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Let me set the scene by sharing that I am not a horror person by nature. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a chicken, and I avoid horror books like the plague. If, by some miracle, I’ve been coerced into watching a scary movie, I can guarantee that I’ll be closing my eyes and covering my ears for at least a solid 50% of the movie.
However, a couple of key elements can hook me into reading or watching something from the horror genre. The first component I need is intriguing world-building. As a bookish person, living inside book worlds is my favorite pastime. But I am also a lifelong fantasy and sci-fi fan, so mind-bending, speculative scenarios are my cup of tea, too.
What sinks it for me in the horror genre is endearing characters. I need characters I can relate to and ones I can root for. I need to feel the scares with these characters and watch them be brave despite their dire circumstances. That way, I can envision a possible future where I might become a little bit brave too.
It’s something I love about the Netflix series, Stranger Things. Despite the scary content, the fascinating world-building and heartfelt character dynamics absolutely make the series for me. Katherine Arden’s book Small Spaces series offers this too. While it’s a middle grade horror novel, like Stranger Things, it can appeal to tweens and adults alike.
Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
Arden’s chilling yet compelling novel follows an 11-year-old named Ollie. In the midst of grappling with incredible loss, Ollie comes across a woman trying to throw a strange book into the river. Ollie manages to rescue the book, and the more she reads from it, the more unsettled she feels. The book shares the account of a woman named Beth from many years ago, who was loved by two brothers, one of whom made an unfortunate deal with an eerie figure called “The Smiling Man.”
When Ollie heads out on a fall field trip with her class to a farm, she finds the story from her book coming to life in sinister ways. When the stakes rise and the souls of her class are on the line, Ollie makes unlikely new friendships with classmates Coco and Brian as they attempt to save everyone from the clutches of the Smiling Man.
The idea of parallel worlds brushing against each other is a theme in both Small Spaces and Stranger Things. The twilight world of the Smiling Man gives off the feel of the Upside Down in Stranger Things. It’s just as easy to accidentally stray into the wrong world in both stories.
Watching the changing character dynamics in Stranger Things is incredibly endearing too. While not all of the kids and teens are friends at first, the bonds they form as they face horrific monsters and life-threatening situations are ones that will stand the test of time. I love that Ollie, Brian, and Coco also experience this in Small Spaces.
To give you a sense of Arden’s poignant character development, I’ve included this quote about one of the secondary characters in Small Spaces named Coco. “Coco didn’t cry because she was weak. Coco cried because she felt things.” I appreciate this acknowledgment of feeling things. It resonates with me, and I love that the characters of Arden’s Small Spaces get fleshed out like this. They don’t remain stuck within the pages. The story breathes life into them, and they feel like the kind of people I’d like to know too.
As I’m writing this piece now, I’ve read two books in Arden’s quartet, Small Spaces and Dead Voices. Both were exceptional. It’s been a minute since I finished the second book, and of course I’ve now reminded myself how much I love this series, so I need to go dig into the third book now, Dark Waters. I’ll leave you with this touching Small Spaces quote, “You can’t hide in your books forever. There are all kinds of people, and good things, and life, just waiting for you.” I agree with this sentiment. And yet, at the same time, I encourage you to go hide in the book Small Spaces as soon as you can!
