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.

Thank you to Netgalley for a digital copy of the book for an honest review. Thank you @weirder_the_better for recommending this to me!

Half of the House
4 Stars
A young boy is tormented by his older sister as she pranks him throughout their childhood that half the house is haunted. This is one of those rare stories that I didn’t understand very well, but I ended up really liking the resolution when you finally understand character motivations.

Argyle
5 Stars
A father on his deathbed finally opens up about the urges he has managed to suppress his entire life. I thought this was such a unique take on the “serial killer” trope and how they always seem to act on the urges. Can your family tell what you are even if you never act on them? I loved how suspenseful this story was and how the father discusses everything so candidly because he knows he’s finally free.

Doug and Judy Buy a House Washer
5 Stars
A husband and wife are trapped inside a tube while they are faced with the awful things they’ve done for greed. I loved this one! It’s a spin on the whole “money doesn’t buy happiness” and it forces the pretentious couple to analyze the awful things they’ve done to climb the corporate ladder.

Jupiter Drop
4 Stars
A man decides to go on a trip to Jupiter and battles with guilt over an incident that ruined his life. I love when stories slowly reveal things about the protagonist. I’m not sure I understood the ending very well, but I appreciated the overall story!

Egorov
3 Stars
A triplet is murdered and his two surviving brothers plot to torment his killer. This story had an exhausting amount of repetition and metaphors that literally gave me a headache to read. The overall story was such a unique concept, but “memories and mice” killed it.

Spin a Black Yarn by Josh Malerman is a hard one to review... The stories are dark, with themes that center around trauma, guilt, regret, revenge, pride, and greed. And the characters are more than just flawed - they are damaged.

I didn't dislike the book, but only two of the stories truly left an impression.

"Argyle" was disturbing (in a fun way) that still has me wondering how many Shawn Hasbros there are in the world, living with the constant struggle to deny their true nature.

“Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer™” felt like being on a rollercoaster, going back and forth, trying to decide if the characters deserved redemption. I'm still not sure.

These two stories alone still make the book a worthwhile read.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Del Ray for the opportunity to review this advanced reader copy of the book.

Spin a Black Yarn by Josh Malerman is a stellar collection of short stories/novellas.

Josh Malerman has created five creepy, suspenseful and totally haunting stories.
I found these novellas to be a great, eerie, atmospheric read.
I was extremely impressed with the way the author fed in details that kept my heart pounding and my attention searching for more. Malermans writing style is fantastic and the way that he is able to make me part of this story is impressive.
A pulsing creepy atmosphere with stories that were so well written I was addicted.
These are the type of stories I crave for.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Random House, Ballantine & Del Rey for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Unfortunately, while I enjoyed some of the concepts in this collection, I found the writing to be pretty poor. Something about the writing and the way action was communicated felt clunky, which took me out of the stories. The second story was probably my favorite, but even that one suffered from underdeveloped characterization

I'm bummed I didn't like this more, but hopefully others can overlook the writing more than I could

Thank you to Del Ray and NetGalley for providing a review copy.
I greatly enjoyed this collection of novellas set in the fictional Michigan city of Samhattan. I found the last story boring, but all of the preceding stories were excellent.

Half the House Is Haunted ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Argyle ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Jupiter Drop ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Egorov ⭐⭐

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to review this ARC

I tried for the longest time to get into this book, but I am the odd one out, and they didn’t work for me. The writing was excellent and made the couple stories I read unsettling, but I felt like the first story was kind of repetitive and it took me out of the story. I will have to come back and retry because I do want to finish it as the writing was good.

This one was really trippy. I thought, at least the premise behind each novella was interesting. These had a very Bradbury-esqe feel to them. I’m also a fan of other Malerman works and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this collection. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy. It in no way influenced my opinion.

It's not enough to say this collection of stories was "weird." I read a lot of weird stuff. I genuinely can't say, story or theme-wise, if this collection was any more or less weird than anything else. I guess I mean to say it was a bit weird in tone and consistency. These five stories were at turns sinister and suspenseful, with two tales that actually elicited a proper goose-fleshed shiver, but then two other stories were a bit of a slog. The good: a nice balance of haunted house eerieness, cosmic horror mental deterioration, and creepy deathbed confessions. The not-as-good: a horrible couple gets what they deserve, and Russian brothers avenge the murder of their triplet. This last story read almost like something by Dostoevsky, with all the suffering, nihilism, intensity, and tedium I recall from Crime and Punishment or The Brothers Karamazov. I will always read a new title from Josh Malerman. Will I always love them? Probably not. And I can't say that I loved this one, but the three stories in here that I did enjoy in this collection were particularly good.

Spin a Black Yarn by Josh Malerman is a book of five short stories. If you saw my review of Daphne, you know that Malerman and I have a complicated relationship. This is the 6th book by him that I have read and I have either loved or hated them. My favorite short story in this collection is Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer. It is about a wealthy couple who have purchased new technology called a House Washer. It is meant to clean every item in the house and there is a tube that they have go inside while the house is cleaned. It is a claustrophobic and unsettling story. The other tales are Half the House is Haunted, which follows a brother and sister growing up in a possibly haunted house; Argyle, which is about a dying man who confesses he wanted to murder people his whole life; The Jupiter Drop where a man pays to be dropped inside a box through Jupiter; and Egorov, a story about a murdered triplet and how his family seeks justice for his death. For me, this book was hard to focus on. Short story collections always seem to barely scratch the surface to me. They don't go deep enough in character development or world building. This collection is atmospheric and at times unsettling. Argyle was my 2nd favorite of the stories. It's an interesting perspective on how someone who is drawn to committing violent acts pushes back at those urges. For me, this is a 3/5 star read. I had access to an advance reader copy of this. It will be published on August 15th 2023. This review will be posted on Instagram and Goodreads indefinitely. Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for allowing me early access to this book.

4⭐️

This is a collection of short stories/novellas by Josh Malerman. I have read from him before, Bird Box was amazing but Inspection not so much. So I was excited to read short stories from him to see if I could find more I loved. I have reviewed each below individually.

Half the house - 3 Stars⭐️
This story is told in 3 parts. First part is two siblings, brother and sister, during childhood. Stephanie is a bit of a bully to Robin constantly scaring him and telling him the house is half haunted. 2nd part is when they're middle aged, reconnecting after years apart. Lastly it's when they're at their end of life and Stephanie has moved on. Overall this story is about conquering your fears and moving on with your life. However the writing style was very difficult for me to follow. The majority of the time we are in their inner thoughts and it's hard to know what perspective we are following.

Argyle - 5⭐️💯❤️
This was incredible!!! I'm going to be thinking about this novella for a long time. It's so unsettling and creative. I am just blown away, I don't want to give anything away but it's a man reaching his last day of life feeling relief that he has made it to the finish line. Not giving into his desires. Sharing this with all the ones who knew him and came to say goodbye. Gaaahhh it's good!! This 💯 gave me black mirror vibes.

Doug and Judy Buy The Washer - 3.5⭐️
A couple who walk all over everyone including the ones they love for the "rise" to the top. They hire cleaning company and all the sins of their past is revealed and cleaned. Again black mirror vibes and would make an excellent episode. It was enjoyable and eery however repetitive at times.

The Jupiter Drop - 3⭐️ it was ok, unfortunately I didn't get much from this story and was forgettable.

Egorov -

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for this advanced reader copy. This review is voluntarily my own.

I will be posting my review to my Instagram page the.floofs.booknook and retail sites close or on publication.