Finally, horror in the heartland! I adore all thing "southern gothic" and midwest gothic is so much bleaker. There is a void, a vastness of nothing and something all at once in the midwest. Hundreds of miles of blank, open space between major cities. All that space to be filled with horror. Thomas brings his unique and strange storytelling to this land and with him brings us three stories of despair. I was not so much fan of the first story, it felt a bit dragging, but the other two were phenomenal and trademark of Thomas' weird and wild way of bring his words to life. Kill Creek brought me to this, but The Boy in the Woods made me stay.

Midwestern Gothic by Scott Thomas is a four novella collection featuring gothic tales set in Kansas. The collection defines gothic as a horror of the land or better yet a horror that is just under the surface. The horror in most of these stories is deeply rooted in the lore of the land and the land needs sacrifices. The horror is also deeply rooted in stories passed down from generation to generation. In all the stories there's a book that either mirrors what is going on or gives the characters insight into a horror they are dealing with. The stories are brutal and enter extreme horror. I define extreme horror as taking no prisoners to kill anyone or anything and describe the violence and gore to the most graphic detail possible. I liked some stories more than others but I felt all the stories were good. The pace is pretty good I did feel the last story was the slowest but there was a lot of character setup and exposition. There's only one traditional horror story the Boy in the Woods which is a different take on vampires. The stories start a little odd, it reminded me of The Simpsons episodes that begin and find their direction later in the episode. Wear Your Secret Like a Stone starts with an idea to sell books but ends up with a complaint about one book a crew member shared. I think Thomas is a very unique writer who has a great way of describing things, My favorite bit of writing was a description comparing a patchy field to a child trying to cut its own hair. Thomas's writing adds a rhythm to the story with words sometimes it's a heartbeat or a ticking clock. This device works well to add tension to the stories. I read Midwestern Gothic thanks to Inkshares and Netgalley. Midwestern Gothic was published on September 17, 2024.

Plot Summary and Rating:

5 stars

Wear Your Secret Like a Stone is about Tara who works a dead-end job in retail at a big box store. She is saving up to 10,000 to get out of town. She gets a complaint about a book blurb displaying her favorite horror novel. She defends it and learns part of her novel is true. That the town has a hunger stone. Tara still mad at the complaint decides to track the complainer down. Tara finds the woman in the woods close to the hunger stone where she lost her best friend years ago. The woman lied about having a son. She wanted Tara to come because of the book, and how connected it is to Tara and her fate. The book has a great ending that isn't sad but links to the sacrifices of family. The ghost of the schoolboy wasn't the main focus of the story, but one of my favorite parts of the story. The mirror at the sink scene was very terrifying. The story within the story was interesting about the original river stone was interesting. I was intrigued by this story from the beginning. Wear Your Secret Like a Stone was easily my favorite story. 4.5 out of 5

4 stars

The Door In the Field is a gothic/folklore horror. An adult woman is looking for her father who abandoned her. She finds him and he tells a tale of why he wasn't around. Ray, the father, was an angry young man who would go off the handle and explode in a fury of fists. Some see Ray as a monster and others see him as a vessel. There's some good theme in this piece about inheriting the ghost of family. This story is the most intense and very gory. There's a very intense scene with a wild pig, a guy with a gun, and a man strapped to a chair. The ending was good it wraps up Ray telling his story and what the abandoned daughter thinks about it. 4.1 out of 5

One Half of a Child's Face is an interesting take on Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window where a woman watches an apartment from her house on the hill. In one of the apartments, her former husband lives with his new girlfriend and their child. The woman watches the 8 floors of apartments like a TV soap opera. She starts to notice people acting strangely when a new painting arrives in one of the rooms. The story was very dark. The ending was satisfying. I liked that the current girlfriend didn't fall into the wicked stepmother trope of being nasty and actually loved the child. 3.8 out of 5

The Boy in the Woods is about a camper that gets left behind and his camp counselors are acting strange. I like that the catalyst is mosquitoes drinking dead animal blood and then affecting the counselors. The Boy in The Woods is the shortest story and the most straightforward horror story. The action starts pretty quickly and will not disappoint. This story is the most brutal and goriest. This story does have the least character development, which is something I've liked from this collection. This story had a connection to books like all the other novellas in the collection. Where the story within the story mirrors the events in the story. The ending for this story was killer, it was bloody yet cathartic. 3.5 out of 5

Recommendation: Midwestern Gothic is a good collection of horror. I was not prepared for how extreme the horror and the graphic descriptions were. I read and loved Violet by Scott Thomas which was not extreme horror and more horror of the mind. So the tonal switch was a little bit jarring, but Thomas is a good writer and made me care about the characters and the situations they were in. In each of the stories, I had a moment of not knowing where the story was heading which was exciting. I have not read Kill Creek by Scott Thomas but that book is referenced a lot and made me want to check it out. Some of the events that happened in that story are mentioned, so you could get more out of this book if you read Kill Creek first.

Rating: Midwestern Gothic by Scott Thomas 3.9 out of 5

I have recommended this title and bought a copy for my home library. Great collection. Thank you to the publisher for the early copy.

I loved Kill Creek, and I love novellas. It’s satisfying to finish a story, so shorter can sometimes be better. This was going to be a definite yes, for me.
However, I just didn’t love it.
I enjoyed the stories. Being from the Midwest, I could see every story perfectly. They were just a bit too long at times. The Midwest can be so boring, and unfortunately when you describe it so well, the story becomes boring too.
I like the overarching tales, just didn’t enjoy the length. The writing is great, just a bit too much of it.
I will read more from the author, and this could work for other readers just not for me

I couldn’t get into the story just as I thought. Not disappointed but need more depth, I think. I can't remember when was the last time when I read a book in which the whole plot was 100% equal to what was written in the blurb and nothing more. There was no surprise there, no resolution to any of the plot threads and the whole story was blatantly predictable and painfully dull.

Scott Thomas doesn't disappoint. These stories by the author of Kill Creek all evoke strong Americana dread.

After reading Kill Creek when it came out I really enjoyed this novellas from the same author. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the free eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

I read Scott Thomas's second book Kill Creek earlier this year and fell in love with it, so I requested this book immediately. This collection of novellas was incredibly well done. While the first story was my least favorite I thought the other three were amazing. I think the book resonated even more for me after reading Kill Creek because certain characters are referenced and intertwined in the stories of Midwestern Gothic. It was like visiting old friends which I appreciated.

I am so thankful to InkShares, Scott Thomas, and Netgalley for granting me advanced access to this galley before publication day. I really enjoyed the dialogue and plot of this book and can’t wait to chat this one up with my friends!

Excellent book, loved it! Looking forward to more from this author! Apologies for the lateness of my review

Thank you to Inkshares, NetGalley and Scott Thomas for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've never heard of anything referred to as Midwestern Gothic, so the title immediately piqued my interest. I had previously read Kill Creek by Scott Thomas and hoped this would not disappoint. It's made up of four short stories - each story references one of the authors from Kill Creek, although you don't have to have read Kill Creek in order to read Midwestern Gothic.

1. The Door in the Field. It involves a young man with a past, his boss with a secret and a door in a field. This was my favorite story.
2. Wear Your Secret Like a Stone started out strong but ended up going in a totally different direction and i felt like the author was trying to do too many things with this one.
3. The Boy in the Woods is a gory, fun summer camp story about that boy that's always picked on.
4. One Half of a Child's Face about a mother who's always watching and that strange, creepy piece of art.

I commend Scott Thomas for getting it right with this collection of four short stories that are all different but equally creepy and enjoyable!

Midwestern Gothic” is Kill Creek author Scott Thomas at his finest—brilliantly dismantling the serene imagery of small-town America and unearthing something far darker beneath the surface. Through three chilling novellas, Thomas reminds us that the most unsettling horrors are often found in the most familiar places.

The collection opens with The Door in the Field, where Rayland Allen’s night at a backwoods bar spirals into a nightmare drenched in blood and regret. The Boy in the Woods takes readers into the eerie aftermath of a summer camp that devolves into pure terror, blending coming-of-age storytelling with creeping dread. And One Half of a Child’s Face is a surreal exploration of obsession, parenthood, and the strange power of art, as Sienna Franklin witnesses children drawn inexplicably to a sinister painting—like moths to a flame.

Thomas weaves atmosphere like a seasoned storyteller, turning idyllic settings into shadowy landscapes filled with menace. If you love eerie Americana with a dash of psychological horror, this is a must-read. Each novella feels distinct yet thematically connected, unified by the sense that the heartland’s quiet charm is just a façade—and sometimes the monsters are already home.

A rich, often surprisingly moving, collection of horror, dripping with all the trappings of Midwestern Gothic (naturally). Thomas' imagery lingers long after each story has ended.

Personal favourite - The Boy in the Woods. Bloody and brutal.

Scott Thomas has quickly become one of my new favorite authors! This book was excellent! It was atmospheric and mysterious! I loved the setting and characters so much! Totally full of Gothic Fall vibes!!!

I definitely like Scott Thomas more with shorter stories. This is a collection of stories that don't seem to have anything to do with each other, for the most part, but they all exist in the same universe and I was thrilled to see references to Kill Creek, an earlier novel by Thomas. I've always been a huge fan of doing that, building an entire world where the events that happen in one story are real in the others.
The stories are all horror, of course, and there is everything from psychological horror to actual violence. I'm definitely going to read the next book or novella I see with his name on it. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

Thanks to Netgalley and to publisher whom I get this e-ARC of short story collection written by Scott Thomas best known for his novel "Kill Creek".

Honestly, I have mixed criticisms about this book. It took me 2 months to finished it because of some situations that I want to put this down. Think. Then read again and give this book a 3rd chance!

I didn't care to the first and last stories of this book because I think they are the weakest in terms of dry descriptions of writing scenes and characters of the story. I cannot absorb those two stories although they have scare factors but the story was not totally a banger for me.

The remaining two stories "The Boy in the Woods" and "Wear Your Secret Like a Stone" was so horrifying. Scott Thomas gave some goosebumps to establish some stronger points in the story. Every details to the story although slow burns makes me feel sad and scared especially to the story "The Boy in the Woods" those precious climactic part gave me chills!

Overall, I highly recommend this short story collection hope I will be given again an opportunity to review books by Scott Thomas.

Nothing quite hits like rural, small town horror. Not in a “nothing bad ever happens in a town like ours” kind of way, but a “everyone overlooks certain things to keep the peace” way. In a climate that is prone to having secrets shoved beneath the surface, I think the Midwest, and moreover, small town America, provides an interesting setting for gothic horror.

“Wear Your Secret Like a Stone” was my favorite story in this collection. It just felt like an homage to horror in general and I loved the historical context of it.

“The Boy in the Woods” was the story that made me want to cry and almost put this book down.

“One Half of a Child’s Face” terrified me in the same way that ‘Nestlings’ terrified me in that I would rather face a madman with a chainsaw than my own messy thoughts on parenting.

I did enjoy the first story, from then on I just could not get interested.
I had expected it to be less paranormal than it was. And, I just don't like paranormal in books.

Thanks to NetGalley and Inkshares for the ARC.

A Neat collection of 4 horror novellas set in the Midwest. They're also all connected to each other in small ways, and all tend to connect to horror literature as a whole. I liked The Door in the Field the best, I liked the Eldritch horror elements and the framing narrative, placing this in a larger context of a daughter learning where her absentee father has been her whole life, and whether she can forgive him despite what he's gone through. I feel like the ending to The Boy in the Woods was a little lacking. The rest are okay.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6904728049

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/f6056066-41ba-4099-8640-d00bdf4c775e

Check out this review of Midwestern Gothic on Fable. https://fable.co/review/f706c16f-8b5b-42d0-ba1d-7464041f7026/share

This book contains four novellas: The Door in the Field, Wear Your Secret Like a Stone, The Boy in the Woods, and One Half of a Child's Face. All the novellas reference the authors in Kill Creek in one way or another.

As someone who is from the Midwest and loves it, having the exploration of what specifically Midwestern Gothic means was so fascinating, and Thomas's defining of it permeates each story, and it started my brain up pulling other pieces of media that fit this definition perfectly. That it's about the land, the blood shed in various ways to attain it, keep it, reap it, and the way that change us. The generational trauma of centuries of violence, and the terrors colonizers brought with them that grow new roots in these spaces.

While the Boy in the Woods will make you hate mosquitoes even more, I think One Half of a Child's Face was the most compelling story. I was sitting up in my chair as the tension built, and felt physical relief when it resolved.

Overall, a perfect read for a cold fall night, when the wind is loud and the trees are speaking.