Thank you to Del Rey and Netgalley for this EARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a collection of what Malerman does really great which is short stories! This book has five novellas, all connected to a fictional town in Michigan. I have rated each story below and my overall rating is an average of those. This was a decent collection of horror and speculative fiction, but not my favorite from Malerman.

Probably my favorite novella was, Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer, which is about a married couple trapped inside a tube in their house while a machine washes everything in it. A very unique idea and it gets creepy there for a second.

Overall I didn't find these novellas too compelling, I often forced myself to continue to read, especially with the last novella, Egorov, which was 34 chapters long. I did find the stories all really unique ideas, like going on a vacation in a house that drops through Jupiter?? So strange lol.

If you have liked Malerman's short stories in the past then give this one a read!

Story Ratings:
Half a Haunted House 4 stars
Argyle 3 stars
Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer 4 stars
Jupiter Drop 3 stars
Egorov 3 stars

Overall 3.5 stars

Exactly the excellent, creepy, terrifying, and thoughtful work I'd expect from Josh Malerman. Fans will be pleased and readers new to his work will become fans.

I've read a couple of Josh Malerman's books in the past and thoroughly enjoyed them. I was excited to get a chance to review this collection, but unfortunately it just didn't hit the mark for me.

The first story, Half the House is Haunted was presented in an interesting format, which I enjoyed. Also the first part of it was fun for me because my cousin tested me the same way that Stephanie tested her brother. However the story itself was dull and I'm not really sure what the main event was. I'm sure that's entirely my failing though, and others will have a different experience with it.

My favorite of the tales, Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer. I really liked this story of terrible people having to confront their true natures. Also, I need a house washer.

The last story, Egorov, was good, although a bit too slow for my own tastes. Still, it was beautiful written, and I liked the story itself.

Overall, it just wasn't really for me, but others who prefer a slower pace and more thoughtful novellas will likely love this collection of bleak tales.

Josh Malerman does it again. Five incredible novellas that show his range as a writer. That final novella, the longest as well, works on so many levels — exploring family, revenge, ghosts and the inherent weirdness of triplets. There’s a goofy one in there that breaks up some of the horror while also still injecting all the humanity and soul I expect from a Malerman story. This is a terrific collection that I would recommend to all horror fans. It’s a great sampling of his range as well.

I am a Malermaniac and was excited to see Spin a Black Yarn available. It’s always nice to return to familiar lands and I loved the Easter eggs to previous Malerman titles, such as Daphne and Goblin. There were some additional references that I’ll have to read more about by finding these prior works. This is a collection of 5 short stories.
Half the House Is Haunted tells the story of siblings through the ages who may or may not live in a haunted house. This was just okay for me. I didn’t like the way the story went back and forth between the siblings, especially when they were younger. For me, this was ⭐️⭐️💫

Argyle tells the story of a man who was compelled to be a serial killer who resists his urges and decided to tell his family who he really is on his death bed. This was just a little too long and for me was ⭐️⭐️💫

Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer tells the story of a ruthless couple who will do whatever it takes to be successful. This I really enjoyed because who doesn’t like discovering the dirty deeds of the Rick. For me, this was a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Jupiter Drop tells the story of a man who decides to go on an extreme vacation to Jupiter in an attempt to forget the grief he feels over an accident. This is another one that just felt too slow and long. As a matter of fact, I fell asleep reading this one. Another ⭐️⭐️💫

The final story is Egorov which tells the story of a family who is grieving the loss of a murdered triplet. The surviving brothers attempt to find the murderer and end up staging their own haunting! This was so much fun and very reminiscent of Poe. So this was a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall I would rate this book at ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 stars, rounding up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ because I love Malerman!

My thanks to Random House/Ballantine, Josh Malerman and Netgalley.
Honestly? I wasn't a fan. I struggled and was often quite bored.
Thing is that I love Malerman and his books. Full on stories. When he does his short story crap...well, that's when he loses me. This is my second collection of shorts from this author, and I won't read anymore shorties from him.
I will however keep reading his books. Full on stories. That's where this author shines brightest.
Read this or not. You'll like it or not.

It can be very difficult to review collections of stories at times and this is one of the more difficult ones. The stories are so different from one another. I really enjoyed Argyle and Egorov but Half the House is Haunted just was not for me. The other stories fell somewhere in between. Overall I do think Malerman is great at writing horror, their stories just don't always work for me.

This is an awesome collection of 5 novellas. I loved that I could finish one quickly and wait a bit to go on to the next. These novellas showcase the authors ability to write horror and unique stories. They were all very good.

I was really looking forward to reading this short story collection. Earlier this year I ended up reading Daphne and I really enjoyed it. So then I decided let me put a request in for Spin a Black Yard. Well I am sad to say most of the stories in this collection did not do it for me. I was struggling so hard to get through this one. There ended up techinally only be one I fully enjoyed. I'm going to go through and kinda briefly talk about each one. There are only five stories in this collection.

Half the House is Haunted:

This was told in three parts. You get the perspective of a brother and sister. They are two years apart. The sister continues to scare the brother throughout his life. I did feel like the second part was a bit repetitive from part one. Overall didn't really enjoy this one.

Argyle:

This one I ended up liking. I thought it was actually pretty wild. This Dad is on his death bed talking about how he wishes he murded people. Like shit was insane. Everyone's trying to be like come on Dad, you're joking right. He's just going on about it. So that was fun.

Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer:

Hands down this was my favorite story of the whole book. Basically Doug and Judy are dicks and they buy this House Washer to basically keep up with every expensive product out there. I love that it's cleaning their house and cleaning all their dirty little secerts they have lying around the house. This was a fun one and loved reading about them just freaking out the whole time.

The Jupiter Drop

I am sad to say this one didn't hold my attention. I read it I didn't really have much to say or think about it. I mean this man spends this long journey going to Jupiter. It just didn't do it for me.

Egorov

This story was told in a bunch of chapters. It's about triplets who end up losing one of their brothers. I was trying to push through this one. However, by the time I got to chapter 7, I was like whose who I have no clue. I wasn't focused on it and I just wanted to be done. I sadly ended up calling it quits at that point.

Overall this collection only had 2 out of 5 stories I liked. I did see other people really enjoyed this so if you're a Josh Malerman fan I'm sure you'll enjoy this. I know not every story is going to be for everyone. I still want to continue to read Josh Malerman's books. I've found other books he's written enjoyable. There are backlist titles of his I want to read.

In Spin a Black Yarn, Malerman does just that, and like Pee Wee's fevered nightmare sweater someone keeps knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting, Malerman likewise keeps spinning. And spinning and spinning. This reader got caught in the yarn, wrapped in a web, tangled in the beautiful magic that is storytelling. And as the yarn got tighter, more suffocating — Master of Tension that Malerman is — I took the deepest of breaths and surrendered to the words.

Spin a Black Yarn is a glorious collection of tales, and I so very much dig Malerman's novels, and I'll probably say the same thing about his next novel, and then the same about whatever is after that, whatever form it takes, but right now, having crawled out of the black web, curiouser, stronger, enchanted, having crawled out of that puzzle of black yarn, right now I'm thinking, "man, the short form, yes. This is where Malerman SHINES!"

Get your hands on a copy and get wrapped up. It's worth all the tangles in the world.

I always like to read anything by Josh Malerman. This book
Of novellas did not disappoint. Each story was very dark and gave an insight into this authors’ creative process. My favorite novella was Half This House is Haunted. This story was so wild that I began feeling as though I was Robin. I felt his fear, anger and desperation at how his childhood experiences shaped his life. I could envision Robin walking through the house trying to figure out which parts of the house were haunted. Pick up this book to read these incredible novellas.

While this collection didn't work great for me, it may for others. I normally enjoy this author's work but every once in awhile we don't vibe and it was a struggle for me to try and finish these stories.

I could not stand the first story at all and was so happy when it was over. The writing style in this one was not for me. There was not enough finesse. I just couldn’t.

Next the story, Argyle, deals with a deeply disturbing death bed confession. Not super enjoyable, but definitely better than the first. I do like how the author ties in Easter eggs to his other books and stories which is a fun touch when writers take the time do to that.

I started the third story and then DNFd it. The stories I read had little to no atmosphere and clunky writing issues that made it difficult for me to continue on.

I really liked this book. It was a really good read and well written. Thank you for the ARC! I really appreciate it!

A collection of novellas in the signature Malerman bizarre atmosphere that I really enjoyed reading. This was a different experience than past books of his because of the unique set up of the novellas and I really appreciated that. I think this one will be well received!

So, I'll give this 4 stars since I like 4 of the 5 stories. I enjoy reading Josh Malerman because his stories are often creepy. Half the House is Haunted, Doug & Judy, Argyle and Jupiter Drop were my favorites. Half the House was probably the most creepy and Jupiter Drop was more of a psychological thriller. The last story, Egorov was just not my favorite. It drug on a little too much for me. Sometimes, I feel like short stories are kind of a palate cleanser, and this is a good book to read, if you are looking for a little creepiness in your reading life.

I love horror, and I loved Bird Box and Daphne so was really excited to get an early copy of this collection of short stories, but it left me feeling..underwhelmed. 
*
Some of these stories were certainly thought provoking, but I have a hard time describing any of them as horror. Maybe the first one? That possibly involved a haunted house, although it seemed to be primarily just a bratty older sister. The last one also might have been...but I lost interest about halfway through and never actually managed to finish it 
*
I liked the story of the House Washer, it was certainly an intriguing idea about the secrets that can be unearthed in your home (I also like the idea of literally every possession in a house getting a deep clean in 90 minutes!) I also liked Jupiter Drop, but mostly because it sounds like a fascinating experience. 
*
The other stories largely dragged for me, and as I mentioned, none felt like true horror. So while some of the stories kept my attention, the collection as a whole was disappointing.

DNF @ 64%

I really wanted to love this collection of novellas, but I couldn't get invested in any of the stories. By the time I got to the third, I just couldn't bring myself to pick it back up. I'm not sure if it's because I enjoy Malerman's full novels or if these just weren't for me. I did enjoy the style of "Argyle" but it was still a struggle to get through.

I am a big fan of Malerman so always excited to receive ARCs of his books. This one was a series of short stories with Easter eggs from previous works. Some better than others (I dnf’ed the first story the characters were too annoying). The other stories all had amazing endings so it made it worthwhile. Not my favorite book of his but definitely worth the read.

Malerman’s latest is a collection of loosely linked novellas. I do love a novella but the ones in this book are a little slow for my taste - I feel that the story should ramp up quickly in a novella - these were more of a slow burn that didn’t really go anywhere. I do like Malerman’s writing quite a bit but this one just wasn’t for me. Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read and review this one!

I haven’t read any of Josh Malerman’s previous works but I have heard of him and was excited to try him out with this collection of novellas. Overall I enjoyed the collection quite a bit. Half the House was Haunted was a little hard to follow at times, but that added to the creepiness of the story and felt right for this I liked that we got to see bits from each of the two siblings perspectives. Argyle was by far my favorite story in the book. An old man on his death bed celebrates by letting his family know his most true self. Doug and Judy buy the House Washer was fun, even if it was a little repetitive and pretty predictable. The Jupiter drop was interesting but less creepy than the previous stories had been. Egorov was the longest of the novellas and unfortunately my least favorite (despite the great premise). I thought the story dragged and didn’t catch my interest as quickly and I didn’t find it as creepy. Definitely will be reading more by this author.