When I grabbed the eARC of Why Didn’t You Just Leave, I expected a collection of interesting ghost stories. Sure, I figured a few would be unique twists on the average haunted house but honestly, I would have been perfectly content with a good old spookum in the attic to read before bed. What I got was so much creepier, better, and stranger.
Content Warnings are included in the book ranging from death of family members, referenced SA of a child, infant death, animal deaths, transphobia, and more. The CWs are listed by story so that you can avoid or prepare yourselves on an individual level.
It’s the question asked of any story about a haunting: why didn’t you just leave? But if accounts of people who have stayed in haunted houses are any indication… it’s never that simple.
In this book, you’ll find twenty-two all-new stories about the reasons people don’t leave scary situations—parents who stay in haunted houses to protect their children, convicts who literally can’t leave their prison, retail workers who need a paycheck even if it’s from a haunted workplace, trauma survivors suffering from agoraphobia, and more.
First off, there are some traditional haunting stories in this book. Don’t go in from what I said here and expect every story to blow your mind. For example, Spend-A-Penny by Die Booth plays with a very traditional eerie haunting situation. The twist is that its in an old cinema bathroom. Even with that, I got very creeped out reading Leila’s experience as she tries to face her fears and what that gets her.
What I found truly unique in this book was the choose-your-haunting style story but Corey Farrenkopf. No Joy Exists Anywhere Beyond Your Front Door is told in 5 parts throughout the anthology and each section is more unnerving than the last. I was super impressed at the anthology’s inclusion of this story and hope to see more like this gamified horror in future books.
The unique story telling styles didn’t end there. AITA for setting my dad’s trailer on fire? by Max Booth III was laid out like a Reddit post, complete with throwaway user name and an edit half-way through. This story made me nauseous and so freaked out but I couldn’t look away. There was something so morbidly real about the story that it kept me awake, thinking about it. Thanks Max…thanks.
That wasn’t the story that got to me though. The one that got to me was Because It Was Worse Outside by Victoria Dalpe. As someone who struggles with anxiety and has agoraphobic tendencies that I have to consciously avoid letting grow into a bigger problem, I related all too much to Ali. It was a story I had to sit with for a while. One of those stories you hold inside of your chest, near your heart. One of those, whether the author realizes it or not, it made you feel seen (even when you don’t want to be perceived).
5 Stars for Why Didn’t You Just Leave
I highly recommend this anthology for fans of supernatural horror and ghost stories that are looking for something different to sink their teeth into.
