I liked that the stories were all set in the same town, but I found some good, others a disappointment, as the writing was very uneven.

This book fell flat for me. I was really intrigued by the synopsis and got a lot of creepy/spooky vibes. However, once I started reading each novella it wasn't doing it for me. A lot of them nothing creepy happened until the final pages. I found myself struggling to get through.

I did enjoy that they are were all connected to the town Goblin.

Josh Malerman is such a good writer. But also such an uneven one. Or at least this has been my personal experience with him. I didn’t read his debut, but really enjoyed the movie adaptation (one of the few things Netflix got really right in recent past) and I’m waiting to sufficiently forget the plot to read both the novel and its sequel. So my first time reading him was a fairly underwhelming Unbury. But then I decided to give him a second chance and Inspection proved to be a huge improvement. And then Mad Black Wheel was a slam dunk. Basically this is all to say I was very excited to find Goblin on Netgalley, requested it, got approved for it and read it right away. And found it kind of underwhelming.
Sure, the expectations were high. And to be fair, it’s a good book, at times a very good book. But it’s like I was looking for the maddeningly thrilling fast paced wildly original tale like MBW and got a King or son of King, more accurately pastiche instead. Ok, maybe not a pastiche, but a book like that, you know, one with an imagined town where scary things occur and conveyed at a leisure pace and with a moral cherry on top.
Goblin is a small town of Malerman’s prodigious imagination, a place that receives an oppressive amount of precipitation, a place where the dead are buried standing up. It’s a strange and spooky place and why wouldn’t it be? It’s named Goblin. It also has an appropriately strange and spooky backstory that dates back to the Native Americans of the region who knew a thing or two about evil spirits.
And so in six tangentially interconnected novellas, properly bookended by a separate extra story that is technically both a prologue and an afterword, Malerman invites you to visit Goblin and meet some Gobliners. It’s an atmospheric journey, you can practically hear the October leaves rustling no matter what months you’re there. You’ll need a raincoat, some wellies and probably some sort of a weapon. Because it isn’t safe in Goblin, it isn’t safe at all.
Just consider some of the people you’ll meet…
A man who has some distinctly original ideas about the nature of real romance and real friendships.
A man scared to death of being scared to death by a ghost.
A man who needs to assert his masculinity by murdering innocent (unarmed…or are they) animals and is determined to have himself one unforgettable birthday.
A magician who’ll go to any lengths to become extraordinary.
A zoo tour guide moonlighting at the slaughterhouse (this one practically writes itself in abattoir red).
A maze that’s a character unto itself and only one of the many splendid topiary works of Goblin.
And bookending it all a tale of a very unusual delivery.
So, intriguing, right? And it is. Somewhat uneven. The stories declined in appeal as they progressed, for me. One and two were good and the fourth one, Presto, was by far my favorite, owning largely to the irresistible allure that’s stories about magic and magicians have for me. There was sort of a theme of a fairly slow progression towards an either abrupt or an underwhelming ending. Not enough payout for the investment sort of thing, maybe. And the pacing was quite slow, nothing like Mad Black Wheel, in fact had I not been told this was Malerman’s book, I wouldn’t have necessarily guessed it.
And I know, all of this seems like I didn’t like the book, but actually I did, mostly, like it. It was objectively well written, spooky and fun. I very much enjoy scary stories and my preference is for literary ones and that’s what this book is. It was slightly slower paced than I would have liked and not as great as I’ve come to expect from the author, but still absolutely a good read and well worth checking out, especially for genre fans. Goblin is well imagined, well rendered and in every away a town best left to Gobliners. Armchair visits only are advised. Recommended.

Josh Malerman is one of my favorite voices in contemporary horror. If you need references, check out my reviews for Inspection, House at the Bottom of the Lake, and Malorie, all five stars and amazing reads. So when I was approved for Goblin, I did a happy dance and jumped in.

A novel in six novellas, Goblin centers not on one central character, but on different inhabitants of the small town of Goblin. What strange, terrifying creatures lurk within the city limits? Who are the people calling Goblin home?

I really enjoyed this collection. I never would've thought myself to be a novella fan, but I realized that this format works exceptionally well--especially when the writer is that good. Malerman weaves similarities into each story, and the effect is a complete portrait of Goblin in various perspectives. What I appreciated about these stories was the focus on friendships. In Goblin, you'll find the most eclectic bunch of friendships in one place. Old and young, odd and off-putting, these relationships were the foundation of many of the tales--and the fear that lives just beneath the surface. My favorites included the Prologue, Man in Slices, Kamp, Presto, and The Hedges.

Ranging from weird to gruesome to terrifying, Goblin is a fun, engrossing reading experience that I'd love to see made into a series (here's looking at you, Netflix).

Thanks to Ballantine and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

Where to begin with this book? To be quick and to the point I hated it. This book was such a chore to read, and reading shouldn't be a chore. Prologue: Welcome was pretty good. Fast paced, creepy, it really got me excited to read Goblin. Then came the rest of the stories....ugh. Some were okay, others downright boring and made very little sense. By the time I got to A Mix Up at the Zoo I was over it. That story was just plain dumb. At that point I wanted to put the book down. Why did I finish it? I really don't know. Maybe I was hoping for an ending that would make it all worthwhile? Yeah that didn't really deliver either.
Goblin had huge potential, but just never lived up to it. Parts of this book needlessly went on and on. Other parts needed more. The Goblin police could have finally been explained perhaps? I'd normally give this 1 star but I finished it, so I'll give 2.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It rains a lot in the town of Goblin. That much is clear. A mysterious delivery bookends these 6 novellas, which are all set in Goblin. I did enjoy the last tale, The Hedges, but I'm afraid the others just didn't do it for me. Other than the face that they were all set in Goblin, constant rain, and that fact that Hedges and Owls were mentioned in more than one I didn't really find much connection between them. I found myself wanting to skip through sections of three stories as I found them rather tedious and pointless. #netgalley #Goblin

Really entertaining book of short stories that all relate together set in the town of Goblin. I would say they book has more of a "creepy" vibe more than an outright scary one, but the stories are long enough to where you have some decent character development and also learn alot about the town and its history.

I'm confused by how I feel about this book. Did I like it? Yes. Did I love it? No. Was I frustrated at the way most of the stories ended, or rather, didn't end? Yes. Did I have any idea what was going on with those Goblin police officers? No. Will that stop me from reading another Josh Malerman book? Also no.

Thank you for the advanced copy.

My thanks to Random House/Ballentine books, Josh Malerman and Netgalley.
I've nothing good to report here.
I'm wishy washy when it comes to Mr. Malerman. I loved Bird Box, House in the Bottom of The Lake, and numerous short stories.
I expected to live this. A very strange town. I saw reviews that compared it to Castle rock or Derry. That is usually a warning sign for me, but I decided to give this a go.
I can't fault Josh on his characters. He does a fine job writing that. My problem is that he "in my opinion" truly sucks skunk spew on his endings! Good stories, but he can't hit the landing!
I finally quit this at the 75% mark. I kept thinking that maybe he's saving the best for last!
Maybe? I will eventually finish those last 2 stories, and if it gets better I'll update.
My biggest questions are obviously not going to be answered. Why are these Goblin citizens buried standing up? I mean, really. That's just down right weird as all get out! Also, what's up with those Goblin town police?
Give me some story into that, with a righteous freaking ending, and I'll get on board with that!
For now? Boring and nonsensical endings aren't cutting it.
Would I recommend this? Only if it's free.

Josh Malerman is already an icon. The reason is simple. He is in that echelon of writers that achieve magic each time they put pen to paper. Told in separate novellas, GOBLIN is as unique and ambitious as it is good. And oh boy... is it good! From the prologue, I knew I was ready to lose sleep, and myself as I began learning about the town of GOBLIN. Each story was excellent. It was as if I were reading the equivalent of an old episode of the Night Gallery. I simply loved this book. It was even better than I anticipated. You NEED to read this yourself. I can't do it justice.

I’m addicted to Mr. Malerman’s riveting, twisty, extraordinarily creative, shocking writing style and his impressively well developed characters! Now I had a chance to read his stories which consisted of 6 creepy, unputdownable, dark stories and also novellas connected with each other!

And the prologue of the story about delivery guy who’s carrying something terrifying which freezes our blood was one of the best opening and hooked me up immediately. I’m so pleased to find out the book ended where all the madness has started!

The stories are truly rich with weird characters and weirder facts about Goblin!

Let me summarize them quickly with a few sentences:
A man in slices: okay, first thing I gathered from this quirky, outstanding story is town’s rituals like burying its people standing up and it gets weirder when you decide proving your compassion to your loved one: because it means you totally play Van Gogh and you need to cut more than your ear to send her love to win her appreciation! Iykk! It’s getting more weirder each second: but this was truly great introduction to Goblin history and two men’s complex friendship! Charles Ridnour who forms this so intense relationship with the girl needs his friend’s to cut his own finger because he didn’t accomplish to cut his own!

And Kamp also introduces us another awkward character: Walter Kamp who scares shitless of ghosts, covering his own house with traps to catch them without being caught but he also traps himself in his own house.

Happy Birthday Hunter: is a story of accomplished hunter Neal Nash who is about to celebrate his 60th birthday but his obsession about getting the Great Owl finds himself at the North Woods alone to finish his business but it means he can also become a prey as he plans to hunt this special creature because woods can be more dangerous and the Owl is protected by the species of nature!

Presto is about a talented magician’s stopping by the town for his special performance but there’s something creepy about his show: Roman Emperor’s show can contain more dangerous elements you’d hardly imagine!

A Mix Up at the zoo: Dirk Roger has two occupations. One of them at the Goblin zoo and the other at the slaughterhouse but some unexpected mix up can make things more complicated and deadly!

The Hedges: When a smart woman finally solves the mystery of Hedges, it results with cat and mouse chase between owner of the Hedges and Goblin police which ends at the North Woods.

Overall: it was jittery, exciting, riveting bunch of stories help to cure your urgent horror story cravings earned my 4.5 stars rounding up 5 eerie, scary, mind hunting stars!

Special thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group/ Ballentine/ Del Rey for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

Wow. A group of short stories the likes of which I’ve never seen all seem to connect. Spooky, majestic, beautiful are adjectives that describe this book. I highly recommend this one. I loved it.