Josh Malerman is always a hit or miss for me, I either LOVE his books or I feel just ok with them. This collection was a perfect example of this because I loved a little more than half of them and felt just ok about the rest. Malerman does a great job at writing stories that give you chills because you just KNOW there's more going on than what you're actually seeing. My absolute favorite story in this collection is about a man on a trip to Jupiter and it made me wish Malerman wrote more sci-fi! The rating is an average of my individual ratings of each story (which is great because the lowest I rated one was 3 stars and it was only because I didn't like the plot of the story). As always, I will read anything Malerman writes and will continue to do so because he writes some of my favorite horror!

I was excited to read these novellas. I loved Bird Box by this author and I was looking forward to some more creatively harrowing situations in these 5 stories. I didn’t love them all, but some were interesting.

1️⃣ Novella 1 – Half the House is Haunted – This one interested me at first but quickly started to drag. I didn’t like the bullying sister, but I ultimately understood what she was doing. Overall, it just wasn’t compelling for me.

2️⃣ Novella 2 – Argyle – This story was disturbing more than scary. Imagine being told someone you loved your whole life wasn’t who you thought they were. Would you believe it? It was interesting, but unsettling.

3️⃣ Novella 3 – The Jupiter Drop – This story was well into the science fiction realm, and I generally liked this one. The isolation and solitude are what made it interesting.

4️⃣ Novella 4 – Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer™ - This one was also a bit sci-fi, but it was also a bit humorous. I enjoyed it.

5️⃣ Novella 5 – Egorov – This story didn’t hold my interest at all, and it was way too long. I barely got through it if I’m honest. I hate that this was the last story in the book because it ended on a bad note.

So, the summary is that I liked two of the stories, disliked two, and one fell somewhere in between.

Thank you @netgalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey for an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Thank you for granting my wish! Novellas are hard to write but Josh did it and provided this collection of five. They were pretty good. I was impressed.
I love the universe these take place in.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC, in exchange for an honest review!

I wasn’t a huge fan of these novellas. I found myself to be quite bored throughout every story. The ones that I enjoyed more seemed to end abruptly, and the ones that I didn’t like seemed to drag on. Every story had a bit of an anticlimactic ending. The one that I enjoyed the most was ‘Argyle.’ Perhaps I’m more of a full length story person instead of a novella person. I am happy that I gave it a try, but it seems like this one just wasn’t for me.

I pulled on a loose piece of yarn and unraveled each story, delving back into Josh Malerman’s world. Spin A Black Yarn is comprised of five novellas that made me think about the characters and their lives more than the actual story. I have enjoyed devouring each of Josh Malerman’s books and short stories ever since listening to the audiobook version of Bird Box. Spin A Black Yarn is, honestly, not one of my favorites, but I think that is because the final story was my least favorite. Nevertheless, here is my honest review:

In Half the House is Haunted there is a very mean older sister who loves scaring the bejesus out of her little brother, insisting that half of their house is haunted, but which half is haunted is up to the brother to figure out. I didn’t like the bully sister, but eventually, I came to understand why she did what she did. The story follows the two siblings as they grow from childhood to adulthood. I loved that this story, as many of Josh Malerman’s stories, took place in Samhattan; I enjoyed being taken back. One quote I liked in this story was “And isn’t it amazing how a smell or a sound, one little sound, can bring back an entire scene from decades ago?” That hit me square in the jaw and I think I still have a bruise to this day.

The story Argyle kind of creeped me out a bit, well, more than a bit. Argyle is about a father and husband who is on his deathbed with his wife and adult children surrounding him in his final moments. A man who his wife and children have looked up to all this time, and who will find out, he is not who they thought he was. He was a man haunted by a deep urge to cause harm to others. We learn about his struggle from a young age up to the day he begins telling his family, and his friends, about who he truly is. Argyle is about the sweet release of finally being able to tell the world who you truly are, about finally stopping the lying and hiding we’ve done all our lives, and not caring one damn bit what anyone else thinks, because why would we care about all that when we know we will be dead soon?

Now, my favorite story in Spin a Black Yarn was The Jupiter Drop. I love science fiction and have always been enthralled with outer space, planets, galaxies, etc., and what we, as humans, could accomplish with the right technology. The Jupiter Drop easily engaged me in the most fantastical space vacation, one that I think I would love to do, but one that scared the hell out of me too. I don’t know if I would be able to come back from a vacation like that. It’s about a man who decides to take a leap and do something no one would have ever believed he would do, travel to Jupiter, enter a see-through glass room, and be dropped from above the planet, left to fall through Jupiter and be caught on the other side. The fall takes a very long time, and being alone for that long, with no one but yourself, and a computer system to converse with, well, let’s just say, I don’t think I’d have fared any better than he did. Go ahead, let yourself be dropped into this story, I think you’ll like it as much as I did!

The fourth story in this novel is Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer. Don’t let the title fool you either because, at the beginning of the story, I thought for sure I would want to buy a house washer myself. I mean, who wouldn’t want their entire house washed on the inside? Think about all those nooks and crannies, all those dust bunnies hiding, with long venomous teeth, back there in the dark, where you can’t see them, or get to them, but they can get to you… This is a must-read!

Finally, the fifth book in Spin a Black Yarn is titled Egorov. I won’t lie to you, this is my least favorite story in this book, and my least favorite story by Mr. Malerman. I had such a hard time getting through it that I kept putting it away and reading other books, listening to audiobooks, and returning to it when I remembered I needed to post my review, and even then it was hard to push through. Russian and Welsh is my family history so I felt close to the characters and their background but the story itself just didn’t pique my attention. There was a lot of meandering and self-talk by the characters and it bored me. But read it and make that determination for yourself. It’s a story about a Russian family with triplets and one of the triplets is murdered and of course, the family wants justice for their kin. I loved the way they went about getting that justice, but I thought the side character, who is believed to have murdered the brother, was focused on a bit too much. There was way too much rambling for my liking.

Overall, I do give Spin a Black Yarn a 4.5 star because I enjoyed four of the five stories. But you make up your mind.

I was provided a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

SPIN A BLACK YARN: NOVELLAS by Josh Malerman
Publication: August 15, 2023 by Del Rey
Page Count: 400


Bram Stoker Award Winner offers a treat of another 5 unique novellas. The gestalt of this worthy effort is equal to the effort of his marvelous post apocalyptic debut novel, Bird Box. This quintet of horrific explorations into the dark side of humanity … all residing in his fictional city of Samhattan, Michigan …. veer into the frailties and oddness of humanity. All are excellent excursions into the unsettling nature of “secrets” and unexpected consequences of weird events.
My favorite is “Argyll” …. briefly on a father’s death bed, he starts spouting horrific revelations of his life long desire for lust, desire and murder … and his ability to never act upon these overwhelming “urges”. Is this a deathbed confession or the result of a diseased ridden brain? In “Half The House Is Haunted” … we follow how the life of two siblings is effected over the years, as a result of 8 year old Stephanie continuously teasing and scaring her 6 year old brother, Robin, while they grew-up. “The Jupiter Drop” features the surreal hallucinations occurring while a futuristic tourist is descending in a shuttle, that he paid dearly to experience.
In: “The House Washer” a overly rich shallow couple purchase the latest and greatest invention … a House Washer, that washes everything while you sit and watch in a protective tube. But, as they sit they are forced to confront many of their foibles and shortcomings as both a couple and individually. However, there is no way to stop the “cleaning” once it begins. And lastly, in: “Egerov” a sadistic bully has his horrific cupupence meted out by the surviving two brothers as they seek revenge on the killer of their brother. He was begging to die
It is always a welcome pleasure to have another slice from the brain of Josh Malerman. Thanks to NetGalley and DelRey for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review.

I was provided an ARC of this title in exchange for a review.

Josh Malerman has provided us with a collection of novellas for our reading pleasure. Shorter than a novel but longer than a short story, the novella is a difficult format to perfect. Malerman has mostly succeeded with this group.

The highlights of this collection are "Argyle" and "Jupiter Drop." The former is one of the most original deathbed confessions I have ever read. It is difficult to say more without spoiling the best aspect of the story, but it is extremely well done. The later is fascinating science-fiction tale of someone taking the ultimate vacation -- traveling through the atmosphere of Jupiter. There is a great feeling of isolation mixed with the fascinating things the traveller encounters.

"Half of the House" is a creepy and unique take on the haunted house story. Malerman nails the interaction between the two siblings both as children and adults.

"Doug and Judy Buy a House Washer" is another sci-fi romp, a fun take on keeping up with the Jones with a classic Creepshow twist. This could have been simply done for laughs, but here we find genuine emotion as aspects of the titular couple's relationship are revealed.

"Egorov," the longest of the stories, explores the relationship between a family, specifically between triplets and also between a father and sons, as they deal with the death of one of their own. This revenge tail is moody and atmospheric, but for me was a bit long.

All in all, I enjoyed this trip to the universe that Malerman in creating within his fiction and look forward to my next visit.

DNF part way through the last novella. I made it to page 300, but it is way too long for a story that’s not at all interesting. this book missed the mark for me. None of the stories were scary or memorable.

Josh Malerman is the master of spooky stories and this book is no exception. This collection of 5 novella length stories is some of his best work to date. Malerman never lets me down when I'm looking for something interesting and unique to read. I highly recommend checking this and all his other books.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me this title to read/review.

DNF at 37%

I DNFd the first novella about 2/3 in. I hated the second. And DNFd the third novella pretty early on. I will not be leaving a rating because I did not finish the whole collection. This type of story telling just didn’t work for me.

The first novella was kinda annoying with the back and forth of “which half is haunted?” Which really hindered my reading experience because that was the literal point of the story. I understand it was supposed to show how to different kids grew from what they went through in their childhood but I hated how it was presented. Also, what was the point of the naked woman? Was she actually there? Was the house really haunted?

The second novella was a borderline dead man waxing poet about he stopped himself from being a serial killer. While that is a good then, and I commend him for doing so, I didn’t really need 75 pages of him telling me about it. Also the daughter saying “oh you didn’t?” Or whatever the phrase was before each new diatribe. Like ma’am, the whole point to this is that he didn’t.

The third I just gave up early. I didn’t like where it was headed and I was already 0-2.

I genuinely don’t want to trash someone’s work. Just because this story didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean it has no value in the world. I genuinely hope this collection finds its readership and they enjoy every page.

I didn’t want to leave a rating but NetGalley is making me to submit.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of Spin a Black Yarn by Josh Malerman in exchange for an honest review. This book has five creepy stories that are sure to keep you up at night. Or at least up reading all night. I really enjoyed this book and have been enjoying reading more by Malerman.

Really excited to have gotten my hands on this novella collection! I've enjoyed some of Malerman's other works (Bird Box and Daphne, specifically) in the past, and I was eager to read this when I heard that all the stories take place in Samhatten, the setting for Daphne. Unfortunately, this collection ended up not really being for me. I found three of the five stories to be a bit of a snooze fest; even though I found the concepts interesting, the execution was a bit lacking. However, the stories Argyle and Half the House is Haunted were really compelling to me. They both had strong concepts and fantastic delivery. I really found myself eating them both up. Would recommend this collection based on those stories alone, especially if you enjoy more psychological horror.

What a wonderfully weird trip through a hellscape like no other. I didn't want it to end. Josh Malerman knows how to get under the skin like a splinter that you can't stop bothering so it just continues to fester. Each and every story is creepy, weird, and unnerving. A horror must read if ever there was one.

I had to DNF … it was just so slow to start.

I will return to at a later time.
It wasn’t bad writing .. I just wasn’t in the mood for the slower pace.

SPIN A BLACK YARN by @joshmalerman is a set of 5 novellas bound together in one tome - all of them are horror, and all are set in

My favorite 2 novellas in this set are HALF OF THE HOUSE IS HAUNTED and DOUG AND JUDY BUY A HOME WASHER(TM). I enjoyed the other three for sure but these two just stuck out for me and I shudder/chuckle when I think of them, so I will give the synopsis for both below. Thank you to the author, @netgalley and the publisher, @randomhouse / @delreybooks for the e-ARC.

💀HALF OF THE HOUSE IS HAUNTED - a sister tries to scare her brother that half the house is haunted but won't tell which half - later this becomes a reverie about their childhood woes.

💀DOUG AND JUDY BUY A HOME WASHER(TM) - a couple of vapid, wealthy, judgmental, keeping-up-the-jonses-types buy a state of the art Home Washer that purports to clean the whole house in hopes of impressingbhgeir friends and neighbors - bug when the usd the device got the first time they

Surprisingly, I have not really read that much Malerman yet but plan to remedy that soon. I absolutely love short stories and find it to be one of the best ways to get a good taste of an author's work. How do you feel about short stories/novellas?

💚SMASHBOT 💚

I'm sure this will be a fine book, but I definitely will not have time to get to the story before the archive date happens, in which case I will not be able to give my feedback. That would negatively impact my response ratio, which is not good, as I already missed out on giving feedback on so many books because this year has been so absolutely busy and stressful that I have not had the time nor mental capacity to get to many of these books before they are gone forever! It is as upsetting for both sides. I apologize, but I will do better for the future! I am appreciative that I have been giving access to so many great new releases.

As far as a collection of spooky stories go, I had a difficult time getting through this one. The writer’s style is just not my taste. There were definitely some interesting, unsettling and even terrifying new concepts presented in this set but overall I found it hard to focus on the characters and the way the stories were presented. Good for a Halloween read but not my cup of tea.

Thank you for sending me this e-book. Unfortunately, I could not get sucked into the narrative. Despite a good-faith effort to endeavor through these novellas, I was unable to finish the collection.

This author continues to shine with his stories. Whether they be originals or a new spin on an old concept, they are a joy to behold. Looking forward to reading more. Thank you!!

I chose to DNF at 25% the story Argyle just didn't feel like it was going anywhere and I was bored. The first story was not that much better. The author is great at his craft I just wasn't connecting with it enough to continue.