This was a disturbing story that I could not put down. I did enjoy it, but there was a little disconnect when I read it.

Have you ever found a book or a story that you just immediately connect to as if it was destined to find you at the exact perfect time as if by magic?

For me, You Will Speak For the Dead, was one of those very rare instances of that magic bringing a story to me. I was immediately drawn into this story and writing style- the narrative hooked from page one and I just couldn't stop reading- not that I wanted to.

This is a shorter story, but it's got so much going on (in a good way) I was surprised with how complex this one was it touches on connection and grief- but not in a particularly heavy drain way that grief horror books can feel. There's also a fair bit of body horror which was gory and weird which I absolutely loved. The phrase "skin carrots" comes to mind. Both of these elements are balanced out by plenty of humor.

This book made me uncomfortable, it made me gasp, and laugh out loud, it made me make the funniest faces and I absolutely loved every moment of it.

If you like horror mixed with humor, Sporror, eco horror or mushrooms this book might be for you.

What a beautiful short novella, you can definitely read it in one sitting and takes something from it with you for much longer.

Paul is a quiet and rather lonely man, struggling with the grief over losing his mother and his last relationship. He owns a small business, cleaning out hoarder houses. His current job takes him to the limits though, as the house of an elderly woman is full of fungi and memories, which all take root in Paul.

I appreciate the stories handling of grief and how to deal with memories and things of the past, you can't just let go. It's sensitive and empathic. On the other hand, it also has quite a bit of body horror, which is intriguing and a bit nasty.
For all things tackled in this story, I wish it would've been a bit longer and spent a bit more time with Paul and the lady.
4.25 stars - I will definitely read more from this author

4.5⭐️ This was such a strange, disturbing, nasty and absolutely addictive read! The writing was spectacular, hooked me from page 1 and never let go. I devoured it in less than an hour and would happily have continued reading more. This is a very bizarre story with disgusting body horror, but I also laughed out loud multiple times. Highly recommend!

Busby is a new author for me, but immediately became a favorite. I've already started a collection of her other works on my TBR list.

This was a unique story, and so disturbing. It could have been a great story, but it needs to be fleshed out a lot more. There is clearly severe talent here, but a much better editor us needed to guide it.

This book, wow, I have never felt my stomach churn as much while reading most Eco Horrors or graphic stories. Disturbing yet I couldn’t put it down! The details were so intense it was hair-raising. The story was short, but it left an impact.

Paul's life turns messy after his mother's death and never picks up. He got into the Hoarder House cleaning business because of his mother, and that was the only sense of purpose left in his otherwise bland life. Everything changes when he gets a gig to clean out an elderly biologist's house. The house, or something in it, was alive, and it was affecting Paul. Whatever it is, it wants to connect with Paul and speak to him. Paul needs to make a decision, and his life depends on it.

Uff, I still get goosebumps thinking of this story, but the ending will leave you with contentment. The journey till the end, though? Dread carefully!

This was a wild ride. I went in somewhat blind. It was short and gross and so incredibly unique. There's a fun combo of psychological horror and body horror (my fave) so if you're into that definitely pick this up. At times I was like what the heck am I even reading and what is this about - but the journey was so fun. I loved the interludes of.... we will call them voices. Added to the creep factor. Plus the hoarding house concept is an automatic ick. I kind of knew where it was going but the ride to get there was nuts. I took an extra long and scrubby shower after this. I definitely need to check out more by this author. It's been a while since a horror really hooked me and this one did for sure.

I finished this in one sitting! I think it will be a while before I approach a mushroom without thinking of this story.
Paul Simard cleans hoarding houses for a living but in this story it will become clear why the biologist's house is his last one.
I love books that mix proza with nature, so this book spoke to me on that level. But the human element about grief, hoarding and loneliness were aso really well done. The way this book mixes all those elements was really unique but also creepy.

Thank you RA Busby for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting and compelling storyline. Loved the characters and all the unique twists. Looking forward to reading more by this author.

This was so interesting-spore horror is something I haven’t read before. The story ended up being a bit creepy but also incredibly touching and thought-provoking, reminding me of the interconnectedness of all things. Definitely worth the read. I love the format of this—it was told in true storytelling form.

Thank you Netgalley, R A Busby and Stelliform Press for the eArc of You will Speak For the Dead.

Paul Simard's life after the loss of his Mother and his long term boyfriend is a mess. The only thing that's keeping him going is the small business he set up cleaning hoarder houses. Having received a request to clear a house out because the lady is going into a home catches Pauls eyes and he agrees. Paul and his colleagues get to work, finding the house, floor to ceiling in books, the floor spongy and a strange dust covering everything. Pauls world starts evolving into something else. Something weird, scary and wonderful at the same time.

Fav Quote "It started with that hedgehog cup "

You will Speak for the Dead is a beautifully written horror, sci fi about love, loss, grief and letting go. I really related to the whole book from beginning to end, especially as Pauls story starts to unfold and how it's interwoven with the house and the lady. that was living there. The body horror is well balanced and described really well and found myself wincing a few times. The pacing of the book is medium/fast and has a great balance between the plot direction, characters and the house.

Definitely for fans of T Kingfishers, How to Move the Dead/What's Feasts at Night

4.25 stars for StoryGraph. 4 stars for Netgalley, Amazon and Goodreads.

First and foremost this was a beautifully written short story about love, grief, and loneliness. It was relatable and I really felt empathy for what they were struggling with. Intertwined is a dark, creepy, potentially horror (there are some pretty grotesque descriptions) story about fungus which I guess is what’s popular now, and I’m not hating it. There’s something about fungus that really creeps me out and Busby wrote it well. It definitely reminded me of T. Kingfisher’s What Moves the Dead, which I loved.

This was an excellent short story and totally worth the read…only reason it isn’t 5 ⭐️ is because I wish it was longer and we got to know the main characters better. Although that’s hard to do in a short story I would have liked more character development especially for the MC, which could have been done by just adding a few more pages.

***Thank you NetGalley, R.A. Busby, and Stelliform Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review***

I don't read a lot of short stories and I didn't realize this was one when I requested an ARC. This is not exactly what I usually read but I am glad I read it. I think it will be appealing to a lot of people. This is a creepy story but it mostly explores grief and loss. I particularly liked how the author wrote about grief and coping with it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

R. A. Busby is my favorite body horror and other specific phobias, author. I've read a few of Busby's short, body horror stories in various anthologies and my first reading experience was "Bits" a short, sharp, shocks story about losing teeth and other "bits".
HOLES by R. A. Busby- deals with a fairly well-known fear, trypophobia (of which I am a sufferer). This is the tale of a woman who suffers a fear of holes. She embarks on a series of therapeutic attempts to lessen or eliminate her fear but to no avail. This has a great ending.
And of course, Corporate Body is part of the line of novellas I curated for Cemetary Gates called My Dark Library. It's medical body horror--scientific lab experiments.

You Will Speak for the Dead is about a man named Paul who professionally cleans hoarder houses. I loved all the conversation in the narrative surrounding hoarding and its connection to mental health, grieving, and loss. The last house Paul cleans is a real doozy...filled with SPORROR and I do NOT want to tell you anything else but prepare to:
Read the whole thing in one sitting
make cringing faces and gagging noises
and never want to be around mushrooms ever again! I will recommend this one in my regular lists of horror recs for certain tropes, forever!
I LOVED IT

4 stars

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

Basics
Authors: she/her
Genre: horror
Setting: hoarder's house
Themes: loneliness, memory, celebrating life through death
Mood: dry wit, grieving

Fav Quote
"This story, you understand, is a sort of
spore, a tiny living thing shed out into the world.
And maybe it will light on you, and you will breathe it in, and you will make it part of who
you are. And you too will speak for the dead."

Pros
+ viscerally gross
+ mushrooms, spores, filaments 🍄
+ mood-setting quote: "Still, not even after
my best workouts had my skin ever...crackled. As I ran my fingertips down my quads, something in there felt like half-defrosted
chicken, almost crispy. When I bent down, I spotted something growing on my foot."
+ Reminds me of my favorite house cleaning channel, Midwest Cleaning Magic. He's great to watch for cleaning tips or also some sarcastic, dry humor.
+ male genital body horror & gore

Neutral
/ Don't read this if you can't handle in-depth descriptions of hoarder filth.

Cons
- Need to suspend a lot of disbelief over the MC's reaction to his body's changes

TW: hoarding, death (mentions), body horror

This is such a weird, good novella. It manages to mix entire tones and genres deftly in a way I've pretty much never seen before. I will say, I loved elements and the ending, but the body horror in this was so intense that it triggered physical reactions I didn't know I was susceptible to. My skin was almost literally crawling. So be warned--if you have any issues with contamination triggers or mushrooms, be careful with this one--it's a lot!! But again, it's a great book with some really earnest messaging. And I want that freaking hedgehog teacup!!

A skin-crawlingly creepy novella of both mushroom and body horror, as well as the ways that grief connects and warps us. I loved everything it had to say about the interconnectedness of life and matter and how easily that translates itself to contagious horror.

I'm sure we've all had the experience of cleaning out a room, a closet, a storage unit, picking up an object, and knowing that we're just holding on to it for the memories, unsure of for just whose sake it goes back on the shelf, but unwilling to fully let it go. Busby absolutely nails that feeling and the slippery slope between that and fully resisting change, embracing rot instead, because somehow it is easier to rot than to let go.

There are moments of both full-body shudders and soul-deep pain, which is impressive for a novella, but this hits all of its notes deftly. Mushroom horror has such a unique feeling to it, and I love everything contained here.

R.A. Busby's short novella, 'You Will Speak For The Dead,' is a heart-breaking and deeply moving meditation on loss and memory, mediated through some well-crafted horrifying imagery of body horror. Centrally placed is the cleaning of a hoarder's house, a task that proves to be the beginning of a radical yet mysterious transformation for one of the cleaners: 928 Avirosa is more than a house; the home of an old female expert on mushrooms, yet a home hosting a massive and rapidly growing structure of branched, tubular filaments of fungi - the air carrying fungal spores, the floor covered by a fungal carpet. Enter Paul and his cleaning team. Paul starts hearing voices. He's growing "body carrots." Things seem to change and the changes progress quickly. But this is not a standard fungal infection: it's an infection of memory, of life, of sentience.

Thankfully, the author kept the botanical context at a minimum, avoiding long-winded explanations of scientific jargon. Instead, she goes deep into Paul's mind, almost unfolding his brain network for all to see and appreciate, turning the story into a travelogue of memory corridors which reach deep into the fungal sentience. And what Paul finds there complicates things, but also provides relief, compassionate understanding, empathy. A meeting of minds and souls and lives.

I would unreservedly recommend to everyone giving this a read. It won't resonate with horror readers only. The prose is gorgeous, the visuals sweetly nightmarish, the story's ambition fully realized with expertise and confidence.

Thank you to Stelliform Press and NetGalley for the chance of an early read. All opinions are my own.

We cling to treasures and memories throughout our lifetime. Some people form connections to everything they come in contact with and are engrossed with the fear of letting go. But we shouldn’t fear for everything always has existed and will continue on existing.
This story is both disturbing and beautiful at the same time.
It isn’t your typical haunting.
Paul makes a living cleaning hoarder houses. When he is hired for a job at 982 Avirosa, things take a turn for him both physically and mentally. The reader slowly and dreadfully realizes Paul is not quite himself anymore.

A huge shout out to Stelliform Press for the ARC opportunity!
And thank you to NetGalley for making it possible.

“You Will Speak For The Dead” by R.A. Busby
will be Published October 10, 2024.

I love it when short horror stories pack such a punch.
You Will Speak for the Dead is great at building dread and disgust.
A hoarders home houses something unique that leads to some body horrors of the scariest, most cringe inducing variety. It certainly had me squirming in my seat. But the story also contains a lot of heart.

If you like Nick Cutter, especially The Troop, The Breach, and The Deep, you're gonna love this one.
Also made me think of elements of T. Kingfisher's What Moves the Dead.
I'll never look at a mushroom the same...