🎱 eight cleverly curated & unsettling stories to devour
⚠️ some contain sensitive subject matter (TW)
👀 just wait for the nightmares to begin

This was my first Mia Dalia experience and I dear say it will NOT be my last! I was absolutely terrified by the creepy child in BLUES FOR THE SOUL and don't even get me started with what goes down in THE TRUNK and STUMP! As someone who suffers from Arachnophobia... I didn't think I needed any more reasons to fear SPIDERS (see SPINDEL) and I was so impressed by the SMILE SO RED meta-verse that was captured in this chilling collection with those few stories (that you revisit within DEVIL'S CHORD and REDDEST.) Also, that beaut of reference in FLAMINGOS (...IYKYK 🦩)

Honestly what a cleverly curated and well-written collection of dark and creepy psychological tales that will add to the depths of your most disturbed nightmares! A big thank-you to Brigids Gate Press & NetGalley for granting me access to this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is a new to me author and I absolutely fell in love with the way they tells stories! This was a fabulous little collection with deep, intriguing characters and excellent aspects of horror. Will definitely look for more books written by them!

This is an interesting and neatly-packaged collection of short fiction, ranging from horror to thillers. While nothing packed a huge punch, this collection is enjoyable—particularly as a first foray into dark fiction.

A haunting mix of creepy and dread inducing stories. Some were downright nightmare material. Some felt a little too short and not fully explored.

When you grab this book, you’re getting a great collection of horrifying ideas put down on paper from an up and coming author in the genre. Well worth a read and even a re-read of the tales within. I’m keen to check out more of Dalia’s full length works in the future!

I do wish the cover was a bit more professionally done, as some readers may assume (incorrectly) based on this alone that the stories are amateurish (which simply isn’t true). I’m speaking from my own experience as I initially passed by this collection when I saw it mentioned in a few groups and only picked it up as a reviewer on NetGalley. I’m glad I’ve finally gotten into this author’s work and recommend everyone give her a read.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Brigids Gate Press for a copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

Like all short stories compilations, there are good ones and bad ones.

Overall a good ready with a good amount of creep.

This was so creative and creepy I had to read some of the short stories twice. The atmosphere is chilled and the creeps are creepy, Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hi Mia,

I wanted to thank you for sharing a copy of Smile So Red and Other Tales of Madness with me. I truly enjoyed spending time in the worlds you created. Each story had its own strange pull and I found myself pausing after some of them just to let the unease settle in.

Smile So Red itself was such a striking opener. The imagery of that graffitied house and the sense of something smiling in the dark has stayed with me. Spindel drew me in with its ordinary paper route that turned into something dangerous and unsettling. I also loved the raw quiet sadness in Stump and how it captured two very different kinds of pain. Blues for the Soul and The Trunk stood out to me as well for how they mixed everyday life with chilling secrets. Even the shorter pieces like Flamingos lingered, reminding me how sometimes the most harmless objects can hold the heaviest memories.

What I appreciated most was the atmosphere you wove across the whole collection. It felt less about jump scares and more about the creeping dread of ordinary people bumping into something they cannot quite name. Some stories felt like they could have gone deeper, but even then they still left that uncanny aftertaste which I loved.

Overall I would give the collection 3.5 stars (rounding up to 4 below). It was a haunting and thoughtful read and I am looking forward to exploring more of your work.

Thank you again for letting me experience these stories.

Best, Jessica

What a great debut collection of short stories. Smile So Red--being the title one brings us right into the universe of the book and I loved the way Mia comes back to this graffiti house in some of the other stories. All 8 of these tales worked great, but the best and most on the edge of your seat heart pounding one was Spindel. It had that coming of age vibe and the ending just knocks it right out of the park.

4/5 stars

Thank you Netgalley and Brigids Gate Press for the ARC.

Smile So Red and Other Tales of Madness is exactly what it says: tales of madness.
In this collection of short horror/thriller stories, you will always be left wondering what’s going to happen next until the story is over, and sometimes even after that.

I really liked the first three stories, and the last two. The others were a bit -not- scary enough for my taste, but I'm sure other readers could feel the exact opposite way, and I like the versatility of this collection: there's a chocolate for everybody in there.

The writing is great. It's well-paced, with a sort of shortness to it that fits perfectly. It's not romantic, it's not dramatic: it’s efficient and just descriptive enough.

The notes at the end were a nice addition.

My personal favorite was probably A Smile So Red because I love the creature haunting the narrative, but Spindel was breathtaking!

I'll definitely be on the lookout for more stories from Mia Dalia!

I received this ARC copy through NetGalley and could not be more excited about it. Mia Dalia hits on very human fears, insecurities, love, loyalty, and insecurity. I continue to tell my wife about the different stories and how creepy cool they are. She even takes something as innocuous as plastic pink flamingos and makes them a subject of horror. I have already recommended this book to many people and absolutely will be reading this again in October.

A friend who really knows her Science Fiction (thank you Sue !) recommended to me ‘Arrokoth’, a recent short-story by Mia Dalia. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot, the characters, the futuristic setting, the moral ambiguity. So I was delighted to receive from NetGalley a collection of short-stories from this author. A collection due to be re-published this month by Brigid’s gate Press, after an initial publication early in 2024 by Annuli Press.

This collection of eight pieces is aptly described by the publisher as:

“ …a uniquely terrifying collection of dark psychological fiction, featuring novelettes and short stories that range from horror to suspense to mystery to coming of age thrillers.”

I’m not usually a reader of the so-called horror genre, but like many readers, I have at times enjoyed the likes of Steven King and Dean Koontz. In such books, the horror merely provides the background, with the readers pleasure coming from the plot and character development and sometimes elements of moral dilemma. This collection of short-stories fits comfortable into such a description.

They are all memorable for one reason or another. Many with a slow building of dread, emanating from sinister or perhaps supernatural entities. The backdrop is utterly normal, humdrum, everyday life. The United States, small towns, larger cities and the daily ebb and flow of life. Work, relationships, family, school, neighbours and so on. Characters in these stories are often faced with a choice, alongside issues of truth, honesty, trust, love and loss. And consequences…

The stories are not directly related to each other although they could be. Is the small town set in the past in one story now part of the encroaching city in other stories ? Are the remote and sinister woods in the title story now the straggly, unkempt city park in another story. Is the nefarious element that inhabits each story, or at least the minds of the protagonists, possible the same ? According to the authors notes, No. The stories, apart from the final piece, are not intended to be directly related. Although I still wonder if subconsciously they just might be…

The main characters are memorable and vividly portrayed, even given the limited space of a short story. They are predominantly young; ordinary children, teens and young adults. Often from difficult backgrounds or dysfunctional families. The stories tend to have a moral decision at some point. And this defines the story ending. Some are upbeat. Others provide closure albeit with sadness. Others are more surprising, unexpected or ambiguous. All are satisfying.

The authors use of language is particularly apt in developing the atmosphere in each story.

“A profound absence of sound. No animals rustling about. No birds. Nothing”

Occasional humour !

“The house snuck up on him. Or rather it stood perfectly still as houses tend to, waiting for him to notice it, and then it said Boo !”

At times a reflection of modernity:

“…people of his generation, when struck with the inexplicable, he photographed it.”

Other times, chilling:

“It was the kind of thing you could not un-see…”

Small descriptions place the stories in time and place. Perhaps in the 80s with cassette tapes, a video store and certain movie references. More recent settings are indicated by mobile phones, Netflix, Facebook. Small but reliable clues.

Amongst the dread, there are some particularly incisive and almost moving descriptions. For example when a lonely young character reflects on books:

“..the way simple words could add up and turn into wonderful adventures like plain bricks making up an impressive building”

Although the background context is sometimes a bit of a cliche (small town America, anonymous big cities) I think they work in lulling the reader (or certain characters ?) into a false sense of normality. How could dreadful things happen in such mundane places and everyday circumstances ? But they do…

I’m not usually a short-story reader, but this collection is great. The characters, plots, and endings. A memorable collection. I wish the author all the very best from this re-publication. Whether it be Science Fiction, Horror or some other genre, I look forward to reading more from her.

This is a compelling and well-crafted collection of tales that offers readers a journey into madness and horror.

From its opening pages, the book establishes a captivating, intriguing, and creepy tone that draws the reader in and maintains their engagement throughout.

I really enjoyed this read and highly recommend ..

A collection that successfully elicits an atmosphere of pervasive dread, rather than aiming for direct scares, Smile So Red and Other Tales of Madness presents a series of thoughtful snapshots of the ugliness that can fester in the hearts of ostensibly regular people.

The horror here is definitely of a psychological bent and, more often than not, the most disturbing elements of each story are the depths to which the protagonists themselves might sink.

The Trunk, appearing towards the end of the collection, is an absolute standout. Unpacking themes of guilt and reinvention, this story will definitely leave readers ruminating on the ways in which they succeed or fail in reconciling with their own pasts. This thoughtful exploration of character is a strength across all of the stories in the collection, and it’s clear that Dalia has a real talent for capturing the voice and personality of her characters. The titular novelette, Smile So Red, is another highlight.

Taken as a collection, however, the pacing of this release often felt quite sluggish, with five of the eight stories of novelette length (in this case, between 45-55 pages). A greater variation in length from story to story may have provided much needed peaks and troughs to the reading experience.

On a line level, the writing is spare and direct. However, there is a fair amount of redundancy in the prose, and it is evident that Dalia has a penchant for returning to favoured turns of phrase.

Several of the stories display a distinct lack of confidence in the reader, and Dalia displays a tendency towards directly stating intended themes, rather than allowing the reader to unpack those layers themselves. A greater degree of intentionality in the choice of sensory descriptors, allegory, and ostensible themes may have provided similar guidance to readers, without feeling too on-the-nose.

All that said, Dalia has an undeniable talent for crafting characters which feel flawed in an authentically human way, with the kind of moral ambiguity that keeps the reader on the backfoot, never quite sure who they can safely trust. I'm very interested to see how this translates to her longer fiction.

Marketing this collection simply as ‘horror’ may be setting readers up for disappointment, and despite the occasional supernatural elements, this collection may find more appropriate readership among fans of psychological thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Brigids Gate Press for providing this digital reviewer copy, in exchange for my honest opinion.

The premise for this novella and short stories seemed intriguing however only a few stood out for me as a horror enthusiast.
There were two stories that were a stand out for me and they were Blues For The Soul and The Devils Chord with a captivating plot and a sense of unease and suspense. The rest of the stories didn't quite land for me and have led me to giving the book an average rating as a result.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Brigids Gate Press for an arc of this book.

These stories do have a very goosebumps feel to them and I did like each one in their own way. Some of them felt like retellings of stories such as smile so red, looking at human greed, desperation and how much a person would sacrifice to get the life they want. Blues for the soul was my favourite, maybe because I can easily find children scary or maybe because it has a little supernatural element.

Smile so red and other tales of madness - Mia Dalia

This is described as a collection of dark psychological fiction. And it didn't disappoint. What i loved about this was the collection of stories, each may leave you wanting a bit more but equally we're enough in their own right. Each piece was thought provoking in its own way but so easily read.

I really enjoyed each read within this book and it was genuinely such a good intrusion on my thoughts. I won't spoil it but tou will notice something as you make your way through which was a satisfying surprise.

I'd recommend the authors notes also, they are quite short but a nice insight into the creation of each tale.

This was a very easy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I received this anthology of short stories as an ARC from NetGalley.

The anthology is made up of short stories, of different lengths and genres but all with a common theme - madness or losing the plot.

I would recommend this to certain readers, especially horror readers.

Smile So Red and Other Tales of Madness is a fever dream I didn’t want to wake up from—claustrophobic, surreal, and dripping with dread. Mia Dalia has crafted a collection that feels like cracking open a diary you were never meant to read: raw, fragmented, and deeply unsettling in the best way.

Each story spirals in its own direction, but they’re all united by that gnawing undercurrent of instability—the sense that reality is just a thin veil waiting to tear. Dalia leans hard into psychological horror, the kind that makes you second-guess not just the narrator, but yourself. I found myself rereading passages not because I didn’t understand them, but because I wanted to sit longer in the discomfort.

The madness in this collection isn’t always loud. Sometimes it creeps in sideways. Sometimes it giggles. Sometimes it smiles too wide. And that’s what makes it so effective—these aren’t just horror stories, they’re invitations into beautifully cracked minds.

If you like your horror dark, literary, and laced with poetic unease, Smile So Red delivers. It’s sharp. It’s strange. And it’ll echo in your head long after the final page.

An imaginative collection of stories from author, Mia Dalia. The author put me in the creepy woods, in the dark basement, in the hidden depths of the suburbs, and back in the beat of the gritty city. Chilling, Heartbreaking, moving, and dark in the best way. A mind-bending journey through various styles of stories. This collection has something for everyone. Can't wait to read more from this Author. Thanks NetGalley.

This collection of short stories was amazing for want of a better word. I loved each and every story contained within and couldn’t put it down. I have to say I can’t really pick a favourite, despite being a werewolf fan, because each story stood out and stuck with me long after finishing. This is perfect to have around when you need a quick scare or have time to kill and want well executed horror tales with immersive writing and memorable tales.
As always thank you to Brigid’s Gates Press for the advanced copy to review, my reviews are always honest and freely given.