I’ve been making reels lately over on my Instagram, and—I’m woman enough to admit when I was wrong—it’s actually been a lot of fun. I’d forgotten my love for the video format and video editing, and this is a small way to delve back into it.
But the only problem with reels is, at the end of the day, I’m a still writer, and damn do I love my long-form content. What can I say? I’m wordy. It comes with the territory. So sometimes when I post a reel, I feature some books, but I also have a lot more to say about them. And maybe one or two of you want to hear a little more about them. So, here we are: Reel Companion Posts. This is where I’ll tell you a little more about some of the books featured in some of my reels! You’ll be able to find links to these in my stories, in my blog posts highlight, and of course, in my Instagram bio, if you ever want to know more or want to come visit me over here. I might be introverted as hell, but I’m always happy to have you!
First up: Short Horror Books You Can Read in a Weekend. You can view the reel in question here:
and then read below for a little more information on each book featured!
You’ve Lost a Lot of Blood by Eric LaRocca
You’ve Lost a Lot of Blood is a novella with an interesting format as it simultaneously tells the story of couple Martyr Black and Ambrose Thorne, but also the story of the story Martyr Black was writing, entitled “You’ve Lost a Lot of Blood”. In the novella within the novella, Tamsen and her young brother, Presley, turn up to the mysterious old estate of video game designer, Mr. Zimpago, so she can work on his new video game, entitled “You’ve Lost a Lot of Blood.”
It’s titleception.
There’s a lot of clever and kind of meta things happning here, and overall, I unexpectedly ended up liking the novella within the novella a little more than its framework story. Tamsen’s experience with the video game is futuristic, sci-fi-y, and really scary.
And yes, it’s pretty bloody and graphic at times.
At only 201 pages, you’ll tear through it as you bounce back and forth between the multiple storylines, eager to find out what happens to everyone.
Fever Dream
Fever Dream is the perfect title for this novella by Samanta Schweblin, which will make you feel exactly like you are experiencing your own fever dream. A woman lies sick and dying trying to explain what led up to this point, but the absolute disjointed nature and trippy visuals will make you feel like you, too, have a fever and will have you questioning what’s going on. I read this one in one sitting, and am certain you could, too, if you’re looking for something to check out this weekend.
Jawbone
This is a short book, but so much happens in these pages. Jawbone alternates POVs between two teen girls, Fernanda and Annelise, and their traumatized young teacher, with things spiraling further and further out of control leading up to the teacher kidnapping Fernanda. The girls spend their free time in an abandoned building they found, telling creepy stories, playing truth or dare, and scaring their friends—until things get more and more out of hand.
I loved how the girls in this story were obsessed with creepypastas and online horror stories like Slenderman or Jeff the Killer—classic Internet staples that I came up on, as well, so I found this aspect relatable. They’re also obsessed with true crime cases, like the case of Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker, or Brenda Ann Spencer, the “I hate Mondays” girl. And if all of that doesn’t pull you in, maybe you’ll the contrast between the horror of the known and the unknown, or the portray of puberty/the teen years as its own kind of horror. (“Fearing an age that represents the void, a lack of definition, but also a great many possibilities.”)
I’m Thinking of Ending Things
This short novel by Iain Reid was popular a few years ago when it came out, and is still popular today, and for good reason. Not only can you read it one sitting, I actually recommend reading it one sitting, as it increases the sense of building anxiety and terror that you can share in with the main character, and you can spend the time wondering what the hell is going on before you finally reach the conclusion.
And after you fly through this book, you can check out the film adaptation, which I actually thought was really good despite the fact that it seemed to get a lot of hate. Does it differ from the book in some ways? Of course. But I found it to be a brilliant vision of the novel with a lot of visual aspects and set ups that helped convey exactly the same building sense of dread that the book brings to the table.
You Should Have Left
You Should Have Left, by Daniel Kehlman, is a super short, super fast-paced German novella following a man and his wife and young child who decide to go away, get away from everything for a little while in a secluded country rental, just the three of them. Things are tense because they’ve been having issues in their marriage, major trust issues, and the man is trying to get himself clear-minded enough to write a new screenplay. But as things start to unravel in the more human-rooted issues of their relationship and their work struggles, they start to realize that something is also not right with the house, and by the time they try to do something about it, it may just be too late.
This is one that has a movie adaptation that I was less impressed with. Alhough I think Amanda Seyfried did a great job in it, as always, it just didn’t stack up, in my opinion. The book though, really creeped me out and I thought it was great.
Diary of an Oxygen Thief
Diary of an Oxygen Thief was kind of a runaway hit when it first came out. I guess it has since faded from the public eye, but it was everywhere when it debuted, even getting people who weren’t into reading to read it. This short book is a novel that is written like a memoir by a man who spends most of his time drinking heavily and treating others (especially women) poorly, and follows his experiences after getting into a relationship with a young photography assistant. This is one of those books that is horrifying not in a supernatural way, not in a slasher way, but in a very human way. The horror in this is the horror of what human beings do to one another, the ways we treat each other, and the awful things one human can but another human through.
Have you read any of these short books? Do you want to check any of them out? Let me know in the comments!