Blanky

Kealan Patrick Burke — 2017

In the wake of his infant daughter's tragic death, Steve Brannigan is struggling to keep himself together. Estranged from his wife, who refuses to be inside the house where the unthinkable happened, and unable to work, he seeks solace in an endless parade of old sitcoms and a bottle of bourbon. Until one night he hears a sound from his daughter's old room, a room now stripped bare of anything that identified it as hers...except for her security blanket, affectionately known as Blanky. Blanky, old and frayed, with its antiquated patchwork of badly sewn rabbits with black button eyes, who appear to be staring at the viewer... Blanky, purchased from a strange old man at an antique stall selling "BABY CLOSE" at a discount. The presence of Blanky in his dead daughter's room heralds nothing short of an unspeakable nightmare that threatens to take away what little light remains in Steve's shattered world. Because his daughter loved Blanky so much, he buried her with it. A new novella from the Bram Stoker Award-Winning author of SOUR CANDY and KIN.

Reviews

C. J. Daley @cjdscurrentread

May 13, 2023

Last Spooky Season I gave Sour Candy and Dead Leaves a read, so this year a bought two more. I feel like this author just gets me. I like horror, but I do prefer it short, so his collection of novellas is superb. This is a unique tale of loss, grief, and coming to grips with what’s real. It’s even more uniquely interlinked within almost Baba Yaga-esque nightmare-scapes. I don’t usually like dreams in stories—the what is, and what is not real undertones—as they don’t often work for me, but the author uses a deft hand to integrate them in ways that compliment the main characters detachment while he’s awake. I also enjoyed how the author gives us a supernatural/paranormal story, but with the stages of grief on display, the level of alcohol being consumed, and the character being in the bowels of despair, it could also be entirely imagined…maybe even personally caused? Enjoyable and quick.

Ruth Parker @ruth

Nov 18, 2021

Creepy, horrifying and devastating all at once. This short story is able to turn an awful tragedy into a terrifying domestic disaster. This book made me feel things, but different things all at the same time. Masterful tragic horror.

Morgan Kinney@momoisreading

Nov 17, 2021

Dnf

Adrianna Giunta@adriannaslibrary

Nov 16, 2021

This one was okay. I enjoyed the unreliable narrator aspect and a lot of the imagery in this was beyond weird. Dolls creep me out so that did if for me I guess. I had fun but not enough for it to be a favourite.

Marija M@marijam

Oct 19, 2021

What a weird story! Kealan Patrick Burke is a master when it comes to creating weird thriller, horror stories! In Blanky he handles the topic of grief in such a fascinating way. I really like his writing and I can't wait to read more by the author.