Review: The Poorly Made and Other Things by Sam Rebelein

Rating: 8.5/10

There’s something wrong in Renfield County.

It’s in the water, the soil, the wood. But worst of all, it’s in the minds of the residents, slowly driving them mad. When Lawrence Renfield massacred his family and drew The Giant in his farmhouse with their blood, no one imagined the repercussions. At the very least, the bloodstained wood should have been set aflame, not chopped down and repurposed as furniture, décor, and heirlooms across the county. But that’s exactly what happened. Now regular people—like you and me—are sitting on… eating with… admiring… the cursed wood and reaping the consequences.

These are their stories.

In “My Name Is Ellie” a young girl uncovers disturbing secrets hiding in the walls of her beloved grandmother’s home. An unassuming box, built with reclaimed wood, connects a grieving widower with his late wife’s lingering spirit in “Hector Brim.” In “Detour” a father, desperate to return home, finds himself trapped in a dizzying maze, haunted by stories of lurking monsters that live off the remains of weary travelers.

Playing with the uncanny to explore themes of loneliness and grief, Sam Rebelein returns upstate to unravel the mysteries of Renfield. But regardless of what started the trouble, there’s one thing of which we can be certain: for those living here, the nightmare is far from over.

In a return to Renfield County that is every bit as absurd, surreal and gleefully unhinged as his debut, Sam Rebelein’s latest, “The Poorly Made and Other Things,” is the cleverest, cruelest and coolest collection of stories I’ve read in quite a while. I really can’t put enough emphasis on how downright strange the entire experience is. Tiny cults, enough creepy trees to turn the lorax pro-deforestation..uh, a “Sausage demon?” Back in 2023, “Edenville,” was my first physical ARC, and this great big cloud of literary smugness followed me everywhere I went for about a month after it arrived. To be dragged, kicking and screaming, back to where it all started was truly a joyous experience… Thank you Titan for the ARC. Dear reader, pack your bags for February 11th. Maybe take the scenic route along County Road 7, soak in the vistas, exchange pleasantries with the county’s questionable inhabitants (Old Wag is waiting for you), and make sure you watch out for the stain. Send me a postcard. 

Historically, myself and short story collections don’t get along. My attention span is short (I take copious notes to bring you these reviews, not that you’d be able to tell) and my poor little brain is only capable of handling one book at a time. Between you and I, reader to reader, I struggle to face short story after short story without my brain slowly getting fed up. So it needs to be good. Or, have a little something-something. Luckily for me, this collection is a) very good, and b) certainly not lacking in pizzazz or je ne sais quoi. The first thing we’re faced with is the beginning of a very long and one-sided conversation that Rachel Durwood is trying to hold with her brother Tom over email. She has been looking into the history of Renfield County, the first settler, and how the ripple effect of the massacre he committed in 1927 is still sloshing around nearly 100 years later. Amidst her run-down, we’re given the short stories, which add some detail and context and every now and then, some clarity, to what we’re being told through Rachel. Of course, these stories also connect to one another, there are easter-eggs galore, and let me tell you, I am absolutely terrible at spotting them… just think about what you could find!!

Allow me to talk you through a few of my very favourites, beginning with “My Name is Ellie.” The only way I can describe this to you is “The Borrowers,” if they went rogue, discovered psychedelics and started a cult. We listen in abject terror as 10 year old Ellie tells us about the tiny people who lived in her Grandma’s walls. In her innocent ten-year old way, (ergo, a narrative voice that is creepy as fuck) she recalls her father’s first experience with these little fellas. How he lay awake next to his sleeping wife, and was left to listen to the going-ons in the walls, from the muffled morning rituals… to the ritual sacrifices. Would you believe me if I said it only gets more insane from there?  

I alluded to “Wag,” in my introduction, and it’s a contender for my favourite of the collection. It seems to thrum with an off-beat unease, a repulsive, pervasive, makes-you-wanna-recede-into-yourself feeling which Rebelein manifests with a grin on his face. We follow the talk-of-the-town, “Old Wag,” who sits in his bathtub and drinks beer, all day every day. Nobody knows anything about him, who he is, where he came from. At first I was convinced that this was a man after my own heart, until he is visited by John and Harmony. The teenagers find more than the thrill they were after, when it becomes clear just how Wag has been able to remain so elusive all these years. I can confirm that Wag and I are NOT kindred spirits.

I like to think of myself as a devoted servant to horror readers across the globe, a humble guide when it comes to the disturbing and depraved- always helpful and informative. On that note, I can’t tell you anything about “10PM on the southbound 6,” to do so would be to rob you of its nasty punchline. Just know that it is completely uncalled for, undeniably foul, and thus, one of my favourites. 

The story that almost every review I’ve seen of this collection highlights is “Allison’s Face,” and the reason behind that would be that it is worth highlighting. A PERFECT short, we follow Brin who is at her college orientation, and struggling to make friends. Luckily, the bubbly and outgoing Olivia stops her from eating all of the tomatoes on the snack table, and invites her on an adventure. Accompanied by the unbelievably popular Ryan, Joshua and Allison, the teens sneak into the derelict biology block of the Edenville campus, six pack in hand, and… shit goes down. The ending of this one blew my mind. I normally save my gushing for reviews, but I simply had to message Sam and let him know what an evil genius he is. I expect when the book hits shelves, he’ll have to hire somebody to keep up. Ingenious, devious, and so plain…wrong, “Allison’s Face,” alone is worth buying the whole collection for. 

For fans of Alan Baxter’s “The Gulp,” and Josh Malerman’s “Goblin,” this is a collection that is ultimately about the lasting importance of the past, and shifting perspective, whether that’s via a plot twist, like the banger that is “Allison’s Face,” or indeed the great cosmic shifts that occur in stories such as “Detour,” and “My Name is Ellie.” An absolute triumph, Rebelein has cemented himself in my estimations as both an excellent author and an absolute madman. Buckle up buttercup.