Hailey Piper
Author of The Worm and His Kings
About the Author
Image credit: Author promo photo from her website
Series
Works by Hailey Piper
Associated Works
Howls From the Dark Ages: An Anthology of Medieval Horror (2022) — Contributor — 97 copies, 9 reviews
Aseptic and Faintly Sadistic: An Anthology of Hysteria Fiction (2023) — Contributor — 9 copies, 2 reviews
Dark Matter Presents Zero Dark Thirty: The 30 Darkest Stories from Dark Matter Magazine, 2021-'22 (2023) — Contributor — 3 copies
The Wild Hunt: Stories of the Chase — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- female
- Short biography
- Hailey Piper is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth, All the Hearts You Eat, A Light Most Hateful, The Worm and His Kings series, and other books of dark fiction. She is also the author of over 100 short stories appearing in Weird Tales, Pseudopod, Cosmic Horror Monthly, Cast of Wonders, and various other publications. Her non-fiction appears in Writer's Digest, Library Journal, CrimeReads, and elsewhere. She lives with her wife in Maryland, where their cosmic rituals are secret. Find Hailey at www.haileypiper.com.
Members
Reviews
There's a part of me that would like to think that A Game in Yellow should be a cult classic. In the near-month it's taken me to collect my thoughts and review it, I've come to the following conclusions: (1) The book is great and everyone should read it and (2) I cannot actually recommend the book to anyone. Now, at first glance, these sound completely contradictory to one another. How can one love a book but not recommend anyone read it? Well, the answer's simple: A Game in Yellow is a book show more written for a very specific audience. A niche of a niche. The polarized reception I've seen in reviews speaks to that loud and clear. You either "get" it, or you don't. I don't mean that in an ivory tower, navel-gazey kind of way, either. In the most literal sense: this book will either work for you, or it won't. If you just want more "The King in Yellow"/Carcosa mythos stuff, you'll probably hate this.
Erotic horror is a hard enough sell; erotic cosmic horror is another beast entirely. That's what makes this near-impossible for me to recommend to anyone, even when I absolutely, 100% do recommend it. The cosmic horror people in my life don't like erotica; the erotica/erotic horror fans don't want to touch cosmic horror. And it's such a shame because, in all honesty, the genre shift from almost pure erotica to full-blown eldritch horror is so masterfully done. There's no way it should work so well, yet it's seamless.
Horror isn't a genre known for its prose, so Piper's wordsmithing stands out, alternating between the short, punchy descriptions typical of horror and ethereal, dreamlike passages that call sanity into question. Maybe I'm just easily impressed, but I think this is one of the best written (modern) horror stories I've read, from a pure prose point-of-view. Even "pulpy" genres benefit from good prose, as long as it's saying something. And, boy, is there a lot to be said...
At the start of this review I said you'll either "get" this or you won't. You will either understand why the main character, Carmen, is the way she is, or you won't. If you don't "get" it, she will probably come across as one of the worst, most unlikeable, toxic protagonists in horror fiction (and, honestly, you wouldn't be wrong for thinking so). But that's just it, isn't it? When you've hit rock bottom, scraping the walls of anhedonia for any bit of enjoyment from the shapeless grey mass that is living, untreated, with depression and trauma, you tend to become... well, toxic and unlikeable. People don't like looking in the mirror and introspecting. And that's really what A Game in Yellow is about: the search for pleasure, any pleasure, no matter the cost. The play, the Stranger, Carcosa... it's all just set dressing and props for the real horror: depression, and how it ultimately destroys everything it touches.
Maybe I'm talking out of my ass. Maybe I read too much of my own experiences into it. But writing as a depressed lesbian, this was the book I never knew I needed. So yes, read this book; skim the sex if you can't stomach it. Hailey Piper is one of horror's secret weapons. show less
Erotic horror is a hard enough sell; erotic cosmic horror is another beast entirely. That's what makes this near-impossible for me to recommend to anyone, even when I absolutely, 100% do recommend it. The cosmic horror people in my life don't like erotica; the erotica/erotic horror fans don't want to touch cosmic horror. And it's such a shame because, in all honesty, the genre shift from almost pure erotica to full-blown eldritch horror is so masterfully done. There's no way it should work so well, yet it's seamless.
Horror isn't a genre known for its prose, so Piper's wordsmithing stands out, alternating between the short, punchy descriptions typical of horror and ethereal, dreamlike passages that call sanity into question. Maybe I'm just easily impressed, but I think this is one of the best written (modern) horror stories I've read, from a pure prose point-of-view. Even "pulpy" genres benefit from good prose, as long as it's saying something. And, boy, is there a lot to be said...
At the start of this review I said you'll either "get" this or you won't. You will either understand why the main character, Carmen, is the way she is, or you won't. If you don't "get" it, she will probably come across as one of the worst, most unlikeable, toxic protagonists in horror fiction (and, honestly, you wouldn't be wrong for thinking so). But that's just it, isn't it? When you've hit rock bottom, scraping the walls of anhedonia for any bit of enjoyment from the shapeless grey mass that is living, untreated, with depression and trauma, you tend to become... well, toxic and unlikeable. People don't like looking in the mirror and introspecting. And that's really what A Game in Yellow is about: the search for pleasure, any pleasure, no matter the cost. The play, the Stranger, Carcosa... it's all just set dressing and props for the real horror: depression, and how it ultimately destroys everything it touches.
Maybe I'm talking out of my ass. Maybe I read too much of my own experiences into it. But writing as a depressed lesbian, this was the book I never knew I needed. So yes, read this book; skim the sex if you can't stomach it. Hailey Piper is one of horror's secret weapons. show less
A homeless woman follows a person-snatching monster hoping to track down her missing partner, and discovers a strange and terrifying underground cult centred around the worship of a cosmic worm who once went back and changed the distant past on a whim, wiping out a whole world and replacing it with ours, and is ready to do so again at any moment, possibly when someone finds it a worthy bride. Through horrors and betrayal, this builds to a vision of cosmic transcendence, all in a compact show more hundred or so pages. Remarkable, and moving, particularly Monique's survival of a botched back-street surgery and attempted kidney harvesting with the help of the then-indomitable Donna, leaving her scarred and traumatised but somehow stronger and willing to defy that darn ol' cosmic worm. show less
I won a physical copy of Benny Rose, The Cannibal King, from the author Hailey Piper, in a Twitter giveaway. What follows below is my honest review, freely given.
I rated this novella 5 stars.
I’ll be honest, this made up for Halloween being canceled this year, I was practically giddy the whole read through. This even made up for the fact I haven’t really been able to watch my scary movies while everyone is quarantining at home (light sleepers and not fans) and movie theaters are in show more perpetual hibernation. It reads like a coked up 80’s cult film, one with Tom Savini working his phenomenal magic and fresh(ish) offal for that extra touch of realism. I mean this with the upmost love and appreciation.
The author builds up the legend of the Cannibal King for us readers, making us feel the connection to the town’s history and almost obeisance they have towards celebrating his story at Halloween. I did imagine more of a Mads Mikkelsen sort of Cannibal King, I think the last name Rose gave me a false sense of propriety for him. But he is a thing of anger and supernatural manifestation, an evil that will not be still; she wrote his physical appearance and attributes to reflect as such. He could compete with Laird Barron’s Old Leech for do not want to touch, or be touched by, thank you very much.
The final sections of the novella, the point of no return, do or die for our heroines, were some of the most satisfying sections of fiction to read, hands down. Not going to spoil it for anyone, just going to say give this a read, maybe, if anything above sounded interesting. I think you will be in for a treat. show less
I rated this novella 5 stars.
I’ll be honest, this made up for Halloween being canceled this year, I was practically giddy the whole read through. This even made up for the fact I haven’t really been able to watch my scary movies while everyone is quarantining at home (light sleepers and not fans) and movie theaters are in show more perpetual hibernation. It reads like a coked up 80’s cult film, one with Tom Savini working his phenomenal magic and fresh(ish) offal for that extra touch of realism. I mean this with the upmost love and appreciation.
The author builds up the legend of the Cannibal King for us readers, making us feel the connection to the town’s history and almost obeisance they have towards celebrating his story at Halloween. I did imagine more of a Mads Mikkelsen sort of Cannibal King, I think the last name Rose gave me a false sense of propriety for him. But he is a thing of anger and supernatural manifestation, an evil that will not be still; she wrote his physical appearance and attributes to reflect as such. He could compete with Laird Barron’s Old Leech for do not want to touch, or be touched by, thank you very much.
The final sections of the novella, the point of no return, do or die for our heroines, were some of the most satisfying sections of fiction to read, hands down. Not going to spoil it for anyone, just going to say give this a read, maybe, if anything above sounded interesting. I think you will be in for a treat. show less
Ok, so this was both my first Hailey Piper book and my first foray into cosmic horror. I am thrilled to have found an author I really love! And I am confused as hell about what I just read. So the story was great, creepy stuff going on, characters I liked and identified with. Spectacular representation of queer characters and also a homeless MC, very rare. I was able to follow and enjoy this completely for almost the entirety of the book. It wasn't until the last few pages that I became show more completely lost and still don't understand what happened. It's ok, I still liked the ending, I just don't know what happened. I'm sure there are people out there that are far smarter than myself that followed every detail up to the ending and know what happened. Those people are welcome to let me know their opinion because I am stumped but not even mad about it. Loved the book and am super excited to read more by Hailey in the future. If the future still exists, because I'm not sure after that ending. show less
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