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None of You Shall Be Spared
It's coming for all of us.
Shirley Jackson and World Fantasy Award-winning author Brian Evenson has become one of the defining voices of contemporary horror. His sparse, inventive and intimate style has left a permanent impression on the landscape of dark fiction. Praised by Peter Straub for placing himself “furthest out on the sheerest, least sheltered narrative precipice”, heralded by legends such as George Saunders and R. L. Stine, and beloved by readers of literary fiction and horror alike, there are few authors who bring so much to the table.
This brilliant collection contains twenty of his most spectacular short stories never put into a collection before and includes three brand new tales. In trademark Evenson fashion, one can feel a palpable connection to the yearnings, fears, and losses that his characters suffer. From the terror of being stalked by a man you thought you’d killed, to the desperate hope for the return of a loved one, each story is woven from deep imagination, sincere emotion, and the unblinking examination of everything dark that surrounds us.
These stories will enthrall you. They will leave a bit of themselves within you, and you will leave a bit of yourself within them. No one is safe from the web Evenson weaves, and none of you shall be spared.
Brian Evenson is the author of a dozen books of fiction, most recently the story collection The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell (2021) and the Weird West microcollection Black Bark (2023). His collection Song for the Unraveling of the World (2019) won the Shirley Jackson Award and the World Fantasy Award and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times’ Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction. Previous books have won the American Library Association’s RUSA Award and the International Horror Guild Award, and have been finalists for the Edgar Award. He is the recipient of three O. Henry Prizes, an NEA fellowship, and a Guggenheim Award. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. He lives in Los Angeles and teaches at CalArts.
Table of Contents
Knock, Knock
In the Nursery
Gyr
I Cannot Remember
Waiting for Mother
The Train’s Path
Lancaster
Garnier
Stricken
Dominion
Whet
All Those Lost Days
The Teeth
The Wilcox Remainder
And Yet
Lost Dog
A Bloody Hand to Shake
Homecoming
The Fourth Scene
Leaving Leeds
Shirley Jackson and World Fantasy Award-winning author Brian Evenson has become one of the defining voices of contemporary horror. His sparse, inventive and intimate style has left a permanent impression on the landscape of dark fiction. Praised by Peter Straub for placing himself “furthest out on the sheerest, least sheltered narrative precipice”, heralded by legends such as George Saunders and R. L. Stine, and beloved by readers of literary fiction and horror alike, there are few authors who bring so much to the table.
This brilliant collection contains twenty of his most spectacular short stories never put into a collection before and includes three brand new tales. In trademark Evenson fashion, one can feel a palpable connection to the yearnings, fears, and losses that his characters suffer. From the terror of being stalked by a man you thought you’d killed, to the desperate hope for the return of a loved one, each story is woven from deep imagination, sincere emotion, and the unblinking examination of everything dark that surrounds us.
These stories will enthrall you. They will leave a bit of themselves within you, and you will leave a bit of yourself within them. No one is safe from the web Evenson weaves, and none of you shall be spared.
Brian Evenson is the author of a dozen books of fiction, most recently the story collection The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell (2021) and the Weird West microcollection Black Bark (2023). His collection Song for the Unraveling of the World (2019) won the Shirley Jackson Award and the World Fantasy Award and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times’ Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction. Previous books have won the American Library Association’s RUSA Award and the International Horror Guild Award, and have been finalists for the Edgar Award. He is the recipient of three O. Henry Prizes, an NEA fellowship, and a Guggenheim Award. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. He lives in Los Angeles and teaches at CalArts.
Table of Contents
Knock, Knock
In the Nursery
Gyr
I Cannot Remember
Waiting for Mother
The Train’s Path
Lancaster
Garnier
Stricken
Dominion
Whet
All Those Lost Days
The Teeth
The Wilcox Remainder
And Yet
Lost Dog
A Bloody Hand to Shake
Homecoming
The Fourth Scene
Leaving Leeds
255 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 18, 2023
75 people are currently reading
218 people want to read
About the author
Brian Evenson
261 books1,465 followersBrian Evenson is an American academic and writer of both literary fiction and popular fiction, some of the latter being published under B. K. Evenson.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
June 18, 2024
After slogging through my last novel, it's such a pleasure to open Brian Evenson's collection and find "Knock, Knock":
Evenson provided "Story Notes" at the end of the collection. I don't think I've come across him doing this in the past. He seemed to be a notable exception in horror in this respect; most of the "notes" I've come across are from writers I really have trouble with, rambling on about stories I didn't care about. I'm not sure most of Evenson's notes add that much to the stories, but they were certainly entertaining.
He did mention in some of the notes that he finds it hard to resist requests to work with (to him) unfamiliar ideas for theme anthologies. Perhaps because of this, I found this collection to have a wider range than the last few. Maybe not as dark and intense as The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell, but still very enjoyable. Some of the stories are pretty funny, in a dark, over-the-top fashion. For example, I was laughing out loud at "A Bloody Hand to Shake", for the pizza horror anthology.
"In the Nursery" has a lot of Evenson's familiar themes: marital rancor, dark family history (barely hinted at here), insanity (?). Enjoyable, but probably just average for him.
The opening of "Gyr" reads like one of Evenson's anxious neo-noir narratives, then he casually drops it into one of his dark science fiction setups. I really like the isolation of the narrator and his mysterious mission, and the bizarre ritual with the truly disturbing creature. Maybe there was a little more direct explanation than I would like (I usually don't expect this much from Evenson), but this was effective and enjoyable.
As I made my way through "I Can't Remember", I started to umm remember bits of it from its first appearance in an anthology. Pretty familiar Evenson-ian arc and details, with the closed claustrophobic environment, identity confusion, eye imagery etc. I'm not sure if the ending is that strong, but I enjoyed it.
"Waiting for Mother": wow. This is one of Evenson's most intense and emotional stories that I've read. The disappearance, the encounter with the mother figure, the disturbing undercurrent of the seemingly innocent interactions, the transformation. I'll remember this one.
"Lancaster"'s narrator is a writer of dark fiction, so it's hard not to read the story as some kind of twisted tale inspired by autobiographical events. And the story notes confirm that! The counting device is so Evenson, and so funny in context.
"Garnier", with the cat-and-mouse games between Garnier and Not Garnier, was very enjoyable. A few short, lighter pieces follow, then "All Those Last Days", first published in an anthology about an amusement park. I suppose this is Evenson's take on Bradbury-esque Americana, with a young male teen narrator grumbling about his family. The time tunnel ride starts innocently enough, but the disappearance and transformation are nicely done and disturbing.
"The Wilcox Remainder" was written for one of Joshi's Lovecraftian anthologies. The different components are pretty engaging, though I don't think they cohere that well (the mother's mental illness, the clay figurine etc). But the disorientation and dissolution towards the end are beautifully done.
"Homecoming" has Evenson's usual deft treatment of parental trauma and a deliciously creepy entrapment sequence. The turn at the end is surprising and somehow satisfying.
"Fourth Scene": his first medieval fantasy with the usual kings, knights, monster, magic artifacts, and treasure, but also unreliable perceptions and cyclical events. The narrator's voice is perfect, and I really enjoyed this.
Finally, the reappearance of "Baby Leg". I went to the publication party in Brooklyn for the first "blood"-smeared first edition, got a copy, and had a very pleasant chat with Brian. It was written around the time of the Brotherhood of Mutilation/Last Days, and works with overlapping themes. There's this Robbe-Grillet-esque feel to the convoluted web of genre tropes, with disturbing jarring details to give it that Evenson flair. That leg, whew.
The first time it happened, Hakon thought he had been mistaken, that he hadn't managed to kill his uncle after all, that even though it had seemed like the man was dead, he wasn't.Hakon is such an Evenson-ian name, I think there've been other Hakons in his oeuvre? As expected, inexplicably unsettling details are sprinkled throughout, like the stone with the smiley face, and the parallels with the uncle's face on his later appearance. There are some grotesque and hilarious snippets . And the progression to the chilling end.
Evenson provided "Story Notes" at the end of the collection. I don't think I've come across him doing this in the past. He seemed to be a notable exception in horror in this respect; most of the "notes" I've come across are from writers I really have trouble with, rambling on about stories I didn't care about. I'm not sure most of Evenson's notes add that much to the stories, but they were certainly entertaining.
He did mention in some of the notes that he finds it hard to resist requests to work with (to him) unfamiliar ideas for theme anthologies. Perhaps because of this, I found this collection to have a wider range than the last few. Maybe not as dark and intense as The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell, but still very enjoyable. Some of the stories are pretty funny, in a dark, over-the-top fashion. For example, I was laughing out loud at "A Bloody Hand to Shake", for the pizza horror anthology.
"In the Nursery" has a lot of Evenson's familiar themes: marital rancor, dark family history (barely hinted at here), insanity (?). Enjoyable, but probably just average for him.
The opening of "Gyr" reads like one of Evenson's anxious neo-noir narratives, then he casually drops it into one of his dark science fiction setups. I really like the isolation of the narrator and his mysterious mission, and the bizarre ritual with the truly disturbing creature. Maybe there was a little more direct explanation than I would like (I usually don't expect this much from Evenson), but this was effective and enjoyable.
As I made my way through "I Can't Remember", I started to umm remember bits of it from its first appearance in an anthology. Pretty familiar Evenson-ian arc and details, with the closed claustrophobic environment, identity confusion, eye imagery etc. I'm not sure if the ending is that strong, but I enjoyed it.
"Waiting for Mother": wow. This is one of Evenson's most intense and emotional stories that I've read. The disappearance, the encounter with the mother figure, the disturbing undercurrent of the seemingly innocent interactions, the transformation. I'll remember this one.
"Lancaster"'s narrator is a writer of dark fiction, so it's hard not to read the story as some kind of twisted tale inspired by autobiographical events. And the story notes confirm that! The counting device is so Evenson, and so funny in context.
"Garnier", with the cat-and-mouse games between Garnier and Not Garnier, was very enjoyable. A few short, lighter pieces follow, then "All Those Last Days", first published in an anthology about an amusement park. I suppose this is Evenson's take on Bradbury-esque Americana, with a young male teen narrator grumbling about his family. The time tunnel ride starts innocently enough, but the disappearance and transformation are nicely done and disturbing.
"The Wilcox Remainder" was written for one of Joshi's Lovecraftian anthologies. The different components are pretty engaging, though I don't think they cohere that well (the mother's mental illness, the clay figurine etc). But the disorientation and dissolution towards the end are beautifully done.
"Homecoming" has Evenson's usual deft treatment of parental trauma and a deliciously creepy entrapment sequence. The turn at the end is surprising and somehow satisfying.
"Fourth Scene": his first medieval fantasy with the usual kings, knights, monster, magic artifacts, and treasure, but also unreliable perceptions and cyclical events. The narrator's voice is perfect, and I really enjoyed this.
Finally, the reappearance of "Baby Leg". I went to the publication party in Brooklyn for the first "blood"-smeared first edition, got a copy, and had a very pleasant chat with Brian. It was written around the time of the Brotherhood of Mutilation/Last Days, and works with overlapping themes. There's this Robbe-Grillet-esque feel to the convoluted web of genre tropes, with disturbing jarring details to give it that Evenson flair. That leg, whew.
March 1, 2024
Great collection but that's what I come to expect from Evenson.
Some Aickman-like moments here.....and I gravitate to that type of story.
He was developing the kind of attention, he felt, that began to think of the world around him as a kind of scrim hiding something else, and that began to try to peer through this scrim to catch glimpses of whatever wavered behind.
8/10
Some Aickman-like moments here.....and I gravitate to that type of story.
He was developing the kind of attention, he felt, that began to think of the world around him as a kind of scrim hiding something else, and that began to try to peer through this scrim to catch glimpses of whatever wavered behind.
8/10
November 27, 2023
There is just something special about Brian Evenson’s short fiction. After starting to read his work he quickly became one of my favorite authors, and he stands a head above everyone in regards to his short fiction. He has such an incredible way of pulling you in from the first sentence in a story, and he sinks his claws in you to where there’s no way you can put it down before you finish.
His newest collection NONE OF YOU SHALL BE SPARED is brilliant once again, and every single story is GREAT. When I noticed I only had a couple stories left I was genuinely sad because I didn’t want it to end.
Some stand out stories for me were In The Nursery, I Cannot Remember, Dominion, The Teeth, A Bloody Hand To Shake, and All Those Last Days. The last two I mentioned were my favorites of the collection. Just phenomenal.
This shot up on my top books of the year list. Evenson does it again.
His newest collection NONE OF YOU SHALL BE SPARED is brilliant once again, and every single story is GREAT. When I noticed I only had a couple stories left I was genuinely sad because I didn’t want it to end.
Some stand out stories for me were In The Nursery, I Cannot Remember, Dominion, The Teeth, A Bloody Hand To Shake, and All Those Last Days. The last two I mentioned were my favorites of the collection. Just phenomenal.
This shot up on my top books of the year list. Evenson does it again.
Read
July 29, 2025Did not read it to grim for me!
February 7, 2024
Always pure gold from Evenson. Eerily haunted gold, but solid precious horror gold. Love love love. Such a unique voice, simple prose yet packed with wallop. A great collection of tales. The only story I didn't enjoy was the opener, and I'm not sure why, in the same way I'm not sure why almost every other Evenson short always scares the bejebus out of me. The man is magic.
None of you shall be spared, all of you must read this book.
None of you shall be spared, all of you must read this book.
June 14, 2025
This one is to savor, to take in bite after small bite, chew, wait for the tastes to filter through, swallow, bite again. Dense doses of unease, perfectly seasoned and laid out for the unwary. Evenson is truly a fantastic writer.
November 26, 2023
Brian Evenson needs no introduction. However, whether or not you're a newcomer to his work, this collection of twenty stunningly weird short stories will definitely leave a mark and make you seek for more of his brilliant books and collections. Evenson has a knack for portraying convincingly broken or damaged realities, starting from the ordinary and bursting into the bizarre and the uncanny. Most of these stories have appeared before, though four of them, “In the Nursery,” “Lancaster,” “The Teeth," and "Dominion" (from which comes the title of the book) are original to this collection. All four are standouts, all four diverge from your typically expected horror tropes, all four will take you by surprise. Trying to not spoil the fun, I'll mention a couple of stories that are really worth everybody's time: "The Fourth Scene", a story of medieval horror, perfect in both tone and pacing, bordering on dark fantasy but never making the leap, and "Waiting For Mother," a story full of creepiness and intelligence, throwing an unusual kind of light on the mother-daughter relationship (I'd say "Homecoming" is the perfect symmetry for this story, a terrific meditation on the father-son relationship, but Evenson's story notes in the back - a delight in their own right!- do not put them together). In any case, Weird House Press (whom I thank for the chance to review this collection) have a firm grasp on horror fiction, and it doesn't get better than this!
April 12, 2024
Notes from a Decaying Millennial -
Publisher Weird House Press, provided me with a review copy of this book, with the understanding that I would give an honest review.
In some past reviews I have mentioned that I have been known to jump into a book without looking at much past the cover. This book was another example of that, yes I was reading a review copy via my well worn, and curse laden Kindle, but i feel confident that if I had come across this book in my local library, or bookshop, I still would have jumped right in.
This is not a paid review
-
For readers, like myself, who are new to the work of Brian Evenson, None of you shall be spared is an excellent introduction. This book is a collection of the authors previously published short fiction. In the notes section which follows the selection of stories, Evenson goes into the publication of each piece, and the inspiration and themes he addresses. I agree with the author that readers should forgo reading this section until after finishing all of the compiled stories.
Evenson delivers scenes of growing dread and examinations the larger complex realm of human Fear. Beyond that, the assembled stories challenge the reader to look into different aspects of human relationships. Whether it's our relationship with ourselves, the dead, or even those which we create.
Publisher Weird House Press, provided me with a review copy of this book, with the understanding that I would give an honest review.
In some past reviews I have mentioned that I have been known to jump into a book without looking at much past the cover. This book was another example of that, yes I was reading a review copy via my well worn, and curse laden Kindle, but i feel confident that if I had come across this book in my local library, or bookshop, I still would have jumped right in.
This is not a paid review
-
For readers, like myself, who are new to the work of Brian Evenson, None of you shall be spared is an excellent introduction. This book is a collection of the authors previously published short fiction. In the notes section which follows the selection of stories, Evenson goes into the publication of each piece, and the inspiration and themes he addresses. I agree with the author that readers should forgo reading this section until after finishing all of the compiled stories.
Evenson delivers scenes of growing dread and examinations the larger complex realm of human Fear. Beyond that, the assembled stories challenge the reader to look into different aspects of human relationships. Whether it's our relationship with ourselves, the dead, or even those which we create.
August 13, 2025
Really a 3.5. These stories weren't really as effective as the ones in Songs For The Unraveling Of The World. They weren't as coherent or unsettling or paranoid. And many of them just kind of end leaving something to be desired. Still, Evenson manages to conjure fun and creepy and imaginative scenarios that are addictive to read. Also, Evenson here managed to sublimate pretty common anxieties for me into genuinely disturbing scenes. Like, the fear of talking to an older person when you're a kid, in "The Teeth". Don't read this as your first Evenson, but if you've enjoyed his previous work, this will probably appeal to you.
January 17, 2024
Absolutely incredible. I read Last Days and wanted to read more from Evenson and this anthology really delivered. He has such a foreign way of writing, it’s amazing. His takes on some horror tropes in this book put a great new spin on them. Highly recommend this one to anyone that has read Evenson’s work, horror fans, or anyone at all really.
June 7, 2024
This is a collection of about 20 short stories all widely different from one another.
I’m always so picky with anthologies and short story collections (which is why I hate reviewing them) because I feel it’s hard to really get a grasp on what an author has to offer but I wasn’t disappointed by this one.
I’m always so picky with anthologies and short story collections (which is why I hate reviewing them) because I feel it’s hard to really get a grasp on what an author has to offer but I wasn’t disappointed by this one.
January 6, 2024
Wicked and fun.
Each story in this collection is different. Some were scary and some seem to just amble off into the woods and get lost. But I enjoyed it a lot and recommend it to lovers of writers like Ligotti and Aikman.
Each story in this collection is different. Some were scary and some seem to just amble off into the woods and get lost. But I enjoyed it a lot and recommend it to lovers of writers like Ligotti and Aikman.
June 15, 2024
Some hidden gems… “knock knock,” “in the nursery,” “waiting for mother,” but a collection that fell flat for me overall. It’s on kindle unlimited for free, so definitely still worth a try if you’re interested.
March 23, 2025
Another solid collection by Evenson, but to be honest I can see why these haven't appeared in past collections (although "The Fourth Scene" can be found in the anthology of medieval horror, Howls from the Dark Ages), as they were somewhat weaker than his usual fare.
December 13, 2023
Wasn't sold on all of these, but 'In the Nursery' is as good as any of the best in Fugue State or Windeye.
December 20, 2023
Another amazing collection by Evenson
December 22, 2023
Good read!
February 9, 2024
Maybe it's because I was reading Waiting For Godot at the same time, but these characters felt like they were trapped in a Waiting For Godot-esque purgatory.
February 24, 2024
Unsettling, weird, and addicting. Love Brian Evenson's work.
August 15, 2024
More generally great stories from Evenson, read at a feverish pace on a train. Maybe not all landed as strongly as previous books or collections, but overall a great experience nonetheless!
September 2, 2024
Another fantastic collection from Brian Evenson. If you have not yet discovered this massive talent, this is a great place to start.
February 14, 2025
Knock, Knock 2.5/5
In the nursery 2/5
Gyr 4/5
I cannot Remember 4.5/5
Waiting for mother 2/5
The train’s path 3/5
Lancaster 2/5
Garnier 3/5
Stricken 3.5/5
Dominion 2/5
Whet 2/5
All those lost days 3/5
The teeth 2/5
The Wilcox Remainder 3/5
And Yet 1.5/5
Lost Dog 2/5
A bloody Hand to Shake 4/5
Homecoming 2.5/5
The Fourth Scene 3/5
Leaving Leeds 3/5
~2.7 stars
In the nursery 2/5
Gyr 4/5
I cannot Remember 4.5/5
Waiting for mother 2/5
The train’s path 3/5
Lancaster 2/5
Garnier 3/5
Stricken 3.5/5
Dominion 2/5
Whet 2/5
All those lost days 3/5
The teeth 2/5
The Wilcox Remainder 3/5
And Yet 1.5/5
Lost Dog 2/5
A bloody Hand to Shake 4/5
Homecoming 2.5/5
The Fourth Scene 3/5
Leaving Leeds 3/5
~2.7 stars
February 15, 2025
“Not yet” is written with a beautiful sadness. This is my first short story book. It first I felt I couldn’t catch on. I stuck with it and I am glad I did. Get horror bonfires stories.
May 14, 2025
Brian Evenson's work is fascinating to read. Always.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews