Cursed Bunny

Cursed Bunny is a difficult book by design. These stories are sharp, and they hurt. The harm they depict is not abstract or symbolic; it is intimate, procedural, and unrelenting, and the reader feels that weight directly.

Several of the most punishing stories contain a faint glimmer of hope. At times, that hope is explicit; at others, I found myself supplying it simply to get through the story. Without that imagined possibility—however fragile or illusory—I would not have been able to continue reading. On rereading, that hope would be gone, which makes returning to certain stories impossible for me.

Each story operates on multiple layers: bodily horror, domestic cruelty, gendered violence, and the vulnerability of children and show more animals. These layers do not function independently. Together, they form a system in which harm is normalized and escape is rare.

What binds the collection is the idea that trauma does not end. Cursed Bunny is shaped by the long aftermath of the unresolved Korean War. The war functions less as historical background than as an ongoing condition—one that seeps into daily life, relationships, and institutions.

This is not a comforting book, nor does it attempt to be. It offers no catharsis and no redemption. What it offers instead is recognition. Chung asks the reader to look closely and understand that for many people, this is not metaphor or exaggeration but lived reality.

I admired this collection deeply. I would recommend it with care. And I would not return to its most brutal stories again—not because they failed, but because they accomplished exactly what they set out to do. show less

4.5

This book was an unparalleled journey into the realm of the bizarre and the macabre. As I delved into its first story, my initial reaction was a bewildered "What on earth did I just read?" Yet, as I progressed to the second tale, by the story's conclusion, I found myself utterly speechless. By the midpoint of the book, a peculiar blend of fascination and discomfort had taken root within me. It was as if this book had unearthed the most unsettling of emotions, which astounded me given that these emotions were evoked solely by words inked on pages.

Attempting to elucidate the content of any of the stories within would be a disservice to the prospective reader. This is a book best approached with absolute ignorance, as even with some show more prior knowledge, I found myself woefully unprepared for the riveting, and often disconcerting, narratives that unfolded within its pages. show less

Absolutely one of my best reads this year :0 The book started with lots of magical realism. It's like Budi Darma but with more angst. The first one was already a punch in the gut, and then it got better and better. Chung carefully added horror, folk-lore, sci-fi, and fantasy to the mix and nailed every single one. Gdi she's so talented it's almost a cheat. My favorites are The Embodiment and Scars, but every piece was stellar. With engaging story telling, simple writing, great pacing, heart wrenching twists and open endings, her short stories are complete circles that leave you squirming and breathless, simultaneously needing a timeout and wanting for more. Ms. Bora Chung, you got a fan in me.

I really enjoyed this short story collection that showcases Chung's span of talent. From weird horror that feels like something out of a Junji Ito collection to narrative fairy tales that would fit easily alongside any Grimm tale. "Suspend disbelief" is the best advice heading into this collection because yes it's weird as hell, sometimes leaving you completely confused and sometimes looking at a wall when you're done because you think you just had your world rocked.
My weird fiction horror friends should give this one a go, especially if you enjoyed the ending of Sayaka Murata's "Earthlings" or the Mona Awads feverish scenes in "Bunny".

This was my translated book for March 2023.

Excellent! Slow burn supernatural, ghosts, drama, and horror. Cursed Bunny is a collection of short stories that range from exceptionally weird (The Head) to haunting (Reunion).

The title story, Cursed Bunny, is a rift on the idea that family always comes back to haunt you in one way or another. You can change your circumstance, but you can't change your family. Ruler of The Winds and Sands is a gorgeous fairy tale with the same hideous underpinning. I loved the heroine of the story.

There were a few times that the translated text felt awkward in context, but overall it was perfectly fine reading in English.

When I made eye contact with this strange-looking bunny on the "purple" display, it immediately caught my attention. When I read that it was a "genre-defying translated collection of short stories," I absolutely couldn't resist. Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung and translated by Anton Hur is certainly something new. I love getting my hands on a story originally written in another language to see the way the tone translates into English, and Cursed Bunny did not disappoint. This collection starts off extremely strong and extremely off-putting, just as promised. I felt like I stepped into an episode of black mirror from the very first sentence. It's simultaneously witty, and it's' jarring. I didn't absolutely love every story in the collection, show more but the good ones made it worth the read. show less

I have mixed feelings about this short story collection. Some of the stories I will definitely remember due to their strangeness/grossness, but I can't say that they really did much for me. I'm just kinda over body horror and allegorical tales in general. I'm also disappointed this made the International Booker Prize shortlist over "More Than I Love My Life," but there's just no accounting for taste.