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I see overall, this collection didn't get the best reviews. But it's been a while since I've read some short stories, and I've never read anything by Bloch before, so this book hit the spot for me. Obviously, not all the stories were winners, but when Bloch nailed the creepiness with the good ones, he really crushed it. Overall, I'm giving it 5 stars, but I think that's because this was the right book at the right time for me. If I reread it in the future, that rating might come down when I'm more objective.

The Rubber Room - Started with a story that seems, unfortunately, more relevant today about a Neo-Nazi striking out on his own to murder a Jewish girl and then wonder why people would arrest him for it. The twisty ending set the tone for the rest of the collection and let me know this was going to be a ride. 3.5 stars. The Night Before Christmas - One of the best of the collection about an artist hired to paint the portrait of a rich man's wife. Creepy, atmospheric, killer ending. Perfect short story. 5 stars. Pumpkin - The other cream of the crop. To be fair, putting The Night Before Christmas and Pumpkin back to back in the beginning of this book did a great disservice to the other stories. Nothing tops these two. Pumpkin is about a family that moves back to the old farm house where the husband grew up and had terrible nightmares. Again, killer ending and perfect short story. 5 stars. The Spoiled Wife - Not amazing but clever. About a man who pays to thaw out centuries-old, cryogenicly frozen women looking for a wife. I could see this really happening in the future. I did like the twist ending, calling back to the story's title. 3 stars. Oh Say Can You See - Sci-fi story about aliens infiltrating Earth and coming to the conclusion that the Mafia controls the planet. One of the weak ones, it all feels like a setup for the last line and wasn't that twisty. 2 stars. But First These Words - My least favorite about God trying to get his message to humanity to change their ways, but we ignore him for TV and entertainment. Even the ending was blah. 1 star. Picture - Now we're back to the good, creepy stories with this one. A deal with the devil for one night with the girl our protagonist lusted after since school. Perfect ending for a Satan story. 4.5 stars. The Undead - I liked this one a lot. Not perfect, like some of the others, but good and creepy in a short amount of words. A man is looking to buy an original copy of Stoker's Dracula manuscript. 4 stars. Comeback - An old man who worked in the Golden Age of Hollywood throws a Halloween party. Pretty straightforward foreshadowing, and an ending that could be seen a mile away. But decent. 3 stars. Nocturne - Not terrible. Gets creepier as the story goes on about a man talking to a woman he's been obsessed with. I feel like Bloch had the last sentence thought up and worked backwards. Again, it's all just a setup for the final sentence. 2 stars. Die-Nasty - A 'what if' America televised executions and we devolved into a bloodthirsty society. Nothing great. No twists, per se. Totally skippable. 1 star. Pranks - An old couple get prepared for trick or treaters on Halloween night. Holy Fuck. You could see it coming, but I couldn't stop reading. You know basically what's coming, but not how. After some iffy stories, this came out of nowhere like a sucker punch. 5 stars. Everybody Needs A Little Love - A lonely guy starts talking to a manikin. Ending was predictable. 2 stars. The Totem Pole - This was, about an expedition from Alaska that brought back a totem pole, was written in the 1920s and you can tell. Still, decent. And I can see how this would've put Bloch on people's radars as a writer. 3 stars.

I completely surprised myself by giving this four stars. I'm NOT one for poetry. It is not my jam, it is nowhere near my wheelhouse. Opening the cover, I immediately decided I wasn't going to like this book, told as a collection of poems by the main character, Xiomara. As it went, I admitted the story behind the poems was actually fantastic. I figured I would give this three stars. As it went on, I found myself more and more enthralled with Xiomara and rooting for her as I'd root for the final girl in a horror story/movie. I think that's what won me over. Xiomara and her life as a Black & Latina woman growing up in Harlem to a strictly religious mother and uncaring father. By the end, I was completely in Xiomara's corner and pulling for her in the Slam Poetry competition. I still don't like poetry at all, but I love X.