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The other day on Bookstagram I posted this End of Year template thing (not something I created) where people could ask you questions about your year of reading. One of the questions was whether I had any reading goals for 2026, to which I said mmmehhhh kinda? I’ve set a “goal” on my Storygraph to read 100 books each year since I’ve had the app, and it’s been a reasonably easy number for me to hit (I’m sitting at 133 books read as of this writing). 

But one thing I do want to get better at this coming year is feeling more comfortable writing full reviews for short story collections/anthologies. And I really don’t have a great reason why this has been something of a struggle for me the last few years, but it sure has been. Sometimes even  finishing collections/anthologies is a huge struggle for me. I’ll start them with the best of intentions (like planning to read one story per day), and then all of a sudden six months will pass and I haven’t picked up the book.

Anyway, it’s something I’m hoping to improve on in 2026. And while the book I’m reviewing today is actually one novella & a bunch of short stories, I’m counting it towards that “goal”.

Yay, me! *throws confetti*

MAN, FUCK THIS HOUSE (AND OTHER DISASTERS) has certainly gotta be one of the all-time most memorable titles. I remember seeing the novella catch fire a bit back when it was originally released and was curious about it, but just never got myself a copy. So huge thanks to Blackstone Publishing for sending me this awesome new hardcover edition, which features the titular novella as well as six short stories!

“Man, Fuck This House” is the story of the Haskins family: Hal & Sabrina, and their two children, ten-year-old Damien, and twelve-year-old Michaela. When we meet them, they are moving into their new home in a town called Jackson Hill. 

And almost right away, strange things begin to happen. A shower curtain changes appearance from one moment to the next. Members of the family start receiving ominous/threatening text messages. 

There’s a scene that takes place in the basement that I won’t spoil, but it was the moment that made me really sit up & take notice, like this house is fucking evil. There’s some really unsettling imagery & unnerving moments as the Haskins family tries to settle in.

But the house has other plans, and things escalate quickly. This novella is fast-paced & really funny, and definitely a bit weird. It’s an unconventional approach to a haunted house story, for sure, and I think some of the things that happen towards the end of the novella could be a little polarizing, but I enjoyed it. There’s a lot of character development that happens, and I got a pretty big kick out of the whole situation with Sabrina being convinced that Damien has been evil & literally possessed for his whole life, but he’s really just messing with her & is actually a super genius. Some really clever stuff here, for sure. 

My favorite story in the collection was the second one, “Beware the Hurlyburly.” It has a creepypasta vibe & the author mentions he was inspired to write it after watching the “Beware the Slenderman” documentary. This is one of those stories where you can kind of see where things are heading, but you still feel this incredible sense of dread building inside you as the story hurtles towards its horrifying ending. Brutal. 

I was really impressed with this collection overall. I believe I saw something where the author said that the genesis of the titular story was him writing a tweet to the effect of “Someone should write a haunted house book called MAN, FUCK THIS HOUSE,” and then he did. Another story in this collection is about a haunted outhouse. But even though the basis for some of these stories can seem a bit goofy, there’s some really impactful & emotional moments in here. 

There was really only one story in here that didn’t work for me, so that’s a great average for a short story collection! Really excited to check out some more of Brian Asman’s work in the new year! I’ve got a copy of GOOD DOGS on hand so I’ll be checking that one out next.

Thanks again to Blackstone Publishing for sending this one along!