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Two Truths and a Lie
Stella thought she’d made up a lie on the spot, asking her childhood friend if he remembered the strange public broadcast TV show with the unsettling host she and all the neighborhood kids appeared on years ago. But he does remember. And so does her mom. So why doesn’t Stella? The more she investigates the show and the grip it has on her hometown, the eerier the mystery grows.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
40 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 17, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 356 reviews
September 4, 2020
Two Truths and a Lie, by Sarah Pinsker, is a creepy horror story with an ending that I don't know how to interpret because I think too much about some things and turn my thoughts into too much to be useful. But, enough about me...ha ha. I do love the cover art for this story.
I wrote a longer review but realized I was telling too much of the story. Instead I'll tell you that the main character, Stella, tells lies. She's always told lies, tries to tell them in ways she will remember, but sometimes gets tripped up by her lies. The cover art is perfect for this short story.
I found out about this story by reading a review by my ŷ friend, Michelle. I was able to read the story at this website:
I wrote a longer review but realized I was telling too much of the story. Instead I'll tell you that the main character, Stella, tells lies. She's always told lies, tries to tell them in ways she will remember, but sometimes gets tripped up by her lies. The cover art is perfect for this short story.
I found out about this story by reading a review by my ŷ friend, Michelle. I was able to read the story at this website:
June 9, 2021
Unsettling, but very good.
Pinsker has a handy sense of wordsmithing that makes one very present in the moment, perhaps a little too real. However, sometimes the moments contain perfect like sentiments like this:
“Chris Bethel. He was in the class between us and Denny, except he had a different name back then.�
In that moment, she remembered Chris Bethel, pre-transition, playing Viola in Twelfth Night like a person who knew what it was to be shipwrecked on a strange shore. Good for him."
An eerie end, though. Not quite sure about it. Pinsker is one to watch.
Pinsker has a handy sense of wordsmithing that makes one very present in the moment, perhaps a little too real. However, sometimes the moments contain perfect like sentiments like this:
“Chris Bethel. He was in the class between us and Denny, except he had a different name back then.�
In that moment, she remembered Chris Bethel, pre-transition, playing Viola in Twelfth Night like a person who knew what it was to be shipwrecked on a strange shore. Good for him."
An eerie end, though. Not quite sure about it. Pinsker is one to watch.
May 21, 2021
4.5 stars - this creepy, excellent novelette is now a Nebula award nominee! Free to read online . Final review, first posted on :
Some thirty years after graduating from high school and leaving her home town, Stella returns for a visit and attends the funeral of the older brother of one of her childhood friends. She ends up impulsively volunteering to help her friend Marco clean out his brother Denny’s home � a major undertaking, since Denny was a massive hoarder.
Stella often lies about her life for no particular reason, so when she and Marco come across an aged TV set, she asks him if he remembers The Uncle Bob Show, something she had made up on the spot. Oddly, Marco says yes, and as he chats about Uncle Bob and his TV show, Stella begins to remember the show too, and even being part of the show’s child audience several times when it was being filmed at the local public broadcast station. As Stella investigates this old TV show with its unsettling host, she begins to notice the creepy stories that Uncle Bob would tell the children in the audience � stories that may have a lingering effect on the child they’re told to.
Two Truths and a Lie is one of those stories that gets more intriguing and impressive as you look more closely at it and examine its parts. The first time I read it I thought it was okay, maybe 3.5 star material. When it got a Nebula nomination I reread it, and I was completely on board with it the second time around. It’s subtle horror, in a creepypasta type of way, and it has its own internal, inexorable logic. I do feel sympathetic toward Stella, even as it becomes clear that she’s got pathological lying issues. But maybe it’s all the fault of Uncle Bob, who in one of his shows told a story about a girl:
Bonus: Here's a more detailed discussion of the ending:
Initial post: What is all this talk about “creepypasta� in connection with this Tor short? (Not just here on GR but also in the comment thread to this story on Tor.com.) I know I’m not much of a horror reader but I’ve somehow managed to get through my entire life until now without hearing about creepypasta, and apparently this is a Thing.
In any case I like Sarah Pinsker; she’s a talented author. Plus karen loves this one.
Some thirty years after graduating from high school and leaving her home town, Stella returns for a visit and attends the funeral of the older brother of one of her childhood friends. She ends up impulsively volunteering to help her friend Marco clean out his brother Denny’s home � a major undertaking, since Denny was a massive hoarder.
Stella often lies about her life for no particular reason, so when she and Marco come across an aged TV set, she asks him if he remembers The Uncle Bob Show, something she had made up on the spot. Oddly, Marco says yes, and as he chats about Uncle Bob and his TV show, Stella begins to remember the show too, and even being part of the show’s child audience several times when it was being filmed at the local public broadcast station. As Stella investigates this old TV show with its unsettling host, she begins to notice the creepy stories that Uncle Bob would tell the children in the audience � stories that may have a lingering effect on the child they’re told to.
Two Truths and a Lie is one of those stories that gets more intriguing and impressive as you look more closely at it and examine its parts. The first time I read it I thought it was okay, maybe 3.5 star material. When it got a Nebula nomination I reread it, and I was completely on board with it the second time around. It’s subtle horror, in a creepypasta type of way, and it has its own internal, inexorable logic. I do feel sympathetic toward Stella, even as it becomes clear that she’s got pathological lying issues. But maybe it’s all the fault of Uncle Bob, who in one of his shows told a story about a girl:
“� the girl was willing to trade who she was for who she could be, so she began to do just that. Little by little, she replaced herself with parts of other people she liked better. Parts of stories she wanted to live. …This girl was her own cuckoo, laying stories in her own head, and the heads of those around her, until even she couldn’t remember which ones were true, or if there was anything left of her.�The internal logic of the story breaks down a little, leaving the reader confused as to whether Stella’s initial lie about remembering the show was really a lie that somehow became truth, or whether she’d forgotten the show (or blocked it out of her mind) until she mentions it to Marco. The ending also initially seems like it comes out of left field, but the clues to the logic and even inevitability of that ending are there, hidden in Uncle Bob’s tales.
Bonus: Here's a more detailed discussion of the ending:
Initial post: What is all this talk about “creepypasta� in connection with this Tor short? (Not just here on GR but also in the comment thread to this story on Tor.com.) I know I’m not much of a horror reader but I’ve somehow managed to get through my entire life until now without hearing about creepypasta, and apparently this is a Thing.
In any case I like Sarah Pinsker; she’s a talented author. Plus karen loves this one.
June 22, 2020
“What are you talking about? I was on the show?�
“Nearly every kid in town was on it at some point. Everyone except Marco, because his brother was acting up by the time you two were old enough, and Celeste pulled Denny and enrolled both boys in karate instead.�
“But me? Ma, I don’t remember that at all.� The idea that she didn’t know something about herself that others knew bothered her more than she could express. “You aren’t making this up?�
THIS WAS BOMB!
it's got very candle cove vibes
and it doesn't want to wrap up all the loose ends, but it's a 4.5 rounded up for genuine creepiness PLUS hoarding, which i adore in a horror story (, ), PLUS passages like this; these perfect character-empathy moments unconnected to the spooky-scary trunk of the story that show she understands how people work, an ability i no longer take for granted:
She wondered why Marco had chosen the impersonal job with no decisions involved, but when she came to one of his grandmother’s porcelain teacups, broken by the weight of everything layered on top of it, she thought she understood. He didn’t necessarily remember what was under here, but seeing it damaged would be harder than if Stella just threw it in a big black bag. The items would jog memories; their absence would not.
i loved this story enough to have just added each and every one of her other books and stories to my "to-read" shelf and to make me wish i'd read this story back when she stopped by to sign copies of so i could have told her it was rad.
your turn now!!
read it for yourself here:
December 19, 2021
“If you’ve ever heard of a cuckoo bird, they lay their eggs in other birds� nests, so those birds are forced to raise them for their own. This girl was her own cuckoo, laying stories in her own head, and the heads of those around her, until even she couldn’t remember which ones were true, or if there was anything left of her.�This was a very low-key yet memorable, eerie and unsettling story about childhood memories and hoarding and lies, with the ending that I did not expect and that creeped me out and puzzled me enough to read through this twice in a row.
Stella lies a lot, compulsively so. For reasons that seem to elude her she embellishes her life to others, like a game she started in her youth and now has perfected. “She had always done that, inventing things when she had no reason to lie, just because they sounded interesting, or because it gave her a thrill.� On one of her trips to her hometown she helps clean out a house of her childhood friend’s deceased brother - a hoarder, a concept creepy in itself - and discovers that there is a disturbing part of her childhood that she does not recall, featuring a very creepy children’s TV show and stories told to children that uncannily, horrifically seem to describe or maybe actually shape their future.
“What are you talking about? I was on the show?�
“Nearly every kid in town was on it at some point. […]�
“But me? Ma, I don’t remember that at all.� The idea that she didn’t know something about herself that others knew bothered her more than she could express. “You aren’t making this up?�
Stories about childhood through a screen of nostalgia, just like stories told to children, can be made to carry a degree of uneasiness � think Brothers Grimm and Stephen King’s “It� � but this one seems to take it up a notch, subtly and quietly, like those squeaky abandoned playgrounds that that seem to be haunted by the ghosts of laughter long past. It’s quiet and subtle and yet pervasively unsettling.
Do we stories foretell our lives or do we shape our lives to fit the stories? Maybe it’s better not to dwell on that too much.
It’s Sarah Pinsker with an unexpected Stephen King aftertaste.
3.5 stars, rounding up to 4 stars for the strength of the subtle dread. It could have used a bit more internal consistency � I do like my unreality more firmly ground in reality, and it needs just a bit more development and less of an abrupt transition to that ending. But overall pretty good.
“Once upon a time, there was a little girl who didn’t know who she was. Many children don’t know who they will be, and that’s not unusual, but what was unusual in this case was that the girl was willing to trade who she was for who she could be, so she began to do just that. Little by little, she replaced herself with parts of other people she liked better. Parts of stories she wanted to live. Nobody lied like this girl. She believed her own stories so completely, she forgot which ones were true and which were false.�
Read it free on Tor here:
—ĔĔĔĔĔ�
Edit: It won the Best Novelette Nebula Award! My favorite in the category :)
Edit # 2: And it also bagged a Hugo.
—ĔĔĔĔĔ�
My Hugo and Nebula Awards Reading Project 2021: /review/show...
October 4, 2024
�Once there was a girl who got lost and when she found her way home she realized she’d arrived back without herself��
I feel most people have a specific childrens show they look back on and think “why was that show so creepy?� Especially the ones that you only half remember and nobody else seems to recall (until someone finally put the whole thing on youtube I could not find anyone that had ever seen the weirdly unsettling Grinch Halloween special, and now you can watch it ). Two Truths and a Lie, a “novelette� by Sarah Pinkser delves into the unsettling atmosphere of a hardly remembered public access show that Stella, our narrator and compulsive liar, thinks she’s making the show up when she tells her friend. But when they uncover old episodes of the show she begins to fear the series may have served as a dark prophecy for the child guest’s lives. And worse, almost the whole town appeared on it, including her. This is a short but certainly spooky story that questions if we fall into the trap of self-fulfilling prophecies.
� Uncle Bob was the anti-Mr. Rogers. A cautionary uncle, not predatory, but not kind.�
When I was a kid my mother assumed anything Jim Henson was for kids and thats how I got left alone to be terrified by episodes of Henson’s . As an adult its all pretty goofy but wow did those demon puppets frighten me in the episode The Soldier and Death. Another that came to mind for me was . Luckily for me, these shows never had any potentially supernatural powers to ruin my life (though my love of fairy tales likely started with that Henson show so maybe it did?). Something Pinsker captures so efficiently and eerily here is the way childhood nostalgia is a perfect breeding ground for terror. Authors like or have often shown that mixing horror and childhood is creepily effective, and since nostalgia pokes at a tender place inside us it is also very vulnerable. There is something deeply unnerving about considering how the root of childhood memories has now gone rotten and twisted. Pinsker combines this with the way fairy tales and the simplistic innocence of childhood stories can quickly cast a dark shadow and it is all a recipe for a chilling read.
Which brings us to Stella, who is quite a storyteller in her own life. �She had always done that, inventing things when she had no reason to lie,� she self-accesses, �just because they sounded interesting, or because it gave her a thrill.� So when one lie becomes a repressed truth, she is on the case to figure out what was so unsettling about the Uncle Bob show. The stories he tells seem to portend the disasters that would await these children in early adulthood, such as a story about driving away forever being told to a boy who would drive off a cliff. Then there is her own:
Yet some stories don’t seem to have come true but became something even worse, making us wonder if the lives were shaped by rejection of the stories told. It’s all very creepy and while the story is a bit scattered, it comes together for a nice twist ending.
Two Truths and a Lie is a fast and fun story that probes the creepiness of half remembered childhood and makes for a great spooky season read. You can read the whole story .
3.5/5
I feel most people have a specific childrens show they look back on and think “why was that show so creepy?� Especially the ones that you only half remember and nobody else seems to recall (until someone finally put the whole thing on youtube I could not find anyone that had ever seen the weirdly unsettling Grinch Halloween special, and now you can watch it ). Two Truths and a Lie, a “novelette� by Sarah Pinkser delves into the unsettling atmosphere of a hardly remembered public access show that Stella, our narrator and compulsive liar, thinks she’s making the show up when she tells her friend. But when they uncover old episodes of the show she begins to fear the series may have served as a dark prophecy for the child guest’s lives. And worse, almost the whole town appeared on it, including her. This is a short but certainly spooky story that questions if we fall into the trap of self-fulfilling prophecies.
� Uncle Bob was the anti-Mr. Rogers. A cautionary uncle, not predatory, but not kind.�
When I was a kid my mother assumed anything Jim Henson was for kids and thats how I got left alone to be terrified by episodes of Henson’s . As an adult its all pretty goofy but wow did those demon puppets frighten me in the episode The Soldier and Death. Another that came to mind for me was . Luckily for me, these shows never had any potentially supernatural powers to ruin my life (though my love of fairy tales likely started with that Henson show so maybe it did?). Something Pinsker captures so efficiently and eerily here is the way childhood nostalgia is a perfect breeding ground for terror. Authors like or have often shown that mixing horror and childhood is creepily effective, and since nostalgia pokes at a tender place inside us it is also very vulnerable. There is something deeply unnerving about considering how the root of childhood memories has now gone rotten and twisted. Pinsker combines this with the way fairy tales and the simplistic innocence of childhood stories can quickly cast a dark shadow and it is all a recipe for a chilling read.
Which brings us to Stella, who is quite a storyteller in her own life. �She had always done that, inventing things when she had no reason to lie,� she self-accesses, �just because they sounded interesting, or because it gave her a thrill.� So when one lie becomes a repressed truth, she is on the case to figure out what was so unsettling about the Uncle Bob show. The stories he tells seem to portend the disasters that would await these children in early adulthood, such as a story about driving away forever being told to a boy who would drive off a cliff. Then there is her own:
�Once upon a time, there was a little girl who didn’t know who she was. Many children don’t know who they will be, and that’s not unusual, but what was unusual in this case was that the girl was willing to trade who she was for who she could be, so she began to do just that. Little by little, she replaced herself with parts of other people she liked better. Parts of stories she wanted to live. Nobody lied like this girl. She believed her own stories so completely, she forgot which ones were true and which were false…or if there was anything left of her��
Yet some stories don’t seem to have come true but became something even worse, making us wonder if the lives were shaped by rejection of the stories told. It’s all very creepy and while the story is a bit scattered, it comes together for a nice twist ending.
Two Truths and a Lie is a fast and fun story that probes the creepiness of half remembered childhood and makes for a great spooky season read. You can read the whole story .
3.5/5
September 13, 2020
Uncle Bob is not like Mr. Rogers. He’s odd and creepy. When Stella, a compulsive liar, asks her childhood friend if he remembers The Uncle Bob Show, she’s making it up. So then, why does her friend remember it? Why does Stella’s mom remember it? Why is her mom saying Stella was a child in the audience on the bizarre “children’s� show?
An unsettling short story with results I didn’t expect. I’m just glad the show wasn’t real. Creepy!
This can be read for free at Tor.com.
An unsettling short story with results I didn’t expect. I’m just glad the show wasn’t real. Creepy!
This can be read for free at Tor.com.
December 19, 2021
I’ll start this review with a blurb because I want y’all to read this. So, quoting some of my ŷ friends:
They are all right. Even though some of them rated it wrong. *looks at Nataliya in particular* I love that image of the abandoned playground, though.
And after going down a google image search-sized rabbit hole I’d like to add abandoned amusement parks to that. Wow, those are creepy.
Anyways, the story:
It’s about a fortysomething woman visiting her hometown for the funeral of her childhood friend’s older brother. At said funeral Stella agrees to help Marco clean out his brother’s house. An unpleasant endeavor, as it turns out Denny had been a serious hoarder. The two start talking about this and that and we learn that Stella is a compulsive liar. She’s making up stories about her life, for no particular reason. She just can’t help it. When she and Marco come across an old TV set, she asks him if he remembers The Uncle Bob Show, a tv show she just made up on the spot. Oddly, though, Marco does remember. And so does Stella’s mother. Apparently, Stella had even been participating in the show. As had been many kids around town. They were playing with toys, while Uncle Bob was telling the audience weird and creepy stories. But why doesn’t Stella remember? And why isn’t she able to find anything about this show online?
Let’s find out, shall we?
I loved this. It is super creepy, but in a subtle way. It’s lingering. Lurking under your sofa, waiting to grab your ankle. The ending left me reasonably befuddled, and thinking that I’ll read this again at some point. The journey was creeptastic.
4.5 stars, with the potential for an upgrade after a reread.
Can be read for free here:
Nebula 2020 and Hugo 2021 finalist for Best Novelette.
Update: And it won the Nebula Award. :)
Update #2: And the Hugo. Ha!
Best Novel
� by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury)
� by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
� by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey)
� by C.L. Polk (Erewhon)
� by Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga)
� Network Effect by Martha Wells (Tordotcom Publishing)
Best Novella
� by Yaroslav Barsukov (Metaphorosis)
� by Nino Cipri (Tordotcom Publishing)
� Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom Publishing)
� by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora, Aurelia Leo)
� by R.B. Lemberg (Tachyon)
� by Tochi Onyebuchi (Tordotcom Publishing)
Best Novelette
� by Leah Cypess (F&SF 5-6/20)
� by Meg Elison (Big Girl, PM Press)
� Burn or the Episodic Life of Sam Wells as a Super by A.T. Greenblatt (Uncanny 5-6/20)
� Two Truths and a Lie by Sarah Pinsker (Tor.com 6/17/20)
� Where You Linger by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam (Uncanny 1-2/20)
� Shadow Prisons by Caroline M. Yoachim (serialized in the Dystopia Triptych series as The Shadow Prison Experiment, Shadow Prisons of the Mind and The Shadow Prisoner’s Dilemma, Broad Reach Publishing + Adamant Press)
Best Short Story
� Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse by Rae Carson (Uncanny 1-2/20)
� Advanced Word Problems in Portal Math by Aimee Picchi (Daily Science Fiction 1/3/20)
� A Guide For Working Breeds by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Made to Order: Robots and Revolution, Solaris)
� The Eight-Thousanders by Jason Sanford (Asimov’s 9-10/20) (Asimov’s 9-10/20)
� My Country Is a Ghost by Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 1-2/20)
� Open House on Haunted Hill by John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots 6/15/20)
The Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction
� by Jordan Ifueko (Amulet)
� by Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
� by T. Kingfisher (Argyll)
� by Jenn Reese (Holt)
� by Shveta Thakrar (HarperTeen)
Best Novel
� by Rebecca Roanhorse
� by N.K. Jemisin
� by Tamsyn Muir
� Network Effect by Martha Wells
� by Susanna Clarke
� by Mary Robinette Kowal
Best Novella
� by Seanan McGuire
� by Nghi Vo
� by Nino Cipri
� Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
� by Tochi Onyebuchi
� by Sarah Gailey
Best Novelette
� Burn or the Episodic Life of Sam Wells as a Super by A.T. Greenblatt ()
� by Isabel Fall (Clarkesworld, January 2020)
� The Inaccessibility of Heaven by Aliette de Bodard ()
� Monster by Naomi Kritzer ()
� The Pill by Meg Elison (from )
� Two Truths and a Lie by Sarah Pinsker (Tor.com)
Best Short Story
� Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse by Rae Carson ()
� A Guide For Working Breeds by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Made to Order: Robots and Revolution, Solaris)
� Little Free Library by Naomi Kritzer (Tor. com)
� The Mermaid Astronaut by Yoon Ha Lee (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, February 2020)
� Metal Like Blood in the Dark by T. Kingfisher (Uncanny Magazine, September/October 2020)
� Open House on Haunted Hill by John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots 6/15/20)
Best Series
� The Daevabad Trilogy by
� The Interdependency by
� The Lady Astronaut Universe by
� The Murderbot Diaries by
� October Daye by
� The Poppy War by
Best Graphic Story or Comic
� , written by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans, letters by Clayton Cowles
� , written by Seanan McGuire, art by Takeshi Miyazawa and Rosi Kämpe
� Invisible Kingdom, Vol. 2: Edge of Everything, written by G. Willow Wilson, art by Christian Ward
� , written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda
� Once & Future, Vol. 1: The King is Undead, written by Kieron Gillen, iIllustrated by Dan Mora, colored by Tamra Bonvillain, lettered by Ed Dukeshire
� Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, written by Octavia Butler, adapted by Damian Duffy, illustrated by John Jennings
Unsettling � Pinsker has a handy sense of wordsmithing, that makes one very present in the moment�
- carol.
� creepy, excellent novelette � Two Truths and a Lie is one of those stories that gets more intriguing and impressive as you look more closely at it and examine its parts.
- Tadiana ✩Night Owl�
THIS WAS BOMB! � I loved this story enough to have just added each and every one of her other books and stories to my “to-read� shelf �
- karen
� this one seems to take it up a notch, subtly and quietly, like those squeaky abandoned playgrounds that seem to be haunted by the ghosts of laughter long past � It’s Sarah Pinsker with an unexpected Stephen King aftertaste.
- Nataliya
Clever, haunting, thought provoking. Everything you’d want from a 39 page story.
- Drew
They are all right. Even though some of them rated it wrong. *looks at Nataliya in particular* I love that image of the abandoned playground, though.
And after going down a google image search-sized rabbit hole I’d like to add abandoned amusement parks to that. Wow, those are creepy.
Anyways, the story:
It’s about a fortysomething woman visiting her hometown for the funeral of her childhood friend’s older brother. At said funeral Stella agrees to help Marco clean out his brother’s house. An unpleasant endeavor, as it turns out Denny had been a serious hoarder. The two start talking about this and that and we learn that Stella is a compulsive liar. She’s making up stories about her life, for no particular reason. She just can’t help it. When she and Marco come across an old TV set, she asks him if he remembers The Uncle Bob Show, a tv show she just made up on the spot. Oddly, though, Marco does remember. And so does Stella’s mother. Apparently, Stella had even been participating in the show. As had been many kids around town. They were playing with toys, while Uncle Bob was telling the audience weird and creepy stories. But why doesn’t Stella remember? And why isn’t she able to find anything about this show online?
Let’s find out, shall we?
I loved this. It is super creepy, but in a subtle way. It’s lingering. Lurking under your sofa, waiting to grab your ankle. The ending left me reasonably befuddled, and thinking that I’ll read this again at some point. The journey was creeptastic.
4.5 stars, with the potential for an upgrade after a reread.
Can be read for free here:
Nebula 2020 and Hugo 2021 finalist for Best Novelette.
Update: And it won the Nebula Award. :)
Update #2: And the Hugo. Ha!
_________________
2020 Nebula Award Finalists
Best Novel
� by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury)
� by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
� by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey)
� by C.L. Polk (Erewhon)
� by Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga)
� Network Effect by Martha Wells (Tordotcom Publishing)
Best Novella
� by Yaroslav Barsukov (Metaphorosis)
� by Nino Cipri (Tordotcom Publishing)
� Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom Publishing)
� by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora, Aurelia Leo)
� by R.B. Lemberg (Tachyon)
� by Tochi Onyebuchi (Tordotcom Publishing)
Best Novelette
� by Leah Cypess (F&SF 5-6/20)
� by Meg Elison (Big Girl, PM Press)
� Burn or the Episodic Life of Sam Wells as a Super by A.T. Greenblatt (Uncanny 5-6/20)
� Two Truths and a Lie by Sarah Pinsker (Tor.com 6/17/20)
� Where You Linger by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam (Uncanny 1-2/20)
� Shadow Prisons by Caroline M. Yoachim (serialized in the Dystopia Triptych series as The Shadow Prison Experiment, Shadow Prisons of the Mind and The Shadow Prisoner’s Dilemma, Broad Reach Publishing + Adamant Press)
Best Short Story
� Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse by Rae Carson (Uncanny 1-2/20)
� Advanced Word Problems in Portal Math by Aimee Picchi (Daily Science Fiction 1/3/20)
� A Guide For Working Breeds by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Made to Order: Robots and Revolution, Solaris)
� The Eight-Thousanders by Jason Sanford (Asimov’s 9-10/20) (Asimov’s 9-10/20)
� My Country Is a Ghost by Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 1-2/20)
� Open House on Haunted Hill by John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots 6/15/20)
The Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction
� by Jordan Ifueko (Amulet)
� by Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
� by T. Kingfisher (Argyll)
� by Jenn Reese (Holt)
� by Shveta Thakrar (HarperTeen)
________________
2021 Hugo Award Finalists
Best Novel
� by Rebecca Roanhorse
� by N.K. Jemisin
� by Tamsyn Muir
� Network Effect by Martha Wells
� by Susanna Clarke
� by Mary Robinette Kowal
Best Novella
� by Seanan McGuire
� by Nghi Vo
� by Nino Cipri
� Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
� by Tochi Onyebuchi
� by Sarah Gailey
Best Novelette
� Burn or the Episodic Life of Sam Wells as a Super by A.T. Greenblatt ()
� by Isabel Fall (Clarkesworld, January 2020)
� The Inaccessibility of Heaven by Aliette de Bodard ()
� Monster by Naomi Kritzer ()
� The Pill by Meg Elison (from )
� Two Truths and a Lie by Sarah Pinsker (Tor.com)
Best Short Story
� Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse by Rae Carson ()
� A Guide For Working Breeds by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Made to Order: Robots and Revolution, Solaris)
� Little Free Library by Naomi Kritzer (Tor. com)
� The Mermaid Astronaut by Yoon Ha Lee (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, February 2020)
� Metal Like Blood in the Dark by T. Kingfisher (Uncanny Magazine, September/October 2020)
� Open House on Haunted Hill by John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots 6/15/20)
Best Series
� The Daevabad Trilogy by
� The Interdependency by
� The Lady Astronaut Universe by
� The Murderbot Diaries by
� October Daye by
� The Poppy War by
Best Graphic Story or Comic
� , written by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans, letters by Clayton Cowles
� , written by Seanan McGuire, art by Takeshi Miyazawa and Rosi Kämpe
� Invisible Kingdom, Vol. 2: Edge of Everything, written by G. Willow Wilson, art by Christian Ward
� , written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda
� Once & Future, Vol. 1: The King is Undead, written by Kieron Gillen, iIllustrated by Dan Mora, colored by Tamra Bonvillain, lettered by Ed Dukeshire
� Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, written by Octavia Butler, adapted by Damian Duffy, illustrated by John Jennings
September 6, 2020
Mister Rogers told stories TO the children in his TV neighborhood.
Uncle Bob, tells stories ABOUT the children in his TV World...
With creepy results..
The latest short story making the rounds, is original fiction, from the Tor.com website..
Uncle Bob, tells stories ABOUT the children in his TV World...
With creepy results..
The latest short story making the rounds, is original fiction, from the Tor.com website..
November 5, 2023
So Dull.
The narrator is in a small town where she is visiting her parents. She meets an old friend at his brother’s funeral.
Their meeting draws up memories of which she has trouble remembering. The story is about memory. Her memories of the past. And her constant need of lying.
Is she having memories or just telling lies? Only the story knows.
Three stars. ✨✨�
The narrator is in a small town where she is visiting her parents. She meets an old friend at his brother’s funeral.
Their meeting draws up memories of which she has trouble remembering. The story is about memory. Her memories of the past. And her constant need of lying.
Is she having memories or just telling lies? Only the story knows.
Three stars. ✨✨�
July 17, 2020
Hello Kiddo's! Welcome to the Uncle Bob Show! Let me take your hand and show you the horrors of my mind. 😱
Super short, super fast, and sufficiently creepy. If you enjoyed the television show Candle Cove then this should tickle your fancy. 4 stars!
Super short, super fast, and sufficiently creepy. If you enjoyed the television show Candle Cove then this should tickle your fancy. 4 stars!
October 8, 2020
A really haunting and baffling tale, right out of The Twilight Zone, but told in a casual style that gets you all nice and comfortable so that you barely realize it when the weird starts to creep in from the edges and your skin starts to tingle. I'm left with so many questions, and I can't decide whether I liked the protagonist or hated her because she just may be the slickest, most unreliable narrator ever.
"If you've ever heard of a cuckoo bird, they lay their eggs in other birds' nests, so those birds are forced to raise them for their own. This girl was her own cuckoo, laying stories in her own head, and the heads of those around her, until even she couldn't remember which ones were true, or if there was anything left of her."
"And then, one day, the boy realized he had nothing at all. He was his brother's giant shadow. He was a forward echo, a void. Nothing was his. All he could do was watch the world try to catch up with him, but he was always looking backward at it."
"If you've ever heard of a cuckoo bird, they lay their eggs in other birds' nests, so those birds are forced to raise them for their own. This girl was her own cuckoo, laying stories in her own head, and the heads of those around her, until even she couldn't remember which ones were true, or if there was anything left of her."
"And then, one day, the boy realized he had nothing at all. He was his brother's giant shadow. He was a forward echo, a void. Nothing was his. All he could do was watch the world try to catch up with him, but he was always looking backward at it."
September 7, 2021
This was a 4 star read right up until the end. I just didn't get it.
However, up until that point this was incredibly creepy, unsettling and odd with a nostalgic quality to it that I haven't read before. It reminded me of Playdays and other children's TV from the 80s, mixed in with an episode of Hoarders. It was very immersive and captivating.
I just wanted a better ending.
However, up until that point this was incredibly creepy, unsettling and odd with a nostalgic quality to it that I haven't read before. It reminded me of Playdays and other children's TV from the 80s, mixed in with an episode of Hoarders. It was very immersive and captivating.
I just wanted a better ending.
September 20, 2020
An excellent little short story about a young woman who's a compulsive liar and a strange kid's TV show from her childhood. Quick and creepy and free to read at Tor.com. Thanks to my GR friend Michael, who's great review put this on my radar.
December 24, 2021
Stella likes to think that she is guided by this principle when answering questions about herself and her life. Well, or almost this, because no one will check if there are actually more than one false statements.
Here, in the town of her childhood, she did not stay long, just to visit her parents, and it was necessary that this visit coincide with the funeral of the neighbors. Danny, the older brother of her high school friend Mark. This clumsy big boy was already then, in their childhood, with oddities that later developed into pathological hoarding, the Plyushkin syndrome is also called when a person does not throw anything away and pulls all sorts of junk into the house. Now Mark's parents' house, where Danny has been living alone for the last few years, looks more like a branch of the city garbage dump.
And Stella can't help but offer an old friend help. No, no, it was enough for one day, after which the old clothes, which she prudently put on, had to be thrown into a dumpster (odors). There's also some specifics, it's impossible to get rid of everything in a crowd, valuable things come across among the trash cans, everything that was in Mark's parents' house is there. Anyway, after the deadly aka kitchen number, they decide to work with the less extreme content of the living room, and, after some effort, an old tube TV with a VCR and an inserted cassette appears from under the rubble. Surprisingly, everything works.
Две правды и одна ложь
And what was it? Performance art? Storytelling? Fairy tales or horror? All of the above?
Есть игра, предназначение которой разморозить людей в незнакомой компании, заинтересовать, дать первоначальное представление друг о друге, открыть творческие шлюзы. Игроки по очереди рассказывают о себе три вещи, две из которых правдивы, одна лжива, прочим предстоит угадать, что есть что. Стелле нравится думать, что она руководствуется этим принципом, когда отвечает на вопросы о себе и своей жизни. Ну или почти этим, никто ведь не станет проверять, если на самом деле ложных утверждений окажется больше одного.
Здесь, в городке своего детства, она ненадолго, только навестить родителей, и надо же было, чтобы этот визит совпал с похоронами у соседей. Денни, старший брат ее школьного друга Марка. Этот неуклюжий крупный мальчик уже тогда, в их детстве, был со странностями, позже переросшими в патологическое накопительство, синдром Плюшкина такое еще называют, когда человек ничего не выбрасывает и тянет в дом всякое барахло. Теперь родительский дом Марка, где Дэнни жил последние годы в одиночестве, больше похож на филиал городской помойки.
И Стелла не может не предложить старому приятелю помощь. Нет-нет, ее хватило на один день, после чего старую одежду, в которую предусмотрительно облачилась, пришлось выбросить в мусорный контейнер (запахи). Тут еще вот в какая специфика, избавиться от всего скопом нельзя, среди терриконов хлама попадаются ценные вещи, там же все, что было в доме родителей Марка. Так или иначе, после смертельного номера aka кухни они решают поработать с менее экстремальным контентом гостиной, и, после некоторых усилий, из под завалов появляется старый ламповый телевизор с видеомагнитофоном и вставленной кассето��. Удивительно, но все работает.
Кнопка play нажата, звучат позывные телепередачи, которую оба тотчас узнают - Шоу дяди Боба. В дни, когда они были малышами, еженедельная программа по местному ТВ. "Вот же хрень," - синхронно думают Стелла и Марк, потому что все в этом шоу, абсолютно все пугающее и отталкивающее, начиная с песни-заставки, заканчивая дизайном студии. Она совершенно черная, но со множеством завлекательных игрушек, к которым тотчас устремляются вошедшие в студию дети. А посреди этой черной комнаты сидит черноволосый мужчина и рассказывает какие-то дикие истории, не сказки, не анекдоты, не страшилки - просто какую-то мутотень.
Дети его не слушают, они заняты игрушками, а он все плетет свои бредни. Вот взглянул на мальчишку, который с ревом нарезает круги и завел сказку о мальчике-который-любил-быструю-езду. Стелла почти не удивляется, вспомнив, что этот парень, выросши, разбился на трассе. Дома она спрашивает у мамы, что за безответственные родители пускали детей создавать массовку во время шоу. "Ты бывала среди этих детей, - отвечает мама, - Для большинства женщин нашего района это были самые прекрасные полчаса в неделю, когда мы могли спокойно посидеть за чашечкой кофе."
Если это так, как может быть, что она ничего не помнит? И что говорил тот неприятный человек о ней, когда она там бывала? Странная мрачная грустная повесть. Я много лет читаю короткие повести Сары Пинскер и кажется она с каждым годом все дальше уходит по пути пессимизма
Here, in the town of her childhood, she did not stay long, just to visit her parents, and it was necessary that this visit coincide with the funeral of the neighbors. Danny, the older brother of her high school friend Mark. This clumsy big boy was already then, in their childhood, with oddities that later developed into pathological hoarding, the Plyushkin syndrome is also called when a person does not throw anything away and pulls all sorts of junk into the house. Now Mark's parents' house, where Danny has been living alone for the last few years, looks more like a branch of the city garbage dump.
And Stella can't help but offer an old friend help. No, no, it was enough for one day, after which the old clothes, which she prudently put on, had to be thrown into a dumpster (odors). There's also some specifics, it's impossible to get rid of everything in a crowd, valuable things come across among the trash cans, everything that was in Mark's parents' house is there. Anyway, after the deadly aka kitchen number, they decide to work with the less extreme content of the living room, and, after some effort, an old tube TV with a VCR and an inserted cassette appears from under the rubble. Surprisingly, everything works.
Две правды и одна ложь
And what was it? Performance art? Storytelling? Fairy tales or horror? All of the above?
Есть игра, предназначение которой разморозить людей в незнакомой компании, заинтересовать, дать первоначальное представление друг о друге, открыть творческие шлюзы. Игроки по очереди рассказывают о себе три вещи, две из которых правдивы, одна лжива, прочим предстоит угадать, что есть что. Стелле нравится думать, что она руководствуется этим принципом, когда отвечает на вопросы о себе и своей жизни. Ну или почти этим, никто ведь не станет проверять, если на самом деле ложных утверждений окажется больше одного.
Здесь, в городке своего детства, она ненадолго, только навестить родителей, и надо же было, чтобы этот визит совпал с похоронами у соседей. Денни, старший брат ее школьного друга Марка. Этот неуклюжий крупный мальчик уже тогда, в их детстве, был со странностями, позже переросшими в патологическое накопительство, синдром Плюшкина такое еще называют, когда человек ничего не выбрасывает и тянет в дом всякое барахло. Теперь родительский дом Марка, где Дэнни жил последние годы в одиночестве, больше похож на филиал городской помойки.
И Стелла не может не предложить старому приятелю помощь. Нет-нет, ее хватило на один день, после чего старую одежду, в которую предусмотрительно облачилась, пришлось выбросить в мусорный контейнер (запахи). Тут еще вот в какая специфика, избавиться от всего скопом нельзя, среди терриконов хлама попадаются ценные вещи, там же все, что было в доме родителей Марка. Так или иначе, после смертельного номера aka кухни они решают поработать с менее экстремальным контентом гостиной, и, после некоторых усилий, из под завалов появляется старый ламповый телевизор с видеомагнитофоном и вставленной кассето��. Удивительно, но все работает.
Кнопка play нажата, звучат позывные телепередачи, которую оба тотчас узнают - Шоу дяди Боба. В дни, когда они были малышами, еженедельная программа по местному ТВ. "Вот же хрень," - синхронно думают Стелла и Марк, потому что все в этом шоу, абсолютно все пугающее и отталкивающее, начиная с песни-заставки, заканчивая дизайном студии. Она совершенно черная, но со множеством завлекательных игрушек, к которым тотчас устремляются вошедшие в студию дети. А посреди этой черной комнаты сидит черноволосый мужчина и рассказывает какие-то дикие истории, не сказки, не анекдоты, не страшилки - просто какую-то мутотень.
Дети его не слушают, они заняты игрушками, а он все плетет свои бредни. Вот взглянул на мальчишку, который с ревом нарезает круги и завел сказку о мальчике-который-любил-быструю-езду. Стелла почти не удивляется, вспомнив, что этот парень, выросши, разбился на трассе. Дома она спрашивает у мамы, что за безответственные родители пускали детей создавать массовку во время шоу. "Ты бывала среди этих детей, - отвечает мама, - Для большинства женщин нашего района это были самые прекрасные полчаса в неделю, когда мы могли спокойно посидеть за чашечкой кофе."
Если это так, как может быть, что она ничего не помнит? И что говорил тот неприятный человек о ней, когда она там бывала? Странная мрачная грустная повесть. Я много лет читаю короткие повести Сары Пинскер и кажется она с каждым годом все дальше уходит по пути пессимизма
November 17, 2023
”Did you listen to his stories?�
“Fairy tales.�
“Now I know you didn’t listen. He was telling horror stories to seven-year olds.�
“Fairy tales are horror stories.�
There’s much to unpack in this short story. And it’s all contained within a deceptively low-key, mundane tale that gradually goes sideways until we’ve completely lost our footing and are adrift in the twilight zone.
The story opens with some of the real traumas that life serves up � a too early death, the real life horrors of the affects of mental illness, passive aggressive disfunction between adult children and parents, disturbing childhood memories stirred up. While none of these things are far outside normal experience, the author skillfully weaves them together to set an uneasy mood that feels unsettling, putting us in a place where falling off the cliff into the absolutely uncanny takes us by surprise.
The best horror plays on common doubts and fears. What is more common than questioning identity? Who am I really? How did I get here? Is any of this mess even real? Those secret thoughts we have when lying awake, removed from all distractions, body tired but brain going furiously that challenge the very core of our identity � that’s what is in play here. When the bottom suddenly drops out of the protagonist’s self identity it is a smack right at those suppressed secret thoughts in us all. This is horror well done.
“Fairy tales.�
“Now I know you didn’t listen. He was telling horror stories to seven-year olds.�
“Fairy tales are horror stories.�
There’s much to unpack in this short story. And it’s all contained within a deceptively low-key, mundane tale that gradually goes sideways until we’ve completely lost our footing and are adrift in the twilight zone.
The story opens with some of the real traumas that life serves up � a too early death, the real life horrors of the affects of mental illness, passive aggressive disfunction between adult children and parents, disturbing childhood memories stirred up. While none of these things are far outside normal experience, the author skillfully weaves them together to set an uneasy mood that feels unsettling, putting us in a place where falling off the cliff into the absolutely uncanny takes us by surprise.
The best horror plays on common doubts and fears. What is more common than questioning identity? Who am I really? How did I get here? Is any of this mess even real? Those secret thoughts we have when lying awake, removed from all distractions, body tired but brain going furiously that challenge the very core of our identity � that’s what is in play here. When the bottom suddenly drops out of the protagonist’s self identity it is a smack right at those suppressed secret thoughts in us all. This is horror well done.
April 22, 2021
3-stars, then boosted to 4 because I could not get this story out of my head for the rest of the day, which is pretty impressive
I decided to read this short story thanks to Tadiana's glowing review (and the link she provided to read it online).
And -- I was completely absorbed and disturbed by the way the story questions "what is reality and how is it created?" Also, "how do you know anything you remember is true?" And, "what if everyone else remembers something you thought you made up and don't actually have a memory of?" At first I couldn't guess where the story could be going, then I was fascinated as the direction became clear. It's very well-written and well-paced, and reminded me of the atmosphere in books by Margaret Mahy and Jonathan Carroll.
But then I got to the ending, and -- wha?! It felt to me more like a cop-out than anything else, because it didn't quite work with what Stella's story had been up to that point. Update: I am feeling happier with the ending after reading Tadiana's comments below this review. Check them out after you read the story.
Also, this sentence threw me out of the story entirely and made me start looking for other flaws: Their glasses were still mostly full, the melting ice having replaced what they’d sipped. Sorry, but ice does not work like that. Water expands when it freezes, and ice cubes displace more water than their liquid volume does, so a drink with ice in it will be lower in the glass after the ice melts, whether any of the liquid was drunk or not.
Tadiana said this worked better for her as a reread, so I may give it another try in the future.
I decided to read this short story thanks to Tadiana's glowing review (and the link she provided to read it online).
And -- I was completely absorbed and disturbed by the way the story questions "what is reality and how is it created?" Also, "how do you know anything you remember is true?" And, "what if everyone else remembers something you thought you made up and don't actually have a memory of?" At first I couldn't guess where the story could be going, then I was fascinated as the direction became clear. It's very well-written and well-paced, and reminded me of the atmosphere in books by Margaret Mahy and Jonathan Carroll.
But then I got to the ending, and -- wha?! It felt to me more like a cop-out than anything else, because it didn't quite work with what Stella's story had been up to that point. Update: I am feeling happier with the ending after reading Tadiana's comments below this review. Check them out after you read the story.
Also, this sentence threw me out of the story entirely and made me start looking for other flaws: Their glasses were still mostly full, the melting ice having replaced what they’d sipped. Sorry, but ice does not work like that. Water expands when it freezes, and ice cubes displace more water than their liquid volume does, so a drink with ice in it will be lower in the glass after the ice melts, whether any of the liquid was drunk or not.
Tadiana said this worked better for her as a reread, so I may give it another try in the future.
January 3, 2021
My two truths and a lie.
My mom once told me that I was on a local children’s television show. The conversation came up because of a Tootsie Roll Bank I found in my toybox. I believe she said that it reminded her of the item they gave away as a birthday gift on the show.
I have no memory of the show or of being on it. She said that is okay, we all forget bits of our childhood.
My mom also told me that my older brother and I had the same imaginary friend growing up, an older man we called Blue Beard. The conversation came up because of a buried toy I found in the yard. I believe she said that it reminded her of the previous owner of the land our house was built on.
I have no memory of the imaginary friend and neither does my brother. She said that is okay, we both stopped talking to him when we reached a certain age.
I hated reading this short story.
My mom once told me that I was on a local children’s television show. The conversation came up because of a Tootsie Roll Bank I found in my toybox. I believe she said that it reminded her of the item they gave away as a birthday gift on the show.
I have no memory of the show or of being on it. She said that is okay, we all forget bits of our childhood.
My mom also told me that my older brother and I had the same imaginary friend growing up, an older man we called Blue Beard. The conversation came up because of a buried toy I found in the yard. I believe she said that it reminded her of the previous owner of the land our house was built on.
I have no memory of the imaginary friend and neither does my brother. She said that is okay, we both stopped talking to him when we reached a certain age.
I hated reading this short story.
June 21, 2024
Straight from the ‘made in a lab just for me� short story universe, this is a ‘lost media� story with a twist. Stella is a compulsive liar, if a harmless one; she falsifies facts about her life partly to amuse herself, partly to see how people react. So when she asks an old friend if he remembers the fictitious kids� TV series The Uncle Bob Show, she’s shocked when he not only says yes, but pulls out VHS tapes of old episodes on which they both appeared. Great starting point, well told, just long enough to pack enough detail in without overcomplicating things. A bit like
if it was much better and a lot shorter.
October 14, 2020
So creepy!
I thought this was a romantic, nostalgic story of someone returning home after years and rekindling their childhood romance or something along the lines. Boy, was I wrong? I generally don't read horror and didn't know this was a horror read until the middle but strangely I had a feeling of dread from the beginning.
Stella makes up stories to sound interesting and some may even call her a compulsive liar. She believes her made up stories and she even remembers them so that people can't call her out on that. But when she returns home to visit her parents and finds that one of her friends' brother has died, she attends the funeral and also offers to help with cleaning out the house and out come some strange things whilst cleaning. All I can say is that I did not see that coming and this gave me shivers.
4.5 stars
I thought this was a romantic, nostalgic story of someone returning home after years and rekindling their childhood romance or something along the lines. Boy, was I wrong? I generally don't read horror and didn't know this was a horror read until the middle but strangely I had a feeling of dread from the beginning.
Stella makes up stories to sound interesting and some may even call her a compulsive liar. She believes her made up stories and she even remembers them so that people can't call her out on that. But when she returns home to visit her parents and finds that one of her friends' brother has died, she attends the funeral and also offers to help with cleaning out the house and out come some strange things whilst cleaning. All I can say is that I did not see that coming and this gave me shivers.
4.5 stars
June 19, 2020
I don't really read horror because I'm a huge scaredy cat. That being said, this short story was excellent. It really gave me the chills and I was thoroughly creeped out. Well done Sarah Pinsker.
July 8, 2020
So, here's the thing: This short story has an interesting premise. I'd never heard of any story, novel, etc. sound anything like this, so I became intrigued.
When I started reading "Two Truths and a Lie", I really liked where it was going. It was a little creepy. However, as the story progressed, I kept thinking, "Come on. Something has to happen." For me, the ending was abrupt, I was left with the question, "That's it?!"
This short story has a lot of potential. However, it could use A LOT of work. It's okay to have an abrupt ending, but there's a build-up of sorts to who the antagonist is, and then....the story just ends. So, was the entire short story a lie? (If you've read it, you know why I ask this question.)
As a reader, I wanted the story to give me something, anything, better than what it gave me. What was the point of this short story? I'm not saying every short story has to have a point. What I'm saying is, the story really goes...nowhere. Some might argue differently, but I feel like it kind of drove itself off a cliff at the end.
Also, I felt as if mentioning the person who worked at the restaurant the main character, and a sort of sub-main character ate lunch together at, was/is a transgender person, felt so out of place. It felt as I read it, the author was trying to include a second LGBTQIA+ person into the story somehow, and that's where the author placed them. (The sub-main character is a gay man who is married, which is why I said a second LGBTQIA+ character.)
This story had a lot of potential, but fell flat for me.
When I started reading "Two Truths and a Lie", I really liked where it was going. It was a little creepy. However, as the story progressed, I kept thinking, "Come on. Something has to happen." For me, the ending was abrupt, I was left with the question, "That's it?!"
This short story has a lot of potential. However, it could use A LOT of work. It's okay to have an abrupt ending, but there's a build-up of sorts to who the antagonist is, and then....the story just ends. So, was the entire short story a lie? (If you've read it, you know why I ask this question.)
As a reader, I wanted the story to give me something, anything, better than what it gave me. What was the point of this short story? I'm not saying every short story has to have a point. What I'm saying is, the story really goes...nowhere. Some might argue differently, but I feel like it kind of drove itself off a cliff at the end.
Also, I felt as if mentioning the person who worked at the restaurant the main character, and a sort of sub-main character ate lunch together at, was/is a transgender person, felt so out of place. It felt as I read it, the author was trying to include a second LGBTQIA+ person into the story somehow, and that's where the author placed them. (The sub-main character is a gay man who is married, which is why I said a second LGBTQIA+ character.)
This story had a lot of potential, but fell flat for me.
October 16, 2021
A very unsettling short story, almost to the point where you might think something subliminal is happening. On one hand, everything seems so normal, and then it just goes very bump in broad daylight. An added dimension for me personally is that I knew a Uncle Bob children's show when I was a little kid. He was kind though, singing songs and playing the guitar with kids around him.
A quick read that wraps up very nicely.
A quick read that wraps up very nicely.
June 9, 2021
Reads like a forgotten Twilight Zone episode - small-scale, interesting, unsettling; just enough eeriness mixed with the familiar to make the whole experience deliciously creepy. The ending is a bit of a letdown, unfortunately, but the whole story is quite gripping.
December 20, 2021
very beautifully told and very scary.
September 30, 2021
2.5 stars. Slow start, after 40% it became weird and creepy, when it got interesting it ended. Unfortunately I don't like the open ending. And yet I've almost never clicked with this author's writing anyway so...
February 15, 2022
What the heck just happened?
Skillfully written and menacingly creepy beginning followed by an ending that went straight over my head.
Skillfully written and menacingly creepy beginning followed by an ending that went straight over my head.
December 28, 2020
Unsettling. That’s a word I would use to describe this . Unsettling. Other appropriate words would be disturbing and disquieting. Maybe not creepy, but close enough.
The narrator of the story is a young woman who is back in her hometown on a parental visit. After the funeral of a childhood friend’s brother, she volunteers to help clean out the abode of the deceased. He was a hoarder and she smelled the kitchen from ten feet away. It’s not a pleasant task but it opens up a Pandora’s Box incident of her childhood which concerned an unsettling television show called “The Uncle Bob Show�. Nothing is the same after she watches one of the DVD shows collected by the dead hoarder.
This is a super story with slight curves thrown every few paragraphs. You don’t know the curves are there until you read more and more and get caught up in imaginative speculation. I thought the story was going one way but it went another, which meant I was glued to the words long after my bedtime reading should have been completed. What are truths and what are lies? Sometimes it’s better not to go there.
Book Season = Autumn (paint it black)
The narrator of the story is a young woman who is back in her hometown on a parental visit. After the funeral of a childhood friend’s brother, she volunteers to help clean out the abode of the deceased. He was a hoarder and she smelled the kitchen from ten feet away. It’s not a pleasant task but it opens up a Pandora’s Box incident of her childhood which concerned an unsettling television show called “The Uncle Bob Show�. Nothing is the same after she watches one of the DVD shows collected by the dead hoarder.
This is a super story with slight curves thrown every few paragraphs. You don’t know the curves are there until you read more and more and get caught up in imaginative speculation. I thought the story was going one way but it went another, which meant I was glued to the words long after my bedtime reading should have been completed. What are truths and what are lies? Sometimes it’s better not to go there.
Book Season = Autumn (paint it black)
January 19, 2021
"Everything was true, or true enough."
Two Truths & a Lie was my pick for #ladiesfirst21 with Ladies of Horror Fiction. This story was unsettling, and I had no clue where it was going (in a good way). It was mysterious, and there were some solid creepy storylines. The ending was confusing, but I enjoyed this story overall.
Two Truths & a Lie was my pick for #ladiesfirst21 with Ladies of Horror Fiction. This story was unsettling, and I had no clue where it was going (in a good way). It was mysterious, and there were some solid creepy storylines. The ending was confusing, but I enjoyed this story overall.
January 28, 2022
That was... unsettling...
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