Dead Girls Don't Love by Sarah Hans

Dead Girls Don't Love Reviews

• 
  Dan

  This collection of short stories explores the loneliness that we all feel sooner or later, whether it comes when we're alone or trapped in a crowded room full of people shooting glances at us from the corner of their eyes.
  
  The protagonists range from lone survivors of monstrous attacks to humans forever changed and marked as outsiders by their contact with otherworldly powers. Sarah Hans examines these outsiders with affection and empathy, though she never shies away from their dark sides. This honesty makes the writing hum with emotion and lets the themes and meaning grow naturally, adding flavor and richness to each story.
  
  Hans's prose is lovely, grounding her worlds with concrete details that tether the fantastic elements, letting them soar like a kite on a string. The writing is crisp, the storytelling smart. A solid addition to anyone's library!
• 
  Shell S.

  I've been a huge fan of Sarah Hans ever since discovering her works in various Dragon's Roost Press anthologies like Monsters in Spaaaace! so I was eager to get my hands on her collected stories: Dead Girls Don't Love.
  
  Hans' storylines get very grave and disturbing indeed, especially for a reader like me who often veers toward the comedy side of horror (like the White Trash Zombie series by Diana Rowland or Camp Arcanum series by Joseph Matulich). Still, light or dark, Hans' stories are too gripping to put down!
  
  And a few of them do show a wicked sense of humor more than of dread.
  
  On the lighter side in Dead Girls Don't Love, and two of my favorites, are the slyly humorous "Midnight Laundry" (which posits vampires need to wash their clothes too, and of course with the wisdom of centuries they would bring a book to pass the time)
  
  and
  
  "The Smoking Nun" (which asks 'Who you gonna call—when your pet disappears and shadows stalk behind you?')
  
  Even more in Hans' favor, her tales coax you to ponder them, and what metaphors and psychological truths might be at play, long after you've closed the pages.
  
  [Side note: if you're thinking of picking up this collection then you already know monster horror as a subgenre often excels at the metaphorical level, so I'm saying nothing revelatory here. But even within her field, Hans' stories strike particularly deep and her disturbing supernatural encounters are highly original, whether they're a fresh interpretation of an old myth or her own invention.]
  
  
  Anthologies must start strong and hers does, with a surprising and sobering spin on 'Little Red Riding Hood' from the Granny's point of view called "Alive in the Wolf's Belly," followed by the misadventures of the furred-and-antlered titular "FawnGirl14" who has trouble re-acclimating to the human world (and it to her) after a stint among faeries and their Wild Hunt.
  
  Both of these melancholy (or darkly triumphant, depending on your reading?) stories left me pensive, as they had poignantly posed questions like, "What is truly monstrous and dangerous to our wellbeing?" and "How do we recognize true peril when its face may NOT be the most outwardly terrifying, or when what IS outwardly terrifying is not without its allure?"
  
  
  A few more observations on stories (in no special order) that most resonated with me as I went back over them prior to reviewing, so I might attempt to do justice to the wonder and horror of it all.
  
  "Iceheart" was chilling and thrilling and sharply sorrowful, a wendigo chase at a remote mining outpost and (if you ask me...interpretations may vary!) a man of indigenous heritage searching for his identity lest he be redefined against his will.
  
  "Frozen Souls" was a historical ghost story with a heroine in disguise you can't help but root for and a great twist...and it rang with the truth that the worst predatory presence among the beleaguered Chinese laborers blasting the mountains for railroads wasn't supernatural. As an aside I also felt the author put meaningful research into her representation of the Chinese laborer community, their truly hazardous occupation, and their oppressive treatment in the United States.
  
  "The Cold Earth" was a macabre warning about cycles of abuse and sewing the roots of your own destruction. (Assume all puns in reviews are intended.)
  
  "When the Stars Are Right" was so unnerving and fun that even though I'd already encountered it in Eldritch Embraces: Putting the Love Back in Lovecraft I read and relished it over again.
  
  
  Lastly, an anthology needs to end powerfully too, and Hans does so hands down. With a brutal yet tender tale of zombie plantation slaves who don't find each other revolting but may find the courage to revolt together: "Dead Girls Don't Love."
  
  
  Horror and dark fantasy fans shouldn't miss this collection, and once you pick it up, don't let it stay buried in your TBR!
  
  
  When an eerie story collection stirs your heart and your conscience and your hackles...SPEAK UP, BOOST THE SIGNAL!
• 
  Escape to Fantasy

  While I like to read anthologies, I don’t review them. I find them hard to review because they are short stories. But, when the author approached me with a request to review Dead Girls Don’t Love, I had to review it. Because of the blurb. The blurb made me want to read this book and share it with everyone. The other reason why I accepted is that I like sharing books by indie authors. They should be showcased on blogs as much as the mainstream authors. All it takes is one person to give that author a chance.
  
  I am glad that I decided to read Dead Girls Don’t Love. The range of the stories in this book was amazing. There was a bit of everything. You want a story about the Fae? You got it. You want a story about what happened after the grandmother was eaten by The Big Bad Wolf? You got it. You want a zombie love story (which was my favorite story)? You got it.
  
  I am not going to get into each individual story in this book. If I did that than this review would be super long and you would lose interest after the first blurb. Like I mentioned above, these stories are varied. There is a connecting thread of horror in each of them. In some stories, it takes a bit longer for the horror element to show up but it is worth the read.
  
  There was also a small romance theme that ran through a few of the stories. The tree, the Elder God, and the zombie women were the three main ones that I remember. What I enjoyed, even more than the romance was that the author had two of those romances be LGBTQIA themed. Rarely I read a horror book where one or both of the characters in the story are gay or lesbian. It was refreshing and I loved it!!
  
  The horror angle in each of these stories was different. Some were in your face (the Fae) and others were subtle (the story of the monks on the ship). But they all got you in the end. The one that freaked me out the most was the one with the wandering monks. I got chills reading that story. Even more so because one of the monk’s questions about his past wasn’t answered. I was left wondering about him.
  
  To wrap up this review, go pick up this book. It is 230 pages but it is a fast read. It is wonderfully written and I was creeped out by some of the stories.
  
  I will not be doing a like/dislike section for this book.
  
  I gave Dead Girls Don’t Love a 4-star review. I enjoyed reading this book. The stories were chilling to read.
  
  I gave Dead Girls Don’t Love an Adult rating. There is sex. There is violence. There is language. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.
  
  I would reread Dead Girls Don’t Love. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.
  
  I would like to thank the author for allowing me to read and review Dead Girl’s Don’t Love.
  
  All opinions stated in this review of Dead Girl’s Don’t Love are mine.
  
  **I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
• 
  Julia O'Connell

  I had no idea what to expect going into this collection, but I actually really enjoyed it. The stories included are:
  
  "Alive in the Wolf's Belly"--Little Red Riding Hood from the grandmother's perspective
  
  "FawnGirl14"--The story of a girl who had been stolen away by the Wild Hunt and tries to return to her normal life.
  
  "The Cold Earth"--A dark tale about abusive relationships.
  
  "Iceheart"--Outerspace sci-fi horror featuring Native American characters and monsters from Native lore.
  
  "Invincible"--The leader of a group of super-powered vigilantes must face her one weakness.
  
  "Long Time, No See"--A tale of Haitian voodoo.
  
  "Midnight Laundry"--An almost humorous account of a young man who tries to pick up a vamire hottie in the laundromat.
  
  "Shadows of the Darkest Jade"--Two Buddhist monks come across a cursed village in China.
  
  "Saffron Skies"--Tibetan monks in an airship discover a sunken city with horrors in its depths.
  
  "Frozen Souls"--Chinese railroad workers blast tunnels through the mountains, but one of them has a secret.
  
  "When the Stars are Right"--An American mathematician travels to rural Russia looking for answers regarding his mysterious dreams of cult worshipers and eldritch beings.
  
  "Dead Girls Don't Love"--An enslaved zombie girl begins to feel alive again when a beautiful woman named Cupcake arrives at the farmhouse.
  
  For a full review, see my blog:
  https://www.thegothiclibrary.com/dead...
• 
  Sydney

  I don't normally read horror, but I really enjoyed this short story anthology! The stories range from humorous to sad to creepy and scary. The settings vary in time and setting, which I found really kept my interest. I would definitly read it again.
• 
  Jillybeane

  I scored this book at a Con earlier today and couldn’t put it down. There’s not a single bad story in this book. They’re rich, and varied in unexpected ways, strung together by a common fucked up thread. I loved it.
• 
  Michael

  Another winner from Dragon's Roost Press (please note, I do not review books that we publish).