Rebecca Cuthbert’s Six O’Clock House & Other Strange Tales is a haunting, beautifully crafted collection that invites readers to peer beneath the surface of the everyday—and what stares back is often unsettling, uncanny, and profoundly human. These are stories that whisper to you from the margins of the mundane, where horror and grace cohabitate in eerie balance.

In Cuthbert’s world, the strange doesn’t kick down the door—it creeps in through the cracks in the sidewalk, flickers behind the eyes of a stranger, or croaks from the throats of frogs outside a bartender’s window. The horror is rarely explosive, but always intimate: personal moments of dread and transformation shaped by loss, guilt, trauma, or the faint hope of redemption. The stories veer into the weird and speculative, but never lose their emotional grounding.

Each tale is a small, dark jewel: polished, atmospheric, and full of tension. A woman hears frogs calling her name. A psychopomp appears not in mythic grandeur but amid the soil and sweat of a greenhouse. A young man finds both regret and renewal in the company of a ghost and a grieving neighbor. Cuthbert’s characters are raw and real—sometimes flawed to the point of self-destruction—but they are written with a deep, unflinching compassion.

What sets this collection apart is its careful balancing act between doom and deliverance. The supernatural forces that emerge from the edges of reality are not always malevolent—sometimes they offer clarity, connection, or even a second chance. But Cuthbert never lets you feel too comfortable. The path through her stories is, as she warns, treacherous and dark.

Verdict:
Six O’Clock House & Other Strange Tales is a masterclass in quiet horror and lyrical weird fiction. Rebecca Cuthbert writes with empathy, tension, and an eye for the unseen. These stories will stick with you, whispering from the shadows long after you’ve turned the last page.

These short stories were unfortunately very dark. I don’t even think they were scary, just uncomfortable. I love short stories but these one just weren’t for me.

Thank you NetGalley, Watertower Hill Publishing and Rebecca for the eARC!

Rating: ✨✨✨

#sixoclockhouse #NetGalley

Books such as this are good for when you have lost your reading mojo..
It is a collection of short stories that are creepy and chilling.

They are slower paced reads which is good as the best bits are saved for the end when they tend to scare and chill.

Perfect for bedtime reading..

Six O’Clock House and Other Strange Tales is a mixed bag of eerie fiction, at times haunting, at other times hollow. Rebecca Cuthbert shows real skill in crafting atmosphere, especially in standouts like Infested, but too many stories end before they truly begin. The collection feels more like a whisper than a scream- perfect for newcomers to horror, but likely too tame and uneven for seasoned readers craving real chills.

6 O’Clock House and Other Strange Tales is a collection of dark, eerie stories that blend everyday life with unsettling twists. I found some of the stories to be slow-paced—at times feeling like they dragged on longer than necessary, but there were also standout moments that captured my attention.

One of the stories I enjoyed was *Infested*, which was genuinely creepy and had a fun, original concept.
Overall, this was an easy read, and I think it would be a great recommendation for new readers dipping their toes into darker fiction. The book serves as a solid gateway into horror and strange tales, offering a mix of chills without being overly intense. If you're just starting to explore the genre, this could be a good place to begin!

Thank you NetGalley and to the publishers for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

I recently read Six O'Clock House & Other Strange Tales by Rebecca Cuthbert, and I couldn’t put it down. This collection of eerie and atmospheric short stories is beautifully written, with each tale offering a unique blend of suspense and mystery. Cuthbert has an incredible knack for creating unsettling, otherworldly scenarios while keeping the characters grounded and relatable.

What I loved most was the way each story kept me on edge, with twists and turns that felt both surprising and inevitable. Some stories were deeply chilling, while others had a more subtle, lingering sense of unease. If you’re a fan of atmospheric, thought-provoking tales that explore the strange and uncanny, this collection is definitely worth picking up. It’s a perfect mix of eerie and captivating, and I’ll be thinking about it for a while.

How do I keep finding books to be disappointed in, I'm gonna cryyyyyyyyy.

This is supposed to be a collection of horror short stories. And they certainly are short. These stories are too short to even make a point, it was so weird. You need to tell me something when you tell me a story, these were so flat and boring and nothing happened. As for more about the content of these stories, I do not know who decided this was to be considered horror because these were not scary at all. I would call this great for middle grade age readers if not for the random sexual part.

These stories were too short, I couldn't get invest and there was nothing to get invested in. I wanted some fun little spooky stories and I just got nothing. This was so disappointing. I wanted some spooky story time!

The book as a whole was super short, so there's that.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.