Title/Author: The Best Girls/Min Jin Lee
Anonymous/Uzodinma Iweala
Ungirls/Lauren Beukes
Loam/Scott Heim
Will Williams/Namwali Serpell
The Beckoning Fair One/Dan Chaon
Genre: horror/thriller
These Amazon short stories are just so great. I’ve never read one that was awful. I like some more than others, of course, but they are a lot of fun. I was particularly excited about this one because they are horror-ish stories, which I love. Some are more graphic than others, but all are definitely worth reading.
From Goodreads: The Best Girls: An excellent student from a poor, traditional family in Seoul, the narrator has absorbed the same message her whole life: Only a boy can provide the family with dignity and wealth. Not her. Not her three sisters. Receiving approval only for uncomplaining sacrifice, she has resolved to take on her family’s troubles. She is a good girl. And she knows what good girls must do.
Anonymous: He’s a well-traveled consultant arriving home at a metropolitan airport. He’s also become accustomed to extra scrutiny for his brown skin and many-stamped passport. But when he’s whisked away, isolated, and chained in a stark white room without explanation, his reality crumbles. Because what he doesn’t know is the most damning evidence against him.
Ungirls: Actor and sex worker Nats is experienced at putting on a show. However, her new gig supplying intimate whispers for growgirls takes her to a place darker and lonelier than she could have ever imagined. The lab-grown dolls can respond to pleasure or pain; their synthetic heads contain only the simplest AI to prevent any pesky robo sex doll uprisings. But just because growgirls don’t have a brain, doesn’t mean they don’t have a voice…
Loam: Forty years ago, triplets Miriam, Louise, and Edward were swept up in a case of rural mass hysteria. Coerced into fabricating unspeakable lies about their first-grade teacher and her adult son, they were complicit in destroying two lives. Ever since, they have believed they are being followed by a presence still seeking retribution for their childhood sins. Unless their guilty consciences are conjuring as many monsters as their innocent minds once did.
Will Williams: Ever since high school, somebody’s been playing the echo game on Will Williams. A look-alike with the same tattoos and the same name has been following him. Starting by implicating Will in petty crimes, and escalating to offenses with serious prison terms, he’s undermined every attempt Will has made to get his life on track. Now, drifting from city to city, Will’s doing everything in his power to outrun his shadow.
The Beckoning Fair One: Ever since they were orphaned, Tyler has kept close tabs on his sister, Shannon. He has to, considering her weird and risky obsessions. Now she has a new one: an inexplicable crush on an odd-looking stranger. And what Shannon wants from her unwitting “honey boy,” Tyler can’t begin to fathom. Not until he follows his sister into the darkest corners of her desires.
The Beckoning Fair One was definitely my favorite, and it was also the most insane of them. I had no idea where it was going. Also, The Best Girls was a slow burn, but oh my that last line. I was floored. If you have Amazon Prime, be sure to check these collections out. There’s something for everyone. I absolutely love them.
Pleasant Nights 