Josh does not disappoint. The first 2 stories were my favorite. I rather enjoyed the Juniper Drop but the last and longest story did drag out a bit. I think it could have been shorter but still a very interesting story altogether. Would definitely recommend.

Malerman is the type of author who despite his successes still takes swings. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't. This collection is varied.

Of the stories contained within I felt two were successful. One tells of a man who makes confessions on his death bed to his family that aren't what one would hope to hear be their loved one's last words. It's a simple premise, but not one I've read before and he spares no punches. Another talks about isolation on a very long trip. This one was the one story in the collection I wanted to go on for more pages. The other tales didn't connect at all for me. They felt way too long and didn't land the endings.

If you're a Malerman fan, go ahead and read this. When he's good he's really good and there definitely will be something here you like. If you're mixed on his works, skip it. New readers should check out something else first (Goblin is a treat if you're looking for shorter stories).

Spin a Black Yarn is an exceptional compilation of horror novellas that will captivate your imagination and send shivers down your spine. Each novella presents a unique and haunting story that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

My top 2 tales were first about exploring a haunted house through the eyes of a skeptical brother and his insistent sister. The author skillfully blurs the lines between the supernatural and the complexities of their troubled childhood. The other tale I enjoyed was about a married couple that had everything they could ever ask for and more, find themselves trapped in their newest home gadget revisiting their past leading to unsettling realization.

Each tale is a testament to Josh Malerman’s ability to delve into the darkest recesses of the human psyche, crafting stories that are both unsettling and thought-provoking. Prepare to be captivated and disturbed by Malerman’s haunting narratives that will leave you questioning the boundaries of reality and the shadows that reside within us all.


Thank you to @netgalley for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Josh Malerman has a style unlike any author I know. While his novels dig deep, his novellas and collections (Goblin, House at the Bottom of the Lake) can give you the same depth in less words than most authors can do, without being overly descriptive. You visualize it so easily. Here in Spin a Black Yarn, the novellas get to the point with the same depth you wouldn’t expect in a shorter story or stories. There’s a reason he has written over 30 novels and novellas and stops nothing short of amazing every time. Pick up this collection.

**I was provided an ARC**

I did not enjoy this collection of short stories in the slightest and was very disappointed that it read like the worst episodes of Cabinet of Curiosities. I don’t care about any of these people and the writing is so incredibly repetitive for what?

I want to start by saying I love the creative trajectory Josh Malerman is currently on. His outside of the box thinking is fresh and I dare say, he seems to thrive in it. I've read some of the books he has written after Bird Box and I am glad I picked those up. They are not Bird Box, nor should they be. The reason I say this is because I feel there are authors that have a hugely successful novel and then, for some reason, they feel they need to continue writing within the boundaries of their successful book. Josh Malerman isn't afraid to let some of his story ideas play out.

I really enjoyed Spin a Black Yarn. For me, this says a lot because it is rare that I like short stories collections. Each of the stories in Spin a Black Yarn felt unique with a bizarre vibe. The stories, "Doug and Judy Buy a House Washer" and "Jupiter Drop" made me feel like, "what the heck did I just walk in to?". "Half of the House" is just insane to think of how long the endurance of evil can last. My absolute favorite were, "Argyle" and "Egorov". These stories best represent how talented Josh Malerman is as an author. I loved the references to locations from his other novels. Josh is slowly but surely building his own Maler-verse and I look forward to reading more from this strange, scary and mysterious universe.

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

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read/review. I’m not typically a big horror reader, but I wanted to try something different and I was REALLY drawn to this cover. I’d have to say Argyle was my favorite of the 5 just because of the concept. Some of the others were… eh. Wasn’t into the fourth story line at all. I think I will stick to spicy novellas.

Spin a Black Yard is a book composed of five novellas. As you open to the first story the yarn begins to spin and takes you on a journey through Samhatten.

Samhatten is where Daphne was from. If you've had the pleasure of meeting Daphne or rather the displeasure, you know what kind place this is and the people it could possibly contain.

The first story is called 'Half of the House is Haunted' in which an older sister proceeds to drive her brother nuts with trying to figure out which half is haunted or if any of it is haunted. The way this story wrapped up at the end was very emotional and tied together the first thread in a neurotic, emotional, and spooky way.

The second story called 'Argyle' was about a serial killer that has never killed and upon starting it I thought how can this possibly be portrayed? It was portrayed in a deranged and sinister way and the ending of it, the ending, oh my heart. Argyle... (You'll have to read it to see).

The third story entitled 'Doug and Judy Buy The House Washer,' this boring unassuming title hides a gem, a brilliant blinding gem of a story. This is my absolute favorite of all of them. Doug and Judy are the worst and everybody hates them. What happens to them? What is a house washer? Were they always this horrible? The answers lie therein.

'The Jupiter Drop' takes us beyond the stars and to realms unknown.

Then the last story called 'Egorov' follows the story of triplets, one of which has been murdered and to exact their revenge for their brother they decide to haunt the killer and slowly drive him mad.

A fantastic ride of intriguing and electric stories that weaves a tapestry or rather spins a yarn of the place that is Samhatten. Where strange things lurk around the corner waiting to be discovered.

This is one of the best novella collections I’ve read. Each story is amazing and stays with you. A must read.

Thanks so much to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with this e-Arc! I have a planned review of this on my Instagram and will also review on Goodreads once I get to this read. This is one of my most anticipated reads of this year! Until then, I am giving a star rating as a placeholder on Netgalley. Stay tuned for my in depth review on all my social media platforms!

Thank you to Netgalley for this advance PDF. Josh Malerman offered one of his best novels last year with Daphne, and I was eager to see what he did with a handful of stories in Spin a Black Yarn. I was especially looking forward to it after Paul Tremblay’s The Beast You Are, a collection of mostly unfulfilled promise. It is kind of interesting to compare the collections, although both authors are different in their approaches and goals. The end result, though, is unfortunately on the same spectrum of the underwhelming.

Like TBYA, Spin a Black Yarn starts with one of its best in “Half the House is Haunted.” This is told in opposing viewpoints of a brother and sister, beginning in childhood, then adulthood, and with one sibling in elder years. Stephanie likes to torment her brother Robin in their house with various pranks and scares, but the most resonant one will torment Robin for the rest of his life—the implication that half of their house is haunted. But which half? This idea could manifest in so many ways, he reasons, driving him to paranoia. The switching POVs is at times a bit clunky with the things supposed kids say to each other, but it is a mostly useful device early and later. Some of the most effective moments probably work best because you’ve seen some variation on them in modern horror films with hauntings and can easily picture how they would be filmed, but this served his J-horror homage Daphne pretty well, too. The time jumps manage to maintain their tension. It is a promising start to the collection, and like TBYA, nothing else really threatens to achieve the same satisfaction as the opener.

Next is “Argyle,” which is more the template for the rest of the book. A dying man delivers his final confession in a verrrrrrrrrry protracted conversation with his wife, children, and friends. He is triumphant that he is dying as a good person, but that’s not who he wanted to be at all, and he’s about to unburden himself. It rather strains credulity that someone at death’s door is able to rattle off this extremely long explanation, although that’s not the real flaw. The issue with “Argyle” and, really, most of SABY is that this isn’t a collection of short stories but novellas, and frankly they should have just been short stories. Not nearly enough is going on to propel them. What you end up with in most of them is the characters are confined to one location while the concept happens around them, and that is the story. “Half the House is Haunted” is the one that probably could have lent itself to the longer word count but actually wraps up the most compactly and doesn’t keep you wondering why it continues to go on with nothing else happening.

“Argyle” still kept me invested, despite noticing it had grown beyond its needs. “Doug and Judy Buy the House WasherTM” is less merciful. A bickering couple springs for a bizarre deep cleaning mechanism in their house, smug in its usefulness as an elite status symbol. They are confined to a tubed-off section in the house during the process and objects begin to move past them in the wash, prompting recollections and arguments (mostly arguments) about how they screwed over friends, colleagues, and each other in years past. Again, there’s a short story here, but you get something a lot longer with characters you want to get away from within a couple of pages. It lacks the intrigue of “Argyle,” and as a concept begs for something more than it is. Ideally this process would lead to some kind of suspense with the couple being trapped, but it’s more of a character study of people you have no wish to study. Think of a movie where the characters are in a stressful situation and how grating it becomes to watch them scream all their dialogue. That’s this story, but their predicament is just waiting for their house to be cleaned so they can leave the tube. Not exactly riveting, especially not for thousands and thousands of words.

“The Jupiter Drop” at least has a better foundation. A man suffering from the guilt of killing a neighbor in a freak accident opts to leave the planet for a 1-year flight to Jupiter, where he will be dropped from a huge crane in a glass apartment to Jupiter over the course of weeks. It’s of course not any kind of escape from his torment, though, locked up in a glass cage with only AI interaction for the coming weeks on his long descent to Jupiter. It would make a better short story than what it ends up being, because once again, there is not much to distract you from its lack of story beyond its concept. It is at least more compelling than “Doug and Judy,” though, and fits beside “Argyle” as something that could have been more effective in another skin but resonates enough to keep you reading.

After Tremblay’s title story “The Beast You Are,” a novella told in free verse that lurches for an eternity through preordained political commentary with anthropomorphic animals, I wouldn’t have thought you could end a collection on a longer, more frustrating note. I’m not sure “Egorov” does, but it is arguably identical in its sadism, daring you to keep going when you have lost all interest and still have another 30% to go. Brothers Pavel and Barat are seeking revenge after their brother Mikhail is murdered. Mikhail was their “other,” as the three of them were triplets. The surviving siblings want more than an eye for an eye, though; they want to drive Mikhail’s killer completely insane. The unintended irony is the reader is more likely to be the victim of this immeasurable suffering as he or she begs for an end to this excruciating story. It probably doesn’t sound half bad, but this is one of the rare entries with extra characters, so the story bloats with chapters with their father, mother, sister, wives who wonder what their husbands are up to (but do nothing about it that affects the plot), a policeman, and a man taken in for the crime who “worships” murder but didn’t actually do it. The murderer is Egorov, a crotchety old man who apparently would not shut the fuck up even if you stapled and sutured his lips and yanked out his vocal cords with a garden trowel. Despite living alone with only rare interactions with anyone else, most of the dialogue in the story must be his monologues to his empty house, particularly to entities he thinks might be there trying to haunt him even before Pavel and Barat strike up the mind games. His struggle getting up the stairs, that gets a commentary too. One is left wondering why the brothers feel like they need to bother with any sort of push. Egorov already seems completely mad. You likely will be too before you reach the oasis of the end about an hour later than you should have.

Despite the sour note on which Spin a Black Yarn ends, I think “Half the House is Haunted,” “Argyle,” and “The Jupiter Drop” are worthy enough reads versus the misery of “Doug and Judy” and especially “Egorov.” I expected this one to be far and away more enjoyable than The Beast You Are, though, so that it inhabits the same territory of only occasional pleasure is more than a little disappointing. Maybe I would find more to appreciate in the interconnected novellas of Goblin, which I have not yet read.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for providing an Advanced Reader Copy.

Josh Malerman has written a great collection of novellas. The stories were easy to read, the characters were well-developed, and the plots were complex. Each showed a different, twisted side of humanity – sometimes fulfilling, sometimes unresolved. I especially felt the tension in “Doug and Judy But the House Washer ™.” I enjoyed how they all had a connected thread, and don’t forget to look for the Easter eggs!

My star ratings:
“Half the House is Haunted” – 3 out of 5 stars
“Argyle” – 4 out of 5 stars
“Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer ™” – 5 out of 5 stars
“The Jupiter Drop” – 4 out of 5 stars
“Egorov” – 3 out of 5 stars

A solid set of novellas. An excellent start for those wanting to try Malerman.

I really liked this. The novellas were consistent in their quality, which isn't an easy thing to accomplish. "Doug and Judy Buy a House Washer" was my favorite. Recommended, especially to horror fans.

Similar to his story collection Goblin" Josh Malerman's Spin a Black Yarn contains five novellas all of which take place in the town of Samhattan. Though there are some references to common things in the stories, they are not directly related and take place in various different times. What stands out most about the collection is Malerman's usual lyrical prose; he is an extremely talented story-teller.
I'd say my favorite was the first tale "Half the House Is Haunted" which took a unique spin on the trope. "Argyle" was an unexpected sort of story where a man makes startling confessions to his family on his deathbed. "The Jupiter Drop," about a future in which people can pay for a special journey being "dropped" through the atmosphere of Jupiter, and "Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer(TM)," in which an obnoxious wealthy couple get more than they bargained for when they purchase a futuristic house cleaning system, could arguably have been episodes of "Black Mirror" "Egorov," a tale of an old man who kills one of a set of triplets who then enact a plot for revenge, is the only story I just wasn't that into.
Overall, Malerman's works were as enjoyable as always.

I'm not a fan of anthologies, generally, but this was a rare title in which all the stories were satisfying and high-quality.

SPIN A BLACK YARN is a collection of five horror “novellas” from established horror author Josh Malerman. With this book, Malerman proves that the novella is the perfect length for him—long enough for a story to build and reveal layer after layer of unexpected craziness, with no room for any extraneous details. While each novella is distinct, what ties them together is the setting (the fictional town of Samhattan, a setting used in other Malerman works) and voice as a concept. What I mean is, each story has strong narrators that make the “horror” less cosmic and more existential as they mine themselves and each other for their darkest deeds and secrets. Even the outer-space-dwelling “Jupiter Drop,” which is literally about dropping through the gas planet of Jupiter for fun, favors the demons that haunt us from our pasts rather than the life that may or may not be present in an alien environment. I tore through the first four stories, enjoying the creeping dread of “Half the House Is Haunted” and delighting in the perfect ironic ending of “Doug and Judy Buy a House Washer.” The last one, “Egorov,” I could have done without. The longest and draggiest of the bunch, it felt like an early Malerman effort that he’d never found a place for, so he tacked it onto the end of this book. Otherwise, so creative! NetGalley, thanks for the ARC.

“Spin a Black Yarn” is a collection of horror novellas by Josh Malerman. I’ve read three books by Mr. Malerman; greatly enjoyed two and found one to be an okay read. For me, these are novellas but I cannot say there were all horror. The first story, “Half of the House” I found to be more about an older sibling terrorizing a younger sibling. It was more weirdly creepy than horror - and the rather open ending and reasoning for the terrorizing I found very odd. The second story, “Argyle” touches on an oddity - what if you suppressed your killing urge for the entirety of your life? The ending was a bit predictable, but it was an interesting story idea - even if, for me, a bit too dragged out. The third story, “Doug and Judy Buy a House Washer(TM)” I couldn’t help but compare to one of my favorite short stories “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury. What happens when a computerized thing seemingly has a mind of its own? Again, I found this story an interesting idea, but again, it was a titch too long for my taste. The fourth story, “Jupiter Drop” again was an interesting idea and I even liked the little bit of science-fiction thrown in, but again, it didn’t completely work for me. The final story, “Egorov” again was an interesting idea and decently executed - triplets at birth, one killed, the other two surviving brothers trying to discover their sibling’s killer. What worked was the “translated from the Russian” style. It was dark and it’s the longest story in this book. While I still think Mr. Malerman is a talented writer, this collection of novellas didn’t work for me. There were a number of ambigutious endings (does the House Washer expose everyone’s secrets or was it acting as judge/jury for this couple?) and while I’m okay with a lot of dialogue, these stories seemed to rely upon dialogue to tell the story a bit more than I liked. Overall, three stars - great story ideas, but sadly they didn’t always work.

Any of you who have been here for a while know I have a rocky history with Josh Malerman books. I loved Bird Box (read before I started this account) but Goblin and A House at the Bottom of a Lake just didn’t land for me.

This one falls somewhere in between for me. I adore his style of writing, and it works so well for these creepy, pseudo-gothic stories. My main complaint is really with the first and last stories.

The first is a half-haunted house story, and the last is like an updated version of The Tell-Tale Heart. Both stories are beautifully written and start out really promising, but they just go on for too long with no real depth added to the characters. The last one especially could have been truly creepy and wrenching, but instead it just felt like a list of events that happened, with no emotion or character/world building.

That said, the three middle stories I genuinely loved! Especially Argyle. The deathbed confessions of a truly good man were especially captivating.

Malerman has a penchant for getting under your skin and that continues here with his latest story collection, "Spin a Black Yarn." While short, each story contains the grounded and social horror we've come to expect from him. While the framing of this collection doesn't around a spooky fictional town like "Goblin" did, the stories pick up that slack and each one touches on something hidden deep in the psyche of each of us. My favorite story was "Argyle" which centered around a man who just wishes to die a good man and how his family reacts to his deathbed conffesions

Spin a Black Yarn will scare you, thrill you, and make you look at your neighbors (or family) a little differently.

Spin a Black Yarn is riddled with frights and black humor. Malerman’s poetic writing style is in full force, none more so than his first novella. It is a spooky gothic tale told in the cadence of a riddle. My favorite is Doug and Judy buy a house washer. It is filled with ghosts and regrets and feels wholly original. The Jupiter Drop is a bit of cosmic horror that feels claustrophobic. Finally, the longest of the novellas is Egorov: a story about a murder and its consequences. My favorite thing about Spin a Black Yard is its nods to Malerman’s previous books. Samhattan is a place I would never love to visit, but am more than happy to read about.