Sefira and Other Betrayals by John Langan

I did not enjoy this short story collection quite as much as I’ve enjoyed some of Langan’s other work. Horror is not really my genre of choice – although I am coming to appreciate more the way that the fantastical situations presented in a horror story shed an interesting light on human behavior – and I have typically appreciated Langan’s work because he uses novel (or at least less common) literary techniques. I didn’t notice that aspect as much in this collection, perhaps because there was less to notice or perhaps because I was either too caught up in the plot or not in the right headspace to notice it.

I think that in some ways the theme of betrayal was difficult for me. Several of the stories leave the betrayal unresolved, either unforgiven or entirely unrepented. I suppose I’m a sucker for a bit of a positive ending.

It’s hard to choose favorites. I liked “The Unbearable Proximity of Mr. Dunn’s Balloons”, “Renfrew’s Course”, and “Bor Urus”. “At Home in the House of the Devil” and “In Paris, in the Mouth of Kronos” were interesting. “Bloom” felt, I don’t know, too weird; it didn’t resonate. “The Third Always Beside You” wasn’t really my style either.

I’m conflicted as to my feelings about “Sefira”, the novella that lends the book its name. I liked the alternating past and present chapters and found the story interesting in general, but I wasn’t sure what to make of the ending. Maybe I just wanted it to resolve a bit more happily.

I look forward to discussing this book with my friend who lent it to me. These are the sort of stories that I appreciate more after talking about them with others. Often I miss little details or don’t catch the significance of parts of the story on my own. (On a related note, I appreciate the story notes that Langan includes at the end of the book about how each story came to be.)