I love supernatural thrillers. I cannot get enough of them, either in book, TV show, or movie form. My obsession with all things ghostly started when I was about six, and while, yes, it deeply troubled my mother, she wasn’t able to stop me in my quest for consuming everything I could about the paranormal.
I’m thankful to now be living in an age when “ghost stuff” is considered mainstream, even cool. I distinctly remember combing through my TV Guide when I was a kid, desperately searching for shows featuring anything involving the supernatural. Sure, there were movies like Ghostbusters and Pet Semetary, but I wanted real ghost stories. I still do. Anything based on a true story is always my favorite (hello, The Conjuring), and watching poorly acted re-enactment shows like My Haunted House and A Haunting are my not-so-guilty pleasures. To this day, I keep a running list of “Scary Movies I Want To See” so I don’t forget the myriad of trailers that sprint past my eyes as I’m fast-forwarding my DVR. I also keep a list of the scary movies I’ve watched, complete with a grading system.
Yeah. I’m that girl.
After 3+ decades of stuffing my brain with as much ghostly lore and legend as I can get, it’s safe to say that I’ve become desensitized to what qualifies as “scary.” I find most supernatural stories and movies entertaining, but few manage to truly scare the crap out of me. In fact, one of my preferred ways to fall asleep is by watching a horror movie or a ghost show; it just kind of lulls me into an easy slumber these days.
With this in mind, I bring you The Bird Eater, by Ania Ahlborn.
HOLY. HELL.
I haven’t been this terrified by something in years, and certainly not by a book. The last thing to stay with me like this was that incredibly disturbing two-minute short Lights Out that later was turned into a lukewarm full-length movie of the same name. Before that, it was the possession scene in The Exorcism of Emily Rose back in 2005. Note that both of these are movies, not books.
The Bird Eater is one of the best, if not possibly THE best piece of supernatural fiction I’ve ever read.
One of my pet peeves with supernatural stories is that so many start out promising but later fall into the overused trope of the creepy goings-ons being the result of a psychological break instead of an actual haunting. Womp, womp. While there is perhaps nothing scarier than the human mind and how twisted it can become, there is a time and place for that kind of story. It even has its own genre —“psychological thriller.” So, why does it so often have to intrude upon what I really want – a simple, creepy-ass story in which strange, unnatural phenomena is occurring with no rational, medical, or scientific explanation behind it?? I just want to read about a ghost or a demon bringing a little cray-cray to the world of the living. I don’t think it’s too much to ask.
Well, The Bird Eater delivered. The story starts off with a bang. I’m talking, chapter one, strange things are happening. Strange. They escalate quickly, and there is pretty much no doubt in your mind that, frickin’ finally, we are dealing with a truly haunted house here, people. By the end of the first chapter, you’re gobsmacked with what just happened. Jaw-droppingly gobsmacked.
What follows is a darkly insidious tale. It worms its way into your brain, unsettling you much the way that the main character is slowly unsettled by the eerie events unraveling around him. The turns of phrase and the imagery that the author uses to evoke the mood and setting are fantastic. Some of the things the main character sees are quite normal – a boy, some birds, some shadows – but the context in which they appear is so unnerving that you feel deep down in your bones something’s entirely wrong about the situation.
A little boy figures prominently in this book, and he is probably the most disturbing part of every scene in which he appears. I haven’t been this freaked out by a child since that time I saw The Grudge and was terrified of small Asian boys for months afterward. (A cat once meowed in the background as a small Asian boy in front of me happened to open his mouth. He was probably about to ask his mother for candy or something, but I damn near lost my shit. I tried to cover my alarm as best I could, but I beat a hasty retreat outta there. Taking no chances.)
Halfway through reading this book, I had a dream about a little boy being in my house. Like in the book, I chased him around, down the stairs, at which point I caught him by the neck, dragged him triumphantly up the stairs, and threw him down on the bed where my husband was sleeping, presumably to prove to him that there was a ghost child running willy-nilly through our house. As in the book, the dream-ghost-boy then morphed into something not-boylike (I forget what, exactly) and disappeared. I woke up shortly after that point in the dream and was like, “OMG. It’s gotten to me.” I was both delighted and terrified at the same time. Even now, a few weeks after finishing The Bird Eater, when I wake up at 3am to get a glass of water, I quickly dart my eyes to the darkest corner of the room to check for a small boy crouched there like a gargoyle, staring at me as I sleep. *shudders*
Little boy appearances aside, I think what made this story so different from others is that it’s just plain STRANGE. There are definitely some shocking moments, but it’s mainly the small things that are out of place, just slightly off, that build momentum throughout the novel and escalate the tension of each scene. It’s creepy because it’s a cacophony of disturbing, small moments that, experienced separately, wouldn’t make you think twice. But, when experienced in increasingly rapid succession, they morph into this twisted version of reality that truly haunts you. Read it with the lights on and someone, anyone at home with you.
What’s a book that scared the buhjeezus out of you? And, do you find books or movies to be scarier? Share below!
And, stay tuned for the recipe that was inspired by The Bird Eater — Tarragon Chicken!
I absolutely love her books! My favorite is Seed!
I definitely plan to read more by this author! So many books, so little time.
I seriously died while reading this!! You cracked me up!!!😂🤣😭😭🤣😂 I’m dying. You better believe I screenshot what you wrote about the Asian boy and I’m sending it to my Asian guy friend. I’m seriously dying!! He will too!!
This book sounds crazy!!! I think I need to read it. I’m scared of the nightmares I may get though.😳😂
For reals. That moment with the boy and the cat yowl was one of the creepiest of my life, lol. What are the odds with that timing, right?!?! Oh, and you will absolutely get nightmares from The Bird Eater. But, it’s such a good horror novel that I say it’s worth the risk. 😁