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A Human Stain: A Tor.com Original by [Kelly Robson]

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Kelly Robson

A Human Stain: A Tor.com Original Kindle Edition

by Kelly Robson (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.0 291 ratings

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Winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novelette

"A Human Stain" by Kelly Robson is a disturbing horror novelette about a British expatriate at loose ends who is hired by her friend to temporarily care for his young, orphaned nephew in a remote castle-like structure in Germany.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Print length

40 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Tor Books
Publication date

January 4, 2017
File size

811 KB
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01MTR06SQ
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tor Books (January 4, 2017)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 4, 2017
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 811 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 40 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #805,498 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,527 in Horror Short Stories
- #1,652 in One-Hour Literature & Fiction Short Reads
- #35,393 in Horror Literature & Fiction

Customer Reviews:
4.0 291 ratings

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About the author

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Kelly Robson

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Like you, I'm a passionate reader. I spent most of my teenage years either hanging out at the drugstore waiting for new issues of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine, or when I was in the city, lurking in the SF and Fantasy section of the bookstore. This was pre-Internet and since there were no bookstores in my town and the library was pretty bare, good books -- the kind that made my heart sing -- were precious treasures. To this day, nothing is more important to me than reading, nothing is more delicious than a great novel, and few people are as important as my favorite writers.

My writing life has been pretty diverse. I've edited science books, and from 2008 to 2012 I had the great good luck to write a monthly wine column for Chatelaine, the largest women's magazine in Canada. I've published short fiction at Tor.com, Asimov's Science Fiction, Clarkesworld, and a number of anthologies. Several of my stories have been chosen for "year's best" anthologies, and in the past two years I've been a finalist for several high-profile awards.

My favorite writers are Connie Willis, Walter Jon Williams, Michael Bishop, Jack Womack, Hilary Mantel, Alan Bennett, Patrick O'Brian, A.M. Dellamonica, Saladin Ahmed, Gemma Files, Maureen McHugh, Cat Rambo, Peter Watts, and Caitlin Sweet. I have a huge soft spot for classic literature, including Jane Austen, Anne Bronte, Charlotte Bronte, Thomas Hardy, Ford Maddox Ford, John Galsworthy, George Eliot, and Mrs. Gaskell. I also love reading non-fiction -- history, historical geography, and science.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5

291 global ratings

5 star		39%
4 star		32%
3 star		20%
2 star		6%
1 star		3%

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GoldenDragonfly

Teeth and Smell!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 3, 2023

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Helen has come to spend the summer at a friend’s castle to watch over his nephew. Her goal is to teach the little boy English.

There is something strange going on at the castle. Something strange going on with the boy and his nursemaid. Something strange is going on.

Wi

Helpful

Ron K

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 15, 2017

Verified Purchase

A Human Stain by Kelly Robson is a 37-page horror novelette (novella?) with a unique writing style. Helen is a companion recruited by Barchen Lambrecht, a person we can assume to be one of the dissolute hanger-on nobility types. Lambrecht has a castle or at least an almost castle. A few more turrets might fulfill the requirements of the definition. Peter, a child who is Lambrecht's ward lives in the castle with a nanny and two other servants. But Lambrecht needs something more for young Peter, he needs a governess who can also teach Peter things like reading, writing, and languages. Peter might be six or seven years old; he has yet to learn the order of the alphabet.

Lambrecht is devoted to the life of a playboy and constant party-goer in the countries of Europe. He doesn't have a reputation as a ladies man as he prefers men and boys but this does not deter Helen from approaching him, developing a friendship, and settling into a comfortable arrangement as a governess for Peter. She needs the work as she has nothing but debt in Paris, no family, no job, no friends but lots of creditors. Lambrecht's castle will be a good place to escape, live, and earn money. Also, as she found out after arriving at the castle, the governess, Mimi was cute so there might be a possibility for romance.

Helen walks into a situation which has no certainties; there are no answers to the many questions she has. Mimi answers her questions in either monosyllables, with crying, or not at all. Peter answers in the same way. Peter also depends to disappear a lot. He is not easy to find and in searching for him, Helen explores much of the castle. The house servants, a cook and a steward accept her questions and echo them back to her as answers. After only a few days, Barchen disappears to Munich pleading business but says he will be back in a few days. Helen is left essentially on her own; any answers she might get will be as a result of her searches of the castle.

The castle has a family crypt. Inside there are Peter's mom and dad. Dad was the brother of Barchen Lambert. Helen wants to get into the crypt but there are no keys to be found. She improvises. She gets in but finds that this crypt is like none other she has seen before. Peter has followed her into the crypt and immediately begins to eat some of the material, both vegetable and insect, that cover the interior walls of the crypt. Helen finds that she has urges to eat some of this same material. Initially resisting this impulse, Helen returns to her room to make further plans. During the evening hours as she is looking out on a lake, she determines that previously thought floating inert material has a life. And it (they) is/are watching her.

This is a very well written heavily character dependent short story of a style I would call European. But I won't call it that because author Kelly Robson is Canadian. She has a fascinating author page on Amazon; it is worth going there to see what else she has written and read about the authors who influence her.

For those developing their writing skills, I recommend looking at the character of Helen. She reveals the elements of this short story in several clever and diverse ways. She doesn't tell the story. It is not through Helen's behavior only that story elements come to light, this novella is a delight to read as a display of an accomplished writer's skills.

3 people found this helpful

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The Bookclectic

What did I just read?

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 18, 2018

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This story.

*places left elbow on desk. leans forward. places hand on forehead. stares blankly at computer screen.*

Where should I even begin?

WTF. That's the only appropriate description I have for this story. I dislike using that kind of language in a public forum, even when it's abbreviated, but that is exactly how I felt. In fact I actually said that out loud after reading the last page, because what the heck was that?? Then something happened...

Over a period of three days... and I'd even started another book... my mind slowly started to unravel what happened in this story. I was having eureka moments at completely random intervals. Using my hand mixer in the kitchen; "Oh that's why there was blood on the bed". Pulling weeds in the flower bed; "Oh that's why such-and-such happened" (I won't mention what that was, because it's a spoiler, but trust me when I say it's super cringey and weird). Laying in bed almost asleep; "Ohhhh... THAT'S why he shoved his fingers in her mouth". Those weren't the only moments I had, but you get the idea. However there are still so many unanswered questions. So, so many, and I still can't decide whether or not I liked this story, but it has definitely left me very curious about her work, and I have already picked up another piece she has written.

Now having painted my emotional picture for you, I will say part of my confusion was caused by her writing. It doesn't flow well in places. I had to read a few scenes two or even three times to figure out exactly what was going on, but there is an awful lot of talent here. The fact that I was unconsciously contemplating this story for several days, says an awful lot about her abilities as a writer and her imagination.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

K1337

A Human Stain is a dark and ultimately disturbing story...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 24, 2017

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A Human Stain is a dark and ultimately disturbing story. Helen, a young woman who is anxious to leave Paris and her debts behind, accepts a job as a governess to a young boy. The job offer comes from the boy’s uncle, the owner of a large, almost castle-like house on a lake in a remote part of Germany. The uncle has just met Helen, so this whole situation seems a little odd and too convenient to solve Helen’s immediate problems.

Helen is told by the uncle that the boy’s parents have recently died and the uncle is not interested in spending time raising any children, even his nephew. Helen arrives at the manor to find it quite isolated in the mountains, with only a younger women as the boy’s caretaker, and an elderly couple who cook and maintain the property. Very soon the uncle uniformes Helen that he must return to the city to obtain some help in settling his late brother’s affairs, leaving Helen alone with this odd group of characters. This is when things get weird.

Robson is an expert at setting mood and atmosphere. Her description of the house, the grounds, the lake, the crypt, slowly build the sense of dread and impending doom. You want to shake Helen and tell her to “get out of here” even if she has to walk to the next village. But she can’t she’s drawn into the life of the house and the strange characters that live there.

This story is short, but engrossing in its depiction of Helen’s journey down the deep well of this paranormal spider’s web.

11 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Kim

A must read short story!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 1, 2018

Verified Purchase

This is fantastic creepy short story. I love the author's wonderfully descriptive writing. I can't wait to devour more from this incredibly talented Canadian writer.

Richard

Gripping Short Story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 22, 2018

Verified Purchase

An absolute fantastic read from start to end. Couldn't put it down. Look forward to reading more from this author

Matthias K.

Rightfully award winning

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on October 26, 2018

Verified Purchase

It’s a spooky tale that harkens back to Lovecraftian horror, except there is no racism in this which is for the better.

If you like horror you should enjoy this. Recommended.

Kindle-klant

Gothic Horror at its best

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on August 27, 2019

Verified Purchase

Atmospheric and beautifully creepy. Robson manages to draw you in and won't let you go until the chilling conclusion.

J. E. Bearden

Sweet nourishment

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on October 15, 2019

Verified Purchase

Each bite is a blessing. I will need to seek out at read so many more of Kelly's stories now. No more sleep for me I'm afraid.

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