Blanky

 Last Spooky Season I gave Sour Candy and Dead Leaves a read, so this year a bought two more. I feel like this author just gets me. I like horror, but I do prefer it short, so his collection of novellas is superb. 
This is a unique tale of loss, grief, and coming to grips with what's real. It's even more uniquely interlinked within almost Baba Yaga-esque nightmare-scapes. I don't usually like dreams in stories—the what is, and what is not real undertones—as they don't often work for me, but the author uses a deft hand to integrate them in ways that compliment the main characters detachment while he's awake. 
I also enjoyed how the author gives us a supernatural/paranormal story, but with the stages of grief on display, the level of alcohol being consumed, and the character being in the bowels of despair, it could also be entirely imagined...maybe even personally caused? 
Enjoyable and quick. 

Absolutely harrowing! This story is not for everyone - but if you can handle it, Blanky is a great read. If you're looking for something brief, gripping, and very, very dark, I'd definitely recommend it.