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.

So thankful to NetGalley for the ARC. I haven’t read much Malerman before this other than Goblin, which I adored. His handling of novellas and short stories is masterful. Each one is its own beautiful encapsulation of fascinating characters and moments, and he threads themes and imagery and symbols and moments throughout all of them which gives them a nice cohesive feel as one book. I’ll be picking up a lot more from the author after this one.

"Oh, I love you, dear Death. Take me. Take me in. By this rope, this black rope, growing warmer now , softer to me now, soft around my neck; not so much rope anymore, but yarn; yes, hung by ebony yarn; warm to the neck, warm to the skin; hung by a spinning black yarn.”

This is a series of short stories that are all very unique and set in the fictional Samhattan. I've said this in other reviews but these collections can be hit or miss.

It starts off with "Half the House is Haunted' about a brother and sister growing up in a haunted house, well..half of one. Very unsettling and creepy. 4 stars

"Argyle" is about a man who on his deathbed gathers his family to finally tell them the truth about who he really is and what he's capable of, to their utter horror. 4.5 stars

"Jupiter Drop" is a sci Fi horror story. People are given the option to vacation on Jupiter in a glass box that literally drops onto the planet. There are many signs saying there is no life on Jupiter.. so what's tapping on the glass? 3.5 stars

"Doug and Judy Buy the Washer" is probably the weakest one. A very hateful couple purchase what they think is an expensive home cleaning system, instead the system is cleaning THEM, forcing them to fully evaluate themselves for the first time in their lives. 3 stars

"Egorov" is the longest one. Set in little Russia, in the fake Samhattan, it's about murder and deception. 4 stars

So overall this was a solid 3.5 stars for me. Thank you Random House Publishing Group Ballantine for giving me an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this! Malerman is such a talented writer, who really surprises me with his diverse and unique ideas. Standout stories for me were “Argyle”, which was about a father on his death bed confessing his true sinister nature to his family, and “Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer”, where a truly awful couple learn about each other’s horrible pasts while trapped inside a high-tech home cleaning device. This book is for you if you are a fan of psychological horror, these stories give you a sense of unease mixed with moments of full blown terror.

**Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for sharing this digital review copy in exchange for honest feedback**

This author seriously never disappoints and these stories were no exception. These were edgy and fantastical, but at the same time kept you at the cusp of horror and oddity that always appeals to me with this author's writing. It took me a while to get into the novella and I had to start and stop a few times before I really got into it, however was glad that I made it through. It had such a flair of classic literature and was atmospheric at the same time. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

<i>I would start this off by saying I'm <b>not</b> usually a fan of short stories (novellas) but I'm beginning to think that I am.</i>

This was a collection of 5 novellas. They were a mix of disturbing, creepy, thought provoking, suspenseful and at the very least interesting. I don't want to give away too much but I will give you a little synopsis of each below.

Half the House Is Haunted is about a sister 2 years older than her brother seemingly playfully scaring him into thinking just that (half of the house being haunted). But the more we go along, is it really?

Argyle is about a man on his death bed confessing to be a serial killer to his wife and children. However, he is a serial killer who has never actually killed anyone.

Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer(TM) is about a wealthy couple who has bought a new state of the art house cleaning machine. It literally cleans your house while being in a clear tube. Think of it in terms of literally a washing machine cycle but in your house. As they are in the clear tube, they start seeing some of the items it's cleaning and it's forcing them to realize the people they have become.

The Jupiter Drop is about a man that commits to a 2 year long journey on Jupiter dropping from a see through apartment on a crane slowly over the course of a couple months. This one explores cabin fever and digging into our MC's guilt from his past.

Egorov is about a wealthy old man who murders another man. The murdered man turns out to be a triplet. The remaining 2 triplets set out to drive the man crazy by convincing him a ghost is back to haunt him.

I will say I ended up having to skip through Egorov about 75% of the way through as it was hard for me to read. I'm not sure if it's the way it was written or if I just wasn't into the story. The rest of the novellas I read all the way through. I did enjoy them for the most part. Definitely worth a read and it has me interested in checking out more by this author.

Thank you NetGalley, Josh Malerman, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC of this book. :)

I find books from Josh Malerman a hit or a miss, not many are middle ground. The novellas here have been appropriately named, and many yarns were spun. A did quite enjoy the following; Argyle, in all its darkness, Doug and Judy buy the House Washer, a dark tale, and The Jupiter Drop, for the thrill ride it was.

Half of the House takes a little time to gain any momentum because the characters are six and eight years old. The gibberish thoughts are a bit annoying and take time to decipher. As the story moves forward in time the siblings are in their 40s. This is where the story becomes a yawn of a yarn. Could half of the house be haunted? I’m not sure the answer was clearly meant to be known.

Argyle is about our protagonist Shawn Hasbro who is on his deathbed. He has never been so happy in his life for something he never did. Argyle is by far the darkest novel in this collection. Shawn’s confession is at times hard to stomach as Josh Malerman spins a dark and sinister yarn. The suspense is masterful and the ending well played.

Doug and Judy Buy a House Washer was among my favorites. Doug and Judy are so easy to hate, and hate them I did in quick order. They are an ostentatious asshole couple who want to be so far ahead of their neighbors they will do anything. They want to be ‘The Joneses’, and to that goal they buy a house washer to one up their neighbors. This House Washer does more than clean their home, to the shock of Doug and Judy. This was nothing short of a smartly written redemption story for a disgraceful couple.

Jupiter Drop is a thrill ride journey to Jupiter. It’s surreal and unusual to be sure and a bit of a tear jerker. It’s a bit difficult to say more for fear of giving away the story. For me this was an interesting sci-fi tale.

Egorov is a revenge story of twin brothers, who try to find the killer of their triplet. There are plenty of tense moments and Josh Malerman builds a suspense filled atmosphere in the fictional Little Russia neighborhood. You feel like you’re transported to that place, and the suspense gets you more thrilled and agitated at each chapter. This is the longest novella of the book, and the yarn takes many twists and turns. Overall Spin a Black Yarn was time well spent as I took another trip to the ever growing universe from the mind of Josh Malerman.

These were solidly creepy stories, not nothing shocking or earth-shattering. I did enjoy the first story, and the focus on sparking fear as an exposure for facing it and thus doing a better job of approaching life without anxiety. I didn't realize that these stories were set in the broader context of the Malerman universe, and feel that context would have improved my experience. None of this horror was anything to keep me up at night, but the stories were compelling enough to keep me reading and interested.

This collection of stories was not really my thing. I like Malerman's writing, but sometimes it feels he goes a little too overboard with descriptions or inner dialogue with characters. There were some points where I just wanted the story to move on a little bit. I eventually did have to skim some places where I felt the book could have used a little more direction. I liked the second story the best. A would be serial killer confesses on his deathbed to all the murders he really wanted to commit. It was a really cool idea. This collection didn't really jive for me, but I know the Malerman fans will likely love it.

Five unique novella's together in one place. Twisted at times, and emotionally draining.
If you are a fan of the genre, there is most likely a story in this collection for you.
Each brings a topic and a rare point of view expanding the norm.
Well worth the time to examine each entry.

Our generation’s Edgar Allen Poe. Josh Malerman’s work is interesting, creative, meaningful, and sometimes scary. Spin a Black Yarn isn’t as disturbing as Bird Box, Malorie, or Pearl. The first short story in this series (Half the House is Haunted) was the scariest story in this compilation. So I felt a little hoodwinked as the level of scary significantly decreased. I know Malerman is trying to show or teach me something in each story. I think discussing and interpreting will be more fun than reading the stories. I wish they were similar in length but wouldn’t recommend reordering them because the motifs (siblings, fear, floorplans of a home, Samhatten, being encased in glass) that tie them together in a really good flow.

All novellas considered, I’m rating this four stars. It’s clearly well thought out, written, organized, and developed. I just didn’t enjoy it like I did Bird Box. Bird Box actually gave me nightmares.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House. As a Josh Malerman fan, I appreciate the ARC in exchange for an honest review.