Gwendolyn Kiste has done it again. 

And again, and again.

With her most recent collection of short fiction, The Haunted Houses She Calls Her Own, Kiste provides numerous examples of why she is one of the most intriguing authors currently working in the horror genre. While reading this book, I found myself slowing down so I could portion out my reading experience. I wanted the time to savor each story.

In a normal review of a collection of short stories, this is where I would mention the stand out pieces. However, it is nearly impossible to pick only a few of these amazing works. Honestly one can turn to the table of contents, point blindly, and find a story which will move you. From the very first outing, “A New Mother’s Guide to Raising an Abomination,” the reader is pulled into worlds of beautiful yet haunting visuals populated with characters who will make you smile, weep, and leave you with an emotional ache that stays long after the book cover is closed.

Within its pages we meet common, everyday people placed in fantastic situations as well as noted individuals including Lucy Westenra from Dracula (“The Eight People Who Murdered Me”), Rasputin (“The Mad Monk of the Motor City”), Marie Antoinette and Mary Shelly (“Lost in Darkness and Distance”), and Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia (“The Haunted Houses She Calls Her Own”). All of those we meet are fully fleshed out individuals, something not easy to do in the realm of short fiction.

Be they famous or obscure, living or dead, the author presents each of their often heart wrenching stories in a way which is equal parts divine and dreadful. The reader feels a great sense of loss when they turn the page and tells them goodbye. 

I had encountered some of these stories in their previous publications but skipped none of them. I was more than happy to reread each. In fact, the hardest thing upon finishing the book was to not start over from the beginning.

The Haunted Houses She Calls Her Own is a masterful example of how horror can entertain, enlighten, and emotionally devastate a reader. 

Highest Recommendations.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this work in exchange for an honest review. I look forward to receiving the physical copy (which I already ordered) upon publication at which point I will dive into Kiste’s fiction again. 

Publication Date 14 April 2026 from Raw Dog Scream Press.

Hailing from the motor city Detroit, Michael Cieslak is a lifetime reader and writer of horror, mystery, and speculative fiction. He has served as an officer in the Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers and is the editor of the Erie Tales anthologies. Michael is the Editor in Chief of Dragon’s Roost Press and his works have appeared in a number of collections including DOA: Extreme Horror, Dead Science, Vicious Verses and Reanimated Rhymes, ), and the collaborative steampunk novel Army of Brass.  He is a kilt enthusiast. And he’s killin’ it over at thedragonsroost.biz.