Trigger warning

A "trigger warning" is like an allergy alert, in that it's meant to alert folks who have strong and uncontrolled reactions to certain topics that what they're about to see or hear might 'trigger' those reactions. Like the early days of anaphylactic reactions, early adopters of trigger warnings were folks who'd had to learn the hard way what might set them off; that is, they were traumatized by some horrible event, and thematically similar sights, sounds, and words, might cause additional emotional trauma. In his Foreword, Neil Gaiman mentions that he knows such a person, and had recently heard the term, and thought it appropriate for his collection. 'Nuff said.

There are 24 'stories' in this collection, if you count the poems as stories, which I do. They are:

Making a Chair
A Lunar Labyrinth
The Thing About Cassandra
Down to a Sunless Sea
"The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains..."
My Last Landlady
Adventure Story
Orange
A Calendar of Tales
The Case of Death and Honey
The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury
Jerusalem
Click-Clack the Rattlebag
An Invocation of Incuriosity
"And Weep, Like Alexander"
Nothing O'Clock
Diamonds and Pearls: A Fairy Tale
The Return of the Thin White Duke
Feminine Endings
Observing the Formalities
The Sleeper and the Spindle
Witch Work
In Relig Odhrain
Black Dog

There's a bonus story of sorts in the Foreword, "Shadder", which might bring the count to 25, but it's not listed in the TOC, so I dunno.

I'm not inclined to critique each story (though I will if asked), so I'll just say that this is feels, to me, like atypical Gaiman fare. Still just as tasty, but a few different spices than what I'd been led to expect from him. I rather like the surprises.

My favorites in this collection were "Down to a Sunless Sea", "And Weep, Like Alexander", "Feminine Endings", "In Relig Odhrain", and "Black Dog", in no particular order. :)