The Reading Frog (semi ia 3-6 August)’s Reviews > The Language of Knives: Stories > Status Update
The Reading Frog (semi ia 3-6 August)
is 10% done
Botanical/eco horror, my beloved 👏
— Jun 20, 2026 05:20AM
"The branches, gnarled and twisted as they are, still reveal the hint of human hands-outstretched towards the sky. "As if drowning," that's how Mom described them back when she was up to describing anything."
Botanical/eco horror, my beloved 👏
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The Reading Frog’s Previous Updates
The Reading Frog (semi ia 3-6 August)
is 76% done
I didn't expect a sudden sci-fi, transhumanist story that explored collective memory and autonomy but I'm here for it!
Also, homestretch! Only two more short stories left. 👏
— Jun 24, 2026 01:27PM
Also, homestretch! Only two more short stories left. 👏
The Reading Frog (semi ia 3-6 August)
is 65% done
You remember what it took you to bake your own mother into a cake.
Real or Cake, but make it a ritual preparation of corpses to appease hungry gods.
Yeah, I too am confused about what I just described, but I'm telling you, that's the context of this chapter.
Markov has been great at initially weirding me out yet somehow making me feel connected to his stories before they end, so we'll see how this goes lol
— Jun 24, 2026 12:05PM
Real or Cake, but make it a ritual preparation of corpses to appease hungry gods.
Yeah, I too am confused about what I just described, but I'm telling you, that's the context of this chapter.
Markov has been great at initially weirding me out yet somehow making me feel connected to his stories before they end, so we'll see how this goes lol
The Reading Frog (semi ia 3-6 August)
is 59% done
This chapter about a haunted house B&B is so BuzzFeed Unsolved/Watcher's Ghost Files-coded, but imagine Ryan and Shane being married instead of bickering besties, and the ghosts being real and actual threats to their lives.
— Jun 24, 2026 11:17AM
"The feast is drawing near, Bernadette. All these people are going to die because of you ..."
This chapter about a haunted house B&B is so BuzzFeed Unsolved/Watcher's Ghost Files-coded, but imagine Ryan and Shane being married instead of bickering besties, and the ghosts being real and actual threats to their lives.
The Reading Frog (semi ia 3-6 August)
is 49% done
—I like what Markov is cooking up here
— Jun 24, 2026 05:41AM
"The ultra-rich always indulged in weird foods. It's like they use eccentricity to separate themselves from those who can't afford it, Gianna had one said. Gabriel knew food and he doubted any of the bizarre shit he'd seen guests eat tasted good or that they enjoyed them whatsoever. To Gabriel it all felt like character work. A performance of wealth."
—I like what Markov is cooking up here
The Reading Frog (semi ia 3-6 August)
is 45% done
"I drape around his right arm and embroider it further with my kisses, bites, and scratches. Just to see whether I can damage him, affect his reality. Do I have any power over him or not? There is no blood in him and my attempts to make him feel something add scars, but nothing more. There are no weeping wounds."
—Uhm, gulp. How did this weird succubus-esque story suddenly get relatable on an emotional level?
— Jun 21, 2026 02:34PM
—Uhm, gulp. How did this weird succubus-esque story suddenly get relatable on an emotional level?
The Reading Frog (semi ia 3-6 August)
is 35% done
What in the 'Lady of the Lake' / 'The Haunting of Bly Manor' is happening here 😩 I don't see this ending well, but please don't let this evil fuck win.
— Jun 21, 2026 09:39AM
The Reading Frog (semi ia 3-6 August)
is 29% done
–This chapter is hitting me like a freight train wtf. Relatable on way too many levels. I love horror that can make me sad tho, idk, there's just something about it.
— Jun 21, 2026 07:41AM
"Why did they hurt me?" He's no longer crying out of physical pain.
–This chapter is hitting me like a freight train wtf. Relatable on way too many levels. I love horror that can make me sad tho, idk, there's just something about it.
The Reading Frog (semi ia 3-6 August)
is 23% done
Oh no, is this chapter gonna be about sepsis? Cuz that's literally one of my worst fears as someone who is immunocompromised. A whole different kind of horror 😭
— Jun 21, 2026 06:32AM
"That's how he knows he's delirious and the course of antibiotics has done nothing more than kiss the infection in his leg better and hope for the best. A fact he digests dispassionately, riding the heat waves of his fever."
Oh no, is this chapter gonna be about sepsis? Cuz that's literally one of my worst fears as someone who is immunocompromised. A whole different kind of horror 😭
The Reading Frog (semi ia 3-6 August)
is 19% done
I'm normally an enthusiastic consumer of cannibalism as an allegory for love/hunger/want/whatever, but idk about this one lol
— Jun 20, 2026 02:18PM
"The kiss that unlocked the hunger and drove Varadin to bite the dead flesh off his wife's lips and Ghena to dig her nails deep underneath her husband's skin at the base of his neck and pull the large strips to her mouth where she chewed with gusto and swallowed."
I'm normally an enthusiastic consumer of cannibalism as an allegory for love/hunger/want/whatever, but idk about this one lol
The Reading Frog (semi ia 3-6 August)
is starting
Aquired this ARC via NetGalley. Might not binge-read this one since it is an anthology.
I'll try, however, to finish it before its publishing date. 👏
Buddy-read for spoilery updates is live on Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/buddy_r...
— Jun 19, 2026 06:51AM
I'll try, however, to finish it before its publishing date. 👏
Buddy-read for spoilery updates is live on Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/buddy_r...
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bookluvr
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Jun 20, 2026 05:41AM
ooooo 👀 although! i need to read THEEEEE hazelthorn first! in this lane, no? i’m also getting botanical horror vibes from it
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bookluvr (semi-ia coz work beating my ass) wrote: "ooooo 👀 although! i need to read THEEEEE hazelthorn first! in this lane, no? i’m also getting botanical horror vibes from it"Hazelthorn first for sure! It's one of my all-time favourites. 💚
The language of knives is an anthology, so I'm unsure what each short story's vibe will be. But the chapter this update was about, 'The Town the Forest Ate', is definitely in that same niche subgenre and has that dark gothic fantasy vibe like Hazelthorn. So I'm hopeful for this read 👏
what is eco horror? intelligent green mold haunting a pile of unwashed dishes in ur sink? thats the image in my head anyhoo lol
Nel wrote: "what is eco horror? intelligent green mold haunting a pile of unwashed dishes in ur sink? thats the image in my head anyhoo lol"HAHHAHAHAH, well that's a whole other horror of its own 😂
Eco-horror is an umbrella term for horror where nature is, in a way, the 'monster'. Think sentient or carnivorous plants, forest animals turned hostile by radiation, gardens demanding blood, nature strikes back plot lines or apocalyptic stuff like The Last of Us, aka a parasitic fungus-based zombie virus.
Though most of the time in eco horror, nature isn't fully regarded as evil/monstrous, but more as a natural response to humanity's destruction of it. More like retaliation/punishment or something. Idk... I hope that makes sense???😅
ohhhhh okok i get it now. the kinda lit where ur rooting for the nature. xD