I received this book from The Next Best Book Club in exchange for an honest review.
Darrin Doyle’s short story collection The Dark Will End The Dark features an array of strange and horrifying stories. Doyle does an excellent job of creating tension, especially the slow build of it to create feelings of dread and horror. There are many unlikable protagonists we follow here and honestly it’s enjoyable to see what fate awaits them, just as it’s nice to read some of the more hesitant protagonists slowly realizing what is happening around them. I loved how varied each of the stories were and think this is a fantastic collection of stories!
Read my thoughts on each of the stories in the collection here:
The Tugboat to Traverse City – 4/5: An eerie, tension filled story. I love the unease that Doyle built in this story and the vague, mystery of it all without a revelation. Sometimes life is mysterious, strange, sad, and scary without any answers, which only further builds the dread in this story.
Foot – 3.5/5: A super weird story but I loved how exaggerated the characters reactions and choices were, it made the horror of it both casual and disturbing at the same time.
The Hiccup King – 3.5/5: One of the longer stories in the collection, and no horror elements in this one compared to the previous stories in the collection. Doyle does a good job showing the frustration of his protagonist in this story and it was softer than the other two. A nice palette cleanser.
Penis – 2/5: Weaker than the previous stories. I’m pretty sure I understand the context but it was a bit too short and vague to hold my interest.
Head – 3/5: Another bizarre story, but a lot of fun! While I thought the story itself could be trimmed down a bit, I thought the characters were a lot of fun and I liked seeing them navigate the weirdness of the story.
Ha-Ha, Shirt – 5 stars: Easily the best story in the collection. The voice of the main character was amazing and I loved how dark it was and the slow build-up of horror and dread. Absolutely fantastic!
Mouth – 4/5: A good, short scary read. A very concise story.
Barney Hester – 4/5: Another one of my favourites, this story is a great length but could easily be turned into a novel of it’s own. I loved how it moved between the past and present, the mystery, and seeing the narrator try to understand the strange incident he witnessed as a child.
Eyes – 2/5: This one confused me a lot. I have a vague idea of what might be happening, but I’d have liked it more if it was clearer.
Arms – 3/5: This story felt like a Twilight Zone episode, which I liked, but I would have liked know the world of this story just a touch more to better understand it.
Hand – 4/5: An eerie story, I liked the slow understanding of what was happening and the sadness of it all. Doyle does a great job of building suspense in this story.
Happy Turkey Day – 4/5: Another longer one, I think Doyle does a great job planting the pieces of this story so that it becomes clearly understood in the end. That being said, there are a lot of characters in this one and sometimes it’s hard to remember who is who, but otherwise a very strong story.
Face – 3/5: This story confused me, and I know that was partly the point of it. I’m not a body horror fan so this was a hard read for me, I just wish it had been a bit clearer.
Neck – 2/5: Not my favourite. I liked how different the writing style was in this one, almost like a script, but the story doesn’t fit as well in the collection as the others.
Sores – 3.5/5: More body horror! I liked this story a lot but I am curious if this story was a first draft of his novel The Beast in Aisle 34 since both this story and the novel feature unlikable, recently divorced protagonists who are experiencing strange things happening to their body after their wives left them to marry a woman after realizing they were lesbians. It’s just weird to read twice!
Publication: October 7 2025
Publisher: Tortoise Books
Pages: 220 pages (Digital)
Source: The Next Best Book Club
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Horror
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤⛤
Summary:
A group of tugboat passengers grapples with a disturbing loss. A record-holding hiccuper confronts his condition—and a troubling secret. A wife wonders what to do when her husband’s head stops working—but his body stays alive. A man struggles with the memory of the time he saw his friend swallowed whole by a neighborhood girl with supernatural powers.
In this classic set of Midwestern Gothic stories by Darrin Doyle, we see the strange hold hands with the familiar—and seem all the more strange as a result. A set of tall tales (and medium-height ones) told with Nabokovian prose, this stunning and visceral collection by the author of The Beast in Aisle 34 will linger long after the last page.
Sarah O'Connor 