Growing Things and Other Stories

By Paul Tremblay

A chilling short story collection by the Bram Stoker Award-winner author, including stories set in the world of A Head Full of Ghosts and Disappearance at Devil’s Rock.

A thrilling new collection from the award-winning author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World bringing his short stories to the UK for the first time. Unearth nineteen tales of suspense and literary horror, including a new story from the world of A Head Full of Ghosts, that offer a terrifying glimpse into Tremblay’s fantastically fertile imagination.

See a school class haunted by a life-changing video, the forces at work on four men fleeing the pawn shop they robbed at gunpoint, the meth addict kidnapping her daughter as the town is terrorized by a giant monster, or the woman facing all the ghosts who scare her most in a Choose Your Own Adventure.

Intricate, humane, ingenious and chilling, embrace the Growing Things.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Titan Books
• Release date: Jul 2, 2019
• ISBN: 9781785657856

Paul Tremblay

Paul Tremblay has won the Bram Stoker, British Fantasy, and Massachusetts Book awards and is the nationally bestselling author of The Beast You Are, The Pallbearers Club, Survivor Song, Growing Things and Other Stories, Disappearance at Devil’s Rock, A Head Full of Ghosts, and the crime novels The Little Sleep and No Sleep Till Wonderland. His novel The Cabin at the End of the World was adapted into the Universal Pictures film Knock at the Cabin. He lives outside Boston with his family.

Reviews for Growing Things and Other Stories

[thereserose5 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I would say these short stories skewed more creepy/supernatural than horror. I really liked The Getaway, The Teacher, Our Town's Monster, and Swim Wants to Know If It's As Bad As Swim Thinks. The others were sort of meh.

[sberson_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The imagination is there, but uneven quality in the short stories.

[stephanie_m-868484 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There are some damn fine stories in this novel, a couple of which were quite thrilling and/or made me thrill with horror. One was too weird for me, which was fine. A few were totally like ‘wtf...?’ And that’s fine too.
The narrators of the audiobook were Sean Crisden, Graham Halstead, Cassandra Campbell, Sarah Naughton, Michael Crouch, and Caitlin Kelly. The afterward being read (I believe) by the author.

3.5-4 stars, and recommended.

[charrlygirl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

4.5/5 stars!

Paul Tremblay first appeared on my radar with his book A HEAD OF FULL GHOSTS. Then came DISAPPEARANCE AT DEVIL'S ROCK, which really impressed me. He followed that up with CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD, which broke my heart. Now, here he is with a solid collection of stories that I ADORED.

GROWING THINGS is a hefty volume of tales, mostly told already in other publications, but they were almost all new to me. Among them, these stood out the most:

HER RED RIGHT HAND Something about this tale grabbed my imagination. There is a surprise well known figure comic figure within, but for me it was the young artist drawing the story that affected me the most.

NOTES FROM THE DOG WALKERS seemed like an experimental form of story telling to me, and as such, I was carried along from the normality of the day to day dog walker down into the heart of madness. This tale totally worked for me and I wanted to applaud when I finished.

NINETEEN SNAPSHOTS OF DENNISPORT Here is another story in which the way the tale is related is different and fascinating. Who doesn't sit down with their vacation pictures at some point or another? It's within these types of normal situations where Mr. Tremblay really shines. He takes those normal day to day things and twists them around...it's really something to see.

WHERE WE WILL ALL BE Here we find another experimental tale and once again, it worked quite well. A young man wakes up and finds his parents confused and talking nonsense about how they all have to go "where we will all be." That's all I'm going to say because I don't want to ruin it, but I find myself still thinking about Zane and his family.

THE ICE TOWER I don't know what the heck was going on in this story, at least not for sure, but once again, Mr. Tremblay wove his spell around me, and I was immediately entranced.

A HAUNTED HOUSE IS A WHEEL ON WHICH SOME ARE BROKEN A tour through the home where you grew up with your family. Top that with a "Choose your own adventure" feel and you have this unique tale that turned around within itself and surprised me.

IT WON'T GO AWAY A few days after his brother's suicide, a man receives a letter from the deceased. Once again, the story twists and turns and before you know it, you are miles away from where you started.

I guess I'll leave it off here because I'm discovering that I can go on and on about this collection.

Usually, weird fiction doesn't work that well for me. While I can appreciate and enjoy ambiguous stories, certain authors considered masters of the form leave me a bit cold. (Robert Aickman, I'm looking at you!) I am unsettled by and enjoy the work of Tom Ligotti, but it often comes across as too nihilistic for my tastes. In this volume, Paul Tremblay appears to master the form, but in his own unique and brave style.

That's not to say this collection features only weird tales, because it doesn't. What it does feature is an author willing to experiment with all different types of dark fiction and nearly every one of them was a beauty to behold!

My highest recommendation!

*Thank you to Edelweiss, NetGalley, and to William Morrow for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.*

[stahl2ricco · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I would give this only two stars based on the content of the stories. But the amazing formats and creativity that the tales are delivered in, deserved at least one half more star!To begin, this collection is creepy to read during the current global pandemic. Several stories herein seem to be "end of the world" types, like "It's Against the Law to Feed the Ducks", so if you are freaked out right now, maybe skip this collection till the quarantines have passed...The stories themselves bugged me. Most have dramatic, no-ending endings, where nothing is revealed, and no reasons are given. After a half dozen of these, I was more than a wee bit tired of that. Also, most of the stories have no in-story reasons given for what is happening, or why it's happening. Same reaction from me, boo.Now, the structure of the stories is what is amazing in here! The author tries out so many different formats to deliver his tales! Styles include an interview, stories told in the context of 19 snapshots, a journal, and even a "Choose Your Own Adventure" type haunted house story! Though it was not a story that I liked, "Notes From the Dog Walkers" might have been the most original style of all! And I also didn't like it, but the style of "Further Questions for the Somnambulist" was super creative! I don't write, but this book would be a great resource on how to present different short stories for those who do!These are "high brow" horror stories, and if you like your causes and endings to be ambiguous, you'll like this book!