I love Malerman's books. Unlike Goblin, where the collection of novellas were more tightly themed around the town they take place in, Spin a Black Yarn feels like Malerman had more room to stretch and explore. Some real bangers in this collection, and it's not to be missed.

Spin a Black Yarn is the latest, short anthology of five tales from Josh Malerman's repertoire of dark tales. The mixture of stories runs the gamut haunted house to sci-fi, Malerman explores the dark side of the soul. Sping a Black Yarn, does not disappoint and will feed the part of you hungry for twisty tales.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

First off— all of the stories in this, on a pure prose level, are such solid writing. However, the pacing dragged on in them. I'm not unused to slower pacing, especially in gothic or slowburn horror (I used to read a lot of Lovecraft. I know how to read a story that drags), but the pacing in these just had me pacing, wishing that various characters would just get to the point. I think it could have easily used some tightening in some places.

And here's my biggest issue. I just felt like I was reading Ray Bradbury pastiches. If I wanted to read Bradbury, I would be out and reading him (tbh reading this has made me want to revisit the Martian Chronicles, so kudos there). While the stories are all really conceptually fun, there wasn't that spark to them that set them apart from similar things I'd encountered from other authors.

All in all, it wasn't bad? It was a solid and interesting book, but in the end it just left me feeling "eh"

Half the House is Haunted-A sister constantly trying to scare her younger brother, telling him half of the house is haunted, but not what half. It follows the siblings lives into their 80s and the last line of the story is amazing.

Argyle-a father tells his deepest darkest secrets and urges to his family. This one I could not stop reading, there’s just enough in the story to relate to and creep yourself out!

Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer TM- an interesting and expensive gadget sold to a very cruel couple. When they run the House Washer though it starts to clean more than just their possessions.

Jupiter Drop-a weird and wonderful mix of trauma induced horror and scifi. A man who is dealing with his family leaving him goes on a trip to drop through the planet Jupiter and has to deal with himself during his isolation.

Egorov- two surviving triplets track down and take revenge on the man who murdered their brother. I wasn’t sure if I’d like this one but the way the brothers exacted their revenge was clever, devious, and well thought out

What I Didn’t Like:
-Some stories have no chapter breaks and very few spots to stop and put it down but they’re also too long to read in one sitting. This can be frustrating to some readers.
-As is typical with horror, you’ll be confronted with some disgusting scenes. Readers beware. If you’re not a normal reader of horror, it may be a bit much for you.
-With any anthology, there are stories that don’t seem to stack up against the rest. In my opinion, that’s the last one in this collection. While it had a great opening line, it lacked a little. I wanted a bit more from the story.

What I Did Like:
+The very first short story in this collection sets the tone well. It’s dark and scary. It leaves some things unanswered, as short stories often do, but it’s intriguing and works!
+All tied together by being set in the fictional town of Samhattan. Side Note: Malerman mentions Samhattan and the development of these stories in the author’s note at the end of the book. Take the time to read that because it’s fascinating. Also, I wholeheartedly agree about the hotel angle for a show. Great idea!
+The stories are a great blend of horror. Some almost jump scare, some sort of slow and languid, some that are absolutely disgusting in their inability to stop at a boundary line. As far as horror goes, there’s a little something in this collection for every horror fan!

Who Should Read This One:
-Horror fans. This is a great collection with a little something for all of us fans of the scary and macabre.

I have read two of Josh's books, Bird Box and Daphne. My wife has read almost all of his books, but I've had trouble with them. At least, I used to. I intend to revisit his books after reading this collection of novellas.

Spoilers Ahead

Let's start out with the first story. This one felt chaotic at first. As I settled in, making my way around the story as the characters makes their way around the house. It made me uncomfortable in a way I've tried to put into words. This has become difficult, at least with this story. The presences within Half The House Is Haunted made me think about my childhood.

There are numerous throughlines in this story. It's longer than some of the others. I wonder if Josh thought of expanding it into something longer. It feels like it could have been longer.

My uncomfortableness with this story lies with the telling of it. The first sequence is about childhood and what we find in our house. It's about discovering the parts of your house your parents forbid you from, siblings, and how we don't get along with some of ours.

It reminds me of one of the houses I grew up in. We were forbidden from going into our parent's room. Which is normal. But discovering the house between the siblings and their interactions scared me more than the story itself.

I'll move forward to the next story, Argyle.

Have you ever had those thoughts? The ones you shouldn't speak about? What if you decided to come clean on your deathbed. How would that go?

Luckily, Josh has done that for us, but if you want to spill your secrets, go for it. I won't hold you back.

I enjoyed the hell out of this story. We've all had those uncomfortable thoughts. Or maybe it's me. I love Shawn in this story. He was honest about letting go of who he wanted to be and not letting anyone know until the end of his life. The struggle of keeping those secrets is similar to the first story. It's about secrets.

Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer

Doug and Judy worked their whole lives to have the best of everything, but they've sacrificed themselves to get there.

The house washer cleans everything up. It doesn't hold back from those little things you've kept in drawers, literally and figuratively. As the cleaner makes its way through the house, we see the darkness within Doug and Judy. We see what they've done. Who they've done it to, and how far they've gone to get where they are. It was a fantastic exploration of what people will do to get ahead in life and business and to be better than those around them.

The scenes in the bubble gave me that claustrophobic feeling. It's as much of us, the reader, watching them, and them watching their lives.

Jupiter Drop

I'd like to see Josh do more science fiction like this. The claustrophobic feeling of the box. I was fascinated by Steve and what happened to him and all the little details. This was a great exploration of doing anything to escape your problems, only to find them waiting for you.

Egorov

This was my favorite story in the collection. I recently finished The Brothers Karamazov and found the writing in this story similar, but one particular scene stood out. When one brother returns to a house to find a woman living in it, there is a scene in Egorov similar, or at least gave the same vibes.

The story of revenge is an almost Dickensian tale of scaring someone to get revenge for what they've done. It reminded me of many classic mystery and revenge books I've read.

I would like to see Josh write a novel-length book like this one. A revenge/mystery book.

I read this through NetGalley, but I will buy it when it comes out. I want to reread this last story.

Josh is a great writer, and I'll go to Goblin soon.

I'm a huge fan of Malerman's writing--still raving about Inspection and forever traumatized by Pearl--so I couldn't wait to dive into Spin a Black Yarn.

Shorter fiction can be tricky. Investing in characters takes more for the reader and the author, nailing the pacing is more difficult, and being able to engage in each story with a quick turnaround is often a matter of preference that doesn't always translate well.

When it's done well, however, the payoff is so worth it--see Stephen King's Different Seasons, my all-time favorite collection of novellas--and Malerman did not let me down here. Each story in this collection brings a different facet of character exploration through dark secrets, unreliable narrators, and pure terror.

My personal favorites were Half the House Is Haunted and Argyle. If you loved Paul Tremblay's Head Full of Ghosts, you will love Half the House. I devoured that in a single sitting and still think about this story every day. Argyle, too, is such a clever, horrifying premise it was impossible not to be affected. Straight forward and devastating in the best possible way.

Overall, Spin a Black Yarn confirms that Malerman is a master storyteller. These stories will make you think, feel, and question your own choices. Add this to your TBRS immediately.

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

Longtime Malerman readers will be familiar with Samhattan. All of these stories are linked to that city. Not as colorful, or as wet, as Goblin, Samhattan is just as dark. A half-haunted house (or half a haunted one?), an insane deathbed confession, the world’s most advanced automated cleaning gadget, a Russian ghost story and even a trip to Jupiter are the subjects of this volume. I wasn’t too impressed by the haunted house and the Russian tale was a little too wordy for my taste, but the rest of the stories were as great as I expected from this author. The characters are over the top, but that’s by design. There are callbacks and easter eggs for attentive readers, and the writing is so atmospheric that Malerman creates Samhattan in your mind completely and vividly. It is a completely twisted, suffocating, unbearable place and I loved it!
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey!

This is a translated version of the original review (in spanish)

Score: 3.3 Stars

First of all, I want to thank Del Rey for giving me the opportunity to review this book and for trusting me and my reviews with this ARC.

Josh Malerman is an author I've been listening about for a good couple of years. I knew that he is the author of Birdbox and that he's specialized in the horror genre, however, I have not gotten the opportunity to read it yet. This is why, when I saw that this ARC was available on Netgalley, I decided to request it and settle that debt I had with the author.

In "Spin a Black Yarn" Malerman presents five novellas, all developed in the town of Samhattan. I liked this first detail, because it creates the perspective that there is a whole universe of stories and events that occur in this place and that the reader still does not know about. What other things have happened in Samhattan that we are not aware of?

My favorite story was the first one, which is called "Half the House Is Haunted", where we will see how Robin, a little boy, is constantly tormented by his older sister, who tells him that half the house is haunted. As the pages turn we see all the options with which a house could be haunted in half, which I found entertaining, and by being constantly exposed to this idea, Robin ends up having lifelong scars.

On the other hand, this story maintains the feeling of suspense throughout the story, which motivated me to keep moving forward. How nice it was to get to the end and discover the mystery about the haunted half of the house.

If I had to choose another story to occupy the second position, it would be "Egorov", a novella with which the book ends. I especially liked this one because it is a thriller where revenge is the main focus of the characters.

In general, the other stories went well. However, I was left with the feeling that I needed something more, a creepier or more exciting factor that left me shocked. Of course, I liked the premise of “Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer(TM)”, although I would have liked to know a little more about the girl who sold them the machine, or that the story took a more aggressive turn.

Other than that, this has been an entertaining read, I'm curious to read other Malerman's novels, especially Birdbox, the adaptation of which I saw a long time ago. I recommend "Spin a Black Yarn" to those who are looking for short stories of mystery and suspense to liven up their week.

great anthology from Josh Malerman! I really enjoyed these five stories

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the review copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This is my second Josh Malerman book and with my love of anthologies, I wanted to give it a try. These 5 stories ranged in level of how much I liked them. All of these stories were unique and I appreciate Josh’s writing skills and creativity. 3.5 stars.

The first story “Half The House Is Haunted” tells of 2 siblings who have a very strange relationship. The older sister terrorizes her little brother, telling him that “half the house is haunted” but she will never tell him which half. His sister’s teasing as well as the ghosts he saw in his childhood have followed him throughout his life. This story was interesting, but I felt like it was missing something. It’s broken up in 3 different parts and it still didn’t really explain much.

“Argyle” was one of my favorites. A man on his death bed finally reveals to his family a dark secret he’s been hiding his whole life. I was fully invested in his story. I love how people would be like “okay Shawn, that’s enough” and he’d just continue like he didn’t care. I don’t know what I would have done if my Father confessed to the things Shawn did. I don’t think I would ever be the same.

“Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer™️” honestly felt like a Black Mirror or Twilight Zone episode I would have loved to see adapted. Doug and Judy are pompous assholes who treat everyone around them like dirt. They purchase a state of the art house cleaner that is supposed to make every single thing in the house clean. All their appliances, clothes, and even trash. Everything gets washed away. And it should, for the money they paid. This one was actually super sad. I love stories where we see people’s life crumble around them and their tragic pasts be revealed. I also thought of Scrooged a lot during this story. If you’ve seen it, you know what I mean.

“The Juniper Drop” is story for the lovers of sci-fi. A man trying to run away from his guilt signs up to participate in a trip to space where his past is out to get him and his mind slowly unravels. I love the “nobody can save you in space or from yourself” stories and this one was short and sweet.

The last story “Egrov” tells of 2 brothers, who are a set of triplets, and their road to vengeance when their 3rd brother is murdered. I couldn’t help but think of The Umbrella Academy and the Swedish triplets who try to get revenge after one of them is murdered. It had the same exact vibes.

All in all, this collection wasn’t bad. It had some hits and misses for me. Some dragged on while others I didn’t think were long enough. I’ll have to check out more of Josh’s stories to get a better feel of his writing, for sure.

I’ve always found Josh’s work to have immense power in shorter forms. Not to detract from his wildly entertaining novels but Spin A Black Yarn joins Goblin and A House at the Bottom of a Lake as my favorites. An easy recommendation and a great way for folks to get into Malerman’s work.

"Five harrowing novellas of horror and speculative fiction from the singular mind of the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box.

Josh Malerman is a master weaver of stories - and in this spine-chilling collection he spins five twisted tales from the shadows of the human soul:

A sister insists to her little brother that "Half the House Is Haunted" by a strange presence. But is it the house that's haunted - or their childhoods?

In "Argyle," a dying man confesses to homicides he never committed, and he reveals long-kept secrets far more sinister than murder.

A tourist takes the ultimate trip to outer space in "The Jupiter Drop," but the real journey is into his own dark past.

In "Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer(TM)," a trendy married couple buys the latest home gadget only to find themselves trapped by their possessions, their history...and each other.

And in "Egorov," a wealthy old cretin murders a young man, not knowing the victim was a triplet. The two surviving brothers stage a savage faux-haunting - playing the ghost of their slain brother - with the aim of driving the old murderer mad."

Does one wonder if Josh Malerman's growing up was akin to the Addams Family?

Spin a Black Yarn is a collection of five novellas/short stories. I found this to be an enjoyable and thought provoking mixed bag of stories.

"Half the House Is Haunted"- an older sister, eight-year-old sister Stephanie tries to convince/show her six-year-old brother Robbie that the house is haunted. Well, maybe not the whole house, maybe just half the house is haunted.

"Argyle" - a dying man confesses to crimes he never committed. To be a fly on the wall, during this confession.

"The Jupiter Drop" - a tourist takes a trip to outer space while taking readers on a journey into his past and the guilt he carries.

"Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer - a couple buys the latest washer. They like to impress, and this new washer will do just that, or will it? They are the ultimate consumers, after all. Be careful what you wash when you have dirty laundry.

"Egorov," a man kills a young man who was a triplet, and his brothers seek revenge.

I am hit or miss with short story collections. They tend to be a mixed bag with those I think are great and those that miss the mark. This was an overall enjoyable collection that fans of Josh Malerman will enjoy. As with his other books, this collection showcased his creativity, originality, and dark subject matter.

I also liked that I could read a novella, put this down and come back to it when I was ready for another. Overall, an enjoyable and thought provoking read.

3.5 stars

This was my first Josh Malerman book, and I had high hopes. I didn’t hate it, I would still give another one of his books a try, especially since I have Pearl already and loved the Bird Box movie. However, this was not my favorite. I think he relied too heavily on shock factor without real climax and internal anguish for my liking.

Spin A Black Yarn is a compilation of five novellas written by the author of the notorious Bird Box. Each of the stories is spooky in its own way.
My favorite tale in the book is a toss up between Doug and Judy Buy The House Washer™️ which is about a very rich couple who buy a machine that cleans everything top to bottom, including “their closets”, and Egorov, a tale about avenging a loved one.
I found Argyle to be so-so. It details a man on his deathbed confessing. The Jupiter Drop and Half the House Is Haunted had me a little lost and uninterested. I was not a fan of the writing style of Half the House Is Haunted. Overall I think Spin A Black Yarn is worthy of recommendation!

This is a good collection of 5 novellas. As I was reading them, they felt like more science fiction than horror, reminding of something like Black Mirror. The stories are good but very dialogue heavy and some times I felt a little lost in what was happening. Some times nothing is happening, you're just lost in the mind of the character. The 2 standout stories for me were Argyle and Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer.

I thought this book was soooo interesting! I wanted to read it because I adored Bird Box and this collection of horror stories did not disappoint.

I'm not the biggest reader of short stories because I'm always left wanting more - while that's frustrating, it's also a sign the author kept my interest.

Malerman gives us various stories ranging from siblings dealing with a haunted house, a man moments from dying confesses to wishing he had become the serial killer he always wanted to be (I know, I know!), a man traveling to Jupiter by his own choice, a terrible couple who are reminded of their past behavior while having their house cleaned and twins haunting the murderer of their triplet brother.

While a tad weird, these stories were all set in Samhattan (Manhattan? wink, wink) so they were somewhat connected.

I enjoyed how each told varying degrees of horror and weirdness.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine for providing me an e-copy of SPIN A BLACK YARN to review.

I rate SPIN A BLACK YARN four out of five stars.

Spin A Black Yarn is a compilation of horror novellas, similar to the style of Malerman's previous collection Goblin. Each story is moody and unique. They are all set in Malerman's Samhattan, and many include references to the same possibly evil corporation. However, there's much less tying the stories in SABY together than there is in Goblin. This left me searching for reoccurring characters or plotlines where there weren't any, and now I am tired.

"Half the House is Haunted" is your traditional haunted house story, except only parts of the house are haunted. A brother and sister are the only ones who seem to notice. The sister, being older, uses the ghosts to torment her brother.

In "Argyle" a man on his deathbed confesses to all of the murders he wishes he had committed.

"The Jupiter Drop" follows a man on his vacation from Earth to the center of Jupiter, as he tries to sort out his guilt for what happened back on Earth. There's a lot of guilt in this book.

In "Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer," a monstrous couple are forced to confront the things they did to become rich and successful. The dialogue reminds me of a Hemingway short.

"Egorov" takes us back in time to when Samhattan had horses walking its streets. Two triplets get revenge on the man who tried to kill their third. This one was WAY too long. It had a great style, similar to "The Tell-Tale Heart", but it was so repetitive that it was hard to finish. A few chapters could have been cut out.

A few more connecting threads between the stories would have made "Spin a Black Yarn" a five star read, but four is good too.

Wowowowow, I love this collection of stories so much! Spin a Black Yarn is a collection of five novellas from acclaimed horror writer, Josh Malerman. Varying in genre and style this is a really rich collection for every kind of horror fan. From a dying man’s chilling last words to a man in a glass box hurtling through Jupiter, each story is super memorable. The last story, Egorov, even delivered like a Edgar Allen Poe reminiscent revenge story. It ruled! The only thing that I didn’t love is that two stories back to back- "Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer(TM)” and “The Jupiter Drop” are a little too similar thematically to be put right next to each other, but I still really liked both. My favorite stories were “Argyle” and “Half the House is Haunted”, but this is a really impressive collection of work. I super recommend!

My review will be posted closer to the publication date on my Instagram- @boozehoundbookclub