In the Spotlight
Latest Stories
View AllReviews
Insatiable
This creates a wonderfully grim, claustrophobic atmosphere from the start: the diner’s ordinary sausage-and-egg routine gradually gives way to the abandoned house, the rotten stairs and that cold purple light behind the door. I liked how Aisha’s initial curiosity becomes concern, then something much more dangerous, while the writer’s repeated “no, no, no” makes him feel both unsettling and pitiable. The idea of stories as nourishment is especially effective, and the final shift to “More. More. Hungry. Hungry.” leaves the ending bleak without overexplaining what the black hole is.
Sophie Bennett
The Stone That Spoke
This is a really atmospheric opening, and the ordinary grind of the quarry makes the stone’s voice feel wonderfully unsettling. I did keep wondering about Malthus’s response once he caught the words “Break… door… field… now.” Those fragments sound urgent or dangerous, but he spends the evening carefully cleaning the stone and preparing to write, without seeming to consider waking Bastian or telling anyone. I understand the pull of a secret discovery, and the ending is a strong hook, but that hesitation slightly weakened the urgency for me. I still wanted to know what the story meant—and why this particular stone chose him.
Eleanor Hart
Mr Lloyd’s Bookshop
One of the good stories I came a cross today. I really enjoyed it
Innocent Kachingwe
