Status Updates From Vålnader

The cape: really liked this one; Hills good at getting you in the head of these people, empathizing with them while also being repulsed, so their turn feels inevitable but surprising.

Last breath: a little goosebumps/creepshow-y in a good way.

Dead wood: too short to have much of an impact but it’s interesting!

In the rundown: really continually impressed with how much Hill develops his characters in these short stories. All that said, a lot of the characterization ultimately starts to feel like a red herring.

Better than home: fine

Black phone: good! The movie definitely both sticks really close to this and expands it a ton; I wish I’d read this without seeing the movie because it felt really really similar. That said I do think it being a short story let’s it just exist as a creepy story instead of the huge mythology and side characters the movie crams in. Definitely creepy and enjoyable!

You will hear the locust song: eh. I like the exploration of the concept but it didn’t really do anything for me.

Abrahams boys: woof. I really liked this. It’s very very sad, and I do feel bad for poor Mina always being done dirty, but I loved where this took this. Really really good.

Pop art: REALLY affecting. Idk what it’s about (losing a childhood friend to illness is an obvious one but it seems like more than that) but I do know it felt harrowing to read even though there was nothing scary or tense about it.

Just read the Black Phone story! Wow