I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Author Jennifer Anne Gordon takes readers on an emotional journey of reflection, exploring the horror that is grief through a collection of short stories from a mysterious narrator in the book “The Japanese Box and Other Stories”.

The Synopsis

This is the story of our unnamed narrator…an origin story of a would-be, hopes to be, serial killer.

The Japanese Box is a story that blends memoir, creative nonfiction, and the horror of a coming-of-age story, and a coming of middle-aged story.

Imagine growing up with a reflection that is often absent, and a Japanese box that is filled with things that should never have been there.

Memories.

Violence.

The Japanese Box is a love letter to anxiety, trauma, grief, and longing. It is a story of a child becoming

an adult, and all the ghosts and misfortunes that happen in order to survive.

The Lithium Moon: Simone is an artist by day, and an emotionally abused wife at night. She is a

successful artist with a long history of schizoid effective disorder with bipolar tendencies.

When her marriage goes from good to bad, she suffers her first miscarriage. The tragedy coincides with a

wolf moon—Trauma and magic converge seem to converge in Simone’s head.

This story explores sadness, illness, hallucinations, full moons, and the creative process.

What Stage of Grief is not a poem, or a song, but a dirge.

Fantasy and facts, this poem walks a fine line between nightmares and memories. Grief stories and love

stories. Dogs, and drama. Nightmares, and nevermore.

The Review

This was such a powerful and thought-provoking read. I’ve been such a huge fan of the author’s previous works, and so I was immediately drawn into the narrative. The visual imagery, the atmosphere, and the tension were all perfectly executed in this narrative, and yet it was the simple observations that really stood out. Amongst the horror and the tragedy of each story, moments, where one character would fixate on a K-Mart razor blade or a plastic bag from a convenience store, would create that unsettled feeling and become a great juxtaposition to the narratives themselves.

The combination of the mystery behind these narrators in each story with the emotional tragedy each story seemed to touch on made this such a compelling collection. The themes of toxic love, loss, trauma, and so much more became the focal point of each story’s dark twist, and the imagery and dialogue surrounding those themes in each story felt like something out of a Mike Flannigan show, speaking to the depth of what it means to be human against the backdrop of a great horror story.

The Verdict

Shocking, emotional, and heart-pounding, author Jennifer Anne Gordon’s “The Japanese Box and Other Stories” is a must-read horror anthology. The surprising, at times jarring twists each story takes onto itself and the heartfelt themes that speak to so many of us and touch upon everything from mental health to relationships and more, made this a gripping collection that you will return to time and time again. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!

Rating: 10/10

About the Author

JENNIFER ANNE GORDON is a professional ballroom dancer and choreographer by day, and a curly haired neurotic writer by night. She is an actor, a traveler, a photographer, a lover of Gothic Horror, and a dog mom. She lives in the wilds of New Hampshire with her partner on and off the dance floor. Her novels include the Kindle Award for Horror 2020 Winning book, Beautiful, Frightening, and Silent, as well as the historical Gothic novel From Daylight to Madness (The Hotel #1) as well as When The Sleeping Dead Still Talk (The Hotel #2). She also has a published collection of her artwork, titled “Victoriana {mixed media art of jennifer anne gordon}.

for benevolent stalking purposes you can visit her website http://www.JenniferAnneGordon.com