Monstrous Affections [Paperback]

David Nickle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2009

A young bride and her future mother-in-law risk everything to escape it. A repentant father summons help from a pot of tar to ensure it. A starving woman learns from howling winds and a whispering host, just how fulfilling it can finally be. Can it be love?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Bleak, stark and creepy, Stoker-winner Nickle's first collection will delight the literary horror reader. A jarring cover illustration by Erik Mohr prepares the reader for 13 terrifying tales of rural settings, complex and reticent characters and unexpected twists that question the fundamentals of reality. All are delivered with a certain grace, creating a sparse yet poetic tour of the horrors that exist just out of sight. Standout stories include Janie and the Wind, where a battered, abandoned woman does what she needs to survive; Other People's Kids, a disturbing examination of the razor-thin moment dividing childhood from maturity and the hand holding that razor; and The Pit Heads, a phenomenal story about the cold remnants of a Canadian mining town and the true cost of beauty. This ambitious collection firmly establishes Nickle as a writer to watch. (Nov.)
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Review

These stories work so well in part because of Nickle's facility with the language of the place he's created. He is comfortable writing in different voices... and he knows the idiom of his semi-rural environment..." --Quill & Quire (added by author)

"The last story I read by David Nickle left me impotent for a week." --Peter Watts, Author of Blindsight (added by author)

"The cover is creepy... The stories themselves are also very creepy, drawing you into believable, domestic worlds then showing you the blue pulsing intestines of those worlds." --Kaaron Warren, author of Slights (added by author)

(L)ike the cover, the stories inside are not what they seem. But also, like the cover, the stories inside are brilliant. . . . You'd think that you were reading a book full of what you had always expected a horror story to be, but Nickle takes a left turn and blindsides you with tales that are not of the norm, but are all the more horrific because of surprise twists, darkness and raw emotion. ----January Magazine's Best Books of 2009

David Nickle writes 'em damned weird and damned good and damned dark. He is bourbon-rough, poetic and vivid. Don't miss this one. --Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: ChiZine Publications; 1st edition (October 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0981297838
• ISBN-13: 978-0981297835
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #720,283 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Nickle is the author of more than 30 short stories, 13 of which have been gathered in the collection Monstrous Affections. He is author of Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism, and co-author of The Claus Effect, with Karl Schroeder. Years ago, he and Karl won an Aurora Award for the short story that inspired that novel, "The Toy Mill." Some years later, he won a Bram Stoker Award for short fiction, for a story called "Rat Food" - co-written with Edo Van Belkom. He lives in Toronto, Canada. His website, The Devil's Exercise Yard (http://sites.google.com/site/davidnickle/) has stories on it for free.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book with a disturbing cover, December 16, 2009

By 

m.r.fruits (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Monstrous Affections (Paperback)

This is an excellent book. Great if you are looking for horror with some literary merit. The stories are intriguing and well written. The theme of love (in some form or another) appears throughout the book, hence the title. Some of my favorites are "The Sloan Men" and "Other People's Kids." "The Inevitability of Earth" continues to haunt me. I really loved "The Mayor Will Make A Brief Statement and then Take Questions." It's only a page and a half, but really creepy. When I got to the end, I said 'OH NO!' aloud. It seems to epitomize the way these stories start out seeming mundane, but soon take a disturbing twist that is in many ways a surprise, but in the back of your mind you sensed that something unwholesome was looming just below the surface. Very, very cool.

The overall creepiness of this book is certainly enhanced by the cover.I don't know who designed it, but damn, that cover is grotesque. Part of you wants to stare, and part of you wants to bury it in the yard. You can't properly appreciate it online. You've got to get the book and look that thing in the face. For better or for worse, it gets a reaction. It's been sitting on my coffee table, and I've noticed my boyfriend keeps covering it with magazines.

All in all, this is a rare book that you need to own. Get it while you can. The publisher is a very small but excellent new press, so I assume the print-run was limited. This book has been getting a lot of attention, and it's already sold out on Amazon. As of December 2009, copies can still be had on the publisher's website. [...]

4.0 out of 5 stars I'm not a big fan of short stories but..., August 26, 2011

By 

percentnineteen - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Monstrous Affections (Paperback)

I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I will often give a book a second thought if the cover is nice. When I first heard about Monstrous Affections I thought, "Well...it's a book of short stories. I usually don't get that interested in short stories." I thought a little more about it and the cover pushed my decision from "don't buy" to "buy".

I can't say that this book has me reconsidering my aversion to short stories, but many of the stories in this book are top notch. They are really weird horror. Very well written. Just a bit short.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine addition to any literary fiction collection, October 9, 2009

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Monstrous Affections (Paperback)

Love is a wonderful thing. Love is a terrible thing. "Monstrous Affections" is a novel exploring the negative side of love and the things it makes people do. Following a bride-to-be, a father, and a homeless woman as they tell their stories of love and its pitfalls and its treasures, David Nickle presents an original and intriguing tale. "Monstrous Affections" is a fine addition to any literary fiction collection.