The Bone Mother

This is an interesting little book where the story is told in a series of very short stories, that are like diary entries. Some of them take place in Eastern Europe, some take place in Canada with immigrant families, but all of them have the slow burn of folk horror to them. I wouldn’t say that any of them are outright “scary”, but the collection of stories and what they slowly unveil and piece together is horrifying. I really enjoyed how this book has the feeling of short stories that leave a lot to the imagination—you won’t enjoy this book if you want all the loose ends tied up! I think that the back cover description has more explanation than the book itself. Demchuk gives us enough little tidbits that leave a reader hungry show more for more. show less

Oh, wow! I think I may have found my new favorite horror author!

Well, new for me, anyway. He's been around for many years but mostly as a short story artist. But after meeting him and listening to him speak at a convention, I knew I had to read his work. Sharp mind, deep horror sensibility. :) But even without meeting him, this book is an awesome treat.

Ukranian in flavor, we have all the Slavic influences at the fore. Each story in here makes up a much larger picture of the surrounding area filled with VERY creepy influences. You know, like the Night Police, parents eating their children, mass starvation, government-sponsored assassinations, children never growing up, Strigoi, old witches feeding children worms, and a dark mystery that show more weaves through every story in the best possible way.

Sound cool? It gets better. Demchuk has a WAY WITH WORDS. At first, I thought he was writing in a minimalist way, but it's better than that. He writes like poetry.

The rhythm to his writing is more than compelling. It takes over your heart and pumps your blood for you. I generally never get scared with horror books. Generally. But this one managed to burrow under my skin and wrap around my spine, making me twinge with every new creepy reveal.

I'm totally thrilled. It's like Angela Slater decided to focus on horror. :) My eyes are wide open, now. I'm going to keep a very sharp eye on this writer. :) show less

This is a series of vignettes, each narrated by a different person, set mostly in and around the Ukraine, framing traditional fairy tales and mythical creatures in the real world of WWII and Soviet occupation. I picked this up because it was short-listed for the Shirley Jackson Award in the best novel category, but I couldn't find the narrative thread that would tie these vignettes together into what I would consider to be a novel. I thought the writing was good, and I enjoyed the photographs of (real) people that preceded each vignette, but I think I would have been lost without the publisher's description on the back of the book. Still, interesting and different.

I can sum this one up in two words: LOVED IT!

Told as a series of short stories, I adored the way THE BONE MOTHER was presented. Each tale was preceded by a photograph and I found that those photos gave a face to the characters in each vignette.

The tales themselves were very dark. They all came together,( mostly), at the end, to tell a story of pure evil. Told from Ukranian/Romanian points of view, these characters named horrors that I admittedly know little about: The Holodomor, for instance. Easily over 3 million dead, yet most Americans I've met know nothing about it. Why? References to Kristallnacht, and other horrific events in history also appear, all of which add to the darkness and brutal honesty of this volume.

In some ways, show more though, these tales do have a lighter side to them-isn't it often the darkest of times that bring out the best in people? These characters sacrificed and loved each other, despite the often miserable lives and events they faced. In that way, this book SHINES.

The writing was gorgeous and descriptive without being overly wordy. The presentation just blew me away. The photographs, the stories, the horror, the love and finally the darkness of it all-combined they make THE BONE MOTHER.

My HIGHEST recommendation!

*I received this paperback from the author with no strings attached. I read it, loved it and here we are!* show less

After falling in love with Demchuk's Red X, I was anxious to read this older work, and although I'm still not sure whether to call it a collection or a novel--even after finishing it--the sheer breadth and exploration of this work kept me engaged throughout, and I expect I'll read it again in order to pick up on the nuances that I'm sure I missed this time around. Through legend, inter-generational storytelling, photos, and something of a collage-built style, this work makes for a fascinating journey.

Absolutely recommended.

This is not a novel; rather it is a group of folk stories and vignettes based in superstitions and myths of the Carpathian Mountains region along the borders of Poland, Ukraine, Slovakia, and Romania. The common thread is the cultural overlap of the various ethnic groups of the region: the Yevrei (Jews), Lemkos, Hutsuls, Boykos, and Rusnaks (AKA Rushes), each with distinct dialects of Slavic language and distinct but overlapping cultures. Only a couple of the stories approached horror, but the actual horror was largely remote, which made the stories more creepy and sometimes gruesome than evoking fear. Only a couple of the stories seemed flat, perhaps because they lacked immediacy and were told in the second or third person. But, on the show more whole, I enjoyed the collection, especially for an introduction to a region and cultures I know little about. show less

Wonderfully creepy stories about people who are not what they seem. I liked the eastern European folklore and how it was seamlessly inserted to recent history and present day. The style was unique, like putting together pieces of a puzzle to figure out what was going on, but in a a good way.