This book of horror stories was unique from the outset. Grudova's writing is viceral and almost dreamlike in each of these bizarre, strange short stories. I loved the flow and the interconnectedness of the stories, if only in small motifs and reoccuring themes or objects rather than the plots themselves. Many stories had moments reminiscent of Alison Rumfit's work in their disgusting, matter of fact writing and while I definitely favoured some stories over others, I simply couldn't put this book down right from the outset.

Highlights for me include, Ivor - the story of a very strange boarding school and it's star pupil, and The Green Hat - which focuses on the maid working for an infamous chemist. Every story had an eerie and often tense underlying feeling which I absolutely loved. I'm very excited to read more of Grudova's work, and hope to find a horror, longer form story as I do think her writing style would lend itself exceptionally well to a novel. I'd recommend The Coiled Serpent to any fans of unsettling and uncomfortable horror stories as there is bound to be a few stories that will connect with any reader.

This is definitely a short story collection...
Okay let's be serious, what is it with me and short stories? They just don't work for me ever.

I'm the last person to dislike "surreal" and "gross" books. I'm a very big fan of grimdark and weirdfiction but The Coiled Serpent didn't do it for me at all.

A praise from me: Grudova does know how to write disgusting shit. They have a very specific voice that gives you slight goosebumps and a very weird feeling in the back of your throat.

Now to the unkind part of the review.

I was going to write a little review about every story but decided against it after noticing that each story was irritating me just like the one before.

First of all, there's way too much detail and description. Everything gets described, from the grandma we will never see again, to the bedsheets that don't matter, to the chocolate bar that I don't give a fuck about. Texture, look, feel, and so on. Most of the stories are filled with descriptions instead of, y'know, story.

Speaking of chocolate. I don't know if this was on purpose but there is chocolate in every damn story. I can't tell if these things are meant to be or if the author just really likes them and accidentally threw them into each story and was like "I think that sounds fine!"

Another thing that a lot of the stories suffer from is the fact that there is almost no build up at all. Mostly, we sit there and read some 20 pages and at the 19th page it's like "everyone is weird and the house isn't a house btw lol" and we're like "oh... okay, now what?" just to be met with the title of the next story.

Reading this felt like a 500 page long chore that I do not want to repeat again. But I do believe that Grudova has the ability to shape themselves into a well liked author and I think that I'd give them another try if they publish a story that has the room and time to breath and become.

Thank you to Netgalley, the Publisher and Camilla Grudova for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Coiled Serpent is a collection of repulsive and dreadful short stories. Despite that, I was really intrigued! If you're into nauseating stories, you will enjoy this! It reminded me of Ottessa Moshfegh's writing. The Custard Factory, The Poison Garden, and Ivor stood out to me as favorites. The writing is very straightforward which I felt worked well with the unsettling stories.

A collection of sixteen short stories, each with a surreal bent and a snaking sense of social commentary.

‘Through Ceilings and Walls’ is a deeply unsettling portrayal of England (a recurring theme), though its abrupt ending arguably saps some of its impact; ‘Ivor’ takes more specific aim at the oddity of British boarding schools. ‘Banya Banya!’ has plenty of stomach-turning descriptions but not a great deal else. “The Custard Factory’ reiterates Grudova’s interest in age and ageing. ‘The Green Hat’ is a Victorian fable with a sting in the tail, and hints at a more than thematic connection between the stories in the collection. ‘Hoo Hoo’ closes out the collection with a glimpse of a post-apocalyptic world as idiosyncratic as any of the shared spaces in her other stories.

The stories delight in disgust and disconnection. Many of them meander, not quite reaching emotional fulfilment or much in the way of an ending; in some, that’s the point, while others seem constructed around a single detail plucked from a fever dream. Above all there is a strong sense of tone, something as sickly and poisoned and mean-spirited as the culture it satirises.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

A slightly discomforting and unusual read for sure. It’s not just the very raw and visceral description and mention of all kinds of body fluids. You feel slightly dirty after reading, like you need a shower to wash off the grime these stories leave. They are bleak and weird and often feel like a constant train of thought. In parts, they seem borderline ridiculous, which reminded me of watching Monty Python as a way too young kid. The surreal absurdity is sometimes funny, sometimes shocking, sometimes just bleak and makes you wonder. Overall to me, though, many of the stories failed to leave an impression in the long run, some worked better than others, but it’s nothing I will think about for too long as it also started to feel a bit repetitive and monotonous after a while. 2.5-3 stars

Dare I say, this book is the sister to Bora Chung’s cursed bunny!!

This short story collection is distinguished by its unsettling yet compelling narratives, where the bizarre becomes a lens to explore the corrupted side of humanity. Each story features a striking blend of horror and whimsy and delves into themes of revenge, capitalism, and sexism. The prose is straightforward, allowing for easy visualization of the grotesque images that linger long after reading. All in all, "The Coiled Serpent" gave me the chills I have been longing for in a horror book.

Out of the 16 stories, I thoroughly enjoyed the following:
The Custard Factory | The Green Hat | A Novel about Fan, aged 11 years | or the Zoo | Avalon | The Poison Garden | The Surrogates | Madame Floras | The Coiled Serpent | The Meat Eater | The Apartment | Hoo Hoo

I have liked body horror before but this was just not enjoyable, perhaps I just don't want to hear so many references to faeces and vomit. It seemed like the goal was just to be gross at any cost. This may work for some people, but it did not work for me.

Description:
A collection of short stories - mainly weird fiction and body horror. The unifying theme is grossness; they all go out of their way to be as disgusting as possible.

Liked:
Two of my favourites were probably the least gross, and one was gross but in a way that felt more relevant. Hoo Hoo and The Green Hat had tight, emotive arcs which felt satisfyingly complete, and The Meat Eater was a particular perspective I haven’t seen much before, well executed.

Disliked:
So many of these stories’ sole purpose seems to be grossing you out. It becomes pretty monotonous by about a third of the way through, just keeping you in a constant state of ick. I ended up really slogging through it to try and dig the pearls out of the pigshit, and I can’t say it was a particularly enjoyable experience. Moved on to another collection of short horror stories after this one and it felt like a breath of fresh air.

Wouldn’t recommend, I’m afraid.

Quite enjoyed this collection of horror-adjacent stories, all of which are some combination of haunting, tense, grotesque, and macabre. Though the settings and subgenres range from pastoral to urban to gothic to post-apocalyptic, the real draw here is Grudova's writing. The author's distinct voice is worth the read in and of itself, molding these off-kilter and often ugly characters and settings in ways that both reflect and upend specific slices of our bleak and absurd modern life.

Among the standout stories here for me are Ivar (where the boarding school genre is subverted in a surreal and ultimately startling way), Hoo Hoo (a post-apocalyptic survival story told through the eyes of a pre-teen boy), and the titular Coiled Serpent (in which a group of searching young men veer into MRA fanaticism). While there's an inherent absurdity baked into the premises of all these stories, it's Grudova's visceral rendering of this absurdity (and the ensuing relation to our current social and political predicament) that really sticks with the reader long after putting the book down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Unnamed Press for the ARC.

These short stories were absolutely bizarre, entertaining, gross, horrifying and funny. I really enjoyed the authors distinct writing style and imagination. Will definitely be checking out her other works as well.

A very original book with lush writing! The writing and the story was easy to read and get into which I was scared I wasn’t going to, but thankfully I stuck through it and was surprised by the story and characters.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

This was interesting! The descriptive language was very evocative, but I found a lot of the stories kind of one note.

Like others have said — this def falls into the horror/gross/unsettling genre. All that said if you crave that, this will probably deliver! Not my favorite — the stories weren’t necessarily strong enough to make up for the horror of the stories but that’s my own opinion, others may not mind!

Now, I’m all for gross out horror stories, (Horror is one of my go to genres), but even I struggled with some of these stories.
There’s no denying the stories themselves are written beautifully, the author has a true talent.
This is a selection of short stories that work well together, and really pack a punch.
I understand that this isn’t go to appeal to the majority of readers out there, However, for those who really enjoy this specific genre/ sub genre then you are in for an absolute treat and delight!
I would recommend this book, but, I’d be selective in whom I’d recommend it too.
For my fellow die-hard gory horror fans out there, this is a must!

TW: Lots of mention of “faeces” and also scenes including child sexual abuse.

Sad to say this wasn’t for me. I am all about “weird girl” books but a lot of this felt as though it was written for shock value, rather than a good story.

Upped it from 1 star, as Ivor was an enjoyable tale.

Thank you NetGalley and Atlantic Books for proving me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a rather unusual book. I could appreciate the quality of writing, but overall, I didn't like this collection. it's difficult to imagine who might enjoy such nasty things, however literary they may be, but I'm sure the book will find its audience.
I'm guessing this falls under the body horror category. Feces, vomit, and other repugnant crap and the crayons the author colors in her stories. After the curiosity factor wears off, it's mostly just unpleasant. And the stories themselves often don't go anywhere, settling for style over substance, and styling themselves into toilet area.
But people see beauty in all manner of grotesques, so surely some will here too.
It would be interesting to see what else the author can do, because her writing can be strangely compelling, but based on this collection, I don't think I'd go finding out. User mileage may vary. Thanks Netgalley.

This was really gross. I found a few of the stories interesting but overall they seemed to fall short. I thought the title story was the most boring.

The Coiled Serpent is a collection of 16 short stories in only 200 pages, making for a good read if you’re looking for something short and sweet. Although, maybe “sweet” isn’t the appropriate word to use as these stories are… disgusting to say the least. Body horror, yes, which I can absolute get on board with but here, there was lots of talk of feces and stories written for mere shock value rather than literary merit.

The writing is very simple—elementary—and told in a dull and unattached voice. “This happened and then this happened and then I did this.”
Can't say that I would recommend these and I'm not certain that I would read this author again.

Thank you Unnamed Press and NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review. Available 10/08/2024!

Bizarre, horrifying and intensely British. It’s gruesome and sometimes I had to put the book down and walk away for a second, but it was also oddly captivating. there’s subtle commentary about class, gender and power within there that I could really pick up on some stories and enjoyed a lot. I could draw a lot of imagery to growing up in the U.K. and its flaws.

I think my favourite story was ‘The Custard Factory’ - I was most attached to that and thought the narrative was the most powerful. Also custard just feels like a very Yorkshire thing so maybe I am just attached to that. I l enjoyed Ivor which made me feel totally lost in time and was a bit of a fucked up Dorian gray and I also liked the coiled serpent.

As a non horror fan, I enjoyed the shortness and punchiness of the stories. It was like micro dosing on horror and made it really easy to escape away from it which I always feel I need when I’m reading horror (sorry I am a baby).

It also just exceptionally well written considering the story’s length. Each story had a lovely through line and I didn’t feel totally confused at the end of them.

(Will be posted on Instagram and storygraph 11/7/24)

One of the most unique, weird, uncomfortable and disgusting short story collections I've ever read. I kept, however, wanting to pick it up and read it everytime I could. Beautifully written. An author to add to my 'keep discovering' pile.