Nothing But Blackened Teeth was such a hard book to read. This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2021 and I was quite disappointed. I'm not really a fan of the flowy writing and description. I know that's not very descriptive but I don't know another way to explain it. On top of that, the story had so much potential but it ended up being slow and not that scary.

It's a bit too short for its own good. The characters' drama is not a complete turn off, but needed more fleshing out in order for the reader to sympathize. Khaw is undoubtedly talented, and this is clearly not her first attempt at horror, but the overarching effect of the book is diminished because it is over in the blink of an eye.

I absolutely LOVED this book. It was short and sweet and utterly terrifying. This will definitely be a title that I recommend to other horror fans!

This is a modern haunting of hill house with so many interesting details about Japanese culture. It definitely creeped me out in a way that recent horror novels haven't been able to of late. I look around dark corners expecting to see that terrifying face. Unfortunately, I found the writing itself to be a bit difficult for me. Some lines were absolutely beautiful, but others I found to be a bit too flowery. It messed with the flow of the reading for me. Other than that I was very intrigued by the characters and honestly was left craving more.

*Thank you to Cassandra Khaw, Macmillan -Tor/ Forge, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I love horror books. Classics including The Shining, Hill House, and many others depict classic horror for me and I devour them. With that said, I had a difficult time with this book. A book about a wedding celebration at a Heian- era Japanese mansion built by the resting bones of a bride and remains of girls who sacrificed themselves to accompany her? It sounds fantastic, however, the author's penchant for huge words, random Japanese sayings with no explanation, and a group of friends who clearly despise each didn't work very well. The bickering was distracting, as was the need to leave the story every few sentences to search google to find out what the author was talking about.

This is a Novella and an easy read, despite some of the distractions. It is scary in a good way, but it takes too long to get there.

Deliciously creepy and indulgent for the horror fan. Bad people making terrible choices and a satisfying ending!

Stars: 2.5 out of 5

I have a hard time formulating my feelings towards this story. On one hand, it was a quick and easy read. The amount of research that went into the Japanese folklore and traditional housing was impressive, though I kept getting a lot of Fatal Frame vibes out of it. Which isn't bad in itself, because that game scared the crap out of me.

On the other hand, the story itself is rather meh, at least to me. It's a typical haunted house story where a group of friends decide to spend the night in a reputedly haunted house and bad things happen. Well, in this case, two of the friends want to get married in that particular haunted house, like starting your married life by drawing attention of a ghost is such a good idea.

So the premise has been done before. In fact, that's like the classic of all slasher/horror movies - a group of friends in a confined space, getting offed one by one in horrible ways... Thankfully, this is a ghost story, not a slasher story, so the bloodshed won't be as pronounced.

My problem with this story is that I hated all of the characters. They were horrible people both to themselves and to each other. Honestly, I had no clue how they could even call each other friends. It seemed like they all hated each other guts. Nothing in their behavior spoke of friendship. Of old resentments that have been left to fester? Yes. Of past infidelities that nobody speaks about but are still there, like a big elephant in the room? Certainly. Real friendship? Not a trace. So it doesn't seem plausible, at least to me, that the protagonist would insist on staying in that house and would follow along with their crazy schemes. From the little background we get on her, I would have imagined that she would have high tailed out of there ASAP, just like their friend Lin suggests. That all "I'm staying because they are my friends" line isn't plausible when you consider the relationship dynamics described in the book. That's no friendship. That's co-dependent abuse.

And because all of the protagonists were such horrible people, I couldn't care less what happened to them, which also diminished the impact of the story for me. In fact, I'm rather disappointed that more of them didn't die in that house. If none of them had walked out of there come morning, I would have cheered, actually.

I am beginning to think that this author just isn't for me. She is great at creating interesting and frankly disturbing worlds and premises, but I simply can't connect with her characters. I had that problem with the Rupert Wong series, and I have that problem with this novella as well.

PS: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited for this book, but unfortunately, it was not for me. I did not finish this one. I wasn't able to get into this story and had higher hopes for the book. It was published at the right time around October, but it just was not for me.

It’s the perfect wedding venue for a group of thrill-seeking friends. But a night of food, drinks, and games quickly spirals into a nightmare. For lurking in the shadows is the ghost bride with a black smile and a hungry heart.

And she gets lonely down there in the dirt.

.
.
.

This was a quick, spooky read! However, I wish that it had been a full length novel, instead of a short story, as there were parts of the plot (and characters back stories) that could have been more fleshed out. It read very surface-level and I felt like I was thrown into the story 3/4 of the way through. Lots of potential, but unfortunately it just didn't quite work for me.

At least the cover is gorgeous!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for my ARC.

Nothing But Blackened Teeth

We open on a fancy and creepy old house. And really, if there is anything that this novella nails perfectly, it is the creepy old house aesthetic.

<blockquote> “How the fuck are you this rich?” I took in the old vestibule, the wood ceiling that domed our heads. Time etched itself into the shape and stretch of the Heian mansion, its presence apparent in even the texture of the crumbling dark. It felt profane to see the place like this: without curators to chaperone us, no one to say do not touch and be careful, this was old before the word for such things existed. </blockquote>

If there is a second thing this story nails perfectly, it’s the way that it integrates Japanese folklore, in the form of the ohaguro-bettari, a malevolent spirit in the form of a bride with blackened teeth.

<img src=“https://yokai.fandom.com/wiki/Ohaguro-Bettari”/>

The aesthetics are off the chart.

The problem, for me, was that the prose would swing from beautifully unsettling, to flat cliches (“Media’s all about the gospel of the lone wolf, but the truth is we’re all just sheep.”), layered with heavy handed attempts to break the fourth wall. Look, I love a good mood to the audience where appropriate, and sometimes it lands really well, like here: “This is the problem with horror movies: Everyone knows what’s coming next but actions have momentum, every decision an equal and justified reaction. Just because you know you should, doesn’t mean that you can, stop.” We’re on a ride that isn’t stopping and the tracks have long been laid. But then it just keeps happening, landing less gracefully and feeling more forced: “Cat, this is literally the part where the supporting cast dies horribly. You’re bisexual. I’m the comic relief. It’s going to be one of us.” Its stops feeling like natural dread and starts feeling like something straining towards satire instead, poking holes in the tropes it’s falling into. Which would be fine! But I think that it matches poorly with the truly horrifying cover art and the type of marketing this story really went for. A logistical critique, I guess, more than a problem with the text alone—I think, because of the cover, the contents of the book won’t meet readers expectations and may be ongoing in a way that chases off a more appreciative audience.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Not that it doesn’t have some just excellent body joy creepy vibes. For example: <blockquote> “It wasn’t just the fact that Nadia had bolted so unexpectedly out of that door, although that was at least some of it. It was the way she did it. No matter how many times I turned the thought over, looking for a new angle, the same image kept coming up: a fishing line rolled down her throat, tracing the ripples of her intestinal tract, the hook at its end crooking up and out through her navel, bent like a finger calling her onward.”</blockquote>

But then you get a weird gratuitous masturbation scene in the middle of an other wise extremely tense and high stakes moment and it feels so out of place and off putting you’re almost positive this was meant to be comedic. I mean, pun intended, it was just weird to add a climax to the story’s climax.

CW: suicidal ideation and imagery

Thank you netgalley and publisher for the arc!

I was meaning to review this back in October when spooky season was afoot- but I had a lot on my list and just made it to Nothing But Blackened Teeth recently.

First of all, I dont typically read horror novels. I dont like to commit. So novellas are perfect for me. I appreciate how you can devour them in one bite and then move on.

With Nothing But Blackened teeth I feel like I still needed a couple bites just to process what was happening half the time. It's not like it was confusing plot wise (well maybe a little?), but more so the style of writing sort of distracted me. Very prosey. VERY.

It's wasn't the biggest spook of the season or anything- and the characters annoyed sh*t out of me, but it wasn't that bad. I still enjoyed myself.

2.9/5

Many horror fans are probably familiar with the image of Samara, the creepy ghost girl from The Ring, crawling out of the television, her damp, black hair forming a veil across her face. They might not know that she originally appeared in the movie Ringu and in the novel by Koji Suzuki. They also might not know that, in the novel, her name is Sadako Yamamura and she is the vengeful spirit, or onryo, of a young woman who was murdered and thrown into a well. However, there are also fans of J-Horror films and stories who are quite aware of Koji Suzuki and other creators in this subgenre. Fans of those stories will be delighted to know that Cassandra Khaw’s Nothing But Blackened Teeth expertly uses Japanese mythology and spirituality, as well as some down-to-earth human ugliness, to tighten the screws on some adult friends who just wanted to attend a wedding in a haunted mansion.

Those who have seen a few horror movies already know that having a wedding in a mansion that’s supposed to be haunted is a terrible idea, but it doesn’t stop four friends from planning a wedding there. Nadia and Faiz are there to tie the knot, while Phillip is the friend from old money who has made this wedding possible. Relating these events is the semi-reliable narrator Cat, recently recovered from depression and disliking her best friend Faiz’s new bride (the feeling is quite mutual). Throw in Lin, the comic relief that the friends don’t really find funny, and you have a group that are basically fodder for the ghost bride that is happy to finally have some living guests at her mansion.

This novella is a quick and brutal read but Khaw’s gift for description paints a vivid picture of the supernatural terrors that borrow heavily from Japanese folklore. Throwing around terms like yokai and kitsune might confuse some readers, but Khaw not only provides enough context to keep the readers in the story, she demonstrates a knowledge of these terms that grounds the story in if not reality then authenticity. The characters trapped in this nightmare might not be ones the reader would like to spend time with, but they will want to see what happens to them as the story progresses to a violent and even heartbreaking end. Nothing but Blackened Teeth is an example of a novella that showcases why this medium shines at telling horror stories, providing the depth of a novel with the pace that quickens the readers’ heartbeats. It also is the perfect novella for J-Horror fans that want to delve into its particular brand of mythology.

Brutally terrifying, horror at its finest! Khaw’s writing is rhythmic , electrical, and beautifully crafted. Her prose is toxic and every bit delicious! Nothing But Blackened teeth kept me up at night and had me looking over my shoulder. I devoured this novel in one sitting, it’s fantastic! Is it real? Is it imagined? What is real are the complex relationships these characters all share. Emotions run high as they decide to tell ghost stories, want ensues is a frightening and brutal good time! Some will discover more about themselves, others will leave a bloody stain on the carpet. Buy this book and grab your favorite blanket, and settle in for a fantastically gory tale!

I was given an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this

I was initially drawn to this book by both the cover and title, which were both very original and frightening. I did like that this was a shorter read, and I did appreciate the detailed descriptions. However, with this being said, I found the storyline a little difficult to follow, and the characters were not very likable. I was surprised (and delighted) at the amount of gore depicted in the book, so that part I enjoyed. Overall, I would say the ominous setting was the best selling point for this even though the plot and characters were weak.

2.5

i feel like we got plopped into a story half way through. i love a slim book, don't get me wrong, but i think it could've benefited from some filling out.

the writing could be too flowery at times but overall, it was really lovely prose. i just wish i felt more connected to the story and characters.

It had potential, but was ultimately very disappointing. dnf at 69%.

I had high hopes for this one. Some of the earliest reviews sounded so good I was excited. The first two thirds of the book saw nothing interesting happen. The characters weren't likeable in the least which I suppose is fine seeing as it's horror. Beyond that though, there were a couple of scenes or sentences where I thought that it might just get better and turn into something really great. When things finally started happening, they were...boring. I kept finding myself getting sleepy. Ultimately I decided it wasn't worth finishing for me. I only had 40 pages left, but if I really wasn't enjoying it, then what's the point?

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and Tor Nightfire for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. Full disclosure, I read the finished copy and this review is of that published version.

Nothing But Blackened Teeth honestly has one of the most frightening covers I’ve seen in my life. Goes right in line with the horror within.

One of my favorite horror films is a Japanese film called Kwaidan. It’s a compilation of several different Japanese horror tales. The first, called Hair, tells of a rotting Samurai’s house haunted by her former wife. This is precisely what Cassandra Khaw’s eerie tale made me feel.

I kept imagining what if this is the same haunted house, the same ghost, the same monstrous bride.

A group of friends gather at an old Japanese haunted house to celebrate the soon-to-be wed bride and groom. These friends don’t exactly get along. The past brings up old fights, old lovers, and old grievances. Rich snobs, assholes, the cheese obsessed, and tattooed bisexuals come together despite all they’ve been through with each other. This isn’t a company of happy people. Cassandra Khaw writes about messy people dealing with depression and reality only to be faced with the ghosts of their past.

If you like haunted house scares and frights, definitely pick this one up. I tend to be someone that likes to search for horror outside of western tropes and assumptions. I love this one, as it goes outside of western expectations. It turns things around on that idea of who is going to die first? All those expectations are shifted into something fun and frightening. I love that humor that Lin provides, riffing on that fact that most haunted house stories would leave him dead first as he’s not a white man.

It’s frightening, shocking, and sticks with you into the night. Definitely read this if you’re looking for a quick but exciting read.

First, can I just say what an amazing cover this book has???! The artwork is beautiful and hecka creepy which is what drew me to this little horror novella in the first place. Whoever was in charge of marketing nailed it!

Overall I would rate my experience with this book as a 7/10. The mood and setting of this were excellently done. Who doesn't love a haunted castle in the woods?

I did not care for the characters and here is why I think that is: I am much more used to reading longer works of fiction. These give you more personal time with each character to puzzle them out. You get to find out their good and bad traits and weigh them against each other to establish how you feel about the individual. Here that wasn't the case. You get a quick over view of each characters traits and personalities and then they are all set loose on the house. . . or the house is set loose on them.

This isn't necessarily a flaw. Each character represents a sort of horror trope. They are the stereotypes of the characters you come across is cheesy and bloody horror films. Khaw's writing draws on these ideas and works to circumvent them. I love this. And the fact that she does this well is a testament to her writing skills.

However I am a reader that depends heavily on characters to find enjoyment in a book. If I don't necessarily like the characters then I am not going to enjoy the story much. This is a personal issue.

Overall, an incredibly well done story. Regardless of how I feel about the characters, I would 100% recommend this to fans of the horror genre. It is a relatively quick read (I devoured it in about two hours, maybe less) and leaves you with the perfect chill down your spine at the end.

3 star = "I liked it, but" Nothing But Blackened Teeth is a horror short that is just as creepy as promised by the cover blurb. I found it interesting and atmospheric, but I did have nits. The author obviously has an amazing command of the English language, but using the perfect word in a description only works if you aren't sending the reader off to find a dictionary, otherwise it just breaks the flow of the story telling. My other nit is that since I am not as familiar with Japanese mythology, I didn't really have a read image for a lot of the monsters that appeared in the story. Here a just a few brief descriptions would have helped me out. Nits aside, this short did do its job and I liked that one character acknowledges how much they all are acting like the canon fodder in a horror movie and that things twist those tropes around a bit.

ARC courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley - this is an unpaid review.

This book could have been so good but the authors wordiness got in the way. I felt the plot was great...a group of friends go to a haunted mansion for a wedding. However, this book should not be called horror at all. There was nothing even remotely scary due to the authors prose. I liked the way the friends banter with each other but we never find out their backstories.