Villimey Mist's third short story collection contains nine shorts and one novella, plus story notes for each story. It's an impressive melange of dark fantasy, folk horror, creature feature, and weird horror. It's very much Icelandic in tone, since every story involves that country's lore and legends, and similarly both the cast and the setting are almost always Icelandic (with a couple of exceptions: one story, "All-You-Can-Drink Buffet," is about an American working in Japan, and another, "Tupperware Party," is a slasher set in the US). Mist's stories are wide-ranging, clearly written, quite atmospheric, and several times multilayered as well (often making some point indirectly about nature and tourism in Iceland, for example). For inspiration, Mist has drawn on horror films, manga comics, personal experience, and her own studies on Japan. There are tales about vampire-like creatures (giving strong Jungi Ito vibes), an e-mail exchange between a contractor and his boss about a drill operation gone horrifically wrong, a neighbor who's an evil witch, a Tupperware party massacre, and many tales about creatures, trolls and monsters in the snow and the cold. My favorite stories were the aforementioned "Buffet" story, the e-mail exchange, "They Came From The Rocks," and the heartbreaking tale of monsters and immortality, "Survival of the Fittest". The closing story, the titular novella that inspired Kristina Osborn's stunning cover, was a wonderful creature feature, but too tame and sweet for my taste. All the stories, however, are a delight to read, and the collection deserves high praise and wide recognition for its polished prose, interesting settings, and beautiful endings.

"Zombies weren’t real and the only serial killer Iceland had lived centuries ago. Good luck to any maniac who’d thought he could escape this hell of an island."



4.2✨
The Girl with the Hooves - 5✨
Survival of the Fittest - 3.65✨
They Came from the Rocks - 5✨
Tupperware Party - 5✨
Hell of a Ride - 4✨
All-You-Can-Drink Buffet - 5✨
The Hag’s Gift - 3.5✨
The Yule Lads Are Coming - 5✨
The Perfect Time - 2.5✨
What Protects Our Heritage: An Icelandic Cryptid Story - 4✨

💭Overall a brilliant short story collection bringing life to Icelandic Folklore. Lovely storytelling and prose and engaging characters. This one is worth checking out.
Some stories which stood out are grisly, primal and revolting. I also like the additional notes from the author which gives each story a brief summary of how or where the author got the ideas or inspiration from. One of my fave is the All You Can Drink Buffet which is heavily inspired by Junji Ito's manga. Nice to know that the author is also a fellow Junji Ito fan.

Thanks to NetGalley and Brigids Gate Press for the arc. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily .Expected Publication Date: November 26, 2024 🖤

A deliciously put together set of creepy short stories! I found every story to be very unique and also telling about Icelandic culture (some stories straying away from the location are sprinkled in there and are very good!) told from a locals perspective.
Villmey Mist masterfully captures the essence of heritage and folk stories in her writing. Most definitely for fans of the horror genre - you will enjoy!

Other upsides include:

• Trigger warnings are listed at the end of the book
• Every story is rounded out with a complimentary description of the author's intentions and ideas, which are clearly identifiable while reading, but it's still fun that the series or movie you thought about while reading the pieces turns out to be an influence on the author as well!
• The cover knocks it out of the park and ties in perfectly with the titular story! So beautiful!

ARC REVIEW

I’m so glad I was able to get this book early. It has a collection of 10 short stories all revolving around Icelandic folklore. This is my first time reading anything from this author but I will be checking out more of their work after this.

1. The Girl with the Hooves
2. Survival of the Fittest
3. They Came From the Rocks
4. Tupperware Party
5. Hell of a Ride
6. All-You-Can-Drink Buffet
7. The Hags Gift
8. The Yule Lads are Coming
9. The Perfect time
10. What Protects Our Heritage

My favorite stories out of these were ‘They Came From the Rocks’, ‘Hell of a Ride’, and ‘What Protects Our Heritage’. All of the short stories were enjoyable but those 3 stood out the most for me personally. ‘They Came From the Rocks’ definitely gave me the chills and I really enjoyed the way it was written in an email type format. ‘Hell of a Ride’ I enjoyed as an almost tragic story and how sometimes you can’t let go. ‘What Protects Our Heritage’ is the longest of the stories and it’s the last one, which I think does its job at summing up the story very well. Not only are these short stories fun, scary, and chilling but they’re also very atmospheric. Reading some of these made me really feel like I was in Iceland and I do think these are perfect for some winter reading. Also bonus points because the cover is so hauntingly beautiful!

What a KNOCK OUT cover by Kristina Osborn to accompany these fantastical and thrilling tales by Villimey Mist.

Iceland, its people, history, culture, natural beauty is near and dear to my heart. I’ve been there several times and would go again in a heartbeat. So, to see a horror collection of local cryptids and folklore immediately piqued my interest.

To be fair, not all the tales occur in Iceland, which I understand, but was still a bit bummed about. The ones that were based there just felt infused with more magic and mystery, like the island itself. “The Girl With The Hooves”, “They Came from the Rocks”, “The Yule Lads Are Coming” were my favourites.

The titular “What Protects Our Heritage” was fantastic- horrifying and mythical, with savage beasts and brutal weather. I felt like I was transported to a different realm (I’ve actually hiked in Iceland to the plane wreck in the story and it felt like being on another planet actually!).

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Brigids Gate Press for a copy!

A fun collection of Icelandic and snowy horror.

The ones that really stood out for me were:

Tupperware Party - it starts off nice and innocent then really goes off the rails quickly.

All You Can Drink Buffet - creepy horror that makes you never want to go out with your coworkers again.

What Protects our Heritage: I’m a sucker for a kaiju or cryptid story. This had the feel of good old creature feature and the epilogue sealed it as a top story in the collection.

Thank you to Brigids Gate Press and NetGalley for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of What Protects Our Heritage and Other Aberrations.

Mist’s clever flip-flop between re-imagined Icelandic Folklore and folklore-adjacent strange stories renders a truly unique anthology. As with every anthology I read, I developed a preference for certain stories. Among my favorites were The Girl with Hooves, Survival of the Fittest, and They Came from the Rocks—each of which popped up relatively early in the anthology.

The Girl with Hooves acts as an origin story for one of Island’s most memorialized witches and is both brief and polished. It was the first story in the anthology and set the tone of the collection: eerie, but playful. Survival of the Fittest is a post-apocalyptic vampire retelling, which brought a medieval folktale into modernity. The main character was nihilistic and humorous—her dry commentary and blasé demeanor created an unserious yet believable tale. By far my favorite story was They Came from the Rocks, which took the folklore of the Huldefolk and thrust it into the private sector. Throughout each story, Mist captured the delicate line between man and monster. Often, I found myself picturing a human villain in these stories until little details crossed my path, hinting at the mythological.

By far my least favorite story in the anthology—and the culprit for the missing fifth star in this review—is the rather campy Tupperware Party story. This was the only tale that didn’t seem to fit amongst the rest. Such a jarring transition from folkloric and folklore-adjacent to modern slasher broke the illusion of the anthology at large. Though a minor problem by comparison, each short story also contained one or more typos. Nevertheless, Mist created one of the most entertaining anthologies that I have yet encountered, and I would recommend this to anyone who wants a taste of horror in bite-sized servings.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I was really excited to get into this book when I got approved for it. Icelandic horror tales, all different, and laced with a sense of heritage and mystery? Sign me up! I was all in for this to start with. There were some really good stories in this anthology - my absolute favourite would have to be 'They Came From The Rocks' which had the flavour of 'The Thing' mixed in with just a touch more dread, which was lovely. There were others in this book that were really good too, but some of them started and then stopped just that bit too quickly.

I found with quite a few of the stories that things petered out a bit, but that may also just be my thoughts. The mythology elements often started strong, but petered out and weren't explored as well as they could be, particularly from a lore perspective. European folk tales of every description are usually fascinating and really strong stories, so I was left a bit disappointed.

This book, I feel, could have just had a bit more detail and a little less jumping around in some of the stories, and it would have been perfect - but it was a bit of a miss for me.

Within these pages are monsters of all sorts. Some you know some you may not. All after one thing. Chilling.

3 and 1 / 2 Stars

This is an interesting book of Icelandic tales and folklore. I found the stories interesting and learned quite a bit. I had never looked into Icelandic tales. It made me want to go to search for more stories and to learn more about the stories’ origins.

I enjoyed the book. I will be looking into more of this author’s writings.

I want to thank NetGalley and Brigid’s Gate Press for forwarding to me a copy of this interesting book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Brigids Gate Press Press for the ARC.

I love Icelandic fiction, add vampires, cryptids, and mythical creatures, what more could I ask for?

When I read this book, I simply started reading and did not notice that it was a single author. Each story was truly unique in content and style, I felt like I was reading a collection of multiple authors. The writing is excellent and the writer’s skill with having different tone is exemplary.

What Protects Our Heritage is the longest story in the book and an excellent one. The Other Aberrations stories were mixed, some were haunting leaving you with a feeling of dread and provoking deep thought. One or two, to me, were over the top with violence/gore/disturbing themes and I liked these the least. I appreciate the fact that a warning regarding content is at the front of the book pointing to a list of trigger warnings in the back of the book.

The Icelandic folklore and heritage included in each story tie it all together for a nice volume. I liked the artwork on the front cover as well. There was only one story that to me did not fit and was my least favorite. The author also at the end gave some history behind the writing of each story, I found this very interesting. As far as short story collections go, this is a favorite.

What Protects Our Heritage and Other Aberrations is a collection of short horror stories rooted in Icelandic folklore. It's eerie, it's gory, and at times, gave me visceral reactions. Its stories span from vampires and cryptids to Tupperware. But as with most short story collections, this was a mixed bag for me.

My favourites from the collection were:

They Came From the Rocks was an eerie email exchange between a corporation and its workers on a drilling operation. As the author aptly puts it: “you should never fuck with nature.”

Tupperware Party was exactly as it sounds–but make it a campy slasher. I can tell the author had a fun time writing this and I had a fun time reading it.

Unfortunately, most stories fell flat for me. Some felt lacklustre, with long build-ups that didn’t quite match the payoff. The potential in the subject matter was definitely there, and I was interested to learn more about Icelandic folklore, however the execution left room for improvement.

I did, however, really enjoy the author’s note at the end. Reading the author's thoughts and inspirations behind the stories enhanced the experience for me.

Overall, I'm giving this collection 2 stars–a couple of wins but at times a struggle to stay engaged.

You might enjoy What Protects Our Heritage and Other Aberrations if you're a fan of short sorry collections and have a taste for folklore with a dark and gory twist.

Thank you to Netgalley and Brigids Gate Press for providing me with an ARC of this book. All views are my own.

What Protects Our Heritage and Other Aberrations by Villimey Mist is a twisted collection of Icelandic horror stories. From the opening story, The Girl with the Hooves which was a classic old school dark fairy tale, I was hooked. Even though I’ve loved horror all my life it wasn’t until recently that I began to branch out of what I’d consider mainstream horror and been wowed by a diversity I never knew existed. Over the last few years I’ve enjoyed Hispanic, Japanese, Native America, and now Icelandic horror. If you’re like me and have only been reading mainstream you really don’t know what you’ve been missing. There are so many incredible horror writers out there. I enjoyed the heck out these stories and can’t wait to check out more of Villimey’s work. I’d like to thank Brigids Gate Press, LLC and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of What Protects Our Heritage and Other Aberrations.

Oh... I liked this collection very much!

How have I missed this author before? This needs to be rectified immediately!

For those who love Icelandic/Nordic Noir, dark tales, folk horror, living landscapes, and the creatures that dwell in these spaces... then this book is for you!

I enjoyed all of the stories, their twists, and the horrors that awaited within. From tupperware to trolls, from the apocalyptic to the apathetic, each tale has something to take away.

Whilst I enjoyed 'Survival of the Fittest', my absolute favourite story was 'The Girl With The Hooves'. It's just so good!

If that wasn't enough, there's a whole Icelandic Cryptid novella included at the end!

Villimey Mist is definitely an author to follow and watch out for.


*I received an advance reader copy for free, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review*

These were great horror stories and enjoyed the overall concept of the story being told. Each story had that feel that I was looking for from a horror genre and thought everything worked together. I enjoyed the way Villimey Mist wrote this and can’t wait for more.

This was another ARC I snagged off Netgalley, so thank you for that.

I really liked this collection, I had not read from this author before but I have went to check their other work out now and will be reading more.

My favorite was Survival of the Fittest
I want to tell you so much but what I will say is, you might see the ending coming, I did, but I still couldn't stop my reaction to it, even when I thought I was prepared.
That story was amazing.

My second was All You Can Eat Buffet.
What the fuck, but absolutely worth every second.

As a runner up, because I liked it and have to say something is Tupperware Party, and I will NOT elaborate, you just have to read it, with a title like that, how can you pass it up?

A collection of snowy nightmares, and bittersweet folklore that invites you into tales of Iceland.
I really liked this collection, it was filled with lots of variety.

My favorites stories:

The Girl with the Hooves: As the title suggests, this story is about a girl who does not fit in with the rest of the people. Very emotional, and in my opinion one of the best in the collection.

Survival of the Fittest: My favorite story. Our murderous protagonist tries to find food in a radioactive, post-apocalyptic world. Everything changes when instead of nourishment, she finds a friend. Another emotional story, one that has a very sad outcome. You know it will happen, that's what makes it hit harder.

They Came from the Rocks: A drill operation gone wrong. Workers start to show signs of weird behavior, some go missing, others lose their mind. Really enjoyed this one.

All You Can Drink Buffet: An american works at a companies office in japan. After doing overtime, his colleagues invite him to get drinks after work. After waking up with weird puncture wounds over his body, he finds his colleagues at work a little...different than usual. The author mentioned being a fan of Junji Ito's stories. This becomes very obvious in this story. Until now, I've never seen an author absolutely nail the vibe of Ito's manga as a book. Loved it.


Despite loving my time reading this collection, I gave it four stars, because three stories were not for me.

Tupperware Party, The Hag's Gift and The Perfect Time: I thought the pacing in those was too fast for me, I could not get into it. As a comparison, The Girl with the Hooves had the perfect length, it managed to include a lot, without feeling too short or too long. The concepts of those stories itself were good though.

Overall, I could always tell, that the author put love into this collection, especially after reading the notes from the author, found at the end of the book. Looking forward to reading the authors other collection, such as Visceral Discoveries and As the Night Devours Us.