Samantha Hunt

"This is the first collection of stories from a widely acclaimed novelist writing in the realm of the literary fantastical. They urge an understanding of youth and mortality, ghosts, ghost towns, doubling and loss, with the hope that we can know one another more deeply or at least stand side by side to observe the mystery of the world"--

Stories

The Dark Dark

Arturo Hernández

I hadn't recently found an author that managed to attract me solely by their writing style in relation to alternative storytelling (in English), however, I'm happy to say that Samantha Hunt is on that league. This book contains a set of stories that challenge what's expected of a book of its genre and somehow confuses but grabs (and holds) the attention of the reader. I definitely need to read more of her work.

Favorite quotes:
• He was just too in love with the world.
• I turn into a deer at night.
• It seems important to understand whether or not it is worth it to sacrifice your life for someone else.
• One dies alone.
• People pretend the world is ordinary every day because they have to.
• His answer would have broken her heart if she’d had one.

Emily Perkovich

Okie doke. Well. I did really love a few of these. And The Story Of is my favorite kind of use of short story collections. But the ones I did not love, I felt extremely uninvested in. Particularly Cortez the Killer. I could have skipped that entirely and probably enjoyed the other stories more for not having let it take up my time.

Daryl Houston

Short story collections often have a few good stories and a few meh stories. I didn't really see any meh in this one. Some I liked more than others, but every story had sufficiently worthwhile darkness or lyricism or humor or strangeness (sometimes all of these things together) that I marveled at Hunt's creativity and consistency. I've liked all of her work that I've read so far, but this one's a real stand-out.

The Dark Dark Stories

Reviews