“Incredible how bringing up the ghosts of Goblin make me forget my own.”

Welcome to the magic of Goblin, the city that is always crying. Where the dead are buried standing up. Where a witch lives in the North Woods. Where the Great Owl exists. Where women outsmart men. Where history is awakened! Told in a series of six novellas, Goblin’s inhabitants have strange obsessions that lead them all down wicked paths. Focused on the city’s historical Original 60 settlers, Gobliners attempt to figure out the secrets behind their creepy desires.

When I first read Josh Malerman’s Bird Box, I was glued to the pages, instantly recognizing that this was an author to watch. Unfortunately, I was let down by his subsequent books. They simply didn’t have the magic of Bird Box. Therefore, I hesitated to request Goblin, as I was nervous that it would be more of the same. However, the absolutely gorgeous cover lured me into this fictional place. Goblin is written as a wicked nod to Alice in Wonderland. While I enjoyed most of the novellas (Man in Pieces, Kamp, Happy Birthday, Hunter! and the Hedges) a few dragged on a bit too much with repetition (Presto and Mix-Up at the Zoo). However, Malerman does a fabulous job of connecting the stories together in the end. It reads as a cohesive book, the ghosts of Goblin reappearing to teach the characters dangerous lessons. The beautiful artwork that accompanied each story was also a pleasant surprise. If you want to lose yourself in a strange new land filled with danger and intrigue, Goblin will trap you in its hold and not let go until the final page. Beware!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing-Ballantine for the ARC of Goblin in exchange for an honest review.

4/5 stars

Thank you Netgalley for this book!

I love Josh Malerman. I’ve read everything I can get my hands on: Bird Box, Malorie, Inspection, Unbury Carol, A House at the Bottom of the Lake, and Black Mad Wheel. So when I was approved for this one, I was so excited. He’s an author who I read, no matter what. I had no idea what this book was about, didn’t care, didn’t matter. Just was going to read it anyway because it was his. This book is a really fun, twisty one. Six stories are set in the town of Goblin, and all intertwine a bit in plot, characters, etc.

From Goodreads: A MAN IN SLICES: A young man wants to prove to his long-distance girlfriend that they have “legendary love,” better than Vincent van Gogh, so he sends her more body parts than just his ear in the mail.

KAMP: A man so horrified of encountering a ghost that he sets up a series of “ghost traps” all over his apartment, desperate to catch one before it can sneak up on him.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HUNTER! Big game hunter Neal Nash leaves his own meat-themed birthday bash to go hunting for Goblin’s hallowed (and protected) Great Owl. But the North Woods are unkind at night.

PRESTO: In the pages of Presto magazine, a young boy reads that his favorite magician, Roman Emperor, is coming to town. Problem is, Pete doesn’t know that Emperor’s magic is real, and his latest trick involves audience participation… a little boy volunteer.

A MIX-UP AT THE ZOO: Dirk Rogers works at both the Goblin Slaughterhouse and the Goblin Zoo, but the workload is really getting to him. Will he be able to separate the two jobs on the night he finally breaks down, or will the slaughterhouse and the zoo overlap in his cracked, dark mind?

THE HEDGES: A young girl finally reaches the end of Goblin’s biggest tourist attraction, The Hedges. But what she finds there sparks a mad chase between the owner of the Hedges and the Goblin Police, through the streets of the rainy city and into the terrible North Woods.

Wow! These stories are just so creepy. All are interesting, full of rich characters, and will leave you with chills. I’m usually not a novella/short story reader, but these were great, and I enjoyed them all. Malerman has knocked another one out of the park for me.

*Thank you to Netgalley and to Ballentine Del Rey publishing for the advanced reader's copy of this book*

4.5 stars! This was really creepy, the stories were the perfect length, tied together nicely, and were fun to pick up and read. A Man in Slices was horrifying and had me going WTF the entire time, in the best way. Happy Birthday Hunter was one of my favorites, the ending to me was perfect. A Mix Up at the Zoo and Kamp freaked me out, with the weird dreams and perceived ghosts. This is my new favorite by Malerman, a short story collection is, in my opinion, harder to get right than a novel, and this one was very fun.

If you don’t mind getting a little bored with some of the stories, jump onto the delivery truck with me and learn all about Goblin.

I will admit, I had a hard time reading Goblin by Josh Malerman. I went into the book with eyes wide open and an intense desire to read something else by the author who captured my attention and heart with Bird Box. However, I was severely disappointed. Not to say the stories weren’t interesting, but they weren’t interesting enough to keep me engaged. I raced through the Prologue: Welcome, quite interested in what was being delivered but did not get my answer until the Epilogue. A Man in Slices, the second story in the book, was quite interesting and right up my alley, as far as the type of stories I normally read, if not a little gross. Happy Birthday, Hunter, well let’s just say Hunter ticked me off with what he did, but he got his just desserts in the end! Presto, yeah not my cup o’ tea. I was quite bored by this story and it took me a very long time to go back to it, a few times. A Mix-Up at the Zoo, well, that one was just, um, flat out weird; I didn’t enjoy it at all. Now the next story, The Hedges, was unique and interesting, although the story could have been reduced by taking out some of the memories and still be understandable and enjoyed. And finally, in the last story, Epilogue: Make Yourself at Home, I finally got the ending I wanted from the Prologue, and it was a great ending to the book.
*I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

I feel like a broken record after reading a Malerman story. He just gets it!
I don't typically read novellas or collections, but the way he writes makes you want to read everything he puts to paper.
This book/collecrion is like a finally at a firework show, as time and again each story errupts with wonder and originality.
My favorite story is Presto because I couldn't help but get 'Something Wicked This way Comes' vibes.

I hate including spoilers in reviews so i will refrain from more. Simply, if you enjoy original stories with a strong literary voice, or if you've simply loved Malerman's other works, grab this one too.

Welcome to Goblin, small town USA. Gobliners are proud of their towns heritage, and welcome the chance to talk about it. With pride in their voice they will tell you about the bloodshed and lies that made the town what it is.
In six novellas, Josh Mallerman introduces you to a few of Goblin's residents. Together they tell the horrors of the past and present that ties the town together.

Josh Malerman's Goblin, is a lot like Stephen King's Castle Rock. Goblin is home to normal people who have occasional homicidal urges, live in paranoia and are ok with their bloody heritage. Completely normal little town.lol
I picked up this book, wondering how six stories were going to tie together and was pleased with how it was done. Though they are only linked by a slight mention of a name, or hint of the past, each story compliments the other. I enjoyed moving from story to story picking up on familiar names mentioned and bits of history leaked. To me it all flowed really well. Any questions I had were answered in the final story.
The book really is a whole mood. The constant rainfall and fog created a gloomy atmosphere begging for bad things to happen. I felt on edge the whole time, waiting for what was coming next. Malerman did an excellent job setting the tone for the bad things to come.

I received a digital ARC of this book from Netgalley.

What the hell was this? Billed as a novel in six novellas, Goblin reads like Malerman got tired of his reputation as a horror writer and decided that he needed to be more "literary." I of course can't say for sure that's the case, but this book has the hallmarks of someone who thinks horror is too cheap and lowbrow and therefore he really needs to write semi-experimental stories that avoid many of the ways that writing is traditionally made scary. Also, James Moore who wrote the forward has a deeply different definition of "doesn't suck" than I do.

This book feel like it was wired wrong. Too me, it sorta feels like what we might have gotten if Shirley Jackson had invented Lovecraft style weird fiction, but in like a bad way. The stuff that should actually be frightening is barely touched on, people act like actually weird and scary stuff is just inconvenient, and the characters, with a few exceptions, don't behave like actual people. There are a few successful moments of terror, especially in the final two stories, but for me these were not enough to salvage the collection.

I can't recommend this, but looking at other reviews lots of readers seemed to love it. Maybe you will! Don't let me yuck your yum, as I am but a simple reader.

Josh Malerman's Goblin is a fascinating glimpse into a truly peculiar town, not altogether dissimilar from some of the fictional Maine locales made popular by Stephen King. Also, like King, the tales Malerman weaves of the rainy town of Goblin are unevenly paced and of vastly different content and quality. This does not, as one might suspect, take anything away from the amazing quality of this collection of interconnected novellas. It works out perhaps better than Matt Ruff's Lovecraft Country did, where that collection wove together connected tales of a single family and this one immerses us in the haunted title town.
Goblin is a place of near-constant rainfall, a place haunted and evil before man ever made the mistake of settling there in a town built on a history of bloody violence and betrayal. It is a town where the impenetrable North Woods are home to giant predatory owls and a witch who breaks the hearts of those she tells her stories to, where inhuman police produce shivers in even the most courageous residents, and where the key to the city has been missing for years.
The Prologue & Epilogue (Welcome & Make Yourself At Home) provide an almost perfect bookend to the stories contained within this book...especially since the tales reach their respective crescendos at approximately the same time on the same night of nightmares and downpours...as a reckoning of sorts falls upon the town and its residents.
A Man In Slices tells us a story of twisted friendship and the sacrifices such a friendship might require.
Kamp delves into the paranoid, fearful mental landscape of a man who fears--well, to borrow from FDR--fear itself. Sure, he's terrified of encountering a ghost, but it's the resulting fear upon experiencing that encounter that he's truly terrified of.
Happy Birthday, Hunter! brings us face-to-face with the manic, self-absorbed, single-minded dedication of a big game hunter and his overwhelming need to pursue the greatest game of his life...and a wife with an unwelcome surprise present.
Presto introduces us to a world of magic and illusion that might just be more real than it seems.
A Mix-Up At the Zoo is a sad story about a simple, friendly giant of a man who spends too much time burning the candle at both ends and gets confused about where he is and what he's doing. The ending of this particular story--as predictable as it might have been--was all the more heartbreaking for playing out exactly as a reader anticipates it will.
The Hedges splits its narrative time between telling us a fantastic, beautiful love story and exploring the mysteries we've already been exposed to as we reached this point in the collection. This is the story where we finally begin to glimpse precisely why the residents of Goblin are so terrified of the police, and rightfully so.
Yes, this collection is uneven...but it's telling us the story of a town through the interrelated snapshots of the residents...and that unevenness makes it feel all the more real. No real city is uniformly interesting or captivating to all comers when we're diving into the lives of those who reside within. In the end, Malerman does what he set out to do--I suspect--by crafting a place that becomes more real to the readers than many real-world places ever might be. This is doubly impressive when one considers just how unreal Goblin is.

Decent writing, no ultimate conclusion. Six novellas with no real cohesiveness does not a novel make. Bird box was haunting, and I am looking forward to reading Malorie. So when I saw Goblin I thought surely it would at least be mentally stimulating and a bit creepy. Instead I found myself wanting the time back I invested in getting through these stories. Still unsure if some loved this by author recognition only?

Goblin is a collection of horror short stories, each taking place in a town in Michigan called Goblin. As a huge fan of Malerman’s previous works Bird Box and Malorie, I wanted to love this, but it just didn’t work for me. I did not finish it. It has a lot of shock value like a horror movie with jump scares, but lacked the character development and heart of the novels I mentioned. I recommend the book for those who are looking strictly for horror and spookiness.

I am a library paraprofessional and received an advance copy from NetGalley. Opinions are my own.

This reminds me a lot of Lovecraft Country in the best possible way. We get to see the same world from a variety of views.

Goblin: A Novel in Six Novellas by Josh Malerman is about random people's lives living in the city of Goblin. It's a strange city with a questionable history. As they say, perhaps it's in the water?

The stories have a Tales from the Crypt and The Twilight Zone feel. The beginning is a bit irregular as it cuts off and starts with another story. You get to finish the first tale at the end of the book.

In general, I liked the odd read. There were parts in each story that seemed to drag on. I couldn't figure out if it's the writing style or the effect of being wordy or pace. A short story shouldn't seem like it's taking ages to read through.

As with the reviews, the book leaves mixed feelings. Love it or hate it.

A masterclass in atmospheric and small town horror - welcome to Goblin.

I love the use of the elements to elicit a reaction from my readers, Juniper was scorching heat, Tome was constant rain, my third book in my Juniper series will have plenty of... you’ll have to wait and see! The elements is an underused tool in my opinion, one that should be used more in fiction, it helps create the tone for a book and that’s what Malerman does here. He sets the tone.

Damn he sets it well.

Goblin rains from almost the first page to the very last, it smothers the reader - it drowns the reader and in doing so envelops us in a cold and chilling embrace that sends a few shivers down your spine.

But enough of that on with the review abs my many thoughts - I’ve tried to keep this as spoiler free as possible, so enjoy!

Prologue / Welcome

Tommy gets tasked with delivering something late at night to Goblin, his package is wrapped in secrecy and the person that’s paid for it to be delivered has a long list of stipulations that need to be adhered to. As Tommy sets off to a place he has connections with, he can’t help but think about his cargo and if what he’s doing is right or wrong and what the hells with all the crazy instructions. Does he look? Does he disobey they orders of delivery? It’s a great opening that ups the creep factor and there is one bit in this opening that had me like ‘shit, it’s going to be like that is it Malerman!’

A Man in Slices

Richard has a decision to make, a tough decision that’s summed up by this quote...

‘A priest isn’t guilty of the crimes confessed to him. And neither is a friend.’

Richard has been burdened by recent news from Charles, one of his only friends, his childhood friend whom he feels indebted to, as if it were Richard’s responsibility to care for him. It’s a friendship that was forged so long ago, back when they were children and Charles first showed up at his door. Charles has always been a little odd, a little strange, a little unhinged.

So, Malerman takes us back to their humble beginnings, to see all of what has lead to this moment unfold. How things have become what they are, to before the burden that hangs around Richard’s neck like a noose was disclosed and what he can do to rid himself of this confession.

I loved this opening novella - the way Malerman is able to introduce us not only to these characters but to an additional character Goblin itself - the town almost steals the show here and sets us up for this crazy little town and what awaits us as we press on!

Kamp

Walter Kamp is a scaredy-cat, his life has become full of fear and anxiety, his home a now resembles a prison and Kamp the only cell mate or is he?

Kamp is scared of ghosts but more importantly the act of being scared to death. This fear consumes him on this troubled night and it won’t release its grip.

Malerman does a superb job here at showing us the complexities of Kamp’s fears and anxieties, so much so that at points I felt tired for him, seeing his routines and precautions acted out time and time again, but his anxiety rising even more. It was utterly gripping and I feel that the whole story taking place over one night really helped to ramp up the tension of the piece.

The introduction by Malerman of Mrs. Doris midway through helped to flesh out the story and add more weight to the proceedings. The conversation and observations Doris makes also help to shed light albeit dimly on the proceedings and mental insecurities that Kamp has. These flood the story with the right power at just the right point.

Happy Birthday, Hunter!

Neal Nash might be the best hunter the world has ever seen, he’s the top dog in Goblin that’s for sure. As the townsfolk of Goblin (both the high and the lowly) meet at his house for his sixtieth birthday party it seems that Neal is consumed with the one that got away, the one trophy that’s evaded his grasp for so long.

You see there is a rule in Goblin that you don’t venture into the North Woods, it’s more of a rule it’s a law, one that the Goblin PD and the mayor are keen to keep intact. But Neal needs something from the forest, the last beast to complete his vast collection and to catapult him above all hunters Goblin has ever known. The Great Owl.

As the party continues Neal can’t shake his desire, his birthday wish as he blew out his candles of being the first Gobliner to bag a Great Owl - and so slipping away from the party, readying his hunting buddies - he sets out from his party on a hunting party. He’s going into those woods, but what will be awaiting him when he gets there.

I loved this story, but what I loved more is how this story in particular starts to knit together the various strands of the previous novellas, and quite possibly sets some groundwork for what is to come. I love how Malerman has his characters mention these small breadcrumbs in passing, referencing characters and places and other weird things that happen in the town - it all serves in showing us that this story is just a small cog in the larger machine that Malerman has created in Goblin. And each cog is working to further progress the longer narrative of this beguiling collection of novellas.

Presto

Malerman serves up a sprawling magical tale of misdirection and the dark arts to creat a truly spellbinding coming of age tale.

Pete a young boy who is obsessed with magic discovers that the great Roman Emperor is coming to Goblin. Roman isn’t your typical magician, there are no wires and illusions, there are no top hats and pulling rabbits out of a hat - he’s the real deal, his magic isn’t as cultured as those of his peers but it’s raw and exciting and everything that Pete loves so much.

The backstory to Roman Emperor is delivered masterfully by Malerman in flashback and helps to flesh out this enigma - showcasing why he’s the very best and why the magic circle (for want of a better word) are worried about this upstart who has risen from the ashes like an illusion himself.

Malerman in this novella also helps to flesh out more of Goblin, we again are treated to more rain, which comes into the story toward the final third, helping again to add the feeling and the emotions of the final act. The additional fleshing out of parts of Goblin helps to give the reader more of the place that has become our stomping ground, and adds in small pieces of the jigsaw that’s being assembled before our eyes - the only problem is we are still none the wiser to the image on the jigsaws box, what is Malerman conjuring behind these stories and where will it all end?

A Mix-Up At The Zoo

Dirk - he works at an abattoir (slaughter house and the zoo - he’s an oddball, someone that doesn’t fit in but also someone who feels that he has a higher calling in life, and when he starts working at the zoo people start to notice that Dirk is different, in the way he is, the way the public see him and in the way the animals react to this gentle giant.

It’s not my favourite novella, I felt it dipped in certain places as Malerman details Dirk’s decline into mental illness, but having said that there is still so much to enjoy and appreciate in Malerman’s storytelling and prose. The descent into madness is especially masterful and it reminded me of Taxi Driver and Travis Bickle - the slow burn that leads to a complete and utter madness was expertly out across.

The horror of this story is rampant and the dream sequences that are littered throughout send a chill or two down the spine - their so creepy one can’t help but be affected by them, it’s not just the Goblin rain that makes you feel cold to your marrow in this story!

The Hedges

Since the start of this book Malerman has been leaving us breadcrumbs, he’s been dropping little tidbits for us to savour and hanker for - and in The Hedges we get to feast on the banquet that he’s been preparing the whole time.

In this story we find out more about the mind behind the topiary that’s appeared in many if not all of the stories, we find out about The Hedges (which grace the cover in a hedge maze) we discover the mind behind it all - Wayne Sherman.

Wayne Sherman created the hedges to deal with grief, to do something to honour his late wife - in creating The Hedges - Sherman has written himself into the local lore of the town, he’s crafted something truly magnificent from the ashes of his life. But what resides at the end of the maze and what did the young girl Margot discover when she became the first person to traverse the maze and why is she going to the police?

What I loved about this story are all the small nods to other stories as we reach the stories conclusion - it’s as if Malerman is putting a bow on the top of this wondrous present of a book. I also loved that we get to discover more about the strange police force that operates in Goblin - they’ve been mentioned throughout and it was something I desperately wanted to know about, and in this story we find out exactly what goes on behind the uniform and the aviators.

This for me is the best story in the collection - but that might be because of all that came before, either way it’s bloody faultless in its execution and brilliance.

Epilogue: Make Yourself At Home

We jump back to Tommy and his special delivery to round off this novel of novella’s and what an ending - the epilogue is short, but what I’ll say is damn!!!

Malerman delivers one hell of a book, one I thoroughly enjoyed, the crafting of a town, townsfolk and local lore is something I love and when I started this I expected great things, and Malerman delivers with a masterful turn... Goblin is alive and as strange as it is, I want to visit!

Goblin is a novel told in six novellas all following different characters in the town of Goblin, Michigan. Through these different stories, we get to find out more about the lore behind the town and the odd events that occur there. Some of these events are stranger (and more horrific) than others.

Short fiction isn't really my go-to and I often prefer longer fiction works (300-500 pages is my comfort range). However, I did have a goal this year of re-trying short fiction (novellas, short stories, etc) to see if I still don't prefer them. I thought this would be a good place to start because since the stories are connected by the same town, I thought it would give me a bit more substance to grab hold of. Also, these being novellas instead of short stories was also a bit of the wading into the sea of short fiction. My main personal issue with short fiction is that, by the time I really find myself sinking into a story it ends. I rarely find them a satisfying read and often times just leaves me with a sort of itch I can't scratch where I want more of the world or the characters but I literally can't have any more because it was only a short story. Again, I thought that Goblin would help scratch that itch by way of the stories being somewhat connected and I was pleased that the book worked out exactly how I had hoped and I ended up really enjoying it.

I figured the best way to talk about this book would be each novella on their own and then the novel as a whole. I also put in my ratings for each story which I don't normally do. However, I think in this case it would be interesting to see how I felt about the different pieces of this novel as well as the novel overall and the easiest way would be with rating scores.

A Man in Slices: A man proves his "legendary love" to his girlfriend with a sacrifice even more daring than Vincent van Gogh's--and sends her more than his heart.

I liked how this story focused on just two people in the town - long time friends Richard and Charles. This novella was told out of chronological order which I thought worked well to build up tension. We're told at the beginning of the novella that Charles has confessed something horrible to Richard and Richard is considering going to the police. We then bounce back and forth in time as we see the two meet in childhood and grow up together. We get glimpses into their somewhat unconventional friendship and how other people around them react to it. We get examples of Charles acting like a sociopath (although he's never diagnosed as such in the story) and how the two of them always reconnect when they're both in town. I thought it was interesting to focus on such a specific relationship inside the town and just give little hints at some ways the town might be a little weird. I also thought that having Charles and Richard be kids during the beginning helped build the atmosphere because as a reader, it isn't clear if the observations they're making are because they just have a child's imagination or if those observations are facts. I really enjoyed the horror elements as well and I thought that they were the perfect balance of vague yet visceral for my personal tastes. This, I found, to be the most straightforward gore story where as the others I found more psychological or at least the violence was done off the page in a sort of hand-wavy way.

5/5



Kamp: Walter Kamp is afraid of everything, but most afraid of being scared to death. As he sets traps around his home to catch the ghosts that haunt him, he learns that nothing is more terrifying than fear itself.

I really didn't enjoy this novella nearly as much as the first. I wasn't drawn into Walter's world really at all and found his sort of steam of consciousness hard to follow. I had to re-read multiple passages to figure out what was really going on. I did like the way the town history was integrated into this story, but it felt very much like an infodump was needed and Malerman created the rest of the plot around that one need. I did find the actual town history very interesting and I think it worked really well. I almost would have preferred if the novella was maybe just the local historian writing a book about the town's history or something. The horror elements and the historical elements felt really disjointed to me. I think, since most of the time is spend in Walter's apartment, that for the story to work he needed the reader's sympathies and I just didn't have that connection with him.

2/5



Happy Birthday, Hunter!: A famed big-game hunter is determined to capture--and kill--the ultimate prey: the mythic Great Owl who lives in Goblin's dark forests. But this mysterious creature is not the only secret the woods are keeping.

This novella was really great and I think it did a lot of the same things Kamp was trying to do but it did them much more effectively. In this story, we get more town history that builds on what we know from Kamp. However, this history was framed around a character and situation that I found much more dynamic and interesting. Neal Nash is turning 60 and his wife is throwing him the biggest birthday bash the town has ever seen. Neal, however, is obsessed with the Great Owls who live in the forest outside town - the forests that people are forbidden from entering. Neal is a trophy hunter and he has successfully hunted just about every type of game on the planet. We get the history of these Owls and one of the founding members of the town through Neal's obsessions and this is the first novella where we actually see how the town itself is a bit twisted and magical. I loved the way the decadent party contrasts with the brutality of hunting. We get a good amount of the party on page and see these adults and, in some cases, pretty important figures in the town devolve into absolute debauchery. It was like a frat party gone bad which I thought was a really interesting contrast to how most 60th birthday parties end up. I did find the ending to be a bit of a let down because it took away some of the agency from Neal which I didn't like. The reader was basically rooting for him, for better or worse, to have a successful hunt and when we get to the ending it sort of feels like the events of the story suddenly mean less and Neal (and the reader) get the rug pulled out from under him a bit.

4/5



Presto: All Peter wants is to be like his hero, Roman Emperor, the greatest magician in the world. When the famous magician comes to Goblin, Peter discovers that not all magic is just an illusion.

For me, this novella spent a lot of time focused around a character that I didn't really care about. We start off the novella at a magic show by Roman Emperor in a town nearby Goblin. We find out that Goblin is the magician's next stop and then we switch to following Peter, a boy in Goblin who wants to be a magician like Roman. Maybe if we would have started off with Peter and then flipped over to Roman I would feel differently, but I was a bit let down when we got to Peter. I just don't find stories from kid POVs very engaging for some reason and the fact that we know something is off with Roman just made me want to skim over Peter's parts to get back to Roman. We find out how Roman's magic works and I wanted so badly for the story to take a turn that maybe his magic works differently in Goblin because Goblin itself is so weird and magical. I didn't find that Peter's POV added really anything (tension, perspective, etc) to the story for me. Roman's POV, however, I was really interested and invested in and I wanted so much more of it.

3/5


A Mix-Up at the Zoo: The new zookeeper feels a mysterious kinship with the animals in his care . . . and finds that his work is freeing dark forces inside him.

This novella, for me, was like a fever dream. I couldn't quite get a handle on exactly what was happening but I think I liked it okay overall. I liked the general premise of this beloved zookeeper who is slowly becoming unhinged. I really liked the choice to make him fairly popular in the town which I think makes his fall from grace even more impactful. I really liked the parts that were his dreams/hallucinations but I had a hard time when it was time for those dreams to integrate with reality. I could see what Malerman was going for but the final execution of that effect didn't really work for me. It ended up feeling a little bit too much like a disgruntled employee snapped one day rather than a slow descent which is what I feel like the story was going for.

3/5


The Hedges: When his wife dies, a man builds a hedge maze so elaborate no one ever solves it--until a little girl resolves to be the first to find the mysteries that wait at its heart.

This novella is a heck of a strong way to finish this collection and I really enjoyed how it put some puzzle pieces together. Throughout the previous 5 novellas, there were two aspects of Goblin that kept being mentioned but no one really went into any great detail - the hedges and the Goblin police. We see these last two aspects of the town in this last story and I thought it was an interesting choice to leave them until the end. I think this story does a good job at giving the reader one last look at the town as a whole and some of the more structural elements like the police. I found this story the most emotionally impactful because the whole reason Wayne even built the hedge maze in the first place was in memory of his dead wife. I also thought it was interesting how something that started out so personal could grow to become the town's main tourist attraction. I thought this story did a good job at integrating the different elements of the town that we'd already seen (the Great Owls, the forest, the witch legend, etc) and gave the reader one last look at this weird town and the spooky forces inside it. I also found it interesting that we get the Goblin police actually interacting with the characters on page because prior to this story, they were only mentioned by characters as something to stay away from. Side note, the police are described as having sort of a weird rubbery appearance and, for whatever reason, I pictured them as those weird thumb monsters from the Spy Kids movie. I liked how little we knew about the police force - they felt almost alien compared to the other townspeople. We don't get any background information on how they came to be the police like how we got background info on pretty much all of the other weird parts of town (Great Owls, for example). In the end, I liked the dichotomy at the end of the fear of the unknown vs fear of the known that was played with a lot during this story and found it a really fitting and strong way to finish.

5/5



Thoughts on the novel as a whole

The best way I've been able to describe the atmosphere and tone of this book is if the podcast/show Welcome to Night Vale took place in Stephen King's Derry Maine. It is weird and fantastical and unsettling in the way that Night Vale is but has a really dark and, at times, brutal edge to the stories that reminded me of prime time Stephen King.

I really enjoyed the structure to these interconnected stories and liked how each new story had a little piece of the previous story for me to grab onto as I was exploring this new part of the town. As I said above, I really like to be able to sink into a book and I think having the stories all be somewhat connected helped the book live up to the tagline "a novel in 6 novellas". I did feel like we got a whole story by the end and while that story might not have the traditional structure of a single plot thread or the traditional beginning, middle, and end, I think it did tell the story of this town in Michigan.

Outside of the six novellas, there is a prologue and epilogue that are two halves of the same story. This story follows a delivery driver as he is tasked with very specific instructions to deliver a mysterious box to an address in Goblin. When he arrives, the contents of the box aren't at all what he expected. I think the prologue does a good job at very gently inviting the reader into this mysterious world. It is clear that the events and rumors of Goblin have reached other towns so it almost lets the reader know that the upcoming events are true, no matter how outrageous they may seem. It also set up the general atmosphere and horror elements as something spooky in the shadows that isn't exactly known except for the fact that something is off and that tone carries well throughout the rest of the book. The epilogue was just a nice way to finish off that plot thread and leaves a real sense of openness to the ending that was interesting.

I found the horror elements to be well done, but I didn't find them over the top at all. I think each story had a different edge to the type of horror it employed, but the entire book had a feeling of dread cast over it where we knew that these stories most likely aren't going to end up all sunshine and roses. I would describe the horror elements as uneasy feelings, unsettling, and light gore but individual mileage may vary.

For someone who doesn't really enjoy short fiction, I think these interconnected stories really help bridge the gap. I did find that my overall enjoyment of each novella was pretty dependent on if I connected with the main character of that story. I am more of a character driven reader as opposed to more plot driven so I think with such few pages to work with, if I don't connect with a character choice it has a bigger impact overall on my reading experience. If I take my average rating of the individual novellas, I get a 3.6/5. However, I think the overall cohesiveness and world building of this novel in six novellas was really well done and deserves a 4/5 final rating.

Overall, this was a really great collection of interconnected novellas that work both at an individual level as well as a whole. I think the quieter horror elements work really well to help immerse the reader into this town in Michigan without asking them to suspend their disbelief too far.



Thanks to NetGalley and Del Ray Books for the ARC in exchange for review.

Expected publication date: May 18, 2021

(original publication was November 1, 2017)

"Goblin" a novel in 6 interconnected novellas. I really enjoyed the format. It was creative and engaging. Each individual story seems entirely independant, like an anthology, until you begin to pick up on the common threads throughout. The Prologue and Epilogues are key along with the six tales. This book has a very ominous and dark atmosphere that pulls you along to the end.

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this e-ARC. I can hardly wait until I am able to purchase the physical copy.

Goblin contains six novellas which all take place in the town of Goblin. With all story collections, there were ones I enjoyed more than others but what does it mean when I enjoy the prologue or introductory novella more than the rest? Collections are hard for me to rate for the simple reason that some stories shine while others were not that impressive. Thus, I gave it a three-star rating which means I enjoyed it.

If you read the synopsis, you are given a summary of the short stories. Each had a creepy and sinister vibe. I learned early on that Goblin is a strange town and the townspeople are even stranger. Just how strange? Read this collection of novellas to find out!

Besides having Goblin in common, each story ends without resolution. Just when things are getting good, *BAM* the novellas ends. I felt as if the rug was being pulled out from underneath me. If you are looking for closure, you will not get it here. I believe Malerman is leaving the endings up to the reader to imagine the outcome.

Interesting collection, and I really hated when the Prologue story ended. I really wished that story would have been the entire book. * hint hint* But then it would not be a collection of novellas but a novel. So, maybe one day he will expand on that story.

The novellas are original, creative dark, and have a tense feel. Fans of Malerman will enjoy this collection.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Josh Malerman is becoming one of my favorite authors and his latest book, Goblin, is why I love reading his stories. I am not a fan of short story collections. I've just never been able to enjoy them as much as full novels. I'm not sure why. I have just accepted it as fact. So going into Goblin, I admit, I wasn't happy to find that this was a collection of short stories. I thought, "here we go..." But I was wrong!

This is a collection of short stories but I love how they are all woven together and grounded in the mysterious and eerie town called Goblin. I think this is brilliant and helped me keep the "one novel/one story" vibe. It did not feel like a collection of random stories, but a cohesive compilation of stories that work very well together.

My favorite was Presto, I think this is captivating enough to, hopefully, return someday as a full novel. I also enjoyed Happy Birthday, Hunter!, A Man In Slices and the Prologue (which is a perfect way to start this creepy series of stories).

Goblin is fantastic and Josh Malerman is the mastermind who wrote it. I know I will keep reading from this author and Goblin proves why I should. I love reading Stephen King and Malerman gives me the same feel I get when I read Stephen King books. Just the right mix of compelling characters and creepy stories.

I really like the cover for this book. It has that instant "scare the bajesus out of ya" feel you get when you see movie posters from 80's horror movies. It is memorable while striking a feel within you as soon as you set eyes on it.

I want to thank Josh Malerman, Del Rey, Random House Publishing and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

4 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Goblin is a novel that is made up of six novellas that all center around the town of Goblin,MI.(fictional town) Wow this is a creepy novel that really leaves you with a uneasy sense of dread long after you have finished. This is a fairly fast read, I finished in about 1 hour, but absolutely packs a punch. Malerman really knows how to get under your skin, and leave you really contemplating what you just read. I recommend this collection to horror l9vers of all types. I will absolutely be picking up more of Malerman's work now. I cannot wait!!!
Thank you to netgalley for sending me a copy of this novel in exchange for a honest review.
This review will be published on May 7th on Netgalley, goodreads, and my blog The Second Hand Reader

I'm a huge Josh Malerman fan. I love the way his mind works. I love the unique world he creates. But Goblin didn't quite work for me. I loved the worldbuilding of the odd, rainy town of Goblin. I loved that the stories covered areas not usually covered in the horror genre (Malerman is always anything but ordinary). But I couldn't help but feel like the air was let out of my tires as I would reach the end of each tale. Goblin is such a fascinating town with a rich history, but the stories told here never live up to that promise. It was like Malerman designed an award-winning stage set and then forgot to forge a script worthwhile of that setting. .

I am huge fan of Josh McLennan and was really excited to receive this ARC of Goblin. I think was well written, creepy and kept me turning pages. I really liked the stories were a collection that went together. I would recommend this to anyone who likes horror