A very well curated collection of horror stories that made me gasp on several occasions. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this free eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Wow what an incredible short story collection! Horror done right - it had a good mix of being excited for what was coming up, and having to put the book down to digest what I had just read. The atmosphere was really eerie and surreal

I think the Scifi stories were my personal favourite - and where Townend excels in their writing. The world building was really nice, and had me thinking about what else was happening in these universes! Would love to see more of these in a longer book.

The only thing that stopped this from being a 5 star read for me was that the stories felt a bit disjointed in the overall theme - would have loved the stories being related to a topic, as it took a bit away from the immersion while reading from one story to another. A few of the stories felt super rushed as well - and would have benefitted from a bit more world building.

Really looking forward to reading more from this author! Incredible debut.

3.5⭐️
Sick Girl Screams is a collection of short stories. Most of the stories are very abstract and surreal feeling. A few stories didn't really hit for me, but most were very good. I'll post my ratings for each individual story below.

Step Inside: 3.5
No Place Like Home: 4
We Still Don't Use The Garage: 3
Circle: 4
A Piece Missing: 2.5
Neon Fly: 4
It Started With Placental Encapsulation: 4
The Dangers of Ill-Prepared Shellfish: 3.5
Juliet, Juliet: 4.5
The Beauty Parlour: 5
Sick Girl: 2
The Cool Kids: 2.5
Cosmic Spin Class on Deck 112: 3
Labourers Wanted: 4.5
All The Parts Of A Mermaid That I Can Recall: 4
Every Cloud: 3
I Pull My Blanket Up Tight Beneath My Chin: 4
One Lie For One Soul: 4
Ack Metal In A White Room: 3
In His Memory: 3
Hag Stone: 3
Christingle Service: 3.5
How To Read A Woman: 4

I really, really enjoyed this book!! All short stories have a balance of being truly terrifying but still being able to sleep at night.
Sick Girl Screams is like a feminist, dystopian, religious cult culture, and haunted childhood novel, all in one.
Its like you can almost see it in the future because of the pollution and AI, but it's not quite. Or maybe it is?

“Sick Girl Screams” is a fragmented, ephemeral, and dreamlike narrative that often leaves the reader unsure of what’s real or imagined. While the book offers some compelling twists and memorable vignettes, it struggles to hold attention due to its fleeting character focus and lack of emotional depth. The high fantasy elements require a significant suspension of disbelief, which may not resonate with all readers. Overall, it’s an ambitious but polarizing read that might appeal more to fans of surreal, abstract storytelling than those seeking grounded narratives.

Really interesting and unique stories. Would recommend if you like weird fiction. Definitely had a good time reading this one.

Okay HEAR ME OUT. I DNF at 24%, but it's a very 'it's not you, it's me' situation. I can assure you it's beautifully written and the stories have so much depth, beyond what usual short stories do. I'm not sure what it is exactly, but it's just not for me. But I would still recommend you give this a chance!

SICK GIRL SCREAMS is truly a surreal and sickening collection of short stories and I greatly enjoyed all of them. Townend takes metaphors of grief. fear, mental illness, impending mortality, and gives them teeth and claws. Not for those who shy away from the grotesque but definitely well worth a read and reread!

Sick girl screams is a A weird, strange, entertaining, intriguing, heartbreaking at times, gorie, blood soaked horror book. With 23 short stories featuring horror, dark fiction, and feminist woman focused plot for many. Tales of anxiety, dysfunctional family, eating disorders, alcoholism, mental illness, homelessness, loss, death, murder, childhood ghosts and much more

Step Inside - 3
No Placement Like Home - 2.5
We Still Don't Use The Garage - 2
Circle - 4
A piece missing - 3
Neon Fly - 3
It started with placental encapsulation - 3.5
The dangers of ill-prepared shellfish - 4
Juliet, Juliet - 3.5
The beauty parlour - 2
Sick Girl - 2.5
The cool kids - 4
Cosmic Spin Class on Deck 112 - 3
Labourers wanted - 3
All the parts of a mermaid I can recall - 2
Every cloud - 3
I pull my blanket up tight beneath my chin - 4
One lie for one soul - 3
Black metal in a white room - 4
In his memory - 3
Hag stone - 3.5
Christingle service - 3
How to read a woman - 4

The opening story, a short four pages in length, sets the tone for the full collection. Focusing on a scenario addressing the reader themselves, SJ Townend proposes a truly upsetting scenario of getting so involved in what you're reading that you lose yourself entirely, forgetting family, loved ones, and leaving them to an upsetting end. It's bold, and it's horrifying, but more than anything, it's effective. It's also deeply personal, and makes the book itself deeply personal for the reader by addressing them as a character in the narrative.

The second story equally introduces horrifying concepts surrounding binging/purging alongside grief, and from there I knew as a reader that I was in for a really disturbing and macabre whirlwind of stories. I was not disappointed by the quality and content of each short story within this collection!

I do think, however, the stories felt unfinished at times or were just short enough to feel underdeveloped, with stilted descriptions and phrases that felt at times mechanical or clinical, or that the collection was put together in a random order without a theme. This led to the overall collection feeling a little muddled together regarding the flow between short stories. Another thing I was surprised by was that a large portion of the stories fell further into science fiction rather than just horror, which wasn't in the marketing for this anthology. I do think it should be sold as a crossover between science fiction and horror!

Aside from those few complaints, I thought this collection was equal parts fascinating and thrilling, and several concepts that SJ Townend wrote about left me feeling particularly unsettled and uncomfortable. SJ Townend has a great way of writing stories that feel personal, and the ideas that she has regarding speculative fiction are deeply upsetting to read about and envision. Her science fiction short stories in particular left me feeling uncomfortable enough to need to take breaks between each one, and because of that, I feel like her writing is particularly effective in invoking fear, discomfort, and overall unease. I would love to see more of her science fiction works in particular, and I cannot wait to read more from her as an author.


Thank you NetGalley, SJ Townend, and Brigids Gate Press, LLC for this advanced copy!

I really didn’t think I was going to like this, but I was pleasantly surprised. The book tackled some heavy subjects like eating disorders, abuse, and self harm, and although the book was horror, it still handled these subjects well. I didn’t enjoy every story, but I did enjoy most of them. I feel some stories needed more development, but overall this was great.

A wonderful collection of short horror stories. I thoroughly enjoyed reading some more than others. Due to the varying levels of horror some stories felt more thrilling and psychological. The writing style was well executed and easy to understand without it being underwhelming. It was written with an audience in mind and followed through on that aspect. If you enjoy short and quirky stories, this collection of horror stories is worth a read.

Sick Girl Screams is a haunting assemblly of short stories: nestled somewhere amidst the horror, grief, and feminism lies an unsettling anthology. S.J. Townsend investigates several horror sub-genres-from dreamlike surreal tales to apocalyptic eco-horror-through over 20 stories, utilizing dark themes such as mental illness, motherhood, and loss. Versatility is the biggest strength of the collection: smoothly navigating from family dysfunction to body horror to speculative fiction, it offers something for readers along the gamut of horror. Even the stories that didn't quite strike a chord were engaging and didn't feel like a chore to read, thanks to Townsend's captivating writing style.

In many of these stories, the feminist undercurrents gave a unique and at times deeply emotional angle to some of the traditional tropes of horror. Some representative examples include "No Place Like Home" and "Neon Fly", two wonderfully elaborate enfilades of grief and survival. While a few of them, such as "Sick Girl," are truly in the trenches of self-destruction, the entire volume captures the spirits' haunting intersection of personal trauma and the grotesque. All that darkly beautiful atmosphere is further enhanced by the thoughtfulness of placing trigger warnings, which enable readers to prepare for the emotional weight of the material.

Those who love surreal-tinged, unconventional horror with narratives that delve deep into grief and femininity will find Sick Girl Screams compulsive. The range of Townsend is great, and she weaves the theme and genre together within this collection in a way that makes it both exciting and memorable. Whether for body horror or emotional punch, there's something here for everyone.

These were really good short stories that kept me waiting more on a couple of them, I love short stories especially those in creepy fashion. Every bump in the night makes me jump so I read during the day.

An interesting collection of short stories, some of which take a real dive into things I think many of us either think about a lot, or not enough. A story of a religious mother with an obsession with Christmas traditions; a couple trying desperately to be interesting enough that they don’t cease to exist. Stories that carry themes of love, loss, mental health, mental healing, and the many many ways it is difficult to carry the responsibility and burdens of being a girl, or a woman - sometimes subtly, sometimes less so!

Sick Girl Screams is a dark short story collection written by S.J. Townsend. I discovered this book on NetGalley and was initially drawn in by the cover, which is reminiscent of the artwork of Junji Ito. To some extent, the cover itself gave me a vague clue regarding what to expect within this collection; dark and gruesome stories that would leave me feeling hopeless. I am a firm believer that those expectations were met, for the most part. There was a surprising lack of nihilism in some stories, yet it definitely didn't disappoint.
I was very pleased by the variety within this anthology, the blend of realism, science fiction and fantasy was smooth, and despite the drastic differences in content, the stories altogether felt cohesive and well structured. Townsend creates a real sense of place and character in these stories, a skill that I envy. I'll talk a bit about my favourites in a second. Some stories within this collection were very moving, depicting the bluntness of the female experience, and those stories were among my favourites.
I am not a science fiction reader, so I fear that some of the stories were wasted on me, at no fault of the author. Despite this, the body horror presented in those stories were particularly sickly. That being said, I did definitely expect a bit more in terms of body horror. There were stories that I felt were lacking, but there were also stories that definitely made up for it. I can't say I was a fan of every story, the science fiction ones in particular weren't to my taste (although that is definitely a matter of preference rather than quality).
My favourite stories from this collection had me hooked, and they left me wanting more (in a good way). There are such a great range of stories in this collection, but the following stood out as my favourites:
No Place Like Home: Strange things happen to a woman after a visit to her childhood home. This piece is both heartbreaking and gory in all of the best ways. As one of the first stories, it really packed a punch.
Dangers of Ill Prepared Shellfish: This story is a retelling of Venus and Mars' story, and deals with issues such as domestic violence, consent and forced marriage. I think this one is my favourite out of the whole collection. Its a horrifying yet beautiful story, and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.
Beauty Parlour: This story follows a body modification salon, where people come to try and obtain the look of extinct animals. It's also set in a post-apocalyptic type scene, one where an ecological disaster has made it difficult to exist. Body modification is one of my favourite subgenres of horror, and it was a good read.
The Cool Kids: Following a man who reconnects with 'friends' from his school years, this story discusses peer pressure and fitting in. This story has a perfect mix of realism and body horror. Pretty disturbing stuff.
Hag Stone: A young man who cleans out his grandmothers house finds himself lost in the surrounding woods. I was really doubting this story at the beginning, and I was unsure if it would be up to my gory tastes. But it was, God it was.
Overall, this collection truly lives up to the name. The stories are delightfully sickly, and I would recommend them to any horror reader. As far as short story collections go, this is at the top of my list, sitting rightfully among the likes of Eric LaRocca. Of course, it is important to check the trigger warnings before you dive in, with topics such as child abuse, domestic violence, addiction and suicide among the many things discussed within these pages. If you still feel like you can stomach it, I highly recommend giving it a go. I gave this collection: ★★★★.

𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀: Sick Girl Screams by SJ Townend
Published: Oct.29th 2024
Gerne: Horror/ Short Story Collection

"𝓘𝓽 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓪𝓼 𝓲𝓯 𝓪 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓮𝓮-𝓯𝓸𝓸𝓽-𝓭𝓮𝓮𝓹, 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓬𝓴 𝓹𝓪𝓭𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓸𝓯 𝓿𝓲𝓻𝓰𝓲𝓷 𝓼𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓭 𝓶𝓮, 𝓶𝓪𝓭𝓮 𝓪 𝓭𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱’𝓼 𝓻𝓸𝔀 𝓹𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓻 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝓮. 𝓦𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓮𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓲𝓷𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓲𝓽𝔂, 𝓶𝔂 𝓯𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝔀𝓱𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓼 𝓹𝓾𝓼𝓱𝓮𝓭 𝓲𝓷. 𝓐𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓭 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶, 𝓘 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓶𝓮 𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰."

This short story collection surprised me, not only by how pretty the sentences were but also by how real it all felt.
This is not a *I'm diving into a fantastical dark fake world* kind of horror that after reading you can just walk away from.

To me, this story collection is so much deeper as it uses real life scenarios that worry me and gives them room to grow and develop. Kind of like what developed in the movie"The Substance" (those who know, know 😅).

There were lots of stories about motherhood, religious commentary, feminist stories, fairytale-esque tales and, what I loved most, great sci-fi/ dystopian horror.

With this book, you get a mixture of serious spooks that will surprise you and make you think (and worry) about humanity even more than you might do right now.

I didn't expect where any of those stories went and loved the variety. Also, some great body horror moments made me shudder real good. 🙂‍↕️

All in all, a very well written collection of horror that does NOT feel like Popcorn Cinema at all and satisfies those minds who enjoy a bit of fictional anxiety added to their real anxiety once in a while. 😅

I knew a book called Sick Girl Screams was going to be unusual but I admit I was not prepared for what I had in front of me.

The collection is fairly woman centric with some overlapping topics such as abuse, loss, mental illness, and motherhood; both the good and the bad. Usually in an anthology by a single author, I would be annoyed at the reuse of subject matter but not only didn't it bother me, it worked here very well.

I didn't love every story, as a matter of fact there were a few that I was just at a loss reading. By that I mean I had no idea what the heck I was reading, but the writing was so good I read them anyway.

What surprised me the most was not that there were stories I loved, but that some hit me so hard right in the gut. I had to close my eyes amd turn away to hide the welling of tears.

Juliet, Juliet was one such story. A woman mourning the loss of her true love because of her inability to break free from her own addicitions. I can't say more and not ruin this wonderfully disturbing tale except to say this one I had to close my eyes and take a moment when I finished it. The ache in my heart was not expected but what a testament to SJ Townend's skill as a writer!

Other jewels A Piece Missing, It started with Placental Encapsulation, The Cool Kids (One of my absolute favorites), and The Dangers of Ill-Prepared Shellfish.

This is not everyone's cup of tea and I believe comes with a few trigger warnings but if you think you can and your a Sick Girl who loves a weird tale like me, then by all means give this a try.

Highly recommended and out now.

Thanks to @netgalley and Brigids Gate Press, LLC for the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Thank you to the publisher, NetGalley, & SJ Townend for the ARC copy of Sick Girl Screams.

Although I found some of the content disturbing & strange, I enjoyed the collection of stories. I recommend this to all the weirdos who love weird books.

A short story collection featuring horror and dark fiction short stories, often with a feminist and woman-focused plot. Some topics are explored in multiple stories (particularly motherhood, grief and mental illness play a repeated role in the collection), but this collection manages to not get repetitive by exploring these same tropes (particularly the loss of a child is a topic that occurs a few times in this anthology) in a variety of settings and with very different approaches to it. The stories are very short, but there are only very few where I was left wishing for more, instead most of them worked really well considering the limited number of pages they had to work with. Similarly, there were no stories that I felt dragged or seemed too long, which is a great feat for an anthology like this.
While I didn’t enjoy every single story, there were only 3 short stories that didn’t work for me at all, some I just found okay, and quite a few I really enjoyed, such as “No Place Like Home”, “Circle”, “Neon Fly”, “I Started With Placental Encapsulation”, “The Cool Kids” and “Hag Stone”.
Most of the horror is of a dreamlike and surreal nature, encapsulating the feelings of dissociation and grief that often leaves us feel dreamlike and surreal ourselves. I also liked that the horror genres explored moved from haunted homes, contemporary feminist, sci-fi, lovely creature features and more. In general, I enjoyed the writing style a lot and even the stories I didn’t enjoy reading weren’t a slog to get through, but they just didn’t connect with me on the level I like my horror to connect with me.
I also adored that the author provided detailed trigger warnings in front of the anthology, allowing me to prepare for the dark topics explored here.
All in all, if you enjoy unconventional horror, feminist horror, dark weird fiction and are able to let yourself be sucked into surreal and strange places while reading, this is a short story collection I can recommend.
Numerically this rounds out to a 3.5 star rating, but I've rounded it up for the fact that there weren't really any stories in here that I absolutely did not enjoy and quite I few I enjoyed a lot.
I’ve also taken notes on all the short stories, writing short descriptions (mostly spoiler free) and including the trigger warnings that the author presented in the book.

Step Inside: A short story following the dangers of getting too absorbed in a story, when you are supposed to be doing other things. Scary, with an interesting narrator’s voice. tw suggested child abuse, suggested violence, child neglect
*FAV* No Place Like Home: A woman feels a pull urging her to return to her childhood home. But stepping inside that place will bring back dangers from her past. Really fun and tense and I enjoyed the exploration of a severely dysfunctional family portrayed here and the way it still influenced the daughter’s life even after both her parents had died. Also, it was incredibly heartbreaking in its portrayal of eating disorders and grief. And the end! Incredibly dark and really well written. tw eating disorders, vomiting, past child abuse, miscarriage, death, gore, blood
We Still Don’t use the Garage: A really interesting story told from the perspective of a formerly homeless man who has finally managed to find a home. I enjoyed the dialect chosen for this piece of work, definitely made it more interesting to read. tw death, alcoholism, homelessness
*FAV* Circle: A family struggling with the mother’s mental illness (bipolar), as she tries to cope with her ups and downs, protect her son and somehow also make art in between, but one evening, everything gets too much and she fails in the one thing she never wanted to fail in. Dark and sad and lyrical. Mental illness as a familial curse is always a lovely trope that I enjoy. tw suicide attempt, mental health (bipolar), blood, grief
A Piece Missing: A haunted woman is looking for a baby in a house that seems to have slipped out of time (or has only she slipped away?). Written in a wonderfully delirious way, this story is Weird with a capital W, incredibly strange and intriguing. Definitely not for every reader, but I enjoyed its feverish horror. tw suggested child murder, gore, death, postnatal depression, grief, existentialism
*FAV* Neon Fly: An apocalyptic eco-horror, where microplastic and the genetically engineered flies created to destroy plastic have taken over the world and a mother tries to escape to Mars with her daughter, gorey and gross and heartbreaking, tw gore, murder, death, blood
*FAV* It Started with Placental Encapsulation: A woman grieving for her mother and overworked by taking care of her baby turns to strange foods for comfort, heartbreaking, but really interesting! tw gore, blood, suggested domestic abuse, misogyny, death, violence, grief
The Dangers of Ill-Prepared Shellfish: A dark retelling of Venus and Mars’ story, centered around Venus trapped in the house Mars took her too after she stepped onto the shores, very dark and with a satisfying ending, tw domestic violence, gore, suggested rape, body horror, death, gaslighting, blood, forced marriage
Juliet, Juliet: A woman sinking ever deeper into her drug addiction after her girlfriend left her starts seeing a woman, who looks just like her, heavily focused on the deep dark drag of depression and drug addiction, this weaves a heartbreaking tale (and obviously the names Rommy and Juliet also work ;)) tw drug abuse, addiction, gore, death, blood, maggots, depression, grief, suicide
The Beauty Parlour: A world where due to mass-extinction the few rich survivors have decided to make the most of their limited time on Earth and go all in with weird body mods turning themselves into different kinds of animals, very hunger games-esque? I think I would have enjoyed this one more if it had just been focused on the body mods and the reasons for it and not so much the massive inequality of this failing planet, tw body mutilation, murder, gore, assault
Sick Girl: A weird short story about a young woman spending her free time in the hospital, trying to stay under everybody’s radar, not really developed enough for me, tw self-harm, gore, drug abuse, addiction, hypochondria, blood
*FAV* The Cool Kids: A man in his late thirties finds himself hosting a party for his old high school classmates and after being handed some drugs and some cajoling from his old classmates finds himself stripping down all the way, intriguing with a lovely body horror angle, I liked it! tw gore, murder, bullying, blood, self-mutilation
Cosmic Spin Class on Deck 112: A woman deep in depression after a big loss finds herself compelled to try out a new alien drug combined with sport therapy, which is supposed to help her recover. Very trippy, but heartbreaking and a good sci-fi horror, tw loss of a child, gore, depression, grief, existentialism
Labourers Wanted: A mother of two young children desperate for an escape from her increasingly violent home life finds a new place of employment. Her fragile peace threatens to be shattered when her husband follows her to work one morning. Satisfying end, but I would have enjoyed a bit more world building here. tw domestic violence, gore, mutilation, assault, suggested rape, misogyny, body horror, gaslighting, blood, eyes
All the Parts of a Mermaid that I Can Recall: A sailor wakes up in a hospital, desperate to get back to the mermaid he kidnapped. But why won’t they let him leave and why is there such an ugly tattoo on his arm? An interesting interweave of technology, misogyny and delusions. tw body horror, mutilation, misogyny, domestic violence, blood, gore
Every Cloud: This story follows a woman with the power to make it rain when she bleeds, starting with her in school and ending after a tragic loss. Intriguing concept and very heartbreaking. tw blood, self-harm, depression, miscarriage, existentialism, body horror, death
I Pull My Blanket Up Beneath my Chin: A child terrified of the dark. Unfortunately, this story didn’t work for me at all. A story from the perspective of a child needs to be very carefully constructed for a reader to fully immerse themselves in their horror and unfortunately this was just not the case here for me. tw suggested child abuse, gore, religion
One Lie for One Soul: A horrifying pregnancy horror based on Mary and Joseph, punishment for the lie they told. Fine? Maybe more interesting if you are interested in horror twists on Christian mythology (which I am not particularly). Cool body horror though. tw religion, blasphemy, murder, gore, blood, miscarriage, death
Black Metal in a White Room: A sci fi horror of a gruesome type of alien body snatchers this story follows a man haunted by invisible beings that provide housing and internet in exchange for blood donations. But their demands increase! Nice body horror and very trippy, I enjoyed this one. tw body horror, blood, gore, mutilation, eyes, tooth/mouth horror, surgical horror
In His Memory: A terrifying computer simulated world where people, who aren’t interesting enough, get turned back into random strings of code and the scramble of a couple trying to become interesting, very heartbreaking, tw dementia, grief, suggested violence against an animal, murder, body horror, death, existentialism
*FAV* Hag Stone: A story about a young man cleaning out his grandma’s old cabin in the woods and ignoring his mother’s and all other warnings that come his way. Gruesome and great body horror in the end. tw eyes, blood, gore, body horror, loss, death
Christingle Service: A young girl growing up under the oppressive religious beliefs of her mother and the fact that her mom blames her for the death of her twin during birth. Really dark and messy, I liked it. tw depression, drug abuse, suggested child abuse, loss of a child, miscarriage, religion, blasphemy, death, suggested suicide
How to Read a Woman: A serial killer on his search for his newest victim picks up the wrong girl on a night out. Interesting body horror. tw misogyny, eyes, body horror, death, suggested sexual assault, stalking, death