A Collapse of Horses

A Collapse of Horses is a collection of short stories that blend horror, suspense and psychological uncertainty. The book contains fifteen stories that examine the boundaries between reality and perception. The titular story focuses on a man who cannot determine if there are four or five horses in a corral, while other stories feature characters grappling with physical and mental trauma, shifts in reality, and questions of identity. The narratives move through settings both familiar and strange - from isolated ranches to research facilities to domestic spaces turned hostile. The stories engage with themes of paranoia, destabilized truth, and the unreliability of memory and observation. Through stark prose and controlled ambiguity, Evenson creates a sustained atmosphere of dread while exploring how humans respond when their understanding of reality begins to break down.

Readers describe the collection as unsettling horror stories that blur reality and perception. Most found the writing style precise and minimalist, with some comparing it to Cormac McCarthy's sparse prose. Readers appreciated: - Ambiguous endings that leave room for interpretation - Psychological tension rather than gore - Clean, methodical writing that builds dread - Stories that question reality and mental states Common criticisms: - Too many similar themes across stories - Some stories feel incomplete or abrupt - Writing can be too detached and clinical Ratings: Goodreads: 4.0/5 (1,100+ ratings) Amazon: 4.3/5 (90+ ratings) Notable reader comments: "Like being trapped in someone else's paranoid delusion" - Goodreads reviewer "Clinical prose that makes the horror more effective" - Amazon reviewer "Stories start strong but often end without resolution" - LibraryThing review

The North Water by Ian McGuire This historical thriller follows a murderous crew aboard a nineteenth-century whaling ship through brutal acts of violence and psychological warfare in the Arctic wasteland.

Teatro Grottesco by Thomas Ligotti These interconnected stories present a world where corporate entities, factory workers, and artists exist in metaphysical spaces that blur reality and nightmare.

The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall A man who loses his memory discovers he is being pursued by a conceptual shark that feeds on human memories and identities.

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer A biologist leads an expedition into a mysterious zone where laws of nature break down and reality shifts beneath the surface of observation.

The Grip of It by Jac Jemc A couple moves into a house that begins to mirror their psychological deterioration through unexplained physical changes and temporal distortions.

🔖 Brian Evenson left the Mormon church and resigned from Brigham Young University after controversy surrounding his first book, "Altmann's Tongue," and its violent content. 🔖 The title story "A Collapse of Horses" explores the unreliability of perception through a narrator who cannot determine whether there are four or five horses in a field, or if they are alive or dead. 🔖 The collection blends elements of horror, science fiction, and literary fiction, earning praise from both genre and mainstream critics for its ability to defy categorization. 🔖 Several stories in the collection were inspired by Evenson's interest in philosophy, particularly questions about consciousness and reality, which he studied during his academic career. 🔖 The book was named one of NPR's Best Books of 2016 and received the Shirley Jackson Award nomination for its masterful exploration of psychological horror.