Publishers Weekly
★ 11/02/2020
This electrifying collection of 15 horror shorts from Files (Spectral Evidence) seeks out the hidden pockets of terror in everyday life. In “Bulb,” a woman encounters an eldritch creature in the wiring of her condo, while in “Always after Three” a couple are tormented by strange music and smells emanating from a neighboring apartment. A group of writers summon an otherworldly entity while doing a writing exercise in “Venio.” “The Puppet Motel,” one of the standouts, follows a woman as she grows increasingly troubled by the unsettling atmosphere of an Airbnb she runs. And in “Sleep Hygiene,” perhaps the collection’s grimmest entry, a woman haunted by nightmares consults a sleep therapist who has suspicious motives. Files maintains a sense of dread throughout with taut, unflinching prose sprinkled with touches of gore. Files’s monsters peer out from the periphery of reality, creating a sense of lurking horror and existential dread. This atmospheric collection will have even the most seasoned horror readers considering sleeping with the lights on. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
Winner of the 2021 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection
This electrifying collection of 15 horror shorts from Files (Spectral Evidence) seeks out the hidden pockets of terror in everyday life... Files maintains a sense of dread throughout with taut, unflinching prose sprinkled with touches of gore. Files's monsters peer out from the periphery of reality, creating a sense of lurking horror and existential dread. This atmospheric collection will have even the most seasoned horror readers considering sleeping with the lights on.
--Publisher's Weekly, Starred Review
Booklist
Guaranteed to please every variety of horror fan…One stand-out in Files’s writing is her incredible diversity, both in character and in style; it is refreshing to read about the different types of people and relationships represented.”
More2Read.com
There was Shirley Jackson, there is Stephen King and now there is Gemma Files.”
Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)
This electrifying collection of fifteen horror shorts from Files seeks out the hidden pockets of terror in everyday life…Files maintains a sense of dread throughout with taut, unflinching prose sprinkled with touches of gore. Files’s monsters peer out from the periphery of reality, creating a sense of lurking horror and existential dread. This atmospheric collection will have even the most seasoned horror readers considering sleeping with the lights on.”