Trigger Warning
Short Fictions and Disturbances
-
-
4.3 • 133 Ratings
-
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
Multiple award winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman returns to dazzle, captivate, haunt, and entertain with this third collection of short fiction following Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things—which includes a never-before published American Gods story, “Black Dog,” written exclusively for this volume.
In this new anthology, Neil Gaiman pierces the veil of reality to reveal the enigmatic, shadowy world that lies beneath. Trigger Warning includes previously published pieces of short fiction—stories, verse, and a very special Doctor Who story that was written for the fiftieth anniversary of the beloved series in 2013—as well “Black Dog,” a new tale that revisits the world of American Gods, exclusive to this collection.
Trigger Warning explores the masks we all wear and the people we are beneath them to reveal our vulnerabilities and our truest selves. Here is a rich cornucopia of horror and ghosts stories, science fiction and fairy tales, fabulism and poetry that explore the realm of experience and emotion. In Adventure Story—a thematic companion to The Ocean at the End of the Lane—Gaiman ponders death and the way people take their stories with them when they die. His social media experience A Calendar of Tales are short takes inspired by replies to fan tweets about the months of the year—stories of pirates and the March winds, an igloo made of books, and a Mother’s Day card that portends disturbances in the universe. Gaiman offers his own ingenious spin on Sherlock Holmes in his award-nominated mystery tale The Case of Death and Honey. And Click-Clack the Rattlebag explains the creaks and clatter we hear when we’re all alone in the darkness.
A sophisticated writer whose creative genius is unparalleled, Gaiman entrances with his literary alchemy, transporting us deep into the realm of imagination, where the fantastical becomes real and the everyday incandescent. Full of wonder and terror, surprises and amusements, Trigger Warning is a treasury of delights that engage the mind, stir the heart, and shake the soul from one of the most unique and popular literary artists of our day.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
We’ve always loved the way Neil Gaiman blurs the boundary between reality and the supernatural, and his third collection of short stories is an intense, channel-surfing rush of dark and fantastically imaginative fiction. Fans of the bestselling author will savor “Black Dog,” a companion piece to Gaiman’s awe-inspiring American Gods written exclusively for this anthology. But Trigger Warning also makes a riveting introduction to Gaiman’s wildly creative gifts, alternating among bite-sized stories of crisp whimsy (“Adventure Story”), picturesque melancholy (“Down to a Sunless Sea”), and twisted fairy tales (“The Sleeper and the Spindle”).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gaiman (The Ocean at the End of the Lane) again delivers masterful compositions and style in his third collection. His decision to include poetry is vindicated by the concrete images in "Making a Chair" and the mournful tones of "Witch Work." Among the prose pieces are two works of stark horror: " The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains...' " and "My Last Landlady." The experimental "ORANGE" and the collected internet project "A Calendar of Tales" represent the rewards of Gaiman's fearlessness in storytelling. He also includes shared-world tales, revisiting Sherlock Holmes in "The Case of Death and Honey" and Doctor Who in "Nothing O'Clock." In "Kether to Malkuth" Gaiman creates a new mythology with the flavor of science fiction, while "The Sleeper and the Spindle" is a delightful fusion fairytale that subverts tropes and creates a new sense of wonder. Both enthusiasts of short fiction and fans of Gaiman's longer works may approach this volume with confidence. Full of small and perfect jewel-like tales, this collection is a thrilling treasure.
Customer Reviews
Wide Ranging Collection by a World Class Author
Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances
is a 2015 collection of shorter works by Neil Gaiman. It includes everything from poetry to an award winning novelette. It’s his third collection of short fiction, and includes a wide variety of stories. The title is based on the idea that one should be warned is there is potentially disturbing content within…
There are 24 stories, poems, etc. listed in the index. However, there’s a bonus short-short story in the introduction called “Shadder.” It might also be argued that the story “A Calendar of Tales” is 12 stories in itself. This story was reportedly an experiment in writing and social media, and Mr. Gaiman says about it that, ““This was one of the oddest and most pleasant things I’ve done in the last few years.”
There’s a story set in the world of “American Gods” involving Shadow Moon that was written for this collection. There’s a Doctor Who story involving the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond. There’s a story involving Sherlock Holmes and some bees. There’s many more, and almost all of them are very good. In the beginning of the book, the author explains the background of each story, which is a bit odd, but he does give the reader permission to read it after reading the stories if they would prefer.
Great book.
Fantastic work, as to be expected from Neil Gaiman.
Fair warning though.The page count is an outright lie (big shocker from Apple). Even with the font size maxed out, the book is only 305 pages, not the 352 they claim in the store.