FROM THE NECK UP by Aliya Whiteley – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

From the Neck Up by Aliya Whiteley
Published by Titan Books on September 14 2021
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 368
Format: Finished paperback
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

The nitty-gritty: Strange and thoughtful, Aliya Whiteley’s latest short story collection is brimming with inventive world building and plenty of heart and emotion.

Each time I pick up an Aliya Whiteley book, I’m reminded of just how unique her stories are, and I’m grateful for the hours I’ve spent with her weird but wonderful characters. From the Neck Up is another great example of Whiteley’s range and talent, and this strong collection is full of odd and magical stories that make you uncomfortable but also make you think. 

Here is a short recap of my favorite stories in the collection and why I loved them:

Into Glass

I am not hurting you. In fact, I am showing off your wonderful heart to the world.

This story is hands down my favorite of the bunch. A woman fulfills her family’s odd and disturbing legacy of creating glass sculptures from loved ones. From small cuts made on her husband while he’s sleeping, beautiful glass sculptures emerge in the shape of wondrous jellyfish. Each scar left on the body tells a story of inner beauty, literally. This odd merging of beauty and body horror is one of Whiteley’s specialties, and in this story she takes that idea to new levels. Despite the implied horror, I was transfixed by the characters and their desire to express their love in such a unique way. 

To the Farm

This story reminded me of the movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence, one of my favorites. In the future, synthetic children were all the rage at one time, but owning them has fallen out of fashion. The story is narrated by a family chauffeur who, upon his retirement, is given one last task: to return the family’s synthetic boy Petie to “the Farm.” This was a heartbreaking story, but the ending gave me hope for humanity.

Reflection, Refraction, Dispersion

This story takes the idea of “Over the Rainbow Bridge” and gives it a weird, sinister twist. An event called the Rainbow Effect is happening all over the world, in stadiums and other large venues, where vast stretches of white ceilings act as canvases. Parents warn their children not to look up when such an event occurs, or they might be sucked into the rainbow with all the others. For across these ceilings rainbows form, and the rainbows are made up of the faces of the dead. One woman reflects on her relationships and what the Rainbows mean. This was an eerie and unusual take on death.

Brushwork

This is the longest story and it opens the collection. In a devastated future covered in ice, special farms contained in biodomes are tended by the elderly who lovingly grow their assigned fruit or vegetable until it ripens and can be sold to the rich. A woman in charge of melons loves her life and her responsibilities, until the compound is infiltrated by a group of bioterrorists who want to steal the food and give it to the hungry. I absolutely loved this story, which touches on how the elderly are treated and valued (or not valued). Whiteley gives poignant flashbacks into the woman’s early life as a school teacher and comments on the sacrifices we make for those things we believe in.

The Tears of a Building Surveyor, and Other Stories

This lighthearted, funny story is written as a memoir told by a woman named Violet, a woman with a very vivid imagination. Violet’s longtime husband Tom is dying of skin cancer, and as she looks back over her life with him, her wish is to create a different reality, a life full of excitement and interest. From inserting herself into the character of Maria from The Sound of Music to a thrilling adventure as a circus attraction, readers will wonder which is the real version of Violet’s life.

Loves of the Long Dead

A very unusual ghost story! A long dead Egyptian princess is reborn into the body of a scientist named Dr. Chin in order to exact revenge on the husband who killed her. This story was so strange, but like many of Whiteley’s stories, it’s full of emotion and deals with the pangs of difficult family relationships.

Corwick Grows

A very odd tale about a man who gets caught up in the ebb and flow of a mysterious town called Corwick. Whiteley often incorporates body horror into her stories, and here it’s done in such a way as to make the reader uncomfortable, without using graphic blood and guts to make its point.

---

Whiteley’s stories often explore themes of lost love, loneliness, and death, but also celebrate the joys of being human and belonging to a family. I highly recommend this collection (or any of her books, for that matter) to readers who appreciate weird fiction that packs an emotional punch.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.