Fuck Them Kids

Review

Fuck Them Kids is Timothy King’s first collection of stories all themed around creepy kids. King serves up one great story after another, there wasn’t a single one that I didn’t like. There is a good variety of stories to dive into despite being a themed collection. Urban legends, folk horror, haunted schools, exorcisms, violent troublemakers, and doppelgängers, this collection has a little of everything!

My singular gripe is a personal thing that will likely not bother most, but all the winking drove me crazy. Five out of the ten stories contained a child antagonist winking at the narrator, seven winks total, with only one of them not being a child. It created a feeling of repetition with the stories that broke my immersion.

Beyond that, this is a solid collection that delivers plenty of scares and original takes on classic stories. The title truly says it all, fuck them little creepy ass kids! Despite being a fresh new author, Timothy King has quickly built a small legion of dedicated fans, and for good reason! He cooks up some truly diabolical storylines that don’t pull any punches. If you’re not reading his books, you should be.

Individual Story Notes:

♥ Bury Your Demons: A decent first story to start the collection. Bury Your Demons was originally released as a standalone, later inspiring this short story collection. I wrote more detailed thoughts about this story here. An emotional story that makes me wonder if it’s connected somehow to the second story in the collection.

♥ The Valley of Missing Children: This story was intense! A mother takes her young son and flees from her abusive ex-husband, taking a shortcut through a valley that the locals think is bad news. A heart-poundingly creepy story and an excellent slice of folk horror that had me at the edge of my seat.

♥ The Town: The first non-paranormal story of the collection, and what a treat it was. A desolate town filled with lost boys and all their childish brutality. This story was a breath of fresh air.

♥ The Empty Crib: A heartbreaking story about a husband and wife’s struggle with grief over the loss of their new baby. This one is explosive, brutal, and I was completely broken-hearted for the wife.

♥ In The House Of The Devil: A solid possession story that called me back to classics in the genre.

♥ The Dahlonega Reaper: I wanted to love this one, especially with the delivery of an excellent ending. The characters in the story were just so daft it made me hard for me to become invested. This is the type of story that I feel could have been excellent if it were a longer work.

♥ Blue Eyes: This story was so shockingly gruesome but oh so good. A mother and her daughters, Anna and Elsa, learn a lesson about beauty and jealousy. The bluest eye indeed.

♥ The Grotto: Holy smokes I loved this story! I love a witchy story and the terrifying brutality of the teen protagonists brought me back to King’s debut novel, Seven Rabbits. I had a chuckle that the Hector in this story reminded me so much of the Hector in that book. The story didn’t quite stick the landing for me, but I was utterly engrossed in the story.

♥ The Children’s Garden: A camera crew and survivors of a school massacre return to the now abandoned site, now rumored to be haunted, to film a documentary. This story had some unexpected twists and turns and some chillingly gruesome scenes. The conflicting interests of one of the characters held this story down for me, but it was overall good.

♥ The Man In The Window: What a story to end the collection, this was easily my favorite story and it creeped me out! A stranger at the window calls to the young son of a widower, asking to be let in. A simple concept executed perfectly.

Rating Breakdown

Bury Your Demons: ★★★☆☆ The Valley of Missing Children: ★★★★★ The Town: ★★★★★

The Empty Crib: ★★★★☆ In The House Of The Devil: ★★★★☆ The Dahlonega Reaper: ★★★☆☆

Blue Eyes: ★★★★★ The Grotto: ★★★★☆ The Children’s Garden: ★★★☆☆ The Man In The Window: ★★★★★

Favorite Story: The Man In The Window

Quote

“You came to the wrong town, loser.”

Content Warnings

View Spoiler »Child Death, Child Murder, Death, Domestic Abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Implied Child Abuse, Miscarriage, Murder, Racism, Violence, Vomiting « Hide Spoiler

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