What do you think?
Rate this book
Undead Folk
Beyond the smoke-choked skies of an apocalyptic United States, a woman travels the desolate railroad tracks of a small town in search of revenge and a quiet place to settle. Her only companion is an undead fox: animated with backwoods herbal magic and the soul of a middle-aged father who died before the world fell into darkness.
Undead Folk is a short, harrowing tale of sacrifice, loss, and damnation.
Undead Folk is a short, harrowing tale of sacrifice, loss, and damnation.
74 pages, Hardcover
Published May 1, 2024
About the author
Katherine Silva
18 books130 followersKatherine Silva is the ace Maine horror author of The Wild Oblivion series, is a connoisseur of coffee, and victim of cat shenanigans. She is a three-time Maine Literary Award finalist for speculative fiction and a member of the Horror Writers of Maine, The Horror Writers Association, and New England Horror Writers Association. Katherine is also editor-in-chief of Strange Wilds Press. Her most recent book, Undead Folk, is now available.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
July 15, 2024
Revenge for the Undead Folk...
UNDEAD FOLK
by Katherine Silva
No spoilers. 5 stars. The train ambled into the town on rusted rails. Black smoke filled the air with its arrival. It did not stop...
It was just passing through...
One person jumped from the train as it passed on, her body tumbling down the hill...
She grabbed her sack and hiked down the dirt road. She hadn't seen any cars in the dried up old town...
As she neared the bog...
Crows cawed, and frogs croaked. The Sun was beginning to set when she came across the mangled corpse of a dead fox...
She took this as a sign...
She was on the right track. She grabbed up the fox's body and walked the rest of the way to the abandoned house...
Night had fallen...
She laid the fox down on the floor of the living room and searched the cabinets for canned goods...
She lit candles against the darkness...
She placed the candles purposefully around the house, then reached in her bag for dried flowers and herbs and a half vial of clear liquid that was special to her...
She mixed these ingredients...
... in an old mug filled with pond water from out in back of the house, and chanted the words tattooed around her forearm...
Chanting completed...
She poured a small amount of the mixture on the fox, then she drank the rest of the concoction...
She never got used to the taste...
She blew out the candles and snuggled into the old couch under the broken living room window and went to sleep...
The girl was a necromancer...
The reanimated fox was to be her companion on her journey of revenge...
This story of revenge and grief in a post-apocalyptic world is told slowly and almost poetically. The backstory is revealed at the end rather than the beginning, building curiosity, tension, and mystery.
This short story was beautifully written, adding a touch of the supernatural, and I liked the double meaning of undead folk.
UNDEAD FOLK
by Katherine Silva
No spoilers. 5 stars. The train ambled into the town on rusted rails. Black smoke filled the air with its arrival. It did not stop...
It was just passing through...
One person jumped from the train as it passed on, her body tumbling down the hill...
She grabbed her sack and hiked down the dirt road. She hadn't seen any cars in the dried up old town...
As she neared the bog...
Crows cawed, and frogs croaked. The Sun was beginning to set when she came across the mangled corpse of a dead fox...
She took this as a sign...
She was on the right track. She grabbed up the fox's body and walked the rest of the way to the abandoned house...
Night had fallen...
She laid the fox down on the floor of the living room and searched the cabinets for canned goods...
She lit candles against the darkness...
She placed the candles purposefully around the house, then reached in her bag for dried flowers and herbs and a half vial of clear liquid that was special to her...
She mixed these ingredients...
... in an old mug filled with pond water from out in back of the house, and chanted the words tattooed around her forearm...
Chanting completed...
She poured a small amount of the mixture on the fox, then she drank the rest of the concoction...
She never got used to the taste...
She blew out the candles and snuggled into the old couch under the broken living room window and went to sleep...
The girl was a necromancer...
The reanimated fox was to be her companion on her journey of revenge...
This story of revenge and grief in a post-apocalyptic world is told slowly and almost poetically. The backstory is revealed at the end rather than the beginning, building curiosity, tension, and mystery.
This short story was beautifully written, adding a touch of the supernatural, and I liked the double meaning of undead folk.
September 2, 2024
There are times when, despite a penchant for a particular sub-genre, a story presents itself with such brooding promise, affixing an expectation of unspoken dreadful delight. Some stories call to me as if a dream I once had was disseminated through ethereal channels into the pen-holding—or laptop slouching and clacking—hands of a sage designated to transcribe what I fabricated in my vagary and releasing it at the appropriate time for me to discover and relish, and of which I would subsequently proselytize on its behalf (if not consumed with envy that I had not written it).
Solipsistic suppositions aside, I felt tremendous anticipation for Undead Folk from the crudely superimposed, yet enticingly ominous and atmospheric cover design alone. Let’s talk about how that turned out:
The author does not lavish, mercifully sparing the reader a recounting of the cause of the current, barely habitable state of the world. I say this not because Katherine Silva is unskilled in prose—she is quite skilled—thus risking a tedious preface of apocalyptic events, but because, as in McCarthy’s The Road, it is not particularly relevant. (Demands for this kind of expository banality in stories that do not call for it always vexed me in writing workshops).
Similarly, it did not concern me that necromancy was a given through use of some nondescript herbal, floral, elixir solution and an incantation. Call me a rube, but folkloric wisdom and supernaturalism—even if sentimentally motivated—make for much more compelling reading to me than bogged-down scientific jargon. Such ‘just because’ explanations are often condemned as lazy, but most people don’t consider the metabolic process of energy consumption and conversion through the alimentary and digestive system; they just know they’re hungry. I don’t need a rundown of plausible explications of sorcery, telekinesis, or ghosts any more than I need a dissertation and lineage chart of each tribe in a sprawling, fantastical monomyth. Get on with the story! (or at least with the exuberant, verbose tangents. Ahem…)
So, Undead Folk commits no error the pedant in me could nitpick if so inclined, but the final third of the story (which is to say, the last 20 pages or so) meanders off into a wasteland. Once Amos, the resurrected fox with partial amnesia was revealed, I guess—it seemed to be a revelation, a twist, but it whistled hollow—to be…something (God, I hate working around spoilers), this reader’s interest receptors became belabored.
Our vengeance seeking protagonist, Ella, or Janet, or Barbarella, traverses a formerly familiar terrain permeated with corrupted memories. Encounters with nostalgic ruins and liminal decay are the strongest parts of the story:
I dare say, this description sets up the tunnel itself as a far more threatening adversary than the cancer-stricken geriatric who doesn’t even show up in the story until it’s time to confront him. I loved the anthropomorphic qualities written into the tunnel—muddled sensory metaphor notwithstanding: “The mouth stared back[?]” (Italics, boldness, punctuation mine).
Hearkening back to the tunnel as a symbol of confronting darkness ahead and behind—blinding darkness—is another line of significant simplicity: “There was nothing to look forward to. Only to look back on.” Even when you emerge from the other side of the tunnel, battered and assailed, you will look back and see its gaping, black maw ready to swallow you again. What’s done is done and you cannot escape.
I know there needs to be progression, setup, payoff, but the familial could have been explored, the futility in vengeful pursuits; all of that, without devolving into what I considered to be shoehorned representation and a feeble final confrontation. It is probably evident that I had hoped for more dwelling in/on the tunnel. Once emerged therefrom, I didn’t look forward to much, but that is not to say I wouldn’t to future efforts.
Solipsistic suppositions aside, I felt tremendous anticipation for Undead Folk from the crudely superimposed, yet enticingly ominous and atmospheric cover design alone. Let’s talk about how that turned out:
The author does not lavish, mercifully sparing the reader a recounting of the cause of the current, barely habitable state of the world. I say this not because Katherine Silva is unskilled in prose—she is quite skilled—thus risking a tedious preface of apocalyptic events, but because, as in McCarthy’s The Road, it is not particularly relevant. (Demands for this kind of expository banality in stories that do not call for it always vexed me in writing workshops).
Similarly, it did not concern me that necromancy was a given through use of some nondescript herbal, floral, elixir solution and an incantation. Call me a rube, but folkloric wisdom and supernaturalism—even if sentimentally motivated—make for much more compelling reading to me than bogged-down scientific jargon. Such ‘just because’ explanations are often condemned as lazy, but most people don’t consider the metabolic process of energy consumption and conversion through the alimentary and digestive system; they just know they’re hungry. I don’t need a rundown of plausible explications of sorcery, telekinesis, or ghosts any more than I need a dissertation and lineage chart of each tribe in a sprawling, fantastical monomyth. Get on with the story! (or at least with the exuberant, verbose tangents. Ahem…)
So, Undead Folk commits no error the pedant in me could nitpick if so inclined, but the final third of the story (which is to say, the last 20 pages or so) meanders off into a wasteland. Once Amos, the resurrected fox with partial amnesia was revealed, I guess—it seemed to be a revelation, a twist, but it whistled hollow—to be…something (God, I hate working around spoilers), this reader’s interest receptors became belabored.
Our vengeance seeking protagonist, Ella, or Janet, or Barbarella, traverses a formerly familiar terrain permeated with corrupted memories. Encounters with nostalgic ruins and liminal decay are the strongest parts of the story:
“Snagged in the threads of her thoughts, she looked down at Amos. He’d stopped a little behind her. The mouth of the old tunnel stared back at them from ahead: its darkness vast. It seemed to tug at the edges of her thoughts: little fragments of her memories with Hugh sifting away like sand in a receding tide.”
I dare say, this description sets up the tunnel itself as a far more threatening adversary than the cancer-stricken geriatric who doesn’t even show up in the story until it’s time to confront him. I loved the anthropomorphic qualities written into the tunnel—muddled sensory metaphor notwithstanding: “The mouth stared back[?]” (Italics, boldness, punctuation mine).
Hearkening back to the tunnel as a symbol of confronting darkness ahead and behind—blinding darkness—is another line of significant simplicity: “There was nothing to look forward to. Only to look back on.” Even when you emerge from the other side of the tunnel, battered and assailed, you will look back and see its gaping, black maw ready to swallow you again. What’s done is done and you cannot escape.
I know there needs to be progression, setup, payoff, but the familial could have been explored, the futility in vengeful pursuits; all of that, without devolving into what I considered to be shoehorned representation and a feeble final confrontation. It is probably evident that I had hoped for more dwelling in/on the tunnel. Once emerged therefrom, I didn’t look forward to much, but that is not to say I wouldn’t to future efforts.
July 15, 2024
Dystopian isn't usually my thing, but this was a well written and moving story. I think it could have been fleshed out into a longer work and it's too bad it wasn't. I'll look for more work by the author.
Thanks to @Christine Koch for suggesting this buddy read!
Thanks to @Christine Koch for suggesting this buddy read!
July 12, 2024
Ugh! I wish it was longer! This was such a great short story. I loved it. It was emotional and funny in parts. Would love to read another book like this that was full length.
May 24, 2024
The cover immediately spoke to me, after all I do have a tattoo of a Skelanimal fox so undead fox? Sign me up, no need to read the blurb I'm already sold. That being said, it represents the book very well so if you like that vibe you'll probably like the book too.
The world building was very effective and honestly I want more in that world. The writing style was most pleasant and I thought that Silva managed to inject moments of humor in the story in a most effective way to make the story even more potent, she's definitely an author I'll look forward to reading more of.
Do you need to be emotionally punched in the gut? If so, read this. The grief here is messy and laced with bone deep anger and it just radiates off the page.
The world building was very effective and honestly I want more in that world. The writing style was most pleasant and I thought that Silva managed to inject moments of humor in the story in a most effective way to make the story even more potent, she's definitely an author I'll look forward to reading more of.
Do you need to be emotionally punched in the gut? If so, read this. The grief here is messy and laced with bone deep anger and it just radiates off the page.
July 15, 2024
Maybe round up to 3.5/5
I enjoyed the dystopian feel the story gave. The necromagic had a clerical feel, which was pretty unique. The storytelling was good, but the drive was not quite my cup. Still an enjoyable quick read.
I enjoyed the dystopian feel the story gave. The necromagic had a clerical feel, which was pretty unique. The storytelling was good, but the drive was not quite my cup. Still an enjoyable quick read.
September 1, 2024
Chose for the cover, pleasantly surprised! Starts off strong where we do not know why the world ended, or why our main character is doing what she is doing, but here we are!
Dystopian future where our MC is on a mission for revenge... with a talking fox.
This story honestly felt more of a survival story with very strong family ties, not as horror.
Dystopian future where our MC is on a mission for revenge... with a talking fox.
This story honestly felt more of a survival story with very strong family ties, not as horror.
April 10, 2024
“Think of asters,
Think of daisies,
Think of cosmos,
In the fields far and wide.
Think of the night,
Of its hallowed heart
Nestled amongst the stars in the sky.
I am there with you always…”
Stunned silence. That’s what happened when I finished this short story. I had to sit for a while in my feelings. Even as I was reading, this tale hit me so hard, I didn’t know whether to cry or rage, or do both.
It’s also written so beautifully, despite being set in a dry, hopeless, dystopian world. The main character “Janet” needs to complete her journey and seek an end to her suffering. There are some supernatural/magical aspects in the form of necromancy and conjuring.
“Blood matted like strawberry jam in patches along its dried-out, bony hide. A fox, at least it had been at some point…”
I feel like Katherine wrote this as a poetic tribute to those who have dealt with the death of loved ones, who grieve in complex and convoluted ways, who never had closure and missed out on saying a final goodbye.
Just another fantastically woven tale from this brilliant author!
Think of daisies,
Think of cosmos,
In the fields far and wide.
Think of the night,
Of its hallowed heart
Nestled amongst the stars in the sky.
I am there with you always…”
Stunned silence. That’s what happened when I finished this short story. I had to sit for a while in my feelings. Even as I was reading, this tale hit me so hard, I didn’t know whether to cry or rage, or do both.
It’s also written so beautifully, despite being set in a dry, hopeless, dystopian world. The main character “Janet” needs to complete her journey and seek an end to her suffering. There are some supernatural/magical aspects in the form of necromancy and conjuring.
“Blood matted like strawberry jam in patches along its dried-out, bony hide. A fox, at least it had been at some point…”
I feel like Katherine wrote this as a poetic tribute to those who have dealt with the death of loved ones, who grieve in complex and convoluted ways, who never had closure and missed out on saying a final goodbye.
Just another fantastically woven tale from this brilliant author!
May 17, 2024
This was so singular. I’ve never read another novella—let alone an under-100-page novella—like it. Post-apocalyptic, grief-stricken, intentionally mysterious, and gloriously ressurrectioned.
Undead Folk is a novella that I found through various Instagram friends. Queer horror novella, all three are buzzwords for me. Of course I was going to pick this up.
It's 76 pages, so I REALLY can't talk about the plot because to do so would be to negate the reading experience.
So here are some thoughts:
I loved the intentionally vague descriptions, landscape, and setup. You're meant to be confused, yet intrigued, and I certainly was.
The undead/resurrection angle to this story was very cool. Again, vague to the point of frustration, but very to the point with its messaging and purpose.
Having this slim novel pack such a punch with its meditation on raw grief? Very well done.
Some minor qualms I did have, however, included the fact that I do wish this novella had been a wee bit longer. I would have loved something denser, longer, with more teeth. 150 pages instead of 76, for example. Both Ella and Amos needed more time, for me, to truly get to the bones of this narrative and unpack the seriously dark underbelly to this story. It was okay at this length, but I likely would have sobbed my eyes out if given more time to get connected to their character arcs.
Blog | Instagram | Libro.fm Audiobooks
Undead Folk is a novella that I found through various Instagram friends. Queer horror novella, all three are buzzwords for me. Of course I was going to pick this up.
It's 76 pages, so I REALLY can't talk about the plot because to do so would be to negate the reading experience.
So here are some thoughts:
I loved the intentionally vague descriptions, landscape, and setup. You're meant to be confused, yet intrigued, and I certainly was.
The undead/resurrection angle to this story was very cool. Again, vague to the point of frustration, but very to the point with its messaging and purpose.
Having this slim novel pack such a punch with its meditation on raw grief? Very well done.
Some minor qualms I did have, however, included the fact that I do wish this novella had been a wee bit longer. I would have loved something denser, longer, with more teeth. 150 pages instead of 76, for example. Both Ella and Amos needed more time, for me, to truly get to the bones of this narrative and unpack the seriously dark underbelly to this story. It was okay at this length, but I likely would have sobbed my eyes out if given more time to get connected to their character arcs.
Blog | Instagram | Libro.fm Audiobooks
May 31, 2024
I won the special edition hardcover during a Twitter giveaway and decided to bump it up my TBR to add another read in for May. The hardcover has this great cover art, and the chapter pages had a nice fox image to match the story.
This is a grief horror that mixes backwoods magic with a story of revenge. Our main character is seeking vengeance for wrongs done to her family, but she doesn’t want to do so alone. Therefore she uses her herbal magic and an undead fox to bring back part of the soul of her father. I enjoyed as the story unpeeled how the magic was done, using water from behind the family home, and herbs from where he was buried to link the ceremony together.
But how much he remembers, and how well he will take this resurrection into the body of an animal, are up in the air. And will he be an accessory to the vengeance, or the unwanted voice of reason?
In a short number of pages, the author does a great job of creating such a bleak world and atmosphere. In that way, it reminded me of one of my favorite zombie reads, Worse Than Dying by Brett Van Valkenburg. While Undead Folk is post apocalyptic, there hasn’t been an entire eradication of the human race, though humanity can be awfully dark. Our main has to face this darkness, while trying to manage her own grief, and certainly some darkness of her own, all in the name of survival.
While this does take the reader through different phases of the main’s grief, I was surprised that it was a bit less sad than I was expecting, but then again, it did have a big focus on revenge. Either way, it certainly sits on the shelf of grief horror with the likes of Clay McLeod Chapman’s latest, Stay on the Line.
https://fanfiaddict.com/review-undead...
This is a grief horror that mixes backwoods magic with a story of revenge. Our main character is seeking vengeance for wrongs done to her family, but she doesn’t want to do so alone. Therefore she uses her herbal magic and an undead fox to bring back part of the soul of her father. I enjoyed as the story unpeeled how the magic was done, using water from behind the family home, and herbs from where he was buried to link the ceremony together.
But how much he remembers, and how well he will take this resurrection into the body of an animal, are up in the air. And will he be an accessory to the vengeance, or the unwanted voice of reason?
In a short number of pages, the author does a great job of creating such a bleak world and atmosphere. In that way, it reminded me of one of my favorite zombie reads, Worse Than Dying by Brett Van Valkenburg. While Undead Folk is post apocalyptic, there hasn’t been an entire eradication of the human race, though humanity can be awfully dark. Our main has to face this darkness, while trying to manage her own grief, and certainly some darkness of her own, all in the name of survival.
While this does take the reader through different phases of the main’s grief, I was surprised that it was a bit less sad than I was expecting, but then again, it did have a big focus on revenge. Either way, it certainly sits on the shelf of grief horror with the likes of Clay McLeod Chapman’s latest, Stay on the Line.
https://fanfiaddict.com/review-undead...
May 6, 2024
A short and stirring post apocalyptic novelette that is drenched in grief and revenge, and has one of the coolest covers I've seen this year.
Well worth the read and priced so you can't say no.
Well worth the read and priced so you can't say no.
April 11, 2024
This felt almost Studio Ghibli-esque: a quiet sort of horror, tightly wound in a big old fairytale ball. Just what I needed.
Five stars.
Five stars.
May 7, 2024
Undead Folk is the perfect, bite sized depiction of grief, loss, and desperation. The humorous tone brought by Amos balances out the devastating setting where the story takes place. Trying to mask reality through humor is a familiar thing to those grieving, and that method of coping jumps off the page.
May 7, 2024
I read this small but packed emotional roller coaster of a novella in two evening sessions.
I went in knowing it was grief horror and expecting my heart to be wrenched out, but there's a good deal of humour and tenderness in here (which only intensifies the heart wrenching later).
For such a short tome there's so much character work and world building here. It immediately had me wanting to know more about this apocalyptic world the main character occupies.
All in all, yes, there's heavy, gut punch grief, but there's also humanity, humour, brutality and magic. All wrapped up in gorgeous prose.
Highly recommended and I'll be digging into some others of Silva's books which have been patiently waiting on my Kindle for a while.
I went in knowing it was grief horror and expecting my heart to be wrenched out, but there's a good deal of humour and tenderness in here (which only intensifies the heart wrenching later).
For such a short tome there's so much character work and world building here. It immediately had me wanting to know more about this apocalyptic world the main character occupies.
All in all, yes, there's heavy, gut punch grief, but there's also humanity, humour, brutality and magic. All wrapped up in gorgeous prose.
Highly recommended and I'll be digging into some others of Silva's books which have been patiently waiting on my Kindle for a while.
May 22, 2024
Undead Folk does a lot with a little. If you're on the fence about the length of the story, don't be. Silva crams so much in here in such a little space, it' hard to not be impressed. Emotionally rich and demanding, Undead Folk delivers on its dystopian glory in the vein of the classics of the genre, meaning it's not just about the end of the world; it's about the endurance and continuance of humanity in the face of a world that doesn't want us here anymore. With elements of magic realism and a stone-cold emotional foundation, Undead Folk is more than the sum of its parts. It's a vibe, and I'm here for it. You should be too.
May 1, 2024
Powerful!
I love Silva's fiction, and UNDEAD FOLK is one of her best tales yet. If you're a fan of grief horror, you'll certainly enjoy this latest release from Silva. Highly recommended!
I love Silva's fiction, and UNDEAD FOLK is one of her best tales yet. If you're a fan of grief horror, you'll certainly enjoy this latest release from Silva. Highly recommended!
May 15, 2024
This novella was absolutely devastating and I will be reading it again soon. Undead Folk got a little too close to home for comfort, with an America that “could have been” in recent years. The synopsis already tells you more than I would want to reveal about this storyline, so I’m not going to touch on plot at all - just vibes.
Silva’s deep-dive on grief and the mind’s ability to handle it in shovelfuls is beautiful and it wrecked me. I think the scariest thing about this book occurs in the last few pages when the main character is torn between two choices and I felt myself confronted with the question: “what would I do?”
Everyone likes to believe that they are good and noble, but what would the end of the world as we know it bring out in the people we love? I know no one likes to talk about the COVID era but it was real, it happened, and I saw a side of some people close to me that I can’t unsee.
Check this book out if you like horror, reanimation, foxes, post-apocalyptic settings, and questioning morality!
Silva’s deep-dive on grief and the mind’s ability to handle it in shovelfuls is beautiful and it wrecked me. I think the scariest thing about this book occurs in the last few pages when the main character is torn between two choices and I felt myself confronted with the question: “what would I do?”
Everyone likes to believe that they are good and noble, but what would the end of the world as we know it bring out in the people we love? I know no one likes to talk about the COVID era but it was real, it happened, and I saw a side of some people close to me that I can’t unsee.
Check this book out if you like horror, reanimation, foxes, post-apocalyptic settings, and questioning morality!
May 8, 2024
It’s 11pm, and I’ve just finished Undead Folk.
I head to the kitchen. I need a cup of tea. Something to calm me.
Security light is on outside. I peer out of the window.
A fox looks back at me.
For a few moment, the fox and I stare at each other through opposite sides of the same window.
Eventually, the fox turns and walks into the dark of my garden.
Tears stream down my face.
Dammit, Janet.
I had no idea how powerful, how beautiful this book would be. Nor did I expect it to break me.
This is the best post-apocalyptic tale since The Road, one of the best books I’ve EVER read, and THE horror novella of 2024.
I adored this so bloody very. 🖤🖤🖤
I head to the kitchen. I need a cup of tea. Something to calm me.
Security light is on outside. I peer out of the window.
A fox looks back at me.
For a few moment, the fox and I stare at each other through opposite sides of the same window.
Eventually, the fox turns and walks into the dark of my garden.
Tears stream down my face.
Dammit, Janet.
I had no idea how powerful, how beautiful this book would be. Nor did I expect it to break me.
This is the best post-apocalyptic tale since The Road, one of the best books I’ve EVER read, and THE horror novella of 2024.
I adored this so bloody very. 🖤🖤🖤
May 12, 2024
A hard review to write......ugh
Beautiful descriptive writing that I love, love.
The story itself for me fell short..... I needed more. I needed more time to get attached to the woman with multiple names. I needed more time trying to figure out who Amos was. I needed more time figuring out what was happening in the world Janet lived in.
Beautiful descriptive writing that I love, love.
The story itself for me fell short..... I needed more. I needed more time to get attached to the woman with multiple names. I needed more time trying to figure out who Amos was. I needed more time figuring out what was happening in the world Janet lived in.
May 11, 2024
I loved this short but powerful story. Full of grief, revenge, magic, and maybe a little bit of madness, this was a quiet horror book that was internally screaming. Excellent writing from Silva!
April 14, 2024
A tale of loss. Of retribution. Desolation
June 24, 2024
Sad horror novellas are honestly a subgenre I can’t get enough of… I´m once again left with a lump in my throat; the perfect blend of sad and bittersweet.
May 8, 2024
Katherine Silva is an instant buy for me. Her style is unique and ethereal as are her story ideas. Characters, setting, and plot combine to create an experience that few others can match and UNDEAD FOLK is no exception.
Kat has a wonderful ability to paint a bleak atmosphere with what feels like little effort in this book. You are quickly drawn in with a vivid setting filled with sights, sounds, and smells. It is like a movie with no soundtrack, leaving a tense, unsettling feeling. Yet in a paradox, it is lighthearted and humorous at times, further adding to the unease.
It is quite a puzzle overall, giving you so many questions and just as many vague and mysterious hints. You can not help but just keep reading until you realize you are at the end. Then, you want to pick it up and start again.
“Not a fan of the dark, Amos?”
“No. It makes my skin crawl.”
“That could be the maggots.”
“Oh…right.”
Kat has a wonderful ability to paint a bleak atmosphere with what feels like little effort in this book. You are quickly drawn in with a vivid setting filled with sights, sounds, and smells. It is like a movie with no soundtrack, leaving a tense, unsettling feeling. Yet in a paradox, it is lighthearted and humorous at times, further adding to the unease.
It is quite a puzzle overall, giving you so many questions and just as many vague and mysterious hints. You can not help but just keep reading until you realize you are at the end. Then, you want to pick it up and start again.
“Not a fan of the dark, Amos?”
“No. It makes my skin crawl.”
“That could be the maggots.”
“Oh…right.”
April 22, 2024
Notes from a Decaying Millennial
I received ARC of this novella provided by the author, with an honest review provided in exchange.
-
My work-day begins very early. 4am found me sitting in the breakroom at work, my cursed e-reader in hand, reading through this novella. By 530am, I was clocking in for my shift, and mentally processing what I had just finished reading.
This is NOT a Paid Review
-
Finishing Katherine Silva 's forthcoming novella Undead Folk caused me to to do a deep dive into my memory, thinking over the post-apocalyptic fiction I had read over the years. There have been quite a few😅. There have been a handful that I have mentally separated from the "patriot wasteland fantasies" that permeate the genre, like rusting hulks of ships in a river that continues to flow onward. Works like: The Giver, The Earth Abides, The Parable of the Sower, Canticle for Lebowtiz, Elogona, Grievers. Some of these tales are more optimistic than others, regarding what we are capable of overcoming and moving towards. Even so, each of these works uses the genre to tell a powerful story, and examine the strengths and deep flaws of humanity. Just does this book succeed in that endeavor.
Undead Folk is sparse in the best possible way. Hints are given to world that's fallen far from and fast from more prosperous times. Like the world she inhabits, the woman whose journey we follow has be worn down, reduced to her raw self. The reader follows this woman through her journey of grief and quest for revenge. We see how through the pain of tragic loss, we can come to moments of true growth, and be open to deep magic fueled by our blood and our tears.
I received ARC of this novella provided by the author, with an honest review provided in exchange.
-
My work-day begins very early. 4am found me sitting in the breakroom at work, my cursed e-reader in hand, reading through this novella. By 530am, I was clocking in for my shift, and mentally processing what I had just finished reading.
This is NOT a Paid Review
-
Finishing Katherine Silva 's forthcoming novella Undead Folk caused me to to do a deep dive into my memory, thinking over the post-apocalyptic fiction I had read over the years. There have been quite a few😅. There have been a handful that I have mentally separated from the "patriot wasteland fantasies" that permeate the genre, like rusting hulks of ships in a river that continues to flow onward. Works like: The Giver, The Earth Abides, The Parable of the Sower, Canticle for Lebowtiz, Elogona, Grievers. Some of these tales are more optimistic than others, regarding what we are capable of overcoming and moving towards. Even so, each of these works uses the genre to tell a powerful story, and examine the strengths and deep flaws of humanity. Just does this book succeed in that endeavor.
Undead Folk is sparse in the best possible way. Hints are given to world that's fallen far from and fast from more prosperous times. Like the world she inhabits, the woman whose journey we follow has be worn down, reduced to her raw self. The reader follows this woman through her journey of grief and quest for revenge. We see how through the pain of tragic loss, we can come to moments of true growth, and be open to deep magic fueled by our blood and our tears.
March 25, 2024
‘A beautiful, powerful and deeply original rendering of grief…’
I bloody loved it and you will too!
I bloody loved it and you will too!
April 17, 2024
A beautiful, haunting look at death and grief in a post-apocalyptic hellscape, a story that constantly takes you in unexpected directions. Five stars!
May 29, 2024
Read this novelette is one sitting and I’ll probably pick it up again to read one night when my own existential thoughts prevent me from sleeping.
Katherine Silva created a post apocalyptic world where a woman taken over by grief is out for revenge and does whatever she can to hold onto a sliver of a loved one. I felt so much for the MC, and understood her flat tone as she lived Groundhog Day moments with her temporary companions. This book is very much worth your time! But beware if you are experiencing grief, because it hits.
Katherine Silva created a post apocalyptic world where a woman taken over by grief is out for revenge and does whatever she can to hold onto a sliver of a loved one. I felt so much for the MC, and understood her flat tone as she lived Groundhog Day moments with her temporary companions. This book is very much worth your time! But beware if you are experiencing grief, because it hits.
May 12, 2024
An excellent exploration of grief in action rather than in extended contemplation. Silva infuses this quick read with her most poetic, clear, and rich voice yet. That opening paragraph is *chef’s kiss*—I repeatedly read it aloud, coating my mind with the opening like a lozenge.
I also loved the way Silva allowed the characters to share humor and hope in a seemingly depressed and hopeless world.
Okay, back to reading THE WILD DARK. I’ll catch you on other side.
I also loved the way Silva allowed the characters to share humor and hope in a seemingly depressed and hopeless world.
Okay, back to reading THE WILD DARK. I’ll catch you on other side.
May 6, 2024
A woman traveling with an undead fox seeks revenge in a post-apocalyptic world. Grief and revenge with a dash of backwoods magic. I really enjoyed the prose, how the backstory was gradually revealed, and where the story led.
May 6, 2024
Gorgeous writing. Heartbreaking and haunting. I loved Amos and Ella. This is Grief horror at its best.
I’m sitting and staring at the wall right now…
I’m sitting and staring at the wall right now…
Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews