Out of five spooky tales, I really enjoyed the first three, so I guess that's enough to warrant three stars.

In Half the House is Haunted, a child's prank has consequences that linger into adulthood . . . or was it a prank?

A materialistic married couple finds that hidden secrets are revealed and dirty laundry is aired when Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer.

Argyle was my absolute favorite. Here an elderly man on his deathbed confesses to all the murders he didn't commit, but wanted to. The pacing was excellent, and I loved seeing how different characters reacted to his revelations.

Of the last two stories, Jupiter Drop seemed flat and predictable, and the longest, Egorov was honestly ruined for me by the synopsis on the back cover which basically told me the whole plot.

I'm still looking forward to reading a novel by Malerman . . . one of these days.

Another solid entry from Malerman. He's risen to the my top favorite recent horror author. Every book/story goes somewhere new. He never rests on his laurels. While a few stories weren't my favorite, it's rare to have an anthology where I love every single story. My absolute favorite (and a new benchmark for Malerman's storytelling) were both "Doug and Judy Buy a House Washer' and "Jupiter Drop." Both have a totally unique set-up and proceed to do fascinating soul-bearing for the characters within. The last, Egarov, was my least favorite, what with its frequent indulgences with long, unbroken monologues from Misha (we get it, he likes death) and long, repetitive ramblings of Egarov (we get it, he's losing it). But overall...Bravo!

I REALLY wanted to love this book, because I very much enjoyed bird box and malorie and was beyond excited to have this one to read as well. But.. I just couldn’t get into the stories.. they didn’t hold any excitement or anything really that would make it stand out. It just felt very bland to me.

While I enjoyed Bird Box and its sequel Malorie better, these short stores from Josh Malerman were a fun read. Some were better than others, but overall I would recommend this book. If you're a fan of the author, you should enjoy these stories,

I loved this book. The stories were great and kept my interest the entire time.

Two of my favorites were Argyle and The Jupiter Drop. Argyle is a twisted little story about a man on his death bed who is focused on the fact that he will be dying “a good man”. He then proceeds to give a tell-all of his darkest dreams. The Jupiter Drop is really unique. I don’t normally like stories that take place in space, but I found this one quite fascinating (and creepy).

Other stories in this book are: Half the House is Haunted, Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer and Egorov.

Half the House is Haunted: Side note: this story begins to make more sense by the end. The sister loves to antagonize her younger brother about half the house being haunted. There is typical brother/sister banter, but then there are sinister happenings also.

Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer: a horrible, wealthy, married couple splurge on a ‘House Washer’ so they can brag about it to everyone. They decide to give it a whirl, to make sure it works. You’d be surprised what other dirty things reside within a house. Doug and Judy certainly were.

Egorov is a revenge tale. This one was strange, twisted and interesting. It’s a bit slow to start, but once it gets going, it will keep you reading.

If you are a fan of Josh Malerman’s books, you will love this. If this is your first time reading one of his books; you’ll want to read more!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC.

As a big Josh Malerman fan I was super excited to get approved for an advanced copy of Spin a Black Yarn from Netgalley and I made sure to also order a physical copy for myself once it was published. I very much enjoyed this collection of short stories. Here is my ranking from favorite to least favorite:
1. Half the House is Haunted: A brother whose sibling claims half the house is haunted narrates this tale. He has no idea what that means but he is super creeped out (and so was I). Very atmospheric and spooky. I loved it.
2. Argyle: A family and friends gather in a dying man's bedroom as he confesses his true nature and horrifies them all. I could NOT stop reading this one. I wanted to know what he was going to say next and how everyone was going to respond. A car crash that I could not look away from (in a good way).
3. Egorov: Set in the olden days of Malerman's fictional town of Samhattan, the remaining brothers from a set of triplets search for their brother's killer and exact revenge in a most unique way. This one is the longest (and last) novella in the book. It is a bit slower to get started but is really fun once it does. And let's just say there is a VERY gross "dinner" scene where I was reading while my toddler was slurping applesauce loudly beside me and I had to stop reading for a bit.
4. Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer: This is a fun futuristic-type novel where a couple always has to have the newest gadget to "compete with the Joneses". They try out a new house-cleaning gadget and seeing their household items swirl around them brings back good and bad memories, as well as something more sinister. This one was a really fun and a quick read.
5. The Jupiter Drop: This was another one set in the future where the main characters goes on a special "space drop" through Jupiter. It was fun and also creepy but even though it was a very different plot from Doug and Judy they reminded me too much of each other. I wish it would have been in a different story collection or maybe not right after Doug and Judy. I would suggest reading the stories out of order for that reason. It was still an entertaining and creepy read.
Overall, I enjoyed every story in this collection and look forward to any other short stories/novellas that Malerman might post in the future.

A mostly fun collection. The last story about old man Egorov just didn’t work well for me. The back and forth was taking me out of the story as a reader. Every other story here was great. Spooky and unnerving. My heart belongs to the first tale though.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this ARC!!

This book was fun to read. I enjoyed almost all of the stories!!

Thank you, NetGalley and Del Rey, for providing me with the eARC!

I really struggled with rating this one. I've read a few of Malerman's other books (Bird Box, Malorie, Pearl, and Daphne), and I have to admit that this one is my least favorite so far. I enjoyed the first short story, "Half the House is Haunted," but all the others just felt somewhat underwhelming. While I enjoyed certain parts of some of them, I can already tell that I'll most likely forget about most of them in a few months.

BUT, something that I found very enjoyable and was impressed by is how Malerman has gone about building his own world of Goblin, Samhattan, and Chowder. If you aren't familiar with Malerman's other books, then this collection most likely won't make much sense - many of his novels and stories are set in towns (Goblin, Samhattan, Chowder, etc.) that are near each other, and all have weird, disturbing occurrences. If you ARE familiar with his other books, then this collection acts as a companion to all his other novels and their lore. This collection absolutely succeeded in convincing me to read all of Malerman's other work, and I think I'll have to give it another read once I've read everything else.

So, overall, if you haven't read anything by Malerman, go do that RIGHT NOW, and then come back.

3.5/5 stars

Welcome to Samhattan! These tales all take place there, a location some may remember from Malerman’s novel DAPHNE.

Not all of these tales worked for me, but my favorites were:

The first tale: HALF THE HOUSE IS HAUNTED introduces us to a family with both a son and a daughter. The oldest, the daughter, tortures her younger brother by constantly telling him that half the house is haunted. What is never clear to the boy is what that means, exactly? Is the left side haunted, or the right? Is it the top half or the lower half? This novella checks in on the siblings at three different ages of life and I just loved it.

ARGYLE was a delicious tale in the most unexpected of ways. An older man is dying and his family is gathered 'round him in his last days. Imagine their surprise when the dying man suddenly realizes and celebrates the fact that he survived life without killing anyone. I adored the huge turn this story ended up taking and it might be my favorite Malerman tale of all time.

DOUG AND JUDY BUY THE HOUSE WASHER (™) was such a creative story. A money-hungry couple needs some way to show off how important and rich they are by purchasing the hottest, newest product on the market: a house washer. Perhaps, instead of being so caught up in their rise up the ladder, they should have paid more attention to what the house washer actually does.

Of the five tales included herein, these 3 spoke to me on a higher level than the rest. I love how creative and imaginative Josh Malerman can be. When an author is out there slinging his weird ideas, it’s only natural that some of the tales might not be the reader’s cup of tea. What worked for me might not work for you and vice-versa.

Overall, I did enjoy this novella collection even though some stories weren’t my cuppa. The 3 that did were pretty great and I remain a solid fan of Josh Malerman.

*Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*

Malerman is a writing machine, but his best work comes from his novellas. Goblin is one of my favorite collections in the last decade and this one is a worthy follow up.

This is a rather uneven, somewhat bleak collection but I enjoyed the hell out of the first 2 of these 5 stories (and only one tale was "eh," imo.) Malerman is super prolific and there's plenty here to entertain, but I didn't enjoy SPIN A BLACK YARN as much as some other books of his.

This collection offers five distinct and chilling tales, each exploring different forms of horror and human dread.

Spin a Black Yarn is a collection of loosely connected novellas by Josh Malerman. Malerman's horror is psychological - what are the things in your imagination that scare you. My favorite is probably Argyle - where a father on his deathbed finally admits to what kind of person her really is. Doug and Judy is a great story about karma. And the Jupiter Drop is one where you're constantly saying "Wait...what?"
Read the acknowledgements. Malerman explains the evolution of several stories (with some Bird Box mentions)

Fans of Malerman's version of horror will enjoy this one.

Spin a Black Yarn by Josh Malerman is a mixed bag of five novellas. Some very good, others were letdowns. Typical novella collection, yes?

"Half the House is Haunted" dives into a family mystery with siblings Stephanie and Robbie facing their fears. I found this one a little hard to follow, but it was a solid start to this collection.

In "Argyle," a dying man confesses to his family that he's a serial killer. It's a surprising story that's properly creepy and easily one of the better tales here, if not the best.

"Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer™" offers a dark comedic perspective on materialism and social standing. Beware: Doug and Judy might not win your heart. This was just OK.

"The Jupiter Drop" is a journey of redemption for a remorseful, wealthy man. This one was a winner.

"Egorov" evokes those Edgar Allen Poe vibes in a suspenseful tale about a triplet who is murdered and his brothers out for revenge. This felt like stories I'd read as a kid but with a contemporary horror feel. The drawn-out storytelling took a great idea and made it a frustrating race to the conclusion. Could have been a five-star short story — it wasn't.

I'd recommend Spin a Black Yarn despite the ups-and-downs. I'm still waiting for someone to write a novella collection that matches the consistent quality of Stephen King's Different Seasons, but I've come to learn that it's the exception to the rule.

I loved this collection so much. I'm glad I waited a couple of days to finish the last novella in this collection as it had a different tone from the rest. Which is just another way to showcase how incredible of a writer Malerman is.I would def recommend not speed reading this one and maybe not doing the stories back to back, feels best enjoyed that way. Loved it, knocked it out of the park again.

Standouts for me, Doug and Judy Buy The House washer.
I don't say this lightly but here, Malerman reminds me so much of a modern Ray Bradbury here with a story that surely finds it's roots in the horror of The Veldt. No one can make me feel tension in my bones the way that Malerman does. This is so good. Can the darkest dirtiest things ever come clean?

A sister insists to her younger brother that half the house Is haunted. A dying man confesses to murders he never committed. An outer space tourist explores his own dark past. A husband and wife are tormented by a trendy home gadget. A man unknowingly murders a triplet.

I was excited about Spin a Black Yarn, even though I'm a bit leery of horror novellas because I always want more. This wasn't the case here. Two out of five of the novellas were complete flops for me, and I struggled to get through them. Despite having very interesting premises, I found the stories fell flat. Nothing was ever really explained or elaborated on, even to the extent I would expect in a novella. There was a lack of action, a lack of description, and a lack of good execution. I really wanted to like this, but it just didn't work for me. I'd recommend Malerman's full-length novels, as that seems to be where his talent lies.

2.5 stars- This band book started off stronger(ish). The premise for the first three stories were interesting, but didn’t quite end in a satisfactory way. The fourth story was almost unintelligible to me. I didn’t get the point, but luckily it was fairly short. The fifth story had an interesting premise, but was just so overdone l I ended up skimming quite a bit to get back to the action. I enjoyed Bird Box, so I’m guessing this author’s short stories, specifically, are just not for me.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me access to this eARC for my honest opinion!

This was my first Malerman and it was not the best option for that. As others mentioned, one of the saving graces to this collection seems to be the easter eggs for fans. I, of course, missed them all.

The concepts were intriguing, but ultimately the stories seemed longer than what the stories demanded. You can see where they are going; there is no mystery to solve so that is not the point. The vast majority of stuff here is mental inside of a character. They would make quite the boring movies, but they aren't meant to be that format. I understand what they are, but still wished it would just hurry up a bit. It often seemed that there were more details than I had interest for the characters or vignettes.

Because of this, the stories in the middle, not further subdivided into parts, worked the best. Doug and Judy and Argyle saved this one for me. I don't rue losing the time I spent reading this, and I will give Malerman another try. I do hope the next lands a bit better though.

[Blurb goes here]

Big Josh Malerman fan here. So it's hard for me to be objective about this anthology. Curious thing, though: Malerman's first book I got my hands on was Goblin. Still one of my favorite reads. I've read it more than a couple of times since then.

When it comes down to it, Malerman never disappoints. I love how in some of 'Spin a Black Yarn' stories, he brings back cities, towns, and even characters we'd visited before. Malerman has a unique, poignant way of putting his characters in harm's way, all the while using dark humor to lighten the load on the reader.

Some of the stories seemed absurd at first glance, but as you dig down, they become wondrous, beautiful, even.

Half the House is Haunted is amazing: an eight-year-old girl torments his six-year-old brother with this seemingly innocent earworm: half the house is haunted. No, it's not the left or the right, nor the top or bottom. Could be this step on the stairs and not the next.

Argyle is, IMHO, one of the best tales. A man on his deathbed confesses to being a serial killer to his wife and kids. Not your garden variety serial killer, though.

Doug and Judy Buy The House Washer®: an insufferable couple whose goal in life is to have what no one else can, humiliating others by pompously bragging about it. Obvious to say that they get what they deserve.

The Jupiter Drop: a man buys a trip that will take him to the vowels of Jupiter inside a Glass room. Let the torment begin!

Egorov: Sorry to say that this one didn't do it for me. Still a great story. Two brothers seek revenge for the death of a third brother. They're triplets, something the surviving brothers use to their advantage when hunting for the killer.

Malerman scares, plays with your feelings, and gives you insignificant moments of respite before pulling you again into the horrors of these stories. I wouldn't expect anything less from the mastermind behind Goblin, Pearl, and Daphne.

I can't say enough good things about 'Spin a Black Yarn.' If you're into horror and fantasy, this should be your next read.

Thank you for the advanced copy!