Kelly Robson

"A Human Stain" by Kelly Robson is a disturbing horror novelette about a British expatriate at loose ends who is hired by her friend to temporarily care for his young, orphaned nephew in a remote castle-like structure in Germany. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A Tor.com Original

A Human Stain

Andrew John Kinney

A brief horror novella. More like a short story, actually.

Maggie Gordon

Well that was delightfully terrifying and weird! A Human Stain is about a young woman who agrees to be a governess for the orphaned nephew of one of her friends. The child lives on an island in an old, musty mansion with strange servants. Her friend has to rush to shore one day to deal with some business dealings, and while he is gone, our protagonist begins to uncover more and more strange mysteries about the house and its occupants, and about the lies that she was told to lure her there... The prose is exceptionally creepy. With descriptions of random bones scattered about and the salt-laden walls, the atmosphere and setting will send chills up your spine. The climax of the piece, however, is too fast and muddled to be truly great. There are quite a few strong moments of almost Lovecraftian style horror, but I would have preferred to see the narrative drawn out with a few more pages.

Cheryl Hedlund

Rounded up from a 3.5. Creepy and tense horror short story/novella. Strong on atmosphere. Builds well to slightly gory end.

Jessica Nottingham

So, quick take on this one. It's definitely creepy. Kelly Robson sets off right away by building tension, and it keeps you guessing for a good half of the story. When the actual cause of all this tension broke through the story though, I kind of lost interest. I don't know what I was expecting. Honestly. Still, the twist here was just a little too odd for me to wrap my mind around. Be warned that this is a bit gory, which should be evident by the title but I figured I'd put a warning out. Overall, not a bad way to pass a half hour or so!

A Human Stain A Tor.com Original

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