Things We Say in the Dark

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This passage was my breaking point: ”she met his teasing, lighthearted insults with witty, perceptive responses and relaxed him when his mood was sour. (…) When he was in a mad mood she was there to argue him out of it. When he was playful, she let him tease her and made him laugh with an equally enthusiastic remark. She didn’t push him to be more open about his emotions, and he didn’t expect her to hide from hers, as she did in front of the rest of the world…” Some things can't be spoken about in the light of day. But we can visit our fears at night, in the dark. We can turn them over and weigh them in our hands and maybe that will protect us from them. But maybe not. Her hand traced the lines up his torso. The discolored scars of long-ago battles; the taut muscle forming the wall of his abs… She could picture it all in the dark, as if they were making love in broad daylight. Lovingly, she reached up to his shoulders, admiring with her hands the wide breadth of them. The fiction of Joel Lane – ‘To read Lane is to enter into an unforgettable, beautifully ambiguous landscape’ A sultry sigh filtered through Corrin’s lips once she felt his fingers comb through the roots of her hair, toeing the tenuous line between massaging and possessively gripping the tresses over her head.

Things We Say in the Dark by Kirsty Logan book reviews Things We Say in the Dark by Kirsty Logan book reviews

I feel like I related to this Hermione's struggle with perfectionism and presentation to the world while I really felt connected to Draco's struggle to make the daily decision to be a better person. Underneath such layers of horror, Logan traces other, more internalised, less talked about matters that cause women fear: children and childlessness, loving and being unloved, houses filled with people that close in on us, empty houses devoid of love. The stories in Things We Say in the Dark are described as ‘feminist’, and largely stories told by women, telling of things that scare women. In Logan’s world, these things don’t have to be as big as ghosts, seances or bogey-men, although sometimes they are.There are definitely lots of things to admire here. Logan’s prose is always readable, but it’s punctuated by moments of linguistic beauty, with vivid and evocative imagery peppered throughout. Some of these disturbing tableaus are sure to linger in the mind. The stories themselves are mostly contemporary, but there’s a timeless quality to the themes being explored. Namely, the domestic fears of everyday life – particularly those that haunt young women. Logan takes the things we’re told by society to aim for – the gorgeous home, the perfect family, the successful life – and spins our apprehensions about them into what reads like a series of fever dreams, as though she has literally documented her nightmares in the form of a dream diary. What if our houses aren’t the safe spaces we always imagined? What if you find the experience of pregnancy and childbirth horrifying rather than beautiful? How would you cope if your child wasn’t healthy or happy? What if you wished you’d never become a parent at all? What if you can never escape the horrors of your past? These fears and more are explored in claustrophobic, hypnotic ways by employing a dash of fairy tale, a twist of the supernatural, and a generous pinch of magical realism. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience – the local community.

Terrifying tales: Jay unearths a family secret at her

I ADORED this book. I am not a fan of horror stories but these are just the right kind for me. I jumped on this collection because of what an excellent writer Kirsty Logan is. And this was everything i hoped the short story collection would be. Creepy, unsettling, poking towards uncomfortable etc. This also makes it a very difficult collection to review.He said so much with so few words. Even now, in the late hour and half-asleep, he exuded an impassable dignity that was hard to resist. Leo once told her that kings were like that. They thought differently from others, as if rules and limitations didn’t apply to them. Xander, it seemed, has left behind the unthinking obedience of his days as prince and instead embraced the title of king. He was no longer like one of them, simple human beings and tools to be used for the sake of their kingdom. Now, he ruled over them. There was power to that, Corrin was sure. Power and grief. She clung to him tightly, overwhelmed by her worries of loneliness and abandonment now that the man she loved would be, in a strange sort of way, out of her reach.

Things We Say in the Dark - Kirsty Logan - Google Books Things We Say in the Dark - Kirsty Logan - Google Books

The day after his infamous victory at the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry Potter disappears without a trace. We tell ourselves stories, we stoke our fears, we keep them burning. For what? What do we expect to find there inside? I was already a fan of Kirsty Logan’s work, which explores the dark and fantastical, through her previous novels, as well as hearing her perform at events, such as when she read her wonderfully titled short story “Girls are Always Hungry When all the Men are Bite-Size” which also features in Things We Say in the Dark. Since then, I have been excited to hear more of Logan’s horror – her new collection does not disappoint. I’m not easily fazed by horror, but the one exception; the one subgenre of horror that I cannot read at this specific moment in my life is this type of gynaecological/pregnancy/female-body horror. It’s too personal, it genuinely disturbs and upsets me and everything in my body rejects it. This collection, especially in the second part, makes heavy use of this, and had I known this I’d probably have steered clear, despite being a massive fan of the author.

Things We Say In The Dark

Even though this book is not very long, it took Logan almost two years to write and there is no wonder why. Constant thinking about your fears and watching horror movies as a part of “research” can be a bit too much at times. She even admitted, that all the characters in the stories are named after famous horror movie characters, but no one yet discovered all of them. Full of magic realism and gentle horror, this is a book for fans of Salt Slow and The Doll’s Alphabet.

Things We Say in the Dark - Penguin Books UK Things We Say in the Dark - Penguin Books UK

Would we get married then?” she asked out of the blue. There was something of a tremor in her voice as she peered up, probing the dark for the faint light of his eyes. Around them, much of the army was still busy cheering, with most of the soldiers cajoling and hollering to the camp aids for something to drink. Leo and Camilla had long ago left their side to join the festivities, and Elise was still attending to the wounded. Xander and Corrin found themselves both alone yet surrounded, lost in a shared gaze of bittersweet contemplations while everyone else triumphantly roared for Nohrian victory. When the rest of the world gives up their search, Hermione Granger, an up-and-coming investigative journalist, is determined to do what they couldn’t: find him. Home.” She held her breath, focused on the unperturbed beating of his heart. There was so much finality to the word that unnerved Corrin. What was home? Where was it? When she closed her eyes, she pictured that lonely tower and the room she had known. Blue skies and a sun couldn’t shake that image out of her head. A smile crept up on her lips, the irony not having been lost on her. I wouldn't say they were particularly enjoyable but I was bored by them either. A. bit like one bad dream after another. Probably not the best read if you're feel 'out of sorts' or have run out herbal sedatives.

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The night before the fateful murder in the astronomy tower, Draco Malfoy approaches Hermione Granger in the library. Hermione has no knowledge of the mark on his left forearm or the catastrophic task he's been assigned, and Draco has no intention of asking for anyone's help. He is tormented by the dire future that is fast approaching, one he never asked for, and Hermione knows that something bigger, something dark, is coming. Thunder and lightning brew on the horizon, a storm rolling into Scotland that foreshadows the beginning of the end. But maybe, just for a night, they can find refuge in a much less severe storm -- each other. Language: English Words: 4,474 Chapters: 1/1 Comments: 10 Kudos: 253 Bookmarks: 24 Hits: 3,706 Can I?” She was earnest with her question, almost pleading. Was she really allowed? Was it that simple? I can’t wait to go home,” she murmured, half-asleep. Her eyes slowly fluttered to a close, and she lolled to face away from him. “With you… we’ll be home…” Her words then lilted to a dreamy silence, and in lieu of more conversation, her breaths slowed to a softer, more slumbering rhythm. I’m doing good?” she pressed, softening her voice to an innocent whimper against their loud rutting.