A short and succulent read, Cabbage by C.S. Fritz is perfect for horror fans new and old. On a picturesque farm, an elderly couple enjoys the little time they have left together by tending to their garden. After past traumas and current illnesses, they have long since stopped expecting miracles. But what if their little miracle just needs some time to grow?

“Do you think the seeds know they must die?”

What begins as charming and lovely quickly devolves into the creepy, bloody, eerie. The rising tension was very well done for such a short piece of work, and by the end I was filled with dread for what was to come. I would definitely recommend this one for fans of weird and surreal fiction, or those looking to dip a toe into the horror genre.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

oh boy does this suffer from length. I was intrigued by the idea but unfortunately this just did not hit. It's very fast paced and a lot of the background information is given in broken up quick tidbits. I definitely caught that the author was trying to explore themes of grief and suppressed anger but it wasn't really executed well. I couldn't get behind the rash choices that Rosemary was making because I had no background to go off for why, just snippets of something that caused her to harbor years worth of anger and hatred towards her husband. I understand people make stupid decisions on a regular basis in real life but the start of this was just ridiculous, because why would you just willing eat something that you have no idea how it came to be?

Honestly the idea for this was really interesting and I think had it be written to be longer and explored to the full extent it would have been more interesting and the weird/creepy/horror vibes could have been more present. The outcome was sure weird, but not make me scared or worried weird, like I wasn't feeling any way at all while reading this and that's something I look for horror, maybe I don't understand the genre much but I want to feel something when I read it.

The playlist is pretty much the only thing I liked about this, but I honestly missed it the first time I opened the file up, but its a great creepy vibes playlist and I can appreciate that.

Cabbage is a horror short story about a man and his dying wife who discover their cabbage garden produces “miracles.”

This story had an interesting premise and was a quick read but overall I felt the plot and writing were lacking. The wife very quickly goes from just wanting to eat stew by her garden to committing homicide. I would have liked to see more build up. I also think this would have benefited from additional editing.

*Includes use of uncomfortable language "confined to a wheelchair" instead of wheelchair user.*
This was short and creepy but I felt like we didn't get the full story. There was one element that wasn't fully explained in relation to "an accident" which left me feeling slightly unsatisfied.
I liked the dynamic between the husband and wife and how that changed in this story.
Overall I enjoyed this but I didn't love the way the story wrapped up.

Gorgeous little horror novella, fun little ideas. Basically an overgrown short story that worked so perfectly i feel it deserves that. thanks for the arc.

A great short story that kept my interest.

I would recommend this short horror story to anyone interested in indie horror authors or to those who garden, simply because this story's setting involves gardening. I'll be reading more of C.S. Fritz's work in the future.

Thank you to Albatross Book Company and to NetGalley for providing this story in exchange for an honest review.

This is a novella/short story and is a really quick and interesting read, I read it in one day. There wasn’t a lot of depth to it but I think that’s expected when the work is so short. I liked the body horror element and that Fritz took something as innocuous as gardening and made it disturbing. Cabbage has great descriptive writing and beautiful artwork in between the chapters!

Firstly I would like to thank C.S. Fritz , The Albatross Book Company and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of ' Cabbage ' to review .

This is the first book by C.S. Fritz I have read and I went into it completely blind . In all honesty it was the cover that drew my attention to it . I am always looking for new and quirky reads and the cover was certainly attention grabbing .

Although the story is short I was astounded by just how impactful it was . It became apparent right from the start just how much thought had gone into every word and sentence . Although categorised as horror it felt more like a beautifully written traditional folklore tale . Imagination poured from every page and the illustrations, quotes and poetry strategically placed only made the tale more of a delight to read.

I don't want to give away any spoilers , as I personally feel that this should be a book to be experienced first hand . Whilst the story is about grief and there is a foreboding sense of doom throughout , the author certainly knows how to portray strong emotional connections between characters .

It was a delight to read .. meaningful and artistic and almost whimsical . One of my favourite short story reads of the year so far .

#Cabbage #NetGalley.

A creepy short story perfect to get you in the mood for Halloween. The descriptions are the highlight of this book. With so few words the author vividly portrays the horrors from the garden. Read in one sitting.

Story summary:
Thomas’s wife Rosemary is at the end of her battle with cancer and he builds her a beautiful garden for her to enjoy. After an accidental spill the garden seems to come alive and starts granting Rosemary’s wishes each day.

My thoughts:
This was a quick read, only taking about half an hour to finish and I enjoyed it for the most part. I liked the story and the chapter art was super cool. I’m always a sucker for art in novels and this one was well done. I love how cabbages were incorporated in each one. While I liked the art, I wasn’t a fan of the poems that followed after every chapter. They didn’t feel like they fit the story and seemed more like it took away from it. Also there were SO many similes in this short story. And look, I get it. It’s a short novel but with how excessive it was it didn’t make the story flow well. But every paragraph and almost simile after simile with no breaks? I ended up getting annoyed.

The story itself was good, though predictable, but the usage of the garden and the details on the vegetable beings was creative and unique. I enjoyed the story overall and it made for a nice quick read.

A horror story about cabbages? Sign me up!
This beautiful short story is about an old farmer who gifts his dying wife the garden of her dreams. After an accident with a blood bag the garden starts to provide more than just caggabes.
If there's one story i could name as a "cozy horror" it would be this. I was never shocked to my core. Overall just a lot of spooky eerie vibes, mixed with the couple dealing with the certain early death of the wife.
Considering this is a really short story I wasn't expecting to connect to the characters and well - I didn't -. What I did deeply enjoy though, were the descriptions of the garden. Like it made me dream of having my own little paradise.
In the end I really liked this story, a little too short in my opinion. Wished for even more descriptions of the garden. More floweryness.
But I guess I should be careful about what I wish for ;)
3/5 Stars

This was soooooo much fun to read. In the vein of SyFy creature features but actually funny and well done. Loved the art style too.

The cover is what initially captured my attention. When I decided to read this short story, I had no idea what I was in for.

Our story starts out with the main character, Rosemary, along with her husband, enjoying the beautiful garden Thomas has planted for his ailing wife. The pace picks up right from jump - with the first chapter giving us a tiny peek into the horrors that are to come. Quickly, we learn not everything is as it seems. The story races along with all the speed and terror of a bullet train to Hell. In this book, the cost of a miracle... monstrous evil in disguise.

Delightfully weird. A super quick but very fun read!

Think of grief and what it can do to a person; then, imagine if that grief, all its loss and wants, manifested itself into your worst nightmare. That is what I felt here, grief growing into a garden of horrors. This was a thrilling, fast-paced, dirty ride and I loved it. This is short-story horror done correctly. The author gave plenty of information in just the correct way to move the story along without dragging into the details. I also love that our main characters, Rosemary and Thomas, "give in to the drama" of the garden of miracles (we know as an audience it's a horrible idea but, I can't help giving into the drama too).

this is a perfectly weird short horror story.

Thomas's wife Rosemary has cancer. When she arrives home from the hospital, Thomas surprises her with the completed garden she's always dreamed of. But when an accident awakens the cabbage growing there, things take a turn for the worst.

I thought the writing in this was great and I very quickly felt connected to the main characters. The pacing in this was perfect for a short story and the author does not keep you waiting - the craziness and weirdness begins very quickly and follows up with a descent into madness.

This is definitely one of those short stories that I would totally read if it was ever a full length novel 🙌🏻



***book recs may be slightly spoilery***
Read if you like:
-Pet Sematary or Crossroads for the 'resurrected family' element
-The Country Will Bring Us No Peace for ominous storytelling & grief over the loss of a child
-Helpmeet for the combination of illness & weird nature

This short story was so cool. I love weird horror. One of my favorite things in horror is that you can literally take anything and find the dark side of it and tap into fear. This story definitely gave me goosebumps for adults vibes.

What I loved about this was that it taps into a few different emotional psychoses, Thomas’s wife is dying, she previously had a child she lost, and their relationship together as a whole being not 100% great due to a spoiler fact I won’t mention. The whole story isn’t just about this weird cabbage patch, it’s made creepy and genuinely horrific because it is grounded in these very real emotional feelings and relationships.

This is a perfect snapshot of these two people’s lives together in a transition period of simply making Rosemary feel comfortable before her death. Something horribly wrong and tragic coming to pass by accident that twists hope into a terrible situation. Their relationship may not have ever been perfect, but you feel his dedication to Rosemary and the horror of seeing her feelings darken due to something the cabbage patch brings that I will not name.

It was so well done and well written with lots of description that felt rooted in the garden feel of the story even in scenes not necessarily in the Cabbage patch itself. I really loved this!

What, and I cannot stress this enough, the HECK did I just read here? Absolutely bonkers in all the right ways.

It isn't often something so outrageously imaginative comes along like ths; something that shrugs the rules of writing off its shoulders and delivers such an enjoyable and very carefully crafted book.

The story centres around an older couple, both very much in love still - although one is terminally ill. Without spoiling anything, the fecundity of their garden bears fruit of increasingly worrying proportions based on their needs and wishes. Produce worthy of Poe himself.

It's a fast read - it's an incredibly enjoyable read. So please, get your cerebral chops around Cabbage and have some fun.

I’m going to start this review by saying that I absolutely had no idea what I was getting myself into however I really ended up liking it. I liked the idea, the whole garden coming alive thanks to Rosemary’s tainted blood and how it all played out. I was just kind of sad that we didn’t get more/ the story wasn’t longer. Normally I don’t mind some mystery, but I was still left with a lot of questions at the end.
I do love the whole symbolism behind the ending, I think what the writer wanted to teach us was that miracles are miracles because they don’t happen often and with Rosemary asking more and more, it all went downhill. So what I’ve learned from this short story is: be careful what you wish for and stay away from cabbages 😉

Cabbage by C.S. Fritz is a bizarre short story that repurposes the classic childhood nostalgia of Cabbage Patch Kids in a self contained, but weird tale. It focuses on an elderly couple who, through a short series of miracles (or perhaps ill fated luck) find a small child in their farmland's vegetable patch.

Beyond that, it is also a tale about pain, about grief, and about sacrifice. What happens when we spill blood in the name of desire? What happens when we put too much of ourselves into another person or a thing? It's about what changes a person when it comes down to desperation and grief, and how the intricacies of life and death intertwine.

All in all, Cabbage was a fun little tale that was both eerie and addicting, kept the pages turning, and carries the weight of a full range of emotions within it.

Thank you Netgalley, Albatross Book Co., and Independent Book Publishers Association for this arc.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This is a very strong horror novella, with definite eldritch influences and lashings of faerie tale sprinkled throughout. It was a really fun read, with some very graphic descriptions of the situation and the challenges that the characters were facing. I do wish that this story was one in a full collection of these types of stories - It would work so much nicer and would really allow for things to be fleshed out a little more.

The characters could have also stood to have had a little more development, but all in all this was a strong horror short story with really interesting influences. I'd be keen to see more of what the author can do with the influences drawn into this book.