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| ★★★★✰ |
Synopsis: A bestial face appears at windows in the night. In the big white house on the hill angels are said to appear. A forgotten tenant in an isolated building becomes addicted to milk. A strange goddess is worshipped by a home-invading disciple. The least remembered gods still haunt the oldest forests. Cannibalism occurs in high society at the end of the world. The sainted undead follow their prophet to the Great Dead Sea. A confused and vengeful presence occupies the home of a first-time buyer . . . In ghastly harmony with the nightmarish visions of the award-winning writer's novels, these stories blend a lifelong appreciation of horror culture with the grotesque fascinations and childlike terrors that are the author's own.
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Review: Ooh this book was an absolute treat. I'm always a little wary of short story collections, as I rarely (in fact, never) love entire collections of stories, and much prefer to spend time on one full-length story which I have established from early on that I will likely enjoy. I've read one of Nevill's novels - The Ritual, which I absolutely adored, up until the end. Did not like the ending, but I loved the writing and the atmosphere was fantastic. Those two elements are present in Some Will Not Sleep with absolute abundance. Although there were one or two stories I was not so fond of, the majority of the unsettling tales in this collection are chillingly enjoyable, and even the stories I was not so keen on will be to someone else's taste for sure.
I don't quite know how to describe the atmosphere of these stories - while Nevill does not shy away from conveying quite gruesome or repulsive things at times, there is nothing gratutious in his stories. In fact, they almost lull you in with only a slight sense of dread before revealing dark and disturbing things. When I say some of these stories left me with a feeling of uncleanliness, it is actually a compliment.
This will probably be the first collection of short stories I will ever purchase in hard copy, because I can say with certainty it is one I will dip in and out of for Halloweens to come. For good old fashioned creepy, icky weirdness in your horror, this is the way to go.
Rating: 4/5
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