“Apologies didn’t exonerate the sinner, only compelled graciousness from its recipient.” I particularly enjoyed the exploration of privilege through Phillip’s character and how self-centered he is in the face of everything: “your ego wounds you. This is character-driven horror, so time is given to describing the setting as well as the complicated history and character relationships: this is truly a group of people who should have just let their friendships drift apart and I enjoyed the tension between the characters just as much as with the environment itself.Īll of the characters are fully developed with a complexity that’s impressive given the novella’s length. I know purple prose isn’t for everyone, but I think it is executed incredibly well in this novella because it’s about more than the horrors of basically being hunted by an ohaguro-bettari.
The writing is fast-paced and engaging, vacillating between beautiful prose and a sharp vividness with ease. Even if it was from a corpse with blackened teeth. Even if it was a house with rotting bones and a heart made out of a dead girl’s ghost, I’d give it everything it wanted just for scraps. (Something our main character Cat is quick to point out: the Rules of Horror and how this won’t end well.) But the bride-to-be is ecstatic and her groom is eager to please, so they stay despite the fact this obviously won’t end well for them. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, especially after the group discovers the history of the mansion: it rests on a foundation of the bones of the sacrificed. “The manor seemed to breathe in, drinking her promise.”Įver wonder what do get your friends as a wedding gift? When you’re rich and privileged like Phillip, perhaps you “rent”… “obtain permits”… uh, dubiously acquire a Heian-era mansion for the night for a bit of destination horror fun because the bridge and groom really want to be married in a haunted location. Also, you should look at this piece of cursed content. First of all, props to the cover designer/artist because my GOODNESS is it nightmare fuel that really helped ramp up my horror while reading.
0 kommentar(er)
