Extinction Hymns: Collection Review
Why howdy reader!
Have you been listening into The Dead Languages podcast where Carson Winter and I chat about the joys and sorrows and chaos of writing. New episodes drop every Wednesday!
Now onto the review and be sure to check back on Thursday for when my PLM Talks episode interviewing Eric Raglin drops.
The Author
Eric Raglin (he/him) is a Midwestern horror/Weird fiction writer and the editor for Cursed Morsels Press. He frequently writes about queerness, the terrors of capitalism, and body horror. His debut short story collection is Nightmare Yearnings and his second collection Extinction Hymns was published by Brigids Gate Press. He is the editor of Shredded: A Sports and Fitness Body Horror Anthology and Antifa Splatterpunk. — Raglin’s website
Fine Raglin on his website or follow him on Twitter. You can check out his press, Cursed Morsels, here.
The Collection
A vengeful owl haunts the man who poached her. A desperate entrepreneur holds a ghost hostage for profit. An addict finds hope and terror in an imprisoned angel. A father and son search their dying world for something to eat other than human flesh. Eric Raglin, author of Nightmare Yearnings, returns with his second collection of horror and weird fiction. Strange, terrifying, and tender, these eighteen stories explore what happens when extinction comes for us all. — Extinction Hymns Amazon description
Released in December 2022 from Brigid’s Gate Press and with a cover by Elizabeth Leggett, Extinction Hymns is a collection of eighteen stories spanning from body horror to post-apocalyptic horror to religious horror. You can grab it now on Amazon or from the press’s website.
The Review
I had a lot of fun with this collection! A lot of the stories had a religious horror theme to it, which I don’t think I’ve read a lot of prior but really enjoyed. For example “Transubstantiation” is a tale about a young child obsessively concerned with the purity of their own soul as a religious event approaches. Raglin handles the theme of religion well in his tales without anything feeling too heavy handed.
Many of the stories, like “Dead Rain” and “What to Do with Grandpa”, deal with a post-apocalyptic worlds and the people struggling within them. I really admired Raglin’s ability to create a world with a lot of depth without overburdening the plot with too much info dumping.
Let’s talk about my favourite stories (without spoilers!):
“Angel Teeth”: a eerie, heart-breaking tale of an addict who wants to get clean so she can meet her newborn nephew. Her dealer offers a miracle that seems too good to be true. I was not expecting how this tale as going to go and end. Loved it.
“Dead Rain”: the world is parched, the crops are withered, but the dead are helping. Still, it’s not enough for a father and son duo struggling to survive. This version of the end of the world was just so deliciously unsettlingly!
“A Creature Nailed Upon the Corridor of Time”: a newly discovered, nearly perfectly preserved prehistoric creature proves to be more than it seems. This was my favourite story of the bunch. I mean that title alone is stellar.
“The Last of Her Kind”: a man desperate to keep his failing business alive goes to extreme measures to save it. I loved how this story gave me Tales from the Crypt Keeper vibes.
I highly recommend this collection for those looking for some great horror centered around the end of the world or religion! Every single story was unique and dripped with suspense and horror. I honestly couldn’t put it down and read it all in one sitting!
9/10
x PLM
p.s. don’t forget to check back on Thursday for my PLM Talks interview with Eric Raglin!
