i absolutely love short horror stories usually but this collection just wasn't for me.

my main issue was the writing style. unfortunately it was too boring for me. it wasn't engaging and the first story's idea put me off a bit as well because it wasn't really unsettling me in a way i wanted it to. i just didn't care for the rest of the stories because the writing style itself didn't work for me.

i'm so sad because i was actually excited to read this but oh well 😭 sad to say i can't recommend this personally.

3.5 stars rounded up

This was an interesting short story collection all revolving around one museum. Each story tackles a different room or exhibit in the museum and they take place in the same world. I did enjoy the small callbacks within the stories. Overall I enjoyed this work and thought it was well written. I do wish there was more horror or character growth in the tales.

The Screaming Room - 3 stars - A boy is traumatized after an eerie encounter with screaming butterflies.

The Grinning Man - 3.5 stars - A young girl is drawn to a peculiar smiling sarcophagus when dragged to an Egyptian museum exhibit by her uncaring father.

Et In Arcadia Ego - 4 stars - A night security guard in a museum is drawn to a new painting acquisition that brings up memories from the past.

The Shape of the Beast - 2.5 stars - A museum cleaner starts to have strange encounters with a taxidermy bear offspring.

The Whispering Shell - 4 stars - A conch shell seems to be whispering into the ears of those who listen to it.