Sefira and Other Betrayals by John Langan [Reading]

I did not enjoy this short story collection quite as much as I’ve enjoyed some of Langan’s other work. Horror is not really my genre of choice – although I am coming to appreciate more the way that the fantastical situations presented in a horror story shed an interesting light on human behavior – and I have typically appreciated Langan’s work because he uses novel (or at least less common) literary techniques. I didn’t notice that aspect as much in this collection, perhaps because there was less to notice or perhaps because I was either too caught up in the plot or not in the right headspace to notice it. I think that in some ways the theme of betrayal was difficult for me. Several of the stories leave the betrayal unresolved, either unforgiven or entirely unrepented. I suppose I’m a sucker for a bit of a positive ending. It’s hard to choose favorites. I liked “The Unbearable Proximity of Mr. Dunn’s Balloons”, “Renfrew’s Course”, and “Bor Urus”. “At Home in the House of the Devil”…