Doll Seed is a haunting blend of domestic life and uncanny horror, rooted in the everyday but twisted just enough to unsettle.

Doll Seed isn’t about gore or grand scares—it’s about what we tuck away, the small terrors of intimacy, and the strange companions we invite into our lives. If you like your horror reflective, slowly blooming from grief and memory, this one will stick. Keep the dolls in sight—and the doors locked.

Berger's "Doll Seed" is a collection of short stories exploring unsettling, speculative themes. Think a mix of sci-fi, horror, and supernatural elements mixed with some ideas about identity and technology's ethical limits. Some are better than others, but it's a quick, thought-provoking read that offers a range of dark imaginings.

Thanks to NetGalley and Aunt Lute Books for the ARC.

Overall, I really enjoyed the collection. Favorites are Nussia, Etta, Zora, and the First Serpent, The Wishing Well Off Fordham Road, And They Will Rise From the Oceans, and Cemetary Sisters. The shorter pieces were hit-or-miss for me, but I liked the mix of short stories and more poetic pieces.

Michele Tracy Berger's Doll Seed is not just recommended reading, it's necessary reading. Each story deftly pursues those little itching fears and worries we have in the back of our heads and brings them to the surface.

I was excited to read this one. I've always found dolls a bit creepy. I was hopeful for this story. This book features several smaller short stories.
Some of these stories are better than others but overall they seemed better suited to a younger audience. I'd give this a 3.5 stars because the book was pretty good just not for me personally.

For some time now I am exploring more and more horror and also those of more diverse backgrounds. So I really wanted to love the stories in "Doll Seed" by Michele Tracy Berger.

But after the first good story I got more and more exhausted and realized about 50% in what my problem was: the horror is always based on girls or women being nasty towards each other. Unfortunately after a lot experience of my own with this narrative it's not something I wish to read.

So I'm terribly sorry to say that I dnf'd this collection about the halfway mark.

At its core, Doll Seed explores the impact of growing up with trauma, particularly the generational trauma passed down through the complex relationship between mothers and daughters. Berger crafts a narrative where the protagonist's psychological scars become intertwined with a chilling, almost mythical occurrence involving a doll that seems to have a life of its own

I wasn't really sure what to expect when I started Doll Seed but I was pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed how subtle the stories were and complex at the same time. I didn't connect with every story but I can appreciate the attempt and unique messages each story had.

The cover is unique and interesting but appears more juvenile than I would normally go for.

I would read more from the author especially a full novel. I'm interested to see more from her.

Thank you to NetGalley, Michele Tracy Berger and Aunt Lute Books for the opportunity to read Doll Seed. I have written this review voluntarily.

The collection of stories in this book was something else and the sci-fi/supernatural mashup was genius. Each story brought its own brand of excitement and intrigue. I kind of am interested in exploring more of this author's creations - they're officially on my radar!

I would like to thanks the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC. This review is posted on november 15th on Goodreads.

This collection of novellas was a delight.

I really really liked most of them, they were all really different but in a sens they were really well assorted together, in the writing and the weird whimsy they bringed.
The first one really set the tone for the rest of the book.

I didn't really know what to expect with this book and I was really please with it. The cover really appealed to me with the dolls and the colors, it absolutely catch my eyes so I was really excited about the novella with the same name as the title. It ended up being one of my favorite!
A story about sentients dolls trying to choose a human but everything went bad. This was a really good story and took my heart.

I really liked Urban Wendy and Grinding Disney. They bringed back the Creepy pasta vibed I loved when I was younger!

I recommand !

Michele Tracy Berger’s Doll Seed: Stories is a powerful and thought-provoking collection that explores themes of resilience, identity, and transformation through an intriguing speculative lens. This collection of stories is both eerie and empowering, seamlessly blending the supernatural with raw, human experiences. Berger’s writing style is vivid and lyrical, pulling readers into richly crafted worlds that are as haunting as they are revealing.

Interesting short story set that has some very varying strengths in each story. 3.5 stars rounded up. tysm for thea rc.

An uneven collection, but definitely worth giving it a try.

I love Michele Tracy Berger's imagination and creativity and I'll honestly come back for seconds. The premises were always fun, unique and intriguing and I was hooked from the very beginning. The way they unfolded in the longer stories worked especially well and showed true narrative and world-building skills. I liked the diversity of settings and plot, and I found the historical atmosphere absolutely charmingly executed. Overall, it felt like Berger really had fun writing these, therefore they were of course fun to read, playing with our expectations, archetypes etc. There was something very communicative about the narration, the tone and the pace of each story. Almost all of them felt lively, as if made to be read aloud, or told around a camp fire. However, I must say I didn’t enjoy the shorter stories as much, they were just too short and ended up almost always being a bit lacklustre. The premise was good, as always, but I needed more to be fully sold on them.

Nussia - 4/5
Urban Wendy - 3/5
Etta, Zora and the First Serpent : 3,75
Family Line - 3,25
Doll Seed - 4,5
The Curl of Emma Jean - 3/5
The Wishing Well off Fordham Road - 4,25+
Grinding Disney/What the Slots Hold/The Lineup/Miss Black Little Hill of 1965 – 3-
The Invisible Son - 3,25
New Employee Orientation Guide for Snatch Day - 4,25
And They Will Rise From the Oceans- 4
Cemetery Sisters - 4

3,25/5

Thank you to the author & NetGalley for an arc!

3.5⭐️ Doll Seed is a collection of highly creative stories told across multiple genres, with a focus on race & gender. The stories were all interesting, but my favorites were Urban Wendy, The Family Line, Miss Black, and Employee Guide. Short stories are difficult to write, and this collection was very well done. I will keep an eye out for future works by this author!

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy short story collections that lean into fantasy or sci-fi.

Doll Seed by Michele Tracy Berger is an evocative collection of short stories that deftly intertwines elements of horror and psychological insight. Each tale explores themes of identity, motherhood, and the uncanny, leaving readers with a haunting sense of wonder and unease. Berger’s rich prose and vivid imagination make this collection a thought-provoking journey that lingers long after reading.

A fabulous collection of short stories!

I loved how varied the stories and unique the characters were. I wanted my own alien house guest (even with the possible consequences!) and I’d love to invite spirits in to help me in life. I got to live this vicariously through this collection.

I loved this collection and recommend it 100%!

This collection of short stories is spooky enough to make the reader think about their contents for a long time but they also represent a good deal of gender and race issues that can also be spooky.

I like that each story has their own essence while covering similar themes. One of my favorite stories was the title story "Doll Seed", having a background in psychology it amazed me to read about the events in the story from that perspective and it almost made me cry of how emotional it made me feel. Another story I enjoyed was "Cemetery sisters" because I've always liked the idea of hanging out at the cemetery (I'm alone most of the time.)
Both stories made me realize many different aspects of myself that I thought were silly, like the idea of meeting a ghost and talking to them or toys having a soul and purpose just like us humans.

Although I enjoyed reading these short stories, I felt a bit dumb reading some of them and not understanding their meaning or main idea behind them, especially the shortest ones. I am aware of the idea of just enjoying what you read but I like to challenge myself into getting to the meaning the author was trying to give to the stories and it was a bit difficult for me this time around.

this was a fun read, each story was interesting and thrilling. i will def be looking into this author more.

Doll Seed by Michele Tracy Berger is a genre bending short story collection that is the perfect mix of spooky and heart-wrenching. Within each of these stories, Berger builds dynamic characters that have clear motivations, from a young girl looking for a best friend, to a doll looking for her perfect home. Berger builds tension in each story, using horror and sci-fi elements to bring the characters’ desires or fears forward. The magic and horror intensified the emotion for me—creating multiple layers to the tension.

This was definitely a very unique collection, each story transported me to a new place and I really enjoyed them overall.