Petrified Women is horror at its best. The writing is evocative, the characters haunting and you finish up thinking, “what did I just read?” Ray starts us off with some well needed trigger warnings and a bit of an explanation that helps us understand the portrayal of sexual violence at the core of this one.
Harley is dating a bit of an unusual guy, he’s an artist with a collection of entirely realistic wooden statues of women and an obsession with fear based pranks. Harley is trying to balance her logical intuition throwing up red flags with her desire to indulge her boyfriend’s need for fun, but uncomfortable pranks. She wants to give him a great prank for his birthday and worries if she can pull it off. She sneaks into his apartment and witnesses something that changes everything.
The fear in this one is palpable. I was literally sweating for Harley at one point, my adrenaline pumping wondering how things would end up. While I think this would make a great short film, I also think that there’s no way anyone could recreate how I envisioned the writer’s vision in my own mind. My only want was for a little more in the end, I liked the scene it ended with but was desperate for more. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Thanks to the author for the gifted copy. All opinions above are my own.
Do you read novellas? What’s the last one that you enjoyed?
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