Seems to succeed in what it's going for but somehow still lacking
2 stars
This is one of those horror stories whose main aim seems to be making the reader as uncomfortable as possible while reading it, and it succeeded in doing that with me. The dynamics of the relationship in the story are actually more uncomfortable than the grossout shit near the end of the story. The sadomasochism itself is not necessarily uncomfortable. The gradual revelation that Agnes is deeply traumatized definitely is. Again, I suspect that is exactly what the author was going for. I don't have a problem with horror stories that are on some level about the way that hurt people hurt people. Caitlín Kiernan is one of my favorite horror authors of all time, and The Cipher by Kathe Koja is one of my favorite horror novels. This story just did not feel as developed as any of Kiernan's work and lacked the sense of something lurking beneath the …
This is one of those horror stories whose main aim seems to be making the reader as uncomfortable as possible while reading it, and it succeeded in doing that with me. The dynamics of the relationship in the story are actually more uncomfortable than the grossout shit near the end of the story. The sadomasochism itself is not necessarily uncomfortable. The gradual revelation that Agnes is deeply traumatized definitely is. Again, I suspect that is exactly what the author was going for. I don't have a problem with horror stories that are on some level about the way that hurt people hurt people. Caitlín Kiernan is one of my favorite horror authors of all time, and The Cipher by Kathe Koja is one of my favorite horror novels. This story just did not feel as developed as any of Kiernan's work and lacked the sense of something lurking beneath the surface like The Cipher does. Were it any shorter, this story would have felt like it had no substance, though I'm not sure it actually has much substance at the length it is anyway. Were it any longer, it would have far outstayed its welcome. The ending does feel a bit telegraphed: Checkoff's apple peeler, etc. All in all, this is not the type of horror I really dig but it was written just well enough that I'd be willing to give the author a second shot at some point in the future.
