like a story about abuse and gaslighting but then the ending happened and it went the supernatural route without really ever needing it. While the ending suck, in my opinion, it’s not too bad that it soured the whole thing. It still fit in with the story thematically.
The Break-In by Terrance Toh
Terrance Toh is a Fixi Novo favourite considering in all of the anthology books I’ve bought from this publishing house features him. It’s competently written. Several twist to the story but noting that turn the story on its head. The prose is basic but it didn’t affect the story. Neither does it add it too though.
The Faceless Portraits by Joni Chng
There’s a haunting quality to this story that is only crippled by wooden prose but overall, a satisfying read.
A Slice of Heaven by Chua Kok Yee
I really do think the prose in this one is bad even though it’s bad on purpose to emulate how a child would talk if he were to narrate it. However, the pacing was superb and it was plotted tightly. It’s shorter than most and goes by like a series of vignettes that culminate in a proper horrific climax.
The Gift by Bissme S.
A real toss up between this and number one but really, both are great and can be considered to be the real highlight of this anthology. It’s just as short as A Slice of Heaven and wasted nothing. Unlike the other four, I actually thought the prose and the structure of this one does not in a way brought it down. The minimalistic prose just adds to the eeriness of the story. This is pulpy. It emulates a sense of Poe and Campbell in a way
They Came from the Sea by Nathaniel Sario
Similarly, to Bissme S., I don’t think Nathaniel Sario’s prose bad in any way, shape or form. It walks a fine delicate line in between indulgence with his prose and sometimes plots. This is what I would say pulp and while not truly, does reminds me of Hammett. It’s creepy and unsettling and there’s a dreaded feeling of waiting for invasiveness of the horror to rear its ugly head out. There’s also the fact that it takes place in Sabah (albeit a fictional place…I think?), but does not call attention onto itself and took me out of the story like Man in the Mirror did.
TO SOMEONE WITH A HAMMER, EVERYTHING LOOKS LIKE A NAIL
If it sounds like I am dogging on this anthology, rest assured that...yeah, I am. While an anthology would undoubtedly be a mixed bag, this is hardly a mix bag. It has less bang for my buck and I bought this at full price of 40 ringgit. It’s placed in the new release and so it’s going to be pricey no matter what but I was more surprised with the fact that this was a last year’s release (2022) instead of this year (2023). To be fair, living in the other side of Malaysia, across the pond from Semenanjung, here in Sarawak does explain it but 40 ringgit and only six out of thirty stories that I ended up liking and thought to be good, writing wise is bad no matter how you cut.
FIXI NOVO
Fixi Novo is the English publishing arm of the main publishing company and despite being relatively young as a publishing house (10 years old as of writing), is one I would consider to be a grizzly young veteran when it comes to putting out short story anthology/collection. While I haven’t read them all (some of it are out of print), the few that I read, I do enjoy, like KL Noir White and Flesh. The one I remember loving is Chronicles of KK and the only one I hated was the Cyberpunk theme anthology. Granted, I haven’t revisited any of these short story anthologies in recent times and it’s all based on a hazy recollection but, from my experience, a Fixi Novo published short story anthology is at the very least a decent time and they really do have the bragging right to claim themselves as the king of short story anthology…in Malaysia.
STREET FOOD WITH QUESTIONABLE MEAT
I can’t remember who said it specifically, it could be the editor himself, who coincidentally is the creator of the Fixi company itself or just a marketer in the company but there was a post to announced that the selection for this anthology was done and with it was, paraphrasing here “…there are some that we didn’t select to be featured here because they were too good for us type of deal. We produced pulp in that the stories we put out are akin to street food with questionable meat.” Again, paraphrasing, but there’s a lot of ways to interpret this. Maybe the style of writing is in the vein of literary fiction, this is pulp and they want to keep it disheveled. Maybe the prose is too purple, this is pulp and they want to keep it simple. Stephen King famously said his output are akin to fast food fluff rather than COMME des GARÇONS. But Stephen King is Stephen King. Even if your literary professor dismisses someone like King to a merely genre fiction writer not worth dissecting, he, as a writer I found underrated in his prose to weave his characters and the world he created that would have their status quo turned upside down. In my opinion, of course cause I am not a literary student.
However, I still find myself scratching my head at that post because the ratio of what I read tends to be on the pulpier side of things and horror fiction is a genre I like to read but the idea that pulpy horror can’t be in the similar vein of whatever you think literary fiction’s style of writing is a bit unschooled to put it nicely.
Evidently, that shows once I crack opened the book and went through the stories in here. It’s a short story anthology but most of the writing, the prose in particular felt very similar to one another. They’re stiff and one dimension and not what I would call pulp if I am reading a horror story on the pulpier side. Most of it, prose-wise read like it’s akin to the mass-produce thriller stacked in the thriller section, your James Patterson and John Grisham or it reads like YA sci-fi/fantasy fiction.
A little comparison:
Pulp horrors that I’ve read:
“I’d been in Innsmouth for two weeks, and I disliked it. It smelled fishy. It was a claustrophobic little town: marshland to the east, cliffs to the west, and, in the centre, a harbour that held a few rotting fishing boats, and was not even scenic at sunset. The yuppies had come to Innsmouth in the 80s anyway, bought their picturesque fisherman’s cottages overlooking the harbour. The yuppies had been gone for some years, now, and the cottages by the bay were crumbling, abandoned.”
- Only the End of the World Again by Neil Gaiman. (Lovecraft’s Monster, a short story anthology)
“Jeremy watches stars burn into life: first two, then a dozen. He came here hoping for violence, but the evening has softened him. Lying on his back, balancing a beer on the great swell of his belly, he hopes there will be no occasion for it. Wild Acre is abandoned for now, and might be for a long time to come, making it an easy target.
- Wild Arce by Nathan Ballingrud (The Best Horror Story of The Year Volume 6. a short story anthology)
What I got from this anthology:
“I walk out long before the judges announced the winner. I don’t even care which locality wins. Seems that today is a bust, but I’m not willing to give up just yet. I head for the hall beside the main building. Inside, the ethnics groups of Sabah display their own legacies as if they were a circus act.”
- Man in the Mirror by Adrian Chase
“It was a dark place, situated behind a daycare center. Nobody ever hung out at the area after dark, and vehicles seldom drove past as a new road had been constructed on the other side of the building.”
- Skins by Nadirah Zakariah
This little comparison while is a criticism, it’s mostly use to demonstrate the difference of prose and writing that I got from this anthology and what they’re more similar to i.e., YA and your generic mass-produced thriller than what I would get normally from a pulp read. While I do sound like I'm gatekeeping/pigeonholing what pulp writing is/are, I just feel like because of the inclusion of the “street food with questionable meat” and "we produced pulp" comment, you would expect it to be on a similar plane of existence with other examples of pulp fiction but it's not, not even close.
Carried over from the issue of prose are of course the writing and the story. A lot of it lacks the mood and atmosphere to create unsettling and cloying circumstances because of how stiff and one-dimensional prose were. Horror is about losing the status quo and the safety net of normality that comes with it and it didn’t feel like it here.
There are however, a few stories that were written like Wikipedia article with dialogue written in rather than a written fiction and those are far, far worse than the ones I knock beforehand.
A MATTER OF GEOGRAPHY
For something that’s titled The Big Book of Malaysian Horror Stories, not many are beholden to Malaysia as a crutch in its story. Even ones that do and that have a specific place in their title like “What Happens in KLCC stays in KLCC” feels like you can substitute it with any other mall because KLCC in that story is just not memorable enough or hardly factors into the story. Then there’s something like “Man in The Mirror” which takes place in KK, Sabah but doesn’t read like it was from someone who’s knowledgeable about Sabah, just from the colloquies used in the character’s narration. No local "KK-ian" would say Kadazan-Dusan as if they are one uniformed thing or Murut being called Murut instead og being called as Lundayeh/Lun-Bawang. While a few, like Covet, Bipedal, They Came from The Sea and A Kulit for the Shadow King are tied closely to the nusantara myth or folklore more that it does to the "Malaysian identity" and can be altered by setting it in Indonesia or the Philippines with a change of name to the characters and still wouldn't effect much of the story.
A GIRL BRUSH RED LIVING IN BLACK AND WHITE
Normally in an anthology, there are stories that are good or great in a writing standpoint but that are other I would find I personally gravitate towards but here, the ones I like are the only ones I find to be good in term of writing as well.
In an ascending order:
The Original Mother by Atikah Wahid
Is good until the end. It felt more like a story about abuse and gaslighting but then the ending happened and it went the supernatural route without really ever needing it. While the ending suck, in my opinion, it’s not too bad that it soured the whole thing. It still fit in with the story thematically.
The Break-In by Terrance Toh
Terrance Toh is a Fixi Novo favourite considering in all of the anthology books I’ve bought from this publishing house features him. It’s competently written. Several twist to the story but noting that turn the story on its head. The prose is basic but it didn’t affect the story. Neither does it add it too though.
The Faceless Portraits by Joni Chng
There’s a haunting quality to this story that is only crippled by wooden prose but overall, a satisfying read.
A Slice of Heaven by Chua Kok Yee
I really do think the prose in this one is bad even though it’s bad on purpose to emulate how a child would talk if he were to narrate it. However, the pacing was superb and it was plotted tightly. It’s shorter than most and goes by like a series of vignettes that culminate in a proper horrific climax.
The Gift by Bissme S.
A real toss up between this and number one but really, both are great and can be considered to be the real highlight of this anthology. It’s just as short as A Slice of Heaven and wasted nothing. Unlike the other four, I actually thought the prose and the structure of this one does not in a way brought it down. The minimalistic prose just adds to the eeriness of the story. This is pulpy. It emulates a sense of Poe and Campbell in a way
They Came from the Sea by Nathaniel Sario
Similarly, to Bissme S., I don’t think Nathaniel Sario’s prose bad in any way, shape or form. It walks a fine delicate line in between indulgence with his prose and sometimes plots. This is what I would say pulp and while not truly, does reminds me of Hammett. It’s creepy and unsettling and there’s a dreaded feeling of waiting for invasiveness of the horror to rear its ugly head out. There’s also the fact that it takes place in Sabah (albeit a fictional place…I think?), but does not call attention onto itself and took me out of the story like Man in the Mirror did.
TO SOMEONE WITH A HAMMER, EVERYTHING LOOKS LIKE A NAIL
If it sounds like I am dogging on this anthology, rest assured that...yeah, I am. While an anthology would undoubtedly be a mixed bag, this is hardly a mix bag. It has less bang for my buck and I bought this at full price of 40 ringgit. It’s placed in the new release and so it’s going to be pricey no matter what but I was more surprised with the fact that this was a last year’s release (2022) instead of this year (2023). To be fair, living in the other side of Malaysia, across the pond from Semenanjung, here in Sarawak does explain it but 40 ringgit and only six out of thirty stories that I ended up liking and thought to be good, writing wise is bad no matter how you cut.
November 13, 2023
Discovered Fixi Novo during my sojourn in Semenanjung for my diploma in the early 2010s and I was enamored. My enthusiasm towards their library dissipate just as quick when I found that behind the grimy pulp aesthetic lies a rather rudimentary genre fiction. It's like borrowing an underground mixtape CD your friend burnt and expecting Sour Breath by TDWP or Preoccupied by Slow Pulp but got Imagine Dragon and Olivia Rodrigo instead.
The last Anthology collection of Fixi Novo I've bought was PJ Confidential and it does not in anyway shape or form evoked Ellroy's writings despite the nod but surreptitiously my favourite story here The Gift, written by Bissme S does with his short and lean sentences. It's also very creepy due to how janky the story felt. For second I would nominate They Came From The Sea by Nathaniel Sorio. It's so creepy and dreadful in a lovecraftian way which is my favourite style of horror. I'm glad that I also bought his full length novel which won the 3rd novel competition because of how lovely the prose was and I can't wait to devour it. For the third I would nominate Janice by Nurul Hafizah. It's a little lower in term of quality but it felt like a good creepypasta found online in the late 2010s.
The rest just weren't good enough, sorry to say.
The last Anthology collection of Fixi Novo I've bought was PJ Confidential and it does not in anyway shape or form evoked Ellroy's writings despite the nod but surreptitiously my favourite story here The Gift, written by Bissme S does with his short and lean sentences. It's also very creepy due to how janky the story felt. For second I would nominate They Came From The Sea by Nathaniel Sorio. It's so creepy and dreadful in a lovecraftian way which is my favourite style of horror. I'm glad that I also bought his full length novel which won the 3rd novel competition because of how lovely the prose was and I can't wait to devour it. For the third I would nominate Janice by Nurul Hafizah. It's a little lower in term of quality but it felt like a good creepypasta found online in the late 2010s.
The rest just weren't good enough, sorry to say.
April 26, 2023
The Big Book of Malaysian Horror Stories is the newest short stories anthology to be publish by Fixi Novo and as the introduction put it, a sort of home coming for the publisher as a horror theme short stories collection was their first ever published shorty story collection.
Fixi Novo very much prided itself as an alternative or the underground-esque imprint that produced pulp instead of "artsy-fartsy" clean-cut literary fiction. It's very punk rock to say the least the way they approach this aesthetic but that same punk rock aesthetic does become inimical, at least when reading this particular anthology. It lacks quality control, both in writing and the artwork at accompanied the stories. I get that wanting the gritty, non literature writings here for aesthetics reasons but sometimes poorly written stories are just poorly written stories. In horror, mood and atmosphere are important to create a situation that are scary and macabre. We are all different and are scared of different things but a situation that's unnerving and disturbing can unnerved and disturbed us and through that we could potentially be scared and that's severely lacking in the 1-1.5/3 of the stories here.
Pulp stories nowadays, especially in horror have evolve and can match up to the writings in literature fictions. Or have it? Or have Pulp been really good, writing wise? Poe was Pulp God-like figure of horror and mystery yet he is revered in the literary circle today. His machinegunning telescopic prose create such an erratic and unnerving atmosphere in spite of how short the page counts were (i.e - The Tell Tale Heart is just 4 pages long). So, reverting back to this anthology collection, it's hard to read and actually get excited when the prose are 'secondary school-esque', pretty much across the board even with the ones I considered ok to good.
The other 1 to 1.5/3 stories that I considered to be on the ok to good side are from The Gift by Bissme. S to LINE(AGE) by Nat Kang with the exception of Bad Spirit of Google Translate and Turbulence but you can substitute those two with Faceless Portrait by Joni Chng and A Slice of Heaven by Chua Kok Yee. In fact, The Gift by Bissme. S is one I would say as my favourite in here. It's surrealistic and haunting. It's the only one I feel like where the prose, while basic does have this intentional minimalistic style to create a really surreal headspace of the narrator.
Having said that though, within a vacuum without the consideration of price etc..etc..I did have a good time reading the ones that I considered in the ok to good category which are almost as much as a normal short story anthology collection (that are normally range between 12-17 stories in them). There's also the fact that the submission for this and pretty much all of Fixi Novo's anthology are open submission and that reminds me so much of the SNAFU anthology (a military horror anthology series) and the quality of the stories in that anthology series are also a rollercoaster ride but the ones I like of those are fun, even if they aren't amazing. Plus, a lot of SNAFU short stories (good and bad) became the material for Netflix's Love, Death and Robot. So, the final verdict would be a 3/5. Barely.
One final note here though; as a Sabahan, I absolutely hate Man In The Mirror by Adrian Chase. It feels so unauthentic. It reads like all the research were done through Wikipedia.
Fixi Novo very much prided itself as an alternative or the underground-esque imprint that produced pulp instead of "artsy-fartsy" clean-cut literary fiction. It's very punk rock to say the least the way they approach this aesthetic but that same punk rock aesthetic does become inimical, at least when reading this particular anthology. It lacks quality control, both in writing and the artwork at accompanied the stories. I get that wanting the gritty, non literature writings here for aesthetics reasons but sometimes poorly written stories are just poorly written stories. In horror, mood and atmosphere are important to create a situation that are scary and macabre. We are all different and are scared of different things but a situation that's unnerving and disturbing can unnerved and disturbed us and through that we could potentially be scared and that's severely lacking in the 1-1.5/3 of the stories here.
Pulp stories nowadays, especially in horror have evolve and can match up to the writings in literature fictions. Or have it? Or have Pulp been really good, writing wise? Poe was Pulp God-like figure of horror and mystery yet he is revered in the literary circle today. His machinegunning telescopic prose create such an erratic and unnerving atmosphere in spite of how short the page counts were (i.e - The Tell Tale Heart is just 4 pages long). So, reverting back to this anthology collection, it's hard to read and actually get excited when the prose are 'secondary school-esque', pretty much across the board even with the ones I considered ok to good.
The other 1 to 1.5/3 stories that I considered to be on the ok to good side are from The Gift by Bissme. S to LINE(AGE) by Nat Kang with the exception of Bad Spirit of Google Translate and Turbulence but you can substitute those two with Faceless Portrait by Joni Chng and A Slice of Heaven by Chua Kok Yee. In fact, The Gift by Bissme. S is one I would say as my favourite in here. It's surrealistic and haunting. It's the only one I feel like where the prose, while basic does have this intentional minimalistic style to create a really surreal headspace of the narrator.
Having said that though, within a vacuum without the consideration of price etc..etc..I did have a good time reading the ones that I considered in the ok to good category which are almost as much as a normal short story anthology collection (that are normally range between 12-17 stories in them). There's also the fact that the submission for this and pretty much all of Fixi Novo's anthology are open submission and that reminds me so much of the SNAFU anthology (a military horror anthology series) and the quality of the stories in that anthology series are also a rollercoaster ride but the ones I like of those are fun, even if they aren't amazing. Plus, a lot of SNAFU short stories (good and bad) became the material for Netflix's Love, Death and Robot. So, the final verdict would be a 3/5. Barely.
One final note here though; as a Sabahan, I absolutely hate Man In The Mirror by Adrian Chase. It feels so unauthentic. It reads like all the research were done through Wikipedia.
July 8, 2023
I bought this earlier this year, around February and read around 7-8 of the stories and decided to stop and never thought about it again. It wasn't until recently that I saw this book again and decided to give it a chance. After all, there are 23 more stories here that can sway my mind and...I really wished I hadn't bothered at all.
The quality of a fixi novo anthology are volatile depending on the type of genre encircled and seeing one that's not so great in term of caliber isn't surprising the least. Sometimes a short story anthology are the greater of the sum of its parts but the ratio of good and bad stories aren't as extreme as this one where I could honestly say maybe 3 good ones and they're still very low bar in terms of being good.
The writings, man, the writings. THEY ARE JUST SO BAD. It's like most of those that submitted never read anything other than the some mainstream novels or YA novel or wikipedia articles. Maybe never even picked up an actual horror book.
The 3 good ones I would say are Faceless Portraits by Joni Chng, The Gift by Bissme S and They Came From The Sea by Nathaniel Sorio. They felt different and the writing felt uniquely to their writers and somewhat creepy. A 3/5 for those 3 and the rest are 1/5 dross.
The quality of a fixi novo anthology are volatile depending on the type of genre encircled and seeing one that's not so great in term of caliber isn't surprising the least. Sometimes a short story anthology are the greater of the sum of its parts but the ratio of good and bad stories aren't as extreme as this one where I could honestly say maybe 3 good ones and they're still very low bar in terms of being good.
The writings, man, the writings. THEY ARE JUST SO BAD. It's like most of those that submitted never read anything other than the some mainstream novels or YA novel or wikipedia articles. Maybe never even picked up an actual horror book.
The 3 good ones I would say are Faceless Portraits by Joni Chng, The Gift by Bissme S and They Came From The Sea by Nathaniel Sorio. They felt different and the writing felt uniquely to their writers and somewhat creepy. A 3/5 for those 3 and the rest are 1/5 dross.
February 13, 2023
Mengumpulkan 30 cerita seram di Malaysia. Bukan sahaja cerita hantu tapi juga seram yang lain. Ada juga cerita urban legends yang turut dimasukkan ke dalam naskah ini.
Banyak kisah menarik dipaparkan dalam naskah ini. Cerita kesukaan SH adalah Man in The Mirror, Covet dan Red Kebaya. Ada juga kisah yang kurang menarik perhatian.
Penggunaan bahasa rojak di dalam naskah ini membuatkan SH berasa seolah-olah ini adalah penceritaan dari rakan-rakan. Cuma secara personal untuk buku SH kurang mengemari laras bahasa seperti ini.
Bagi SH yang memang mengemari cerita seram naskah pendek seperti ini kurang memuaskan hati. Macam tak cukup. Macam cerita Covet tu sendiri kalau dijadikan sebuah buku dengan lebih banyak plot twist dan alur cerita yang lebih panjang mesti lagi menarik. Lagi memuaskan hati.
Banyak kisah menarik dipaparkan dalam naskah ini. Cerita kesukaan SH adalah Man in The Mirror, Covet dan Red Kebaya. Ada juga kisah yang kurang menarik perhatian.
Penggunaan bahasa rojak di dalam naskah ini membuatkan SH berasa seolah-olah ini adalah penceritaan dari rakan-rakan. Cuma secara personal untuk buku SH kurang mengemari laras bahasa seperti ini.
Bagi SH yang memang mengemari cerita seram naskah pendek seperti ini kurang memuaskan hati. Macam tak cukup. Macam cerita Covet tu sendiri kalau dijadikan sebuah buku dengan lebih banyak plot twist dan alur cerita yang lebih panjang mesti lagi menarik. Lagi memuaskan hati.
May 5, 2023
being one of the writers in this anthology is fun, but reading it in its entirety provides a disturbing experience that varies from psychological to physical horror. my top 3 favorite stories are dream home, janice, and the break-in. the rest are great stories, of course, but these 3 have really good writing that i like and twists that leave me reeling. having my own story between these haunting pages feels good, knowing that my characters are out there doing the haunting for me too. overall a good anthology that gathers malaysia’s myths and ghosts all in one place.
March 27, 2023
I am one of the writers in this book so I'm not even going to pretend I'm not biased. 5 stars!
Anyway, this is a thick anthology packed with 30 horror short stories. Being a Malaysian anthology, of course it leans heavy towards supernatural horror. The usual pontianak, penanggal and bomoh fanfare. However, there are also a lot of diversity in terms of horror here. There's body horror, sci-fi and even just real life horrific things sans the magic. I think this will appeal to readers who widely love to read thrills, whatever the genre.
Below are my favourite stories from this anthology (excluding my own lol):
Klang Crow by Joshua Lim is definitely a real treat, something completely original. It almost feels like I'm reading an RPG game. The fact that this is set in Klang and the main characters are actual crows? Brilliant. I also like the other one of his work in this anthology: "Slave of Mine"! Just from these two stories alone, I know we're going to hear a lot about this author in this coming years.
Anyway, this is a thick anthology packed with 30 horror short stories. Being a Malaysian anthology, of course it leans heavy towards supernatural horror. The usual pontianak, penanggal and bomoh fanfare. However, there are also a lot of diversity in terms of horror here. There's body horror, sci-fi and even just real life horrific things sans the magic. I think this will appeal to readers who widely love to read thrills, whatever the genre.
Below are my favourite stories from this anthology (excluding my own lol):
Klang Crow by Joshua Lim is definitely a real treat, something completely original. It almost feels like I'm reading an RPG game. The fact that this is set in Klang and the main characters are actual crows? Brilliant. I also like the other one of his work in this anthology: "Slave of Mine"! Just from these two stories alone, I know we're going to hear a lot about this author in this coming years.
January 20, 2023
Okay lah. Actual rating is 3.75 stars.
June 27, 2023
One of my first reads for this year is Fixi's Big Book Of Malaysian Horror Stories. I stumbled upon their shop accidentally, had a glorious half hour going ooh and ahh at all the titles i have seen on Soc Med and finally picke ld a few titles i have been coveting for.
Truth be told, as much as I term myself an eclectic reader, i usually keep away from horror, for obvious reasons. But i had to get this book as i knew at least 4 of the short story authors.
In a nutshell, most of the stories were gripping, kept you at the edge of your seat and gave you goosebumps. One or two did not sit well with me, but that is to be expected. Everyone has a different cuppa chai.
Truth be told, as much as I term myself an eclectic reader, i usually keep away from horror, for obvious reasons. But i had to get this book as i knew at least 4 of the short story authors.
In a nutshell, most of the stories were gripping, kept you at the edge of your seat and gave you goosebumps. One or two did not sit well with me, but that is to be expected. Everyone has a different cuppa chai.
May 13, 2023
Very interesting and novel ideas!
Enjoyed reading it!
One particular story that stood out to this reader was What Happened in KLCC Stays in KLCC. (this reader hopes he got the title right)
Sucks you in right from the very beginning and never really lets you go. Subtle, a little insidious, a little sinister. Just the right amount to make it extremely believable.
There are plenty of other good stories that are worth reading too!
An excellent book! Check it out!
Enjoyed reading it!
One particular story that stood out to this reader was What Happened in KLCC Stays in KLCC. (this reader hopes he got the title right)
Sucks you in right from the very beginning and never really lets you go. Subtle, a little insidious, a little sinister. Just the right amount to make it extremely believable.
There are plenty of other good stories that are worth reading too!
An excellent book! Check it out!
June 18, 2023
a rollercoaster ride reading for me hence the 29 authors all together and I got high expectation but I would say a bit disappointed a bit with it. However I love the way authors using ‘Bahasa Rojak’ cause its felt closer to me as a Malaysian and still enjoyed reading it
October 29, 2025
Ada beberapa cerita yang pacing dia agak lambat - bukan semua punchy.
Kalau kau jenis suka jumpscare-type horror, buku ni mungkin rasa slow sebab dia lebih ke arah psychological dan mood-building horror.Some stories haunt you because of the ghosts,
but some haunt you because they remind you of your own darkness.
So yeah - kalau kau suka baca something spooky tapi still ada depth,
this book is definitely worth staying up at 2AM for.
Kalau kau jenis suka jumpscare-type horror, buku ni mungkin rasa slow sebab dia lebih ke arah psychological dan mood-building horror.Some stories haunt you because of the ghosts,
but some haunt you because they remind you of your own darkness.
So yeah - kalau kau suka baca something spooky tapi still ada depth,
this book is definitely worth staying up at 2AM for.
November 9, 2025
I start too long.. and i just realize i cannot go on. 🙃 dont even give me chills yet. had to DNF cause the storyline were so bored.
May 3, 2025
I own more than a few Fixi novels but this may well have been the first one I've ever read (all hail Tsundoku!).
Don't whistle at night or else snakes will come into the house. Wash your hands and feet after coming home from a funeral to make sure nothing followed you back. Ask for permission when you go tromping around a field/ jungle to avoid angering any spirits abroad. Stay indoors if there's an eclipse (especially if you're pregnant) or bad things will happen. Baby crying everyday between 6-7pm? Put something made of metal on their clothes or in their crib.
The supernatural/ superstition is something most Malaysians grow up with. It's a part of our culture that we adhere to... either because we truly believe or sometimes because it's no skin off our backs to obey these rules.
In most anthologies of tales there are hits and there are misses. And it was no different in The Big Book of Malaysian Horror Stories. There were some I liked and some I didn't and some that didn't make any impact at all. We were told during a book discussion that the authors were limited by a set number of words they had to complete their stories, perhaps that led to some stories being unfulfilling for me. But all in all it was a decent read.
These are some of the stories that I enjoyed reading (in no particular order): -
Campfire Stories - Rizal Ramli
Klang Crow - Joshua Lim
Covet - Tina Ishak
Original Mother - Atikah Wahid
Turbulence- Izzadin Shah Yusuf
The Break In - Terence Toh
Don't whistle at night or else snakes will come into the house. Wash your hands and feet after coming home from a funeral to make sure nothing followed you back. Ask for permission when you go tromping around a field/ jungle to avoid angering any spirits abroad. Stay indoors if there's an eclipse (especially if you're pregnant) or bad things will happen. Baby crying everyday between 6-7pm? Put something made of metal on their clothes or in their crib.
The supernatural/ superstition is something most Malaysians grow up with. It's a part of our culture that we adhere to... either because we truly believe or sometimes because it's no skin off our backs to obey these rules.
In most anthologies of tales there are hits and there are misses. And it was no different in The Big Book of Malaysian Horror Stories. There were some I liked and some I didn't and some that didn't make any impact at all. We were told during a book discussion that the authors were limited by a set number of words they had to complete their stories, perhaps that led to some stories being unfulfilling for me. But all in all it was a decent read.
These are some of the stories that I enjoyed reading (in no particular order): -
Campfire Stories - Rizal Ramli
Klang Crow - Joshua Lim
Covet - Tina Ishak
Original Mother - Atikah Wahid
Turbulence- Izzadin Shah Yusuf
The Break In - Terence Toh
November 24, 2025
Some of the stories are good, and some make me want to skip them, okay lah. However, I love the way the book uses words, the Manglish makes the stories feel more relatable to me.
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