Well after that downer of a story this was better. And yes, it's actually horror. I think Reeds did a good job with a haunted house story with some teeth to it. It made me think a little bit of Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House". The ending was a nice surprise (in a bad way) so I liked that too.

Newcomer Ana moves back to her husband's hometown into a ramshackle Victorian home. Ana loves to restore homes, but the old house seems dark and something seems to be taking over her husband. With her toddler daughter to care for, Ana tries to find help with the local populace, but it seems as if deaf ears and eyes are turned away.

I liked Ana and felt for her. You get how increasingly alone she feels with no job and nothing to do but focus on her daughter and the home. Her husband changes slightly as soon as they move in and then you get to see the bigger ways. And you get the vibe the in-laws don't like her at all. 

I could picture the home and the little town that wanted nothing to do with her. A solid ending to this collection which was honestly 90 percent a miss with me. 

I don't like this short story's portrayal of mental illness and how apparently people afflicted with mental illness secretly want to just kill themselves and or shot to be put out of their misery. I wouldn't usually do a spoiler review, but this is a legitimately harmful narrative to put out there. I suffered from severe depression and had to see not only a therapist but a psychiatrist in order to be treated. I had a little voice that got louder and told me that I was nothing and no one would miss me if I were gone. I am happy to be here and wasn't secretly hoping for an organization to come along and murder me. And I don't think that the best things in my life have already occurred so screw living now. 

So, "The Remedy" follows a young man named Derrick who has heard great things about a new clinic that has opened up. His cousin tells him that it sounds like this place will help him with his chronic pain condition. It costs $20,000. Derrick who has nothing left to lose decides to pay this and meets the other worldly Dr. Lang. In Dr. Lang's eyes Derrick feels seen for the first time. And readers quickly realize that what is going on with Derrick is not physical pain, but something else. And we have Derrick then flashbacking on his past and an older girlfriend and I guess when he gets the surprise of seeing people dead and knowing he's about to get murdered, it's cool cause his best life was before him and now nothing is left but pain. Derrick also gets to see joyous expressions on people's faces so yeah, murder/suicide is the answer. I hated this story with a passion. 

So let's go through this. This story had huge plot holes. How the hell does Derrick have $20,000 just sitting around? 

Also is no one in Derrick's life (his mom calls a freaking lot) going to notice he's gone? Was Derrick's cousin secretly setting him up to be killed cause who is running around raving about this place if all the clients end up dead? 

Also why are people being murdered and then thrown into a cargo hold? You just shipping dead bodies around for something else Dr. Lang?

This was stupid. So very stupid. 

Oh man. No. I don't even know what to say here. This after the last story in the collection had me pulling my hair. There was too much going on and I loathed the main character, Reginald. I think Raboteau was dunking on hoteps with this short story, but it just didn't grip me at all. Also if you want to know about hoteps, please go Google that. I am not energetic enough today to talk about the never ending messiness in the African American community. Let's just say that Raboteau did a great job with it and Reginald sucked. 

"The Tangled Woods" follows college professor Reginald Wright (eyeballs last name) who is angry at his life, his wife, and young son. Apparently he was attracted to his wife when she was "woke" but now questions who she is, what they are doing together, etc. on their way to a family vacation to the Poconos. We are quickly given insights into the real Reginald and then the ending comes along with a thunk that did not work at all. 

So there's not much there I have to say with this. Raboteau starts to pull the layers away from Reginald and you realize he's crap. And you wonder how much his wife knows/gets. And there are some hints there even with his son. But then things swerve into some thing about Make America Great Again or something (I started to roll my eyes so hard I couldn't focus) and it just didn't land where I think she wanted this to. And though I gave the one story a pass on not really being horror (since it's told via a young boy and how his and his friends imaginations work) I can't on this one. It's not really horror. It's just Reginald doing dumb things repeatedly and I don't think catching a clue about them and someone someone gets beaten up. I don't know. I was glad to move on after completing this one. 

This one dragged badly. And I guessed at what was going on and just felt letdown by it. The ending was a surprise though with Mia and her mother. I just think this should have been more tightly edited. I don't know if it was the writing style or flow (okay it was) but I didn't care for this one much cause it just dragged at times the writing was too vague and other times too detailed. Yes, I know I sound like a jerk. 

"Miao Dao" follows Mia. Mia is dealing with a lot of changes in her home and body. Her father has left their family. Mia is also getting harassed at school due to her body which has caused her to become increasingly isolated and alone. Her one thing she has though is that she lives near a colony of feral cats. She is constantly trying to get them to see her as a friend, but you know, feral cats. Eventually one cat ends up meaning more to Mia and you get to see the results of that.

Yeah I still don't know. I didn't like this one. The writing style really tripped me up. I also think the time period at times was unclear. I think we maybe went through at least a 2 year time period in this short story. 

I think Oates was trying to say something higher level about how girls and women are treated and maybe they are similar to feral cats. Yeah....I don't know. Did not like this one. Moving on. 

Okay, this is not a horror story. Even a little bit. It is funny as heck though when we follow along with a sleepover that starts to get weirder and weirder and scarier for the kids involved. This book reminded me of how my mind worked as a kid though. I was convinced one night a witch was in my room and if I took the blanket off my head, she would be able to attack me. I swear at one point I felt her long dagger like nose poking at the top of my head. I kept convincing myself it had to be that my poster had fallen over and that was jabbing me in the head. I woke up the next day (when the sun rose all monsters and witches could not come into my bedroom) I found out that the poster was still up on the wall. So what poked me in the head? Yeah I was a mess as a kid. 

I thank Cantero for the nostalgia this story brought and the Harry Potter references. I maybe died at the whole, so you're what? A woke Slytherin?