Red Spikes is a collection of stories–published in 2006– that take place in unusual worlds created by the author, Margo Lanagan. Margo Lanagan is an Australian writer who has written multiple novels, including short stories and poetry.  I picked this book at the Osbourn library for my first review article. You must be asking: why did I pick this book? I picked this out because I wanted to read an author I have not read before without leaving my interest in horror books. To my surprise, it was a mix of fantasy and horror in one book and succeeded in holding my attention. At first, it was troublesome to read the novel because of its problematic words throughout the book, but I did not bother to quit since I love challenges. My top five out of the ten were Baby Jane, Monkey’s Paternoster, A Good Heart, Winkie, and Under Hell, Over Heaven.

Baby Jane takes place in a forest. In the forest, there is a family living in a hut–the family members being Dylan, Mum, Ella, Todd, and Dad. Dylan has found three figures: the shape of a bear, a manservant, and a queen that has magically come to life one night. Though, with the magical appearance of the three figures came an issue. The queen has gotten pregnant and Dylan’s family was fast asleep leading to him trying to assist the queen. Now yes, it’s a very odd plot but it was tremendously enjoyable to read and a breath of fresh air when it comes to reading for the reason that the author is trying something new that other authors haven’t usually done before.

Monkey’s Paternoster has a setting of a house located on the top of the world. In the story, the reader is introduced to the characters Hannimanni, Broketooth, Kinnick-Tiddit, and the author is one of many characters that are protected from the bachelors due to Hannimanni. However, one day, he could not protect them from the bachelors because he was severely sick which led to the absence of the ability to fight back. This later leads to the attack of the bachelors. I also loved this story because it builds tension every second you read it and that pulls me in because I want to know what will happen next after an event has occurred.

A Good Heart has a setting of a kingdom where we are introduced to the characters Annie Stork, Arlen Micheals, Tater, and Arlen’s family. Arlen is lovesick for Annie, but the main issue was that he was a peasant compared to her. Tater and Arlen’s family would always tease him about his feelings towards her. However, one day, he sneakingly followed her into the depths of the forest and he unexpectedly found something hiding in the rows and rows of trees, something horrific. This is one of my top five because it was a mix between romance and horror, making it very interesting for me due to the fact I have not read a single story with a lovely but also spine-chilling plot.

Winkie takes place in a magical world of a tiny village and in the distance is a household for the giant in the story. The characters are Ollyn, Tod Keller, Ma Keller, Huvvy, and the giant who is called Wee Will Winkie. One dark night, Ollyn decided to leave the village in an attempt to escape whilst being searched by the giant. She eventually got caught by the giant and was brought to the household in the distance. The giant showed her something dreadful and appalling thing near the fireplace in the house and immediately attempted to escape the house. She successfully did escape, but she could never get the image off her head. I adored this story because it grabbed something you would usually see in a fantasy and turned it into this twisted plot line filled with suspense.

Under Hell, Over Heaven takes place in a dead, sad valley where souls either ascend to heaven or climb down the steps of hell. In this short story, the characters are Barto, Leah, King, Tabatha, the Miscreant Soul, and the caretakers of the underworld. The characters forced the Miscreant Soul into the depths of hell, but due to the fact they have never been in the underworld has made the story more interesting and pulls the reader in. After they climbed down to hell, the caretakers of the underworld opened something that would traumatize all of them, especially the soul because he had to spend his afterlife in the nightmarish place he had seen for eternity. This short story was all horror and I absolutely loved it. The author did an amazing job describing everything and it adds the whole image in my head, hooking me in the story. This story has to be my favorite out of all of them.

Red Spikes has a variety of interesting stories that hook the reader into reading more. Margo does a fascinating job of describing her settings and coming up with multiple plots for her stories. She has even decided to add some mysteries not yet solved in these stories that leave the reader yearning for more. However, the book has some complex vocabulary so I would not recommend it to someone who does not like challenges. The stories could be a little difficult to understand at times and some plots could be a bit bizarre such as Baby Jane. All things considered, it is a really amazing book to read and I would read more of Margo’s poetry or short story collections. She has not added too many unnecessary pages for each of her stories and still did an amazing job telling them. Overall, yes this book is amazing and I would recommend it to someone who loves challenges while reading.