I enjoyed these novellas, and found them to be unique. I think they were a little too juvenile for me personally, but I can see where the market for these were

I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was fine. I didn’t care for the cover. Some stories were better than others. I absolutely hate when stories have any type of hurting animals so those ones are my lower ratings. I didn’t particularly find any of the stories very frightening.
I probably wouldn’t read anything but this author again.

I love spooky things, so this was a perfect read for October! Her writing style was very smooth, but I would have liked to see a little bit more development within each of the stories - they had so much potential!

<em>Girls &amp; Monsters</em> is a collection of short, dark tales from the very talented, Anne Michaud.

Michaud's is not a name with which I am familiar, but then other than the occasional book, I don't read a lot of dark/horror fiction. I don't haunt the magazines the way that I once did, so I shouldn't be surprised by the new players in the horror/dark fantasy genre. The stories collected here are solid works.

"Death Song" deals with a community that has a dark secret - there's something living in the lake and that something (a dark mermaid-like monster) will take a tourist - just as it has done each summer. But the monster has decided to take a local this time, and some are fighting back, finally.

In "Black Dog" the monster is that little voice inside the head. In this case the voice is telling a young woman that it's too late - the voice has won and the girl really is crazy.

"A Blue Story" is the tale of a girl and her dog. Neighborhood pets are going missing and a young girl, who hopes one day to be a veterinarian, takes an active interest in the missing animals. This definitely has a surprise ending.

"Dust Bunnies." Shiver.... This might be my favorite (though I liked "Death Song" an awful lot as well). I'm typically not one to feel uncomfortable with spiders in a story, but this one definitely steps it up and delivers a punch.

"We Left at Night" was probably the story with the most potential but the biggest let-down because it didn't quite deliver on the promise. What's in it? Oh, just some people scared of zombies is all...

This is really an impressive collection and I'll be keeping my eye out for more works by Michaud. I'd definitely like to see how she handles the long form and if she can maintain a sense of horror through the course of a novel.

Looking for a good book? <em>Girls &amp; Monsters</em> is a collection of short, dark fiction, well delivered, by Anne Michaud.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.