Name: Jasmine's review of Goblin by Josh Malerman
Item: Goblin
Rating: 3
Author: Jasmine

Josh Malerman

From the bestselling author of Bird Box, a novella collection in which every story reveals a sinister secret about a mysterious small town. The town of Goblin seems like any other ordinary small town. But with the master storyteller Josh Malerman as your tour guide, you'll discover the secrets that hide behind the town's closed doors. These six novellas tell the story of a place where the rain is always falling, nighttime is always near, and your darkest fears and desires await. Welcome to Goblin... A Man in Slices: A man proves his "legendary love" to his girlfriend with a sacrifice even more daring than Vincent van Gogh's--and sends her more than his heart. Kamp: Walter Kamp is afraid of everything, but most of all he is afraid of ghosts. As he sets traps around his home to catch the ghosts that haunt him, he learns that nothing is more terrifying than fear itself. Happy Birthday, Hunter: A famed big game hunter is determined to capture--and kill--the ultimate prey: the mythic Great Owl who lives in Goblin's dark forests. But this mysterious creature is not the only secret the woods are keeping. Presto: All Peter wants is to be like his hero, Roman Emperor, the greatest magician in the world. When the famous magician comes to Goblin, Peter discovers that not all magic is just an illusion. A Mix-Up at the Zoo: The new zookeeper feels a mysterious kinship with the animals in his care... and finds that his work is freeing dark forces inside him. The Hedges: When his wife dies, a man builds a hedge maze so elaborate no one ever solves it--until a little girl resolves to be the first to find the mysteries that wait at its heart.

A Novel in Six Novellas

Goblin

From the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box and Malorie comes a chilling story that revolves around a mysterious small town, revealing its sinister secrets one by one. "Must-read horror."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) Goblin seems like any other ordinary small town. But with the master storyteller Josh Malerman as your tour guide, you'll discover the secrets that hide behind its closed doors. These six novellas tell the story of a place where the rain is always falling, nighttime is always near, and your darkest fears and desires await. Welcome to Goblin. . . . A Man in Slices: A man proves his "legendary love" to his girlfriend with a sacrifice even more daring than Vincent van Gogh's--and sends her more than his heart. Kamp: Walter Kamp is afraid of everything, but most afraid of being scared to death. As he sets traps around his home to catch the ghosts that haunt him, he learns that nothing is more terrifying than fear itself. Happy Birthday, Hunter!: A famed big-game hunter is determined to capture--and kill--the ultimate prey: the mythic Great Owl who lives in Goblin's dark forests. But this mysterious creature is not the only secret the woods are keeping. Presto: All Peter wants is to be like his hero, Roman Emperor, the greatest magician in the world. When the famous magician comes to Goblin, Peter discovers that not all magic is just an illusion. A Mix-Up at the Zoo: The new zookeeper feels a mysterious kinship with the animals in his care . . . and finds that his work is freeing dark forces inside him. The Hedges: When his wife dies, a man builds a hedge maze so elaborate no one ever solves it--until a little girl resolves to be the first to find the mysteries that wait at its heart.

Jasmine

Welcome to Goblin! Here we find a town that isn’t so different than any other small town until you look a bit closer. To do this, we will traipse through to meet Goblin’s inhabitants who are more than a little off. 

This collection of novellas starts by leading us through a “legendary love” that calls for giving without limits.
 Next we find ourselves with a man who is terrified of absolutely everything. Kamp is a man who has disassembled his entire life to try to keep his fear at bay, but are you really living if you can’t even trust your own shadow? 
Happy Birthday, Hunter is basically what would happen if one of the children from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory survived to become a big game hunter. We are also properly introduced to the North Woods where there are rumors of whispering witches and other wild beings. 
Presto reminds us that all magic is not created equal. I’ll leave it at that. 
A Mix-Up at the Zoo is where these novellas start getting good (in my opinion, anyhow). This is a story of a man who is great with kids and animals, but can feel a darkness creeping up on him. He does what he can to try to escape these feelings, but is it too late? 
The Hedges was my favorite story by far. When his wife dies, a man spends his time building a maze out of hedges that is so elaborate that no one has made it through....until a little girl figures it out. What is our prize in the center of this maze? What kind of trouble will it bring to our characters? Knowing Goblin and it’s propensity towards the uncanny, it’s safe to assume some things are better left hidden. 

This book took me awhile to get through. It wasn’t that it was poorly written or even boring, but there was just something off to me. Some of the endings were kind of meh. That being said, Goblin really does pick up in the second half. Is this a perfect book? No. Is it worth reading? I think so. 

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House/Ballentine, and Josh Malerman for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Whitney Leno

I very much enjoyed this book. I know that there were lots of mixed reviews but overall I thought this was a stellar horror novel. I was not a big fan of Birdbox, which made me hesitant to pick this up but I am so glad I did. If you are going to pick this us go into it with an open mind!

Madison Purdy

Crystal Counterman

Really good. Great atmosphere. Will stick with me for a long time...but, I'm not okay after "A Mix-Up at the Zoo".

Kelsey Holtaway

GOBLIN is like if the movie Trick'r'Treat had a more nuanced older sibling. It was so good. 

It seems GOBLIN was originally released in 2017 under an extremely limited run of only 500 copies, and they're re-releasing it widely in May 2021.

GOBLIN is a series of short stories which all happen over the course of one night in the mysterious and maybe-cursed town of Goblin. The stories, while all focusing on different people, places, and happenings within the town, are all interconnected in a way that paints a rich picture of the town and its sordid history. 

This book is named for its atmosphere and it's apt. For me, this is the perfect horror setting. A cursed rainy town, a mysterious forest, a defined culture that's secluded and shrouded in mystery. You sink into this setting. I think it was very cleverly done as well, entering into this town in the first story with an outsider, knowing as little as he does but understanding the mystery, and passing through its gates with his wide eyes. And while I actually didn't love the second story (it kinda dragged), I think it did help to gain a sense of the layout as well as some of the lore. 

The third story was the turning point for me where I realized the book I initially thought was getting a three star could end up being one of my favorite horror novels. And once you get going with the third story, learning more about the history of the town and the obsessions of its people, it takes off from there.

The characters themselves are so well done. Like I said above, a big theme for this book is "obsession" and we see that through the characters. Each story following another characters obsession, so while some of the characters themselves are wholly unlikable, their individual obsessions are fascinating. My favorite character to follow was the Hunter, who is arguable the most unlikable of the cast. 

I think a drawback for me, however, was some of the history of the characters we dove into. I enjoyed that the events all took place on the same night, but sometimes we'd get a *lot* of backstory into these characters that for me, took me out of the setting. It felt a bit unnecessary, overdone, and rushed me to want to get back to the night in question. I understand creating rich characters, but sometimes it felt like we were getting backstory to explain something I would have been happy to suspend my disbelief for.

Overall, though, this was weird, macabre, and unique. 

I'm happy this is going from a limited release to a full release so more people can experience the world, history, and obsessions of GOBLIN. 

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group + Ballentine + Del Rey for sharing GOBLIN in exchange for an honest review.

Victoria Hernandez 

The first few stories were intriguing but that's it. None of these short stories were amazing; and I'm disappointed. 

Kim &
Goblin by Josh Malerman

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