Thank you to Net Galley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Overall? I'm so impressed by Bora Chung's ability to explore so many different genres, while still maintaining her own authentic style throughout. Great collection. More hits than misses!

The Head
This is 100% nightmare fuel. A woman discovers a partially formed head in her toilet that refers to her as "Mother." At first, she tries to ignore the problem. Then, she seeks help and advice from people around her. The general consensus is that she should ignore it. And eventually, when she can't ignore it, she tries to get rid of it.

After getting over how sick the concept was, I thought that maybe the story had to do with double standards and the sort of shame women are made to feel about their bodies. However, that seems to be only part of what's happening here. In an interview with Publishers Weekly, Bora Chung said, “'The Head' is about the fact that no one wants to listen to women. When the woman in the story tells her family about the head in the toilet, they all say, ‘Ignore it, it’s nothing.’ Everyone acts like it’s normal, but life is not normal." Can already tell this story collection is not for the faint of heart!

The Embodiment
A woman is prescribed birth control pills to regulate her period, only to (as a side-effect of the medicine) become pregnant. At the prompting of everyone else, she spends the story attempting to find her unborn child a father, as the idea of single motherhood is an inconceivable horror to the world around her.

There's quite a few interesting points being made here:
1) The idea that hormonal birth control (which has adverse side effects for SO many women) is the go-to solution for so many doctors
2) Single mothers are mistreated within the confines of a patriarchal structure
3) Men have a choice in becoming fathers, while woman often do not

Cursed Bunny
A dark, twisted story with "damn the man" sentiments at its core. The narrator's grandfather recalls a personal vendetta he had against a CEO whose corporation destroyed his childhood friend's family (and its business). As a result, he sent off a cursed object to wreak havoc on the conglomerate, watching as it slowly but surely shredded its way through the company. However, the revenge comes at a cost, ultimately giving fable vibes with the slight twist at the end.

The Frozen Finger
Well, this was downright creepy. Kind of a running theme with these stories. After a brutal car crash leaves her foggy, a teacher is forced to trust the mysterious voice alongside her. However, the voice's "story" keeps changing. Escalating, more specifically. And as the tension between them builds, the bleak reality of her situation becomes clearer.

Snare
I'm living for these folktale/fable-esque stories that Chung has woven into the collection. This one might be my favorite so far (though equally disturbing as the others, if not more so). Like "Cursed Bunny," we see karma used as a tool to expose the evils of greed and capitalism. In his travels, a man encounters a wounded fox that bleeds gold. Instead of helping the fox, the man continues to exploit the fox's blood for his own gain, reinjuring it until it eventually dies. However, the cycle continues once his own children's blood proves just as fruitful. So, so dark, but it kept me on the edge of my seat.

Goodbye My Love
This one was less folktale and more Black Mirror. And while that's normally a good thing, this story played out a little bit predictably. It's your classic case of AI-gone-rogue (with a bit of commentary on aging bodies). Given how many unexpected twists and turns were in "Snare," I guess I was just hoping for more.

Scars
This was the longest story so far, but also the one I've liked the least so far. Our main character - "the youth" - escapes a dark, desolate cave where he is being tortured by an unnamed beast (referred to as "It"), only to end up being relentlessly exploited by his "savior." I can appreciate the commentary being made about monsters hiding in plain sight, BUT I also struggled to remain engaged with this one.

Home Sweet Home
These stories in the latter half don't seem to be hitting as hard as earlier ones. However, while I didn't love this story about a young couple investing in a cursed building, there were various thought-provoking moments. There just felt like too many things going on here that it was difficult to focus in on one specific takeaway.

Ruler of the Winds and Sands
Forget what I just said about the "latter half" not hitting as hard; this was excellent. Betrothed to a blind prince being punished for his father's crimes, a young princess sets off to reverse the curse, ultimately discovering that (seems to be a running theme here) men... ain't... shit. I think we all knew where this one was headed before it even got there. Still. She deserved better!

Reunion
There's truly nothing repetitive about this collection. Bora Chung proves she can tackle it all. Despite being a ghost story, there's nothing creepy or horrific about it. It's about two strangers-turned-lovers who have the shared ability to see ghosts. Actually a very sad note to end on.

Thank you to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung is a collection of short stories that have been translated from Korean. The stories delve between fantasy and horror. One of my favorite stories from the collection is "The Head," excerpted below, in which a disembodied head appears in a woman's toilet. Another of my favorite stories is "The Embodiment," in which a woman struggles to find a father for her unborn child. But is this an immaculate conception or something more horrible?

Here is a chilling excerpt from the first story "The Head":

"She was about to flush the toilet.
"Mother?"
She looked back. There was a head popping out of the toilet calling for her.
"Mother?"
The woman looked at it for a moment. Then, she flushed the toilet. The head disappeared in a rush of water.
She left the bathroom."

Overall, Cursed Bunny is a collection of short stories featuring robots, princes, and princesses. It will appeal to fans of Kelly Link and Junji Ito. One highlight of this book is how intriguing the premises of some of these short stories are. I was very interested after reading a few pages. If I had to complain about 1 thing, I would say that some of the stories didn't stand out as much as the highlights. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of short story collections in general, I recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in December!

These stories feel like modern fairy tales - a mixture of horror and whimsy that will take readers into Korean culture and into universal human foibles. I enjoyed the titular story of the bunny - it has a moral story in it for sure. I also liked the first story about the Head - unsettling and memorable. There are plenty of thought-provoking stories in here. Perfect for fans of Sayaka Murata, Yun Ko-Eun, Kelly Link, and Samantha Hunt.

This was too cool...it was grotesque, gory, thought-provoking. I loved it. I don't know why. But I did!

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I read this all almost all the way through with minimal breaks. Usually with compilations of short stories, I find there's always at least one that does absolutely nothing for me. That didn't happen here. Each story was eerie and intriguing but somehow without trying too hard. I'd love to read the author's full-length novels; here's to hoping they are translated soon.

What a first story in this collection that was so creepy and yet restrained. And that is just the beginning with each story so different. A great choice to give someone looking to get out of their reading comfort zone.

Every story that I’ve read from this collection possesses a kind of dark, almost psychedelic absurdity to it. However, it’s not the kind that drives me away, but rather, that makes me want to keep on going. I think part of it is because I want to see what other strange places Bora Chung’s imagination will take me next. Also, while I’m sure some of his stories make a lot more sense in a specifically modern day Korean context, I also find them honestly quite fitting for the chaotic, ridiculous context that I currently find myself living in. These stories help confirm the present is a baffling mess by exaggerating some modern woes to a twisted degree. However, they also provide a kind of escape with their settings and poles that manage to be more preposterous and fantastical than what I currently experience or read about in my day to day. There’s an odd comfort to it, honestly.

I’m glad I stepped out of my comfort zone for the tales of “Cursed Bunny.” And I hope to see more of Chung’s stories, as she’s done a marvelous job capturing much of the strange spirit of these times.