As a die-hard Gwendolyn Kiste fan, I was very excited to hear she woul be releaasing another short story collection this year. Her previous one, “And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe,” is from 2017, so it has been a good while since we’ve seen more collected short stories, and I am very excited.

The body horror that comes out runs strong throughout the collection, starting with “A New Mother’s Guide to Raising an Abomination.” It is a common theme in Kiste’s work — of not only the bodily fear to carry something inside for so long but then also of the fear of giving birth to something not quite human or right. It sets a strong tone for the rest of the collection.

The fourth-wall type story, “The Girls from the Horror Movie,” is about someone who says she is the giggling little girl from the horror movie, but as narrator, cautions the reader not to make the mistake to think she is the cute kid everyone hopes will make it until the end. She is, rather, the tiny monster who kwill keep others from making it to the end.

This actor is now at a convention signing autographs. While there are questions of this (now woman’s) sister doing a film again, she has to respond and say Zoe deosn’t act anymore. The narrative goes back and forth between the present and past, showing how casting agents do work with children and they have twins do the role of one child because of reasons of labour laws and so on, so it turns out that the protagonist might be a person who played a role that her sister also played. It’s a tale of profound sadness, of people who feel like their era is long gone, but they have obligations to try to keep it alive for fans. The story also depicts the strained relationship between the sisters. Definitely a poignant tale.

Next up is a more carnival-themed one with “The Sea Witch of the World’s Fair,” of a man looking for women who can suit up as mermaids. It’s for the World’s Fair. This is circa late 1930s and 1940. Except what the guy doesn’t know is that the protagonist may be a real mermaid, no pretending required. There are some satisfying revenge moments, which is what I’ll leave it at because I don’t want to spoil things.

One of the other type of stories that Gwendolyn does that I really enjoy are the vampire things like Mina Harker, or Lucy Westenra, and famous literary characters but done with a more intense bent. She has a tale in the collection with Lucy’s diary, “The Eight People Who Murdered Me.” I love to get the ignored/erased “OH just take the man’s perspective” things from fiction and to have those disrupted, like with this story, so fans of Dracula will enjoy it.

I also liked “Her Skin a Grim Canvas,” both for the title but also the tone, the unreliable narrator, wondering who is the predator and who is the prey. An interesting and intense piece.

“The Last Video Store on the Left” is a story that transports me back to when there were video stores and I’d love to go in and rent, browse, and be immersed in the experience. This story is about a person who works in one such video store. A reporter wants to interview her for a piece. There’s some kind of an entity or shadow that follows the protagonist around, and the tension builds as the reporter pushes again to get her story. Finding more about the protagonist’s story and all the things that led up to this point was very interesting. With a suspenseful climax, the ending was surprising in a pleasant way.

Another good story is “In the Belly of the Wolf” — anything with werewolf horror, and especially with female werewolves, is something I’m very fond of. It’s a short piece but a powerful intensity

I liked the unpredictability of “Sister Glitter Blood” which felt like a board game that Lady Gaga designed, and then we switch to the ghost of Rasputin in “The Mad Monk of the Motor City” with some very interested and unexpected juxtapositions. The protagonist sees Rasputin wherever they go. And it’s not Rasputin in the Russia of his time. It’s Rasputin’s ghost in modern America. Definitely a unique and unpredictable story.

As well, I really liked “The Haunted Houses She Calls Her Own,” which is the title story of the collection. It’s kind of like a Stepford Wives and tradwife vibe and unfolds to be about the Black Dahlia, real name Elizabeth.

Overall, it’s another strong collection that brings together Gwendolyn’s best stories from the past almost 10 years or so, and any fan of her work needs to buy this. Those looking for a place to start but aren’t sure where to begin with her work, I would recommend they read this collection as well as her previous one.

I've been wanting to read Kiste's work for a while, and thought this collection of stories would likely be a great place to start. Oh my god, I was so right! Why have I waited so long?
The Haunted Houses She Calls Her Own has something for all horror lovers - cursed movies, historical ghosts, creepy fairy tales...
Kiste's writing is beautifully poetic, while also remaining accessible.
My favourite stories were:
The Eleven Films of Oona Cashford - a unique take on the cursed movie trope. Genuinely creepy!
Sister Glitter Blood - A sentient board game with sinister consequences.
The Last Video Store on the Left - pure nostalgia!

The Haunted House She Calls Her Own is a collection of character-driven short stories that encompass the weird, supernatural, psychological and strange. The tone of the collection is set immediately from the first story and the reader is transported into an atmospheric world of eerie and unexplained occurrences that border the line of unsettling and disturbing. This is further developed as the stories progress and the reader is ensconced in an unsettling psychological thread of queer anti-heroines, morally grey characters, hauntings, monsters and ghosts.

The stories are mostly written in the first and second person voices which make the reader feel immersed in the plot alongside the characters in a way that engages the senses and causes an immediacy to the feel of the horrifying tales. There is a flow to the collection even though the stories do not need to be read in order; they have underlying themes of otherness, queerness, the patriarchy as systemically monstrous, the horror of societal expectations, and normalcy as terrifying.

While subtle and nuanced the author’s use of imagery is rich and unflinching, like the descriptions are grappling to be more than seen, but also felt. Overall, this was a rich and terrifying plunge into a short-story horror collection that is atmospherically gothic and haunting in the best ways.

Favourite story standouts: “The Sea Witch of the World’s Fair” & “Ides”

Thanks NetGalley and RDS Publishing for this free arc/copy of The Haunted Houses She Calls Her Own; all opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.