love anything that Josh Malerman writes. This book is no exception.
I was mesmerized by the creepy town of goblin. The sample audio hooked me.
The first story about a strange delivery with demanding instructions . A package to be delivered to a very strange dark forboding town.
Thank you Netgally for providing an advanced copy of this book.
I liked it so much I bought the audiobook when it came out.

May 18, 2021
Malerman has written a series of messed up stories here. Fans of his that are used to the big in your face surprises will not be disappointed. The prologue was even entertaining!

I don't typically read or enjoy short stories, because they always leave me wanting more. But I really liked this set and how, even though they were each their own story, they still intertwined in some ways. I would definitely recommend!

Horror is my go-to genre when I want to get myself out of a reading slump. While I haven't always connected with Josh Malerman's books, I enjoyed the hell out of Goblin. A novel told through six interconnected novellas, this was a fun ride from start to finish. The characters and the atmosphere throughout were a highlight for me, and the plots of each story were unique and genuinely unsettling. A fun collection and it has made me excited about Malerman as a horror writer again.

GOBLIN: A Novel in Six Novellas
Josh Malerman
Del Rey Books
ISBN-13: 978- 0593237809
Hardcover
Horror/Dark Fantasy

GOBLIN is a dark, modern-day version of Sherwood Anderson’s WINESBURG, OHIO for horror aficionados. Author Josh Malerman has demonstrated time and again his masterful ability to craft atmospheric tales with unforgettable characters (sympathetic and otherwise) but, as with the best of authors, tops himself with this nightmarish account of a small, quirky, and quietly terrifying town where the rain seemingly never stops.

GOBLIN, as the subtitle indicates, is composed of six novellas loosely connected by location and character references to the town of Goblin. Malerman is deliberately vague as to Goblin’s location and the time frame of the stories, which I would place somewhere in the latter quarter of the Twentieth Century. There is also, as a bit of lagniappe, a short story divided into a Prologue (“Welcome”) and Epilogue (“Make Yourself at Home”). This story concerns the delivery of a mysterious box and extremely specific instructions with regard to transport and dropoff. What could go wrong? Malerman’s cinematic prose provides a blueprint for any filmmaker wanting to make this work an installment of a Netflix anthology series while simultaneously making such a project superfluous to the source material. The six novellas have a bit more room for exploration and none of it is wasted. “A Man in Slices” concerns a friendship between Richard and Charles, two residents of
Goblin who first met when Charles’ family moved to the city. Charles was and is the odd duck who Richard took under his wing during their childhood. Richard functions as a supportive sounding board for Charles, a role with which they both seem comfortable. Things begin to go off-kilter when Charles begins a long-distance relationship with a young woman who begins making sinister requests for him to prove her love. He acquiesces, but uses deception to do so, much to Richard’s ultimate dismay. “Kamp” is an oddly unsettling tale about a man who is afraid of ghosts in general. He is in the right place to feed that fear as he transforms his living quarters and everything else to guard against the invasion which is ultimately of his own doing. We then meet Neal Nash in “Happy Birthday, Hunter!” The occasion is Nash’s sixtieth birthday party, an evening in wretched excess hosted by his wife Barbara. Nash is determined to celebrate his birthday by being the first to acquire as a trophy one of the mysterious and menacing owls that occupy Goblin’s local woods. He enlists two of his hunting pals to assist him in this endeavor but an unexpected gatecrasher spoils the party. “Presto” follows. It is perhaps my favorite novella in GOBLIN. “Presto” is a story which proceeds on twin tracks, one involving the evolution of the career of a magician traveling on the Spell Circuit who performs under the name of “Roman Emperor” and the other concerning Pete, a middle school student in Goblin who aspires to be a magician and who idolizes the enigmatic Emperor. The manner and skill with which Emperor performs his magic come at a price --- Goblin’s unique cemetery comes into play here --- but while the interaction between Pete and Emperor is brief but memorable it is the ending to this story that ultimately makes it the stunner it is. “A Mix-Up at the Zoo” is hallucinatory and surreal. It involves a custodian at the Goblin Zoo who becomes a tour guide there by both accident and design but who continues working both jobs while working at a rendering plant on the weekends, with ultimately disastrous results. It is somewhat unsettling and will undoubtedly echo in your memory the next time you visit an animal collective of any sort. The last story introduces Wayne Sherman, who is frequently mentioned in the other stories in GOBLIN. Shorter put GOBLIN on the map with his hedge sculpting tributes to famous citizens of Goblin, as well as a seemingly impossible hedge maze that has become a tourist attraction for the city. Things begin to unravel, and badly, when a young girl with keen instinct and observation solves the maze quite easily, something that causes a chain reaction of events that brings the exposure of Sherman’s past and present life to the pleasure of no one.

It is very difficult to get the stories of GOBLIN, singly and collectively, out of one’s head once they have been digested. I sense that Malerman has by design left spaces in between each tale that may be filled at a later date. My impression, based on this collection, is that one familiar with the city might be hesitant to read more but would find doing so to be impossible to resist, which might also explain why the residents of Goblin never leave. You won’t either, without finishing these stories in one sitting. Recommended.

Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
© Copyright 2021, The Book Report, Inc. All rights reserved.

‘These six novellas tell the story of a place where the rain is always falling, nighttime is always near, and your darkest fears and desires await. Welcome to Goblin. . . . ‘

I enjoyed reading GOBLIN, a town that I hope to revisit in future works by Malerman, a place that incorporates the right amount of Dark and Creepy Goodness that has this reader yearning for more.

The following are my favorites, some with snippets and my immediate reaction after reading each:

‘Prologue: Welcome’/ ‘Epilogue: Make Yourself At Home’

‘If Tom hadn’t left his sweater in his locker, if he hadn’t gone back to get it, and if he hadn’t passed the main office on the way, the whole dark night might’ve been avoided.’

‘A Man Of Slices’ – That was Creepy Good – Richard and Charles are childhood friends, and let’s just say Charles is a little. . .off.

‘Kamp’ – That was good!

The next Gobliner in line. Maude used to say it was in the water. And it always made Mrs. Doris laugh because she knew her sister wasn’t talking about the tap. She was referring, of course, to the endless rainfall outside and the fact that nobody ought to be tasked with maintaining their sanity forever in a city that never stopped crying.

‘Happy Birthday, Hunter!’ – Hahaha, LOVE the ending!

‘Neal Nash was, as the invitation for his party proudly boasted, the most celebrated big-game hunter in the history of Goblin.’

‘Once upon a time, a fabled hunter tracked the one thing he was not allowed to have …’

‘Presto’ – Love this one!

‘Roman Emperor was a fixture on the Spell Circuit, and all his peers considered him a threat … His show was electrifying. It was dangerous. He did things with weapons so frightening audience members would leave an Emperor show with a sense of having survived it.’

Thank you, NetGalley and Del Rey Publishing (Random House), for loaning me an eGalley of GOBLIN in the request for an honest review.

Goblin, from Josh Malerman, is a set of novellas about the happenings in the town of Goblin. All of the stories intersect on the night of a torrential rainfall.

A man who will do anything to prove his love - a man worried about being scared to death - a big game hunter wanting the one trophy he shouldn't have - a magician dabbling in dirty magic - a tour guide at the zoo - a prize at the center of the famous hedges - and a mysterious package

All of these show the creepiness of the town of Goblin. Malerman makes you look for the things that aren't anywhere but in your mind. It's horror that your mind fills in.

My favorites are the scenes in the North Woods with the Black Owls and the story of the Hedges.

Malerman does a great job tieing the stories together. As a reader you should listen for the connections - some are very subtle.

Great collection from Malerman.

Goblin - Josh Malerman


Have you read any books by Josh Malerman? Any favorites?

I just finished reading Malerman’s his latest release, a book with six interconnecting novellas. Each story is connected by occurring in the small rainy town of Goblin, which is also the name of the book.

“Welcome to the town of Goblin. May your night there be wet with rain, adventure and filled with fright….”

The prologue tenses things for the reader and pulls them in. There is a very important delivery for Dean Crawford. The package, which is wrapped in secrecy, includes a number of stipulations that must be delivered between midnight and 12:30 A.M. I really would of liked the prologue to continue and honestly it could have been an entire book.

The six novellas include:

1. “A Man in Slices” teaches us a bit about Goblin, such as they bury their dead standing upright. In this novella, Richard has been burdened by recent news from his childhood friend Charles who he feels indebted to and feels the responsibility to protect. Malerman transports the reader to the backstory that started their friendship. This is a story about a man who wants to prove his love to a long distance girlfriend.
2. “Kamp” is about a man, Walter Kamp, who is scared of ghosts. His fear and anxiety has turned his apartment into a prison. Kamp removes all the doors from his apartment and pushes all the furniture against the wall so a ghost cannot sneak up on him.
3. “Happy Birthday Hunter” is one of my favorite novellas because I felt that it tied together the previous stories and gives us clues for what may lie ahead.
4. “Presto” is a dark atmospheric story about an infamous magician called Roman Empire who will be giving a one night performance in Goblin. A young boy learns about this performance while flipping through the pages of Presto magic magazine.
5. “A mix up at the Zoo” is about Dirk Rogers, a beloved fixture in Goblin Zoo by day who also works in the Goblin Slaughterhouse by night.
6. “Hedges” is where we find out more behind the hedges in Goblin, which has had brief appearances throughout the book.

The epilogue does a nice job of wrapping up our experience in this chilling town. 4 ⭐️

Goblin. The town is strange. Its residents are strange. So, of course, most of what happens there is strange. Creepy. Scary. Evil.

I enjoyed this journey to Goblin through six novellas. And the prologue about a delivery man hauling mysterious, dangerous cargo set the tone for the entire book. Very weird and entertaining! The only other Josh Malerman book I've read is Bird Box. I'm pleasantly surprised that this book is different, yet maintains that weird, off-kilter feeling I got when I read Bird Box. I like Malerman's writing style. His brand of horror just makes me feel...creeped out, slightly uncomfortable, and thoroughly entertained. It's like horror movies where I find myself trying to tell the characters not to go in the basement, split up the party, hide upstairs, pick up the hitchhiker -- and the excited, yet creeped out feeling I get when they do it anyway. I kept wanting to tell these characters DONT look in the truck, never try to trap ghosts, don't go in the woods..... They didn't listen. They did it anyway. They...... well, read the book to find out what happens!

I love the cover for this edition. It looks like the old weathered horror paperbacks I love to find with the supremely awesome creepy artwork on the front! It definitely fit the book!

Very entertaining! I'm definitely going to read more of his books. I've had A House at the Bottom of a Lake on my TBR list for a long time. I think it's time to finally read it!

Horror lovers who are in the mood for something a bit different will like this book. It's strange....creepily uncomfortable....and awesome!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Random House. All opinions expressed are entirely my own**

2.5 ⭐️ rounded up to a 3

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had never read anything from Josh Malerman before, I know everyone was really into Birdbox, but I never gave it a try. When I saw this collection of 6 novellas, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to see what his writing is like. I could test the waters a bit and see if I should pick up any of his more well known books.

I’m a big fan of short stories and novellas, I personally think when they are done right, they can be punchy and powerful.
However, the downside with these types of collections is that I usually don’t end up loving every single story. Some will stick out as winners, some will be middle of the road, and the rest will be forgettable.
I have to say that, unfortunately, this collection just wasn’t a real hit for me. I did have some stories I really got on with, but the rest were sort of disappointing.

A Man in Slices is the first story in the collection and I thought it was extremely well done and interesting. It had me really excited to read the rest of the stories that were coming next.

Kamp, the second story, was incredibly disappointing for me. I felt that the majority of the story was pretty boring and that I didn’t really understand what was trying to be achieved through it.

Happy Birthday, Hunter! was just a big nope for me. I’m not a fan of anything to do with hunting or anything with animals. I was left questioning what I was supposed to get from this story, what was I supposed to be feeling?

Presto wasn’t a bad story, but it wasn’t anything mind blowing for me either. I liked it enough, but I feel like I would probably end up not even remembering it existed later on.

A Mix-up at the Zoo was just weird. This one and Happy Birthday, Hunter! were my absolute least favorites by far.

The Hedges was a great closing story in my opinion. I felt the most invested in this one and I was sad that I had to wait until the end to get something so enjoyable as this one.

Overall, I wasn’t overly impressed by this collection. It just wasn’t for me and what I typically enjoy in the horror genre.

I love this type of book. Connected theme novellas. Intriguing premise and I enjoyed each one individually and as a part of the larger whole. Horrifying and yet playful, with a nice 'mysterious town' vibe.

Thank you to NetGalley and DelRay for an ARC of this book.
This was an interesting idea; a collection of novellas all set in 1 town. The stories were good, with many tie-ins and call-backs to previous stories and characters, which added to the enjoyment. Overall, a good collection of novellas.

Good ole Goblin. It's definitely a place you want to visit and raise a family.

Ok. Maybe that's a lie. It actually seems like a horrible place and it's somewhere I definitely don't want travel to.

There are, as the title says, six stories. They are all different but also connected because they take place in, you guessed it, Goblin.


I really enjoyed A man in slices, and Happy birthday, hunter.
There is a little bit for everyone with Goblin, just dont stay too long.

In Goblin, nothing is as it seems. The history of this town begins to unravel before you at the hands of Josh Malerman. The deeper you travel into Goblin, the weirder things become. The police aren’t exactly “right”, and there’s a maze that hasn’t been solved since its creation, the dead are buried standing, the Great Owls are always watching, and a witch may or may not be living in the woods. Strange occurrences are all around. In Goblin, Malerman crafts six intertwined novellas that expose the truth of this dreadful town, connecting them by the history of Goblin. This town was created by deception, so its current inhabitants are weary. It rains all the time, so much in fact, you may find yourself questioning if the heavens themselves are weeping for the residents of Goblin. So, join us, your adventure awaits.

Malerman has a gift with words, he can unravel you, yet propel you through the story, leaving nothing to be desired. His prose transports readers to the location and causes them to feel as if they themselves have become a part of his stories. Often, when reading his work, I find myself disturbed at the vividness of his descriptions and his ability to paint the scene before us. In fact, most of Malerman’s writing carries the same energy as he does. His passion for the genre bleeds through on every page. The format that he chose for Goblin, is executed well, each individual story could be read independently, but there are little threads throughout that tie them all together.

We are introduced to the town when a delivery driver accepts a delivery to the small town, but with the strange directions accompanying the delivery, it’s almost as if he knows he’s doomed from the onset of his trip. He must follow every line to the “T”, but curiosity gets the best of us, right? His inquisitive nature is only the beginning of his unraveling. Did you hear that?

When a friend comes to you with news that could potentially incriminate you, what do you do? You’ve been their only friend for as long as you can remember, but something isn’t quite right. He seems off, emotionless, impervious to social queues that others are constantly aware of. Yet, deep down, you hold on, believing that everything will come together until it falls apart, and the pieces before you may very well be your own.

In our next adventure in Goblin, we are introduced to a historian, but he’s quirky, maybe even a bit psychosomatic if you will. You see, he has this obsession with death, albeit a very unhealthy one, which has him question everything. Every bump, scrape, corner has him worried. This one for me was very anxiety-inducing, yet I found myself devouring every word to the inevitable end.

In this next story, the one about the Hunter, his arrogance becomes his destruction. What do you chase or hunt when you’ve killed every trophy animal known to man? Why, something forbidden, something that even those around you begin to question you. The goal is just through the woods, it has to be you, to truly be renowned amongst other hunters. The most decorated, but at what costs?

Presto, this story is probably my favorite, we have an underdog bursting out onto the scene, making a name for himself, and seemingly out of nowhere. This one is dark, but it's captivating pushes you along until you are fully aware of what you’ve just read. One question, where do all powers come from? Is life worth living, without a little excitement every now and again?

Animals, we all love them, right? We find ourselves near the end of this excursion when we stumble upon the greatest Zoo guide Goblin has ever known. The animals love him, the children adore him, and his employer knows just what to say to keep him around when the time comes. But what happens, if you’re preoccupied mentally, something nags at you, consumes you daily? A choice has to be made, you need to clear your mind, and improve your life. You’re certain, this is it, the day to finally capture your happiness, or is it?

The Hedges are as well known amongst Goblinites and visitors alike, yet no one has been able to solve the maze. The height of the hedges in some places loom over the patrons like shadows, but at their core, they are a memorial to love lost. The Maze, an unsolvable puzzle, until Margot. Margot is a young girl, who thinks outside the box, and that allows her to reach the center of the maze. Though, what she finds there is unlike anything she has ever seen. She knows this isn’t okay, she has to tell the police. Remember what I said at the beginning of this, the police are as they seem. A mad dash to escape the truth of what he has done has everyone on edge.

Finally, our Epilogue, ties into the Prologue, a continuation of what we were introduced to. The darkness of Goblin comes full circle, the strange sounds coming from the trailer of the truck are driving you mad, you knew better yet, still, your curiosity overtook you. Rationality goes out the door, what stands before you cannot be possible, yet deep down you know that anything is possible within the town limits of Goblin.

This Novel is haunting, but at times some of the scenes seem light, but then you get hit right in the chest by what is actually happening. So, when you pass between the topiary gates that signify the entrance to Goblin, be weary, darkness is around every corner.

Thank you, to NetGalley and Del Rey for the e-ARC

This book claims to be a novel in six novellas (plus a prologue and an epilogue). While most of the novellas were enjoyable in their own right, I felt the book failed to deliver on being “a novel.” It read more like a short story collection with a shared universe. As I got near the end, I kept hoping the six stories would come together to deliver on the promise of this being a novel, but no such luck.

Goblin is a compilation of six novellas with each story tied to the town of Goblin, Michigan. Josh Malerman is a short story novelist. He’s best known for his post-apocalyptic novel Bird Box.
I must admit I requested this book based on the movie Bird Box. While I wasn’t a fan of the movie finding it odd, strange, and weird I was fascinated by his other short stories.
If you are a fan of the creepy and the eerie you are sure to love these weird story’s.
The town of Goblin is rainy and gloomy with its eerie topiary shrubs and owl creatures. The short story’s were more about the individuals that lived in Goblin and less about the town. I was expecting the town of Goblin to be scary or haunted.
Josh’s writing style doesn’t draw me in to the story. Sadly, these story’s weren’t scary just creepy. I was hoping for some chilling scenes. They reminded me of The Tales from the Crypt. These story’s didn’t appeal to me.

A MAN IN SLICES A young man wants to prove to his long-distance girlfriend that they have “legendary love,” better than Vincent van Gogh, so he sends her more than just his ear.
KAMP A man horrified of encountering a ghost sets up a series of “ghost traps” all over his apartment, desperate to catch one before it can sneak up on him.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HUNTER! Big game hunter Neal Nash leaves his own meat-themed birthday bash to go hunting for Goblin’s hallowed (and protected) Great Owl. But the North Woods are unkind at night.
PRESTO In the pages of Presto magazine, a young boy reads that his favorite magician, Roman Emperor, is coming to town. Problem is, Pete doesn’t know that Emperor's magic is real, and his latest trick involves audience participation... from a little boy volunteer.
A MIX-UP AT THE ZOO Dirk Rogers works at both the Goblin Slaughterhouse and the Goblin Zoo, but the workload is really getting to him. Will he be able to separate the two jobs on the night he finally breaks down, or will the slaughterhouse and the zoo overlap in his cracked, dark mind?
THE HEDGES A young girl finally reaches the end of Goblin’s biggest tourist attraction, The Hedges. But what she finds there sparks a mad chase between the owner of the Hedges and the Goblin Police, through the streets of the rainy city and into the terrible North Woods.

Recently, I had the chance to read the latest novel by Josh Malerman (Birdbox, Malerie) as an early release. I pre-ordered a physical copy before I had even completed the book and couldn’t wait to receive it in hand today.

I was instantly enamored with the town of Goblin and all the secrets it held within the first few pages of the prologue. Malerman, as always, creates engaging stories and Goblin is no exception. With each gem of a story, I fell deeper and deeper into the beautiful darkness that Goblin holds within its town limits. A modern classic, Goblin easily finds its place on the map and on the shelf beside the towns of Derry and ‘Salem’s Lot. - Derek @horrorjunkie103178

Special thanks to NetGalley, Josh Malerman, Penguin Random House, and Del Rey Books.

The idea of this collection of stories intrigued me a lot so i was very interested to see how all the stories connected. And they did, but for some reason it didn't seem as novel to me as it did when I started. A few of the stories dragged. On top of that, sometimes i have issues with how the author ends his stories. So unfortunately I just can't rate it very high.

This was an entirely unnerving collection of horror stories all set in or around the town of Goblin. The stories are horrific to varying degrees, and deeply unsettling. "The Hedges" might just be my favorite of the six stories - the idea of such strangely horrible beings as the Goblin Police was just so fascinating. They seemed a bit like the Librarians of "Welcome to Nightvale." I also really liked "Kamp" about a man trying so hard to avoid being scared to death that he removes every barrier in his apartment so as not to be startled and sets alarms and video cameras to check. "Presto" was also fascinating with enough subtlety and mystery to keep you as in the dark as the members of the audience for a magic show unlike any other. Josh Malerman is a master of the strange, weird, disturbing, and unsettling, and I look forward to his future works.

Malerman has really seen a meteoric rise in popularity over the past few years given the cinematic success of Bird Box, an adaptation of his novel of the same name. Goblin does not contain the survival-thriller intensity of Bird Box, but does showcase Malerman's range as a horror author with storytelling more in the style of Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, where the mundane everyday collides with the dark, perhaps even paranormal, undercurrents of a life in crisis.

Told as a collection of novellas, Goblin is set around the titular city where myth has blurred the edges of a colonialist history of conquest, both over Indigenous people and nature itself. Against this backdrop, Malerman provides an intense examination of obsession, mental illness, and grief. He is also does a fantastic job depicting the inner experience of fear in his characters across the spectrum. I could feel their fear, friends.

Each novella is tied together by Goblin, primarily, but I also enjoyed the references to characters and events from other stories that Easter Egged their way through the entire book. Each story is imaginative and unique, both standing alone inside the book, but also compared to the horror genre at large. And not to mention, Malerman is just a really good writer who is fast becoming an auto-read author for me.