Nocebo - R. Ostermeier

Nocebo by R. Ostermeier / ISBN 9781739733957 / 284-page paperback with flaps, published in 2023 by Broodcomb Press

From my first batch of books from Broodcomb Press, a UK publisher specializing in weird fiction and beyond: "Encompassing poetry, strange tales and experimental fiction, Broodcomb Press is a home for the writing that belongs here: disquieting truths about the region ("the peninsula") – tales both eerie and shocking – together with exploring the fantastic/everyday meaning of what it means to be human."

(Got this one a little later than the others because of shipping issues.)

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R. Ostermeier’s new collection comprises four longer tales of peninsular folklore and history, including the long-out-of-print Upmorchard as well as three new stories—

Winn’s Clock and Mommick draw from deep wells of rural disquiet, while the long novella Moving the Yew tells of the unsettling consequences from an act of rescue.

Nocebo revisits and reknits themes familiar from A Trick of the Shadow and Therapeutic Tales yet, as ever, it might not be for you—