An atmospheric and creepy Japanese folk horror ghost story. Khaw does an excellent job at balancing a large cast for a novella where all the characters' shared past is relevant. A quick read that doesn't feel rushed and maintains the building aura of dread for ghost stories like this.

I think this was a “It’s me, not you.” I couldn’t connect with the characters, the pacing felt off and overall, I just didn’t jam with the writing style.

So creepy! Short - just 123 pages - with the story kept taut and the atmosphere stifling (in a good way).

It's books like this that remind me why I never want to get married. Follow the rules of horror and you get out alive. I loved the atmosphere of crumbling and rotting history. Spooky.

“Nothing But Blackened Teeth”, by Cassandra Khaw is one of the most anticipated horror releases of 2021 (with one of the best covers I have ever laid eyes on, if I may add!). A Malaysian horror novella, set in present day Japan, “Nothing But Blackened Teeth” follows a group of old college friends on their stay at a Heian-era mansion. Despite being there to celebrate a wedding, it becomes apparent early on that there is a lot of tension between the different people in the group, and a lot of history behind that tension. While a lot of things are left unsaid, the little glimpses of the past that the reader is allowed to have, along with the present events, are enough to create a very engaging story and keep the reader on the edge of their seat throughout the whole thing.

In the space of less than 150 pages, the writer manages to create well-rounded characters and a compelling mystery. The writing is very poetic, perhaps too poetic at times. For the most part, it creates beautiful and creepy imagery, but at times, personally, it felt a bit over the top. I really loved all the aspects of Japanese legend and folklore, and how they intertwined with the classic “friends in a haunted house” theme. If you are a fan of creepy things and/ or Japanese folklore, I definitely recommend putting this on your radar for October, when it comes out in time for the spooky season. Thank you to NetGalley and Tor/Forge for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

The prose was so extra, almost every word was gilded, that it was difficult to read.
The characters were so unlikable that I found it hard to want to keep reading this short book.
This is not one I will review for The Scariest Things

I really enjoyed the creepiness of this one! The undertones of dread were throughout the whole thing and I felt like I was holding my breath for the entirety of this one. Will def recommend!

Short and creepy, a tight novella packed full of mythology and lore, a great blend of Japanese yokai stories and western haunted house tropes with twists that actually gave me the creeps. Having read and watched TRESE recently, I loved the unquestioning acceptance of the supernatural and the lack of conflict between Cat having spent time in a psych hospital and seeing the supernatural - it adds depth to the story and actually makes it scarier; if one accepts the supernatural then you're forced to accept what it can do TO you and that opens a whole new world of terror because there's no looking AWAY from it or explaining it away.

I also love the multiple survivor but dead to one another twist. There's a additional horror in knowing there are people out there who saw the worst moments of your life, who could "out" you or remind you or make you relive them. The only thing worse than going through trauma is going through it again without the buffer your psyche gives you.

So good. Definitely time to delve into Khaw's back catalog.

4 friends go to a haunted house *on purpose* because a bride-to-be wants to elope in one. The connective tissue in this is without a doubt, tenuous. Their past history comprised of various dalliances and lives cut short and diverted stokes their inner turmoil, and when they decide to try and wake up the house, marital problems and past history become the least of their worries.

Let’s start with what didn’t work so I can end happily.

It is very meta and self-aware, which is a stylistic thing. It’s not for me. The whole, people who know they’re in a horror movie thing but actions have their own momentum so being aware that you’re acting out a kind of play doesn’t help whatsoever. Coupled with thin connective tissue though, this feels more contrived than an effective device.

Eventually, after the 6th Why Are We Here?, We’re in a movie, and What We Are Doing Doesn’t Make Any Sense, I tended to agree. I think this would have been loads better without the meta component and a more effective lead-up than them just being in the house.

However, there’s plenty I did like about it, too.

Atmospherically and outside of the meta component this shows really fine craftwork. Diction, specificity, verbiage, and simile use are all so good. Some of the most evocative prose around, especially when revealing character, and I include the house here as well.

Plot-wise, it’s… unconventional I’ll say. Sometimes it conforms to even the meta-perspective of how a horror story goes, sometimes it doesn’t. It’s effective at keeping you guessing but fulfilling tropes genre seekers will want. I particularly liked the third act and how it closed out.

As a sum of its parts it comes out ahead, and just to underline how great the prose work is, I boosted it up. I really loved that aspect of it. Had it ended poorly, just from the pleasure of reading it, I might have decided on 3 stars anyways. That’s how consistently good it was.

Definitely worth picking up when it drops and thanks to Netgalley for sending it to me.

The plot was fine; nothing really groundbreaking, but I was intrigued by the idea of a Japanese gothic. The characters weren't described enough for me to determine if I liked them or not. The would-be dread was interrupted by the narrator's internal dialogue. But ultimately, it was the writing that lost me. The author used complicated language that didn't really fit. (Two examples: "the chiaroscuro of his face in silhouette" and "a round face, wide at the cordillera of her cheekbones but otherwise gaunt". These don't even really make sense.) It was overly descriptive without really saying anything. This may have been better with more editing, and possibly either as a short story or a full-length novel, but this really didn't work for me. I stopped reading at 32%.

Not quite sure how to review this. It was quite a short read but the author seemed to struggle with a rhythm in her prose. Lots of descriptive paragraphs that served to take away from the story. There were repetitive phrases throughout and this book could have used a better editor. Some scary scenes helped me make it till the end.

Nadia and Faiz are getting married, and their friends are celebrating their nuptials in style: by spending a night at a Japanese mansion haunted by the spirit of a bride who was abandoned at the altar. Cat, however, is not feeling up for it -- she's still recovering from a suicide attempt, and 4 out of 5 of her friends resent her for it. So, when she starts seeing a girl in bridal robes with a black smile, she doesn't dare to tell them right away, she doesn't want to spoil their fun.
Cue a truly spooky, hair-rising classic yokai tale, perfect for the turn of the seasons or those sleepless autumn nights. Khaw seems to take a couple of liberties with Japanese folklore, but attentive readers will realize that she stays as true to the legends as to the horror genre. Wonderful novella, creepy and gorgeous in equal parts.

I have to say I was immensely excited to get the chance to read this book. However, I was sorely disappointed in what played out in front of me. The biggest and toughest nail in the coffin was its characters -- all insanely unlikable; so that when shit hit the roof, I didn't find myself one way or another caring who survived, who was traumatized, and who met an untimely and grotesque end. Khaw's words are flowery yet detached, and that added an overall coldness to the story. But maybe that was the point.

Nothing But Blackened Teeth was also, well, not all that scary nor suspenseful. Flipping through its short page count, I didn't find myself necessarily needing (or afraid) to turn to the next page.. I know Cassandra Khaw is talented--and maybe I just hyped myself up on this way too much--but this just didn't meet my expectations at all.

Interpersonal relationships, secrets, and drama already threaten to unravel a night of gluttony and partying at a dream destination, but the Heian-era mansion holds horrific secrets of its own. Khaw's novella weaves Japanese folklore into a haunted house tale, and adds an unexpected layer of character conflict to the fold. It's an elegant nightmare that builds, without ever over staying its welcome or showing its entire hand. The lack of answers might frustrate, as will Khaw's reliance on metaphors and overly descriptive prose. Still, it's a thrilling novella that leaves you wanting more.

*An ARC of this book was provided to my by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.*

Cassandra Khaw can really turn some phrases and metaphors, and I think she's an excellent writer. Unfortunately, it just didn't work in this novella. The premise is awesome but it was squandered in all the vocabulary exercises and flat, obnoxious characters. Any time the tension would start to mount, it would be almost immediately broken by the characters having weird, petty arguments about who used to sleep with whom (seriously, the doorway is filling up with eyeballs [I think is what was happening?] and they're yelling at each other because this guy slept with that guy's girlfriend years ago? What?), or excessively florid descriptions of, like, a mean sounding laugh. It was too much. I also didn't understand anyone's reaction to anything, I couldn't picture what was happening despite alllllll of the description, and the ending came and went like oops well that's over.

Again, I think Khaw is very talented - I'm currently reading another novella of hers that I am greatly enjoying, and there were threads of something excellent in this story, but the language experiment just didn't work for me.

Five friends come together for a private wedding ceremony at a haunted Japanese Mansion. Sounds like a perfectly creepy setting right?! It is! Add in all the drama from all the strained relationships and you have an awesome binge-worthy read on your hands!

I loved all the Japanese Folklore and that feeling you get when watching a scary movie and you are yelling at the screen "to just get out!" But of course, no one ever listens......dun dun dun.

This title will be featured in Fangoria magazine's October 2021 issue. Please reach out to this reviewer directly for a PDF copy of the write up once it becomes available.

This novella was amazing! It was creepy, fun, and even a little emotional. I loved all of the background information and the descriptions really helped the story be that much darker and scarier. I read this last week and still have not stopped thinking about it, it was that good!!

Closer to 3.5, but I liked it enough that rounding up can't hurt.

What a wonderfully nasty horror novella Cassandra Khaw has given us in NOTHING BUT BLACKENED TEETH. Unafraid to make all of her characters unlikable, Khaw (in outstanding prose) portrays a pre-wedding getaway in Japan gone horrifically wrong with brutal efficiency. Despite the clear empathy for the people in the story as human beings, Khaw makes it just as clear that they had torn one another to shreds in so many other ways long before they encountered the folkloric horrors in the Heian-era manor they visit.

I would've liked a little more clarity on some of the beings we see in the mansion but I'm also well aware it's not Khaw's job to spell everything out. And it hardly got in the way of my enjoyment of the book, which I tore through in about three half-hour sittings.

When the action gets going, it really moves - a smart take on the self-aware "is this like a movie? Am I the final girl?" sort of ghost story about some good and creepy Japanese yokai. Before the action gets going it's great atmosphere but a really offputting "20 minutes with jerks". The people are all really awful and obnoxious and have awful and obnoxious history together - and in a work this short it just doesn't work to spend the entire first half on such distasteful characters. The language is also a little overwrought at the beginning (it catches up to the subject matter by the end.) In all I enjoyed it after all the dust settled, but I imagine many will give up during the tedious setup.