Reviews

Song for the Unraveling of the World: Stories by Brian Evenson

categal's review

Go to review page

3.0

I really liked the stories in the first half of this collection. Creepy, spooky, scary: sweet spot, sweet spot, sweet spot!

The problem came with the second half of the book. The stories drifted away from people and read more like writing prompts around scenes of horror. I found that what was missing were characters whom I cared about and situations where I could picture myself in their shoes and feel what they were feeling. I will definitely read more from Evenson, I really like his voice and tight control over these short stories, but for this collection, less is more.

wildguitars's review

Go to review page

2.0

disappointing..
while i liked the minimalistic style very much in the story last days, in this one it does not work half as well.. most of the stories are forgettable..

boowot's review

Go to review page

3.0

Like a 3.5 there were a few bangers but a lot of eh’s
The Second Door & The Tower being my favorites

javorstein's review

Go to review page

1.0

Middle school-tier writing. Just bad. Valiant attempt at postmodern horror but simply painful to read. Don't even know why I kept reading after the first story. Actually embarrassing that this got published.

torchlab's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Brian Evenson really likes to describe things as having been licked clean. Will likely go over well with fans of Neil Gaiman, Jeff VanderMeer, or Kelly Link. Favorite stories: the title story, “No Matter Which Way We Turned,” “Sisters,” “Room Tone,” “Shirts and Skins,” “The Tower,” “The Cardiacs,” “The Glistening World,” “Glasses.”

guywho_reads's review

Go to review page

3.0

Its hard to rate short stories collections. I found the voice w little repetitive and many similar story structures. Some stand outs in:
No Matter Which Way We Turn
Born Stillborn
Sisters
A Disappearance
Wanderlust
Trigger Warnings

juliatfowler's review

Go to review page

dark slow-paced

4.0

masonanddixon's review

Go to review page

4.0

Uneven, but the stories that hit, really hit. Evenson has a knack for depicting ruthless obsession. His character's curiosity and subliminal desire for something else, coupled with their growing worry that the world around them is irrevocably changing, creates some delightfully macabre and frightening scenarios. Of course, there is more going on here than fright alone. Most of these stories resolve around a theme of coupling and uncoupling— apocalypse and rebirth. A world where only one thing is certain, and that is that there is something out to get you, but there is also probably something out there watching you, perhaps with disinterest, but nonetheless capable of saving you. That being said, the less said about the crime fictions and the cheap trigger warning story, the better. Seductively nihilistic.

petrichorandcoffee's review

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense

4.5

silverrose187's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

2.0