⭐️⭐️.5

𝘼 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙨𝙮𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚, 𝙖 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮.

I have not read anything by this author before this book, but I have heard many people say his books won’t be for everyone… and I can see why now.

I decided to pick this one up since it was a collection of short stories - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗔𝗿𝗲 being the main novella/story. Paul Tremblay has such an interesting way of writing stories.

I honestly feel like these stories were all over the place - some of them did freak me out and kept me engaged with them… but others just felt strange reading.

I don’t know if it was the author’s way of sharing these stories or if I was just genuinely confused most of the time, but I had to go back so often and reread certain stories. I just kept losing myself.

Some stories were definitely better than others. I did enjoy 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗴 𝗔𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 which took a route with COVID-19. 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗢𝗳 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘄𝘀 was one I had to go back a few times to reread, but I actually ended up really loving that one.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘆 was my absolute favorite out of all the stories. If I was to recommend one, it would hands down be this one. It gave off Shirley Jackson vibes and I was creeped out at times. I was engaged with this one the whole time and I wish it was longer.

However, most of the stories just felt super strange and off-putting. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺: 𝗔 𝗣𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 was one of the shortest stories, but it was so confusing and made no sense. 𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝘆𝗲𝘀 also had so much potential in the beginning, but I didn’t like the way it was told.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗔𝗿𝗲 is the novella this collection ends off with… and honestly, what a disappointment. I felt so underwhelmed as I thought it would’ve been my favorite. There are three different “Ages” and I honestly didn’t care for any of them.

I definitely was not the intended reader of these stories. I do want to pick something else up by this author, but unfortunately, this one just didn’t work for me.

Thank you so much NetGalley and William Morrow for the review eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I’m a big fan of short story collections, but as with all collections, there are stories I enjoyed, and stories I didn’t enjoy.

Some of my favorites in this collection were:
-I Know You’re There
-The Blog at the End of the World
-House of Windows
-The Last Conversation
-The Beast You Are

A few of the stories in this collection are related to his novels, which I also enjoyed. If you haven’t had the chance to read A Head Full of Ghosts, I recommend it as it’ll increase your enjoyment level.

A lot of these stories were really creative, and I enjoyed seeing how Tremblay constructed these stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the chance to read this advanced review copy.

CW: death, grief, pandemic, murder, animal death, body horror, entomophobia, addiction, child abuse, blood, gore, child death

Paul Tremblay is a brilliant writer. The Beast You Are is a haunting, dark, and unnerving collection of short stories that kept me in suspense. Memorable tales that will have you scare in the dark.

I don’t know if Paul Tremblay is for me, there’s nothing wrong with his writing I’m just never fully captivated. With this short story collection, the pacing is what’s a miss for me. A lot of the stories were a struggle to get through.

Three stars because I like it! Typically, short stories are not my go to when choosing a read. However, with that being said, there are some exceptions to that self-imposed rule of mine: Stephen King, Joe Hill, Josh Malerman, and now, Paul Tremblay. I requested this book because I am tackling the Goodreads list of 2023's best horror. What I enjoyed most about The Beast You Are, is that the stories were different enough from one another that the entire book didn't feel repetitive. I also enjoyed returning characters! Overall, this was a book I enjoyed.

The Beast You Are is a series of 15 short stories, some being more scifii and others more horror. All of the stories encounter some version of a monster. Reading through these stories reminded me of the collection Scary Stories You Tell in the Dark or the tv series The Twilight Zone.
There were some stories (The Beast You Are and The Last Conversation ) that I really enjoyed reading. I couldn't get enough and I had so much fun seeing how the stories unfolded.
But then there were other stories that felt like they just ended. They left me confused and with so many questions. Then there were stories that just made me feel unsettled and uncomfortable; they were too weird and creepy.
Finally I found stories that I wish I had more information about before reading them. There are stories relating to characters from A Head Full of Ghosts. Personally I wish I knew more about these characters. There was also a story written for Shirley Jackson. I haven't read much from that author, and I was confused with the ending.
Needless to say, I really like some stories and I also really didn't like others.

DNF @41%- The most enjoyable story in this book, in my opinion, was the first one. I found that one pretty immersive and creepy. I just didn’t enjoy any of the others much and was finding it a slog to try to get through.

A Head Full of Ghosts is one of my favorite horror books and it’s so cool to see some callbacks to that book in these stories! 🎉 I would say Tremblay’s horror leans more psychological or speculative which is right up my alley. With short stories, I’m often left thinking “okay, but what next?” and I won’t say this book is free of those moments. I think it’s so incredibly difficult to wrap up a super short story in a satisfying way.

That being said, I loved some of these stories and the concepts behind them.

💫 “I Know You’re There” was my absolute favorite. It was an emotionally impactful story about the horrors of grief

💫 “The Last Conversation” was so experimental and interesting. It’s about a person who wakes up and cannot see. There are tests being run on the person and their only communication is with one person through an intercom system. The unnamed person and the reader have to piece together the rest.

💫 “The Blog at the End of the World” is a pandemic horror about the fear and tension during a pandemic. I’d say this is Tremblay’s take on a COVID-19 type of situation. Watching things fall apart, watching people die, not being able to reach your loved ones, etc. I also liked the style of this one. It’s super accessible.

Unfortunately, I didn’t love the titular novella. It seemed to drag on and having it right at the end of the book soured my final takeaway slightly. Still an overall solid collection of short stories that I think fans of Tremblay’s prior work will enjoy. There’s definitely something here for everyone! 📚

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing an eARC in exchange for my honest review. 🖤

Paul Tremblay continues to prove in his latest short story collection The Beast You Are, that he can write just about anything and make it engaging and enjoyable to read.

Though not every story fired on all cylinders, there were still plenty that kept you drawn in and wanting more!

Tremblay has a talent for making you think as you read and often times still has you thinking well after you have turned the final page and that, is what I have come to enjoy about his writing.

If you are a fan of Tremblay’s work, then you don’t want to miss this one! Also, if you are a librarian such as I am, you will really enjoy one of the stories…no spoilers though so I won’t say which!

I give this collection 🐶🐶🐱🐱/5

The collection of stories in Paul Tremblay’s newest book, The Beast You Are: Stories, was a bit of a mixed bag for me. Some of the stories I quite enjoyed, like the opening tale: Haunted House Tour: 1 Per Person, while others didn’t quite click with me. I’m looking at you “The Blog at the End of the World” (the style in which he wrote that one just didn’t work for me though I get what he was going for.) If you are familiar with any of Paul’s other works then you’ll understand when I say this collection is very much Tremblay. And depending on how you feel about his work that can be either very good or very bad. As a fan I definitely see that as more of a good thing. I found it especially humorous that he actually kind of works himself into one of the books, making a point of pointing out a criticism than many seem to have of some of his writing, the ambiguous endings to ome of his books, which I’ve never had an issue with. While a definitive ending can be satisfying, I have no issue with a story that leaves you wondering/thinking about the possibilities of what may or may not have come next. Not that I would want that kind of ending in all books, but it is something that I think works for some of Paul’s stories. I feel long time fans of Tremblay’s work will come away from this collection mostly satisfied while those unfamiliar with his work may well be tempted to check out his full length fiction. I’d like to thank William Morrow and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of The Beast You Are.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R3TI3KJ2E0L9GM/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Paul has a variety of superpowers in his fiction but it’s his love of experimentation in form and storytelling that keeps me involved.
I would recommend this collection purely based on the story Ice Cold Lemonade 25 Cents Haunted House Tour which is one of my absolute favorites. Thankfully, The Beast You Are contains an entire table of contents packed with Paul at his best.
Highly recommended.

The last story went on forever, was the longest story and truly confusing. It was some confusing swirl of writing that mimicked a poem and I booed it. It's called free verse. I quit reading after I got to the second age piece of it (FYI there’s three ages). Bah.

There were one or two stories I enjoyed but most had me sighing. Tremblay is hit or miss for me on a good day and this collection felt mostly like misses.

Full review:

"Ice Cold Lemonade 25 cents
Haunted House Tour: 1 Per Person"-(3.5 stars)-It started off promising. An older man now recounting a story about a teenage crush he had and the time he came by and visited her "haunted house." I don't know where the story was going. I think that at times it was trying too hard and adding in details that didn't work. But when Tremblay showed a picture of the drawing that started some of the young girl's nightmares, it didn't work for me. I think the image I had in my head was scarier and I thought the drawing was kind of lame.

"Mean Time" (3 stars)-Not really a scary story, but a story of a young boy who does something mean to an older man that uses chalk sticks to find his way home at the end of the day.

"I Know You're There" (3.5 stars)-I thought this was a good story, about the nature of grief. The repetitiveness of the story the character Silas tells everyone though about finding his husband dead started to take me out of the story. And honestly, at the end I wondered what was I supposed to think. It felt a bit like "Disappearance at Devil's Rock" in parts.

"The Postal Zone: The Possession Edition" (3 stars)-No offense but I am tired of hearing about Marjorie and Merry from "A Head Full of Ghosts". I feel like that story has been milked. Reading a short story which are nasty letters to the editor of some journal called Fangoria. It just didn't add anything new.

"Red Eyes" (2 stars)-This one once again starts Marjorie, Merry, and their parents, but different versions of them. The story is told from it seems an unknown person whose sister told them this "scary" story. In this one though it's real obvious who is good and who is bad. I just shrugged at the end.

"The Blog at the End of the World" (4 stars)-Tremblay's version of COVID-19 and the deaths that were going on with those who still kept denying what was happening. I liked this story much more than the ones that came before it.

"Them: A Pitch" (1 star)-Really short and honestly baffled it was included. It's a pitch about a show I assume. I just went what in the world. At least it was short.

"House of Windows" (4 stars)-This one was interesting, a version of House of Leaves I think. I wish it had been longer.

"The Last Conversation" (5 stars)-I read this story a while ago in Blake Crouch's Forward collection. Other readers may have too. I could not very well rate it lower even though I read it before. I thought it was a shame that something I read years ago was one of the better stories in this collection.

"Mostly Size" (2 stars)-Really short. About a monster.

"The Large Man" (4 stars)-Really interesting story about some fictional secret society made up of Problem Solvers and those they serve called the The Consortium. I thought it was interesting and I liked the ending. Left me with more questions than answers though.

"The Dead Thing" (4.5 stars)-I think most of my issue with Tremblay is that he will provide us with something interesting and there's not enough details to satisfy me. I don't need to have things spelled out for me in excruciating detail, but sometimes some hints would be nice. It took a while for me to get into this story of an older protective sister named and her brother Owen. You get enough dribs and drabs to find out the kids mother abandoned them. Was actually kind of terrible, but their life with their father is worse. And then Owen finds something that is in a box.

"Howard Sturgis and the Letters and the Van and What He Found When He Went Back to His House" (1 star)-No. An endless story that had me bored out of my mind.

"The Party" (5 stars)-The second 5 star read in my humble opinion. A send-up of Shirley Jackson and I definitely caught those vibes. I loved the story from beginning to end and wondered if the world really did end.

"The Beast You Are" (1 star)-This is the free verse story that has three books and they are called "The First Age, The Second Age, and Third Age." I don't know, cat people? Something. I lost total interest after I saw the second age. The first age starts at 45 percent (I was reading via my Kindle) and the final story ends at 96 percent. I am not made of stone people. I was not doing this to myself. So I skimmed and then went seriously when I realized the rest of the book was going to be about this long drawn out weird story. In his notes, Tremblay brings up how he was always wanted to write an anthropomorphic animal story a la "Watership Down" and how he loved Smaug from "The Hobbit". So congrats on doing it I guess? I did not like this at all.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Beast You Are.

I have a love/hate relationship with the author. He's got great ideas but the narratives always leave me feeling bleh.

That's how I felt about the stories in The Beast You Are.

There's great potential for each story to be something truly dark, scary, macabre, but nothing really lands.

There are creepy and sinister undertones but the execution falls flat.

As some reviewers noted, the endings are unsatisfying, frustrating.

I don't mind vague, ambiguous endings, but the narrative that came before it didn't fill me up so I'm still hungry for more.

This is a compilation of unsettling short fiction stories that will bring a tingle to the back of your neck. True to Tremblay’s signature style, you won’t have all the answers and the stories are often open ended.

I found this collection to be so creative and thought provoking in an eerie way, which I enjoyed. It covers topics of coming to terms with your past, grief, the monsters that lurk, and unraveling fears. It’s haunting.

Tremblay has a knack for creating tension at just the right moments and is a talented and unique writer. I wouldn’t call this horror, or particularly scary, but it definitely sticks with the reader and forges a feeling of unease.

For many years - decades, even - I wasn't much one for short stories. They always seemed... well, TOO short, with abrupt endings that never seemed to say as much as I'd hoped they would. The form, too, never seemed terribly interesting to me - just truncated versions of what I'd rather be reading instead. 

But as time went on, I began to find writers who really stretched what the short story could do, playing with both form and content in ways I hadn't realized were possible. Paul Tremblay - whose novels I also adore - is one of those writers; his previous short story collection, Growing Things, grabbed me in a way few such collections historically have, and this new collection, The Beast You Are, continues the trend.

In "The Blog At The End Of The World," for instance, we're reading not just a series of blog posts penned by an increasingly isolated young 20-something as the world gradually ends around her, but a reverse chronology, AND the comments section, leading us ultimately to a slow realization of what, precisely, occurred to cause things to end up how they are. 

In "The Last Conversation," we experience a series of conversations with someone we're told is our doctor as we remain trapped in a single room, recovering from a mysterious ailment no one will tell us anything about. (And I do mean "we"; written in the second person, the story positions the reader as the protagonist.)

And in the novella for which the collection is named, "The Beast You Are," a fable-like setting populated by anthropomorphic animals quickly becomes a nightmare, all told in a prose poem format that gives it the air of legend.

Fans of A Head Full Of Ghosts - my personal favorite of Tremblay's novels - will find a lot here to love; several stories exist within the A Head Full Of Ghosts universe, or, in some cases, offer differing takes on its characters and their dynamic. The titular novella is particularly notable in this respect - and, indeed, I might even go so far as to say that when it comes to this particular collection, it's sort of a, "come for the short stories, stay for the novella" situation. "The Beast You Are" is arresting in its plot, in its ideas, and in its presentation - a real triple threat.

I'm always excited to see what Tremblay has in store for us, and each page of The Beast You Are offers something to shock and delight. An excellent read.

I love how Paul Tremblay’s books and short stories employ different types of horror. He doesn’t just have one lane that he sticks in. It’s also cool to see returning characters like Karen Brissette, Merry, and Marjorie, sometimes with different roles than their original stories. I think my favorite story in the collection was “I Know You Were There.” It’s emotionally impactful and also made me feel like something was standing over my shoulder. I also particularly enjoyed “The Blog at the End of the World” and “Last Conversation.”

As with any collection, some stories are stronger than others. I also think it’s pretty apparent that these were not all written to be in a collection together. It just never feels like a cohesive whole. If you’re a fan of Paul Tremblay’s novels but have never checked out his short stories, I’d say to give The Beast You Are a try. Even if you don’t absolutely love every story, there’s probably something you’ll find to enjoy.

•(Ice Cold Lemonade 25c)
Haunted House Tour: 1 Per Person- 4
•Mean Time- 3
•I know You're There- 4
•The Postal Zone: The Possession Edition- 3
•Red Eyes- 3
•The Blog at the End of the World- 4
•Them: A Pitch- 2.5
•House of Windows- 3
•The Last Conversation- 4
•Mostly Size- 2.5
•The Large Man- 3.5
•The Dead Tinh- 4
•Howard Sturgis and the Letters and the Van and What He Found When He Went- 3
•The Party- 3
•The Beast You Are- 2.5

Weirdly enough this summer is a short story summer for me. I’ve read a lot of collections by authors I really, really love. Stephen Graham Jones, Josh Malerman, and now Paul Tremblay. I really like Paul Tremblay’s writing style. It’s always ambitious and wildly creative. And this collection is no different. Surreal at times these stories cover so many different vibes, and I really appreciate what Tremblay is attempting here. However, it really wasn’t for me. I think I went into this expecting like super horror vibes, and this isn’t that. It’s the exact same reason I didn’t click with his last novel- The Pallbearers. It just wasn’t what I was looking for, and felt a little sloggy. That being said, this collection contains one of the best short stories I’ve ever read??? It’s called “The Last Conversation”, and it’s told almost exclusively in dialogue, but it’s absolutely profound and heartbreaking. Ugh what a story! I also really liked “The Large Man”. But that’s really all that resonated with me, and both for super different reasons. Also this cover is stunning!

I'll be posting my review on my Instagram closer to the Pub date- @boozehoundbookclub

I love Paul Tremblay so much, especially Head Full of Ghosts. So all these short stories about Merry and Marjorie (no spoilers) made me really excited. So excited that I almost missed my gym class, and after what happened to David, you might want to skip a workout every once in a while.

It’s not all horror, there is some speculative work in here as well. There were a few stories that I would have loved to see longer pieces about. Aka the clone and the house of windows.

Just an FYI, I got this as an advanced ebook from NetGalley and the publisher. There were a bunch of typos so I hope they were caught in copy editing.

I’m new to Tremblay’s work and was really excited to get a taste of it via short stories. This consisted of 14 short stories and one novella that took about half of the page count. While the collection is marketed as horror, most of them had a sci-fi vibe. I really appreciated Tremblay’s author notes for each story and wish I read each note immediately after it’s respective story. If you plan on reading this, I absolutely recommend doing that! The stories were hit or miss for me, mostly miss. But the ones I enjoyed were so good that I find myself still thinking about them days later: The Blog at the End of the World and The Last Conversation. I think the great thing about this collection is that the stories are all so different that you’ll definitely vibe with at least one of them. If I liked the novella The Beast You Are, this would’ve been a lot better. I enjoyed the fact that Tremblay did that in free verse, it was so different. But the novella itself ended up just being okay, started off strong but then dragged. The whole concept of this collection was really unique, experimental, and was clearly a passion project. Worth checking out if you’re a fan of his work or like horror story collections.