While I do generally like books that are weird and have elements of body horror, this book was not for me. The short stories were well-written, however, the gross aspect with the theme of bodily functions throughout the book was not my cup of tea. I would recommend this book to a certain type of reader.

There were some short stories that stood out to me - Ivor, The Green Hat, The Poison Garden, and The Surrogate.

If you like Karen Russell's anthologies, you'll like The Coiled Serpent. I loved to hate these little freak tales, super eerie and weird and evocative, like reading the scraped out insides of a creepy little girl's head.

Short horror stories are my absolute favorite because of the quick and sometimes treacherous journey they provide. The Coiled Serpent scratched that itch, but may not be suitable for your average short story reader. Grudova's attention to bodily function was jarring and sometimes unwelcomed — something I know is personal preference. There is a specific reader that this book will be stunning for, it just may not be me.

That being said, Grudova's prose is impressive and deserves recognition, even if the content matter was not my favorite. Readers of The Cursed Bunny or The Consumer may find it a perfect add to their bookshelf.

A weird and very gross collection of short stories.

I usually like all of those things, but this is clearly not for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A beautiful collection of twisted and horrific stories! Each story will have you enraptured, I highly recommend if you’re looking for a fast-paced and different read!

The Coiled Serpent by Camilla Grudova is a collection of singular and viscerally strange short stories, marking the author's U.S. debut. The stories explore themes of old-world toxicity and late-stage capitalism with a disturbing, sometimes gothic atmosphere. Grudova's writing combines magical realism with unsettling horror elements.

Among the stories, a custard factory explosion disrupts a small community, a cursed hotel for ailing girls welcomes a new guest, and a venomous garden is curated at the Margate museum. Each tale delves into the grotesque and the surreal, creating a haunting reading experience.

The collection includes standout stories like Avalon, and the titular The Coiled Serpent. Grudova's plain, matter-of-fact writing style contrasts sharply with the fantastical and bizarre content, making the stories both jarring and compelling.

Overall, The Coiled Serpent is an unsettling and thought-provoking read, perfect for fans of weird and grotesque short story collections. It offers a unique glimpse into strange, unsettling worlds that will linger long after the last page.

Thank you to Unnamed Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own. 3.5 Stars.

A strange and compelling set of short stories that span different genres, but all have horror elements. The stories have a disturbing, sometimes gothic atmosphere and I liked the magical realism elements. The writing style is like cross between Heather O'Neill and Ottessa Moshfegh.

My favourite stories:

Ivor
Description and History of a British Swimming Pool / Banya Banya!
Avalon
The Surrogates
The Coiled Serpent
The Meat Eater
The Apartment

Sixteen short stories, not horror, but horror adjacent. This is the author’s U.S. debut; the stories are set in Britain.

Many of the stories are profoundly disturbing. I grimaced quite often while reading. Feces came up fairly often, but spelled “faeces” in the cool, U.K. way which….didnt make it any better.

Thank you to NetGally and Unnamed Press for my arc in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

"The Coiled Serpent" is a collection of grotesque, body horror short stories that give a certain kind of texture to the idea of Britishness. The highlight story is "Ivor" which, for me, was the only cohesive and well-written story. The short story is inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's "Downhill" and is set at a boarding school for boys where the students are lifelong boarders. As I said, I think this was the only cohesive and well-written story in the bunch. The others all felt very shallow and the writing, while descriptive, seemed to be done more for the shock value of the imagery rather than for the narrative. Like, the gross factor does nothing for the storytelling in the stories other than to gross the reader out. I just felt it wasn't needed to get the points across. If anything, whatever messaging or ideas that were presented in the stories get lost in the gruesome details.

On the plus side, this encouraged me to deep clean my new kitchen and bathroom (with the help of my partner).

Overall, would not recommend.

The Coiled Serpent by Camilla Grudova is such a strong collection of short stories - weird and wonderful, very creative but really real at the same time.

Reading this book felt almost like peering through a grimy window, and being met with a scene from a different world all together on the other side of the glass. The Coiled Serpent is not a book for the faint of heart but it is the book for people looking for something strange, unsettling, uncomfortable, and sometimes downright gross.

DNF at 28%, so I won’t rate this one.

There’s a weirdness to this collection that does appeal to me. There’s also a gross out factor that reminds me of Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung. But in the stories I read, it didn’t really amount to much. In that sense it reminded me of Kelly Link, which is a selling point for fans of her, of course! But I find Link has a similar weirdness without point in her writing, and I lose interest.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I’m an idiot and requested this forgetting I’d read and reviewed it last time it was on NetGalley! This is what I said:
Grudova’s short stories are only occasionally set in our world, and lean more heavily on vibes than solid plot, meaning that they make very little sense at times but I did enjoy the dark grossness of a lot of them even if I didn’t love them.

3,25 stars.
First of all, please read the descriptions and reviews before picking up this book. The mentioning of bodily secretions, and the use of the body for delivering the themes in this book may not be for everyone.
The Coiled Serpent is bold and different. This is a collection of bizarre and gruesome, maybe event grotesque short stories.
The level of imaginativeness and how the stories served as subtle or overt critique of societal problems, hence the black humour were my favourite.
Some of the stories are more developed than others. Overall, I enjoyed the surreal, bodily horror and drama.
The author is very talented and I hope she writes more in these genres and about these themes.

It took me a while to get into this book but ultimately, this one wasn’t for me. I was expecting a different type of horror and while I felt a little unsatisfied, I did enjoy a few stories. The ones that stood out to me were The Poison Garden, The Surrogates, and Hoo Hoo. The body horror took me out of it while reading and I was never truly invested in any of the stories. I would recommend this book but only to very specific people.