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Kinship and Kindness by Kara Jorgensen

Bennett Reynard needs one thing: to speak to the Rougarou about starting a union for shifters in New York City before the delegation arrives. When his dirigible finally lands in Louisiana, he finds the Rougarou is gone and in his stead is his handsome son, Theo, who seems to care for everyone but himself. Hoping he can still petition the Rougarou, Bennett stays only to find he is growing dangerously close to Theo Bisclavret. Theo Bisclavret thought he had finally come to terms with never being able to take his father’s place as the Rougarou, but with his father stuck in England and a delegation of werewolves arriving in town, Theo’s quiet life is thrown into chaos as he and his sister take over his duties. Assuming his father’s place has salted old wounds, but when a stranger arrives offering to help, Theo knows he can’t say no, even if Mr. Reynard makes him long for things he had sworn off years ago. As rivals arrive to challenge Theo for power and destroy the life Bennett has built, ...
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Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones

We thought we'd play a fun prank on her, and now most of us are dead.

One last laugh for the summer as it winds down. One last prank just to scare a friend. Bringing a mannequin into a theater is just some harmless fun, right? Until it wakes up. Until it starts killing.

Luckily, Sawyer has a plan. He'll be a hero. He'll save everyone to the best of his ability. He'll do whatever he needs to so he can save the day. That's the thing about heroes--sometimes you have to become a monster first.

TITLE: Night of the Mannequins
AUTHOR: Stephen Graham Jones, narrated by Gary Tiedemann
PUBLISHER: Tantor Media
YEAR: 2020
LENGTH: 144 pages (2 hours 58 minutes)
AGE: Adult
GENRE: Horror, Thriller
RECOMMENDED: Highly

Queer Rep Summary: No canon queer rep.

NIGHT OF THE MANNEQUINS is an absorbing thriller, expertly balanced and engrossing until the last moments. 

Sawyer is a careful but unreliable narrator. He faithfully tells what happened, but his idea of what is literally happening versus what he's merely convinced is happening leaves a lot of very unsettling possibilities open. By the end I settled on an answer, but part of me still thinks the second option is viable. It shook me on a fundamental level and I’m still thinking about it days later. The story is told mostly linearly, and those small deviations from linearity start to add up as Sawyer gradually decides to tell backstory when it becomes necessary (but usually well after it’s first relevant).

It’s fantastic, I loved every minute! I can’t recommend it highly enough. 

CW for grief (graphic), racial slur (brief), ableism (brief), cursing, mental illness, sexual content (brief), vomit, violence, gore, medical content (brief), car accident (brief), suicidal thoughts, suicide, murder (graphic), child death (graphic), death (graphic).

TW for Harry Potter reference (brief).

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A hand reaches to touch roughly-written lettering which reads "Night of the Mannequins"


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