I've always been someone who enjoyed, or dreaded, extremely vivid dreams. Ever since I was a child, I've been attracted to dream-like stories because of that, finding a familiarity in them. That was what drew me to this book.

"Bright Dead Star" by Caitlín R. Kiernan is a short story collection that toes the line between science fiction and horror and features several semi-autobiographical stories from the author's past. Each story is followed by a debrief in which the author gives more context for when and why the story was written. At times, we learn about the experiences that inspired the story. In others, we are told to simply embrace the eeriness.

Some themes repeat across the stories. Therapy, grief, loneliness and environmental awareness, just to name a few. Through them all, however, the dreamlike quality is the most common and apparent thread.

In a lyrical style, we read about different protagonists every time, but almost never get to know them as, not unlike dreams, the stories read like snapshots more than actual narrative. While I did enjoy two of the stories, 'Two Monsters Walk Into A Bar' and 'Untitled Psychiatrist No. 6', I can't really differentiate between the stories as a whole as they started to heavily blend together after a while. It sort of felt as if I was rereading the same story over and over again, just through different vignettes or dream sequences.

The author notes after the stories unfortunately did little to help with the matter. In many of the stories, there is very little provided to explain the intention behind the story other than simply being inspired to write it. In several cases, the author questioned how anyone manages to 'plan' what they wish to write. Or sarcastically called out the readers that would point out the overuse of some of the themes.

There were moments that were deliciously vivid and poignant, but ultimately, I found the reading of these shorter stories more of a chore. I can't help wondering if I may enjoy something else by the author that might be more fleshed out and a bit lengthier. Only one way to find out.

DNF'd as I started to see that short stories aren't quite for me. What I did read was fine, but personally prefer more in depth stories.

Thank you to Netgalley and Subterranean Press for an ARC.

This is my first read of a collection of short stories, and I’m so glad I dipped my toes in.

While I felt this isn’t like my usual reads it was entertaining. Very dream like.

I read the e-arc for Bright Dead Star by Caitlin R. Kiernan. This is a short story collection of 25 stories. I find short story collections to be an interesting read that really demonstrate the strengths of the author. In this collection, there is an interconnectedness of the stories that we do not often see. I loved that. I love Kiernan's writing and the dream like sequences that populate their writing. There were a few stories that to me, did not work, but overall I like this collection.

I want to thank Net Galley and Subterranean Press for my e-arc.

From the beginning this book felt very pretentious. Between the too many quotes from other sources, to the author's note that felt a bit snide in its talking down to the reader to the stories themselves. I read the description thoroughly and the stories themselves at time didn't always fit to what I was sold on. The writing felt overwrit and heavy-handed in its purple prose. Sometimes a story with a bit of fever dream is alright, but so many back to back felt disjointed. A bit more clarity mixed in would do some of these stories a bit of good.

I'll start this off by saying that (1) this was not what I expected from the description and (2) this writing style is not for me. So take my rating as the scrunch-nosed dissatisfaction of a fantasy/sci-fi reader that felt she needed more: more clear direction, more character intrigue, more plot. Yes, this is a collection of shorts, but most weren't so much short stories to me as they were scene studies.
If you like nebulous, dreamy settings with little to no plot, and a more 'literary' writing style, please give it a go. These things, unfortunately, are not what I enjoy.

Bright Dead Star is a scintillating reminder that writing is an art of the same caliber as painting or music. In an oversaturated market of epic fantasies and contemporary romances, the way Kiernan utilizes language left me awed; a single fifteen-page story could compel me into laughter, leave me dizzy with sorrow, and invoke a sense of dread, yet still manage to pull me back together by the end.

I will not lie to you and say I loved every tale, nor will I attempt to convince you that I even understood them all, but Kiernan’s writing is so beautiful that I remain unaffected by that fact. Each story was an individual experience of its own, yet there was a distinct cohesion present throughout the entire book. Environments and emotions are conveyed so well that you can tell which stories are heavily autobiographical before Kiernen tells you. There is such a distinctive intimacy that I sometimes felt I was reading a diary.

Not everyone will enjoy Bright Dead Star and not everyone will give it the same reverence as I do; it is a truly unique read. However, I believe these opinions simply do not matter. Kiernen has written and published this out of their own desire; these stories will persist whether they’re read or not. There is no intended reader. There is not an audience in mind. Bright Dead Star was written for you and me in the same way the sun only rises to give us light in the morning. Which is to say, not at all.

Thank you to NetGalley and Subterranean Press for my arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

"Bright Dead Star" is a short story collection from Caitlin R. Kiernan, a master of the weird and uncanny. I enjoy Kiernan's writing so I was quite happy to see that this collection was up for request. Like most short story collections, there are a handful of standout short stories and the rest are questionable. In Kiernan's collection, while this is true, I also found that there was a thematic linking between the stories that upped my enjoyment of them. Each story had a dreamy sort of circular feeling to them so that as you read, you felt as if you were walking in a dream. I think Kiernan has such a talent for being able to keep that theme continuous and strong throughout the stories in this collection, because in the hands of a lesser writer, I do think it could have been annoying.

I would absolutely recommend this to anyone interested in reading some weird and uncanny fiction.

I loved this for the dreamy quality that persists through all the stories, Caitlin R. Kiernan is so good at that. Everything had a wonderful dark and surreal quality. The downside door me was that nothing in particular stood out at all. There wasn’t a favorite or a least favorite. Everything sort of blended so nothing felt especially strong.

Note: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

When Caitlin R. Kiernan has a new title out, I rush to get it. 'Bright Dead Star' is no exception. They have written 25 tales of the weird or the uncanny. While the subject matter of each tale varies, there is always a sense of wonder. While I love Kiernan's full length novels, I believe they excel in writing short stories. Highly recommended for those who remember the "weird tale" genre. 4.5 stars.

"From tales of bizarre violence and murder, haunted photographs and films, through reflections on the flexible borders of sanity and the perverse, to alien horrors from deep time, deep space, and the deep sea, Bright Dead Star is a veritable supernova of the weird and uncanny as only master fantasist Caitlín R. Kiernan can deliver. Among the collection's twenty-five tales are a dying woman's communion with the dying sea ("Strandling"), childhood recollections of a sky filled with rattlesnakes ("Crotalus"), to a loathsome couple with a far more loathsome secret ("L'homme et la femme terribles"), these are stories that pull no punches and demand that your preconceptions of genre should be checked before the book's covers are even cracked. In short, this is Kiernan doing what Kiernan does best."

And the contents are worthy of that simple stunning cover!

This work is so dark and dreamy, a wonderful collection to feel like you were floating through a surreal landscape for the majority of them. I enjoyed how connected you felt to the characters and how they traversed through each of these uneasy settings where something doesn't feel quiet right even if they're simply riding a train in a tunnel or walking through an art gallery.

The author's notes after each story are nice to have the insight, like a small bit of commentary for her to add a little to her work. Also remembering her introduction on the use of drumbeats, the recurring patterns that she used to compile these stories for her collection, almost give that vague feeling of deja vu as you recognize the symbols and motifs that connect these stories and ground them in a vague familiarity that build on the surrealist themes and motifs introduced with each story.

Thank you NetGalley and Subterranean Press for allowing me to read this ARC!

I can confirm that I was not the target audience for this collection. That is not to say that this is a bad read, but I think it is targeted towards a more specific type of reader.

The stories themselves do not always read as horror. In fact, many of them come across as fever dream slice of life vignettes. I did not <I>not</I> enjoy the read, I did, however, struggle to understand a lot of what was happening. A lot of that struggle was due to the prose itself. If you enjoy purple prose and a meandering feel to atmospheric horror, then this a great a collection for you. If you struggle at all with either of those aspects, you will probably struggle to read this.

For what it is as a whole, the collection is a good read. There were a few stories in there that left me feeling like they were unfinished and they didn't feel like they fit right within the collection. But with any short story collection, I think it depends more on the reader for the enjoyment aspect.

Thank you to Netgalley and Subterranean Press for an ARC.

3.5 / 5 (rounded up to 4)

I've been thinking a lot about this one! A collection of short fiction is always hard to rate. How much weight should be given to individual entries? To what extent should the collection be judged as a whole?

There are stories in this collection that have real staying power. Some of my favorites were the dreamlike sequences that I'm told are Kiernan's hallmark. While many of the stories are about dreams, the handful that feel like dreams are real standouts. These were characteristically immersive and haunting. Kiernan's prose renders powerful and sometimes horrifying images evoking grief, death, anxiety, compulsion, and a number of other darker shades of the human experience. Disjointed narratives are used to great effect here, helping to build a sense of otherworldliness.

Several tales lean more toward traditional horror or sci-fi. Some of these were captivating in their own right, appealing to a more grounded sense of mystery or wonder.

But there was a smattering of stories that didn't work for me. Stories that felt provocative without meaningful payoff. The occasional vignette that failed to land anywhere interesting. I struggled to engage with these beyond the aesthetic. They lacked a central question, emotion, or conflict to hold my attention. For whatever reason, I found the densest grouping of these to be towards the beginning of the collection. (If you are struggling early in the book, it may be worth maintaining course!)

On the whole, there is a lot of repetition in this book—what Kiernan calls "drumbeats" in the forward: recurring images, symbols, phrases, plot elements, etc. that echo throughout the collection. The repetition almost builds a sense that things are bleeding from one story to the next, as they might in a series of dreams. Given the ubiquity of dreams in these works, I think this is a cool concept. In practice, I found it distracting. The repetition was not always subtle, and noticing it would often break the immersion that Kiernan otherwise builds so aptly. One example that stuck with me: two different stories described a scent as a combination of sewage and sex. Even once, that description was hard to shake.

I also found that many of the characters, despite the wildly different circumstances they inhabit, felt oddly interchangeable. Their voices blurred together in a way that diminished their individuality. For a collection with so much imagination, the lack of varied perspectives was a letdown. Having characters talk about dinosaurs, fossils, or minerals wears thin over 25 stories. (For the record, I later found out that Kiernan is both a writer and a paleontologist.)

While Bright Dead Star is uneven at times, it contains some truly powerful works. I’d recommend it to readers looking for something that’s equal parts literary, trippy, and dark. Fans of Kiernan will certainly know what they're getting into. I, myself, will definitely read more from Kiernan in the future.

Thanks to Subterranean Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

These stories were extremely dreamlike and confusing and not really my preference in storytelling. I can tell that Kiernan is a great writer and very smart, but in terms of enjoyability, these were just too difficult to get through and my mind was constantly drifting as I tried to read. Based off the intro to the book, this was also a very personal story collection to the author.

I would recommend only if you like very literary stories with a dream-like quality and are okay with being confused vs getting answers or actual endings.

Thank you to Subterranean Press and Netgalley for an eARC.

This book was gothic, slightly freaky, but all around something you just have to keep reading. I am a huge fan of this authors writing now and am thankful for the chance to have read it!

This was my first work of Kiernan’s that I had read, I enjoyed it for what it was in its entirety. However in that as well, I enjoyed a large number of the stories that were featured within the collection. The dream-like state of some of the stories was quite enjoyable while others lacked for me. I will definitely check out other works by Kiernan but would also recommend this to other readers.

I suspect I wasn't the ideal reader for this collection. Although I'm somewhat familiar with Kiernan's work -- I've read one novel, one novella, and a handful of their short stories -- I'm not a devoted fan. This particular collection has a deeply personal feel. Each of its twenty-five stories offers an afterword, explanatory or autobiographical or both. The vast majority first appeared in Sirenia Digest, a subscription-only ezine Kiernan produces.

Kiernan's brand of weird fiction is nearly impossible to describe. It's decidedly literary, atmosphere-forward, and influenced by their work in paleontology. There's a subtle (or sometimes not so subtle) vein of Lovecraft running through it, though it never approaches pastiche. This collection included a handful of what I would consider Lovecraftian stories, including one set in his Dreamlands. Quite a few others read more like SF, embracing themes of first contact or the discovery of alien artifacts. One or two were solidly climate fiction.

Although disturbing and well-crafted, however, many of the stories in this collection didn't seem to end in any conventional sense. I counted ten of the twenty-five as having distinct (often horrific) conclusions. The others read more like vignettes, either from the start or fluctuating between structured fiction and vignette throughout the reading experience. As someone accustomed to more conventional genre fiction, I found this frustrating -- even though I kept right on reading, pulled along by the disquieting effect of Kiernan's prose.

A few of Kiernan's themes also became somewhat repetitive. Dreams and dream retellings, visits to psychiatrists, and the miseries of freelance journalism all came in for possibly more than their share of attention. The deep ocean was also a frequent theme, but this is a bit more common in Lovecraft-influenced writing.

In the end, I wound up elevating my three-star rating to four stars solely on the strength of the writing itself, and on its eerily immersive quality. I suspect that Kiernan's more dedicated fans will find this collection a solid five star experience. My thanks to NetGalley and Subterranean Press for providing me with an ARC.
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This was my first time reading anything from Kiernan and I am smitten! Wonderful dreamlike prose, often deeply unsettling. What an imaginative author. I also appreciated the extra insights on their process and reflections that accompanied each story.

With 25 short stories, I knew going into it that not all of them would be for me. There were some I thoroughly enjoyed reading, while others fell a bit short. I think the main disconnect for me was that many of the stories included the reader as a character, being narrated to a mysterious “you” who was often part of the story.

The description made me think I was going to be reading horror stories, and while there were elements, what I found myself in the middle of were dream-like (or literal dreams in some cases) scenarios that had me more confused than anything else.