Name: Mapping the Interior
ISBN: 9780765395092

Stephen Graham Jones

"Brilliant." —The New York Times Mapping the Interior is a horrifying, inward-looking novella from Stephen Graham Jones that Paul Tremblay calls "emotionally raw, disturbing, creepy, and brilliant." Blackfeet author Stephen Graham Jones brings readers a spine-tingling Native American horror novella. Walking through his own house at night, a fifteen-year-old thinks he sees another person stepping through a doorway. Instead of the people who could be there, his mother or his brother, the figure reminds him of his long-gone father, who died mysteriously before his family left the reservation. When he follows it he discovers his house is bigger and deeper than he knew. The house is the kind of wrong place where you can lose yourself and find things you'd rather not have. Over the course of a few nights, the boy tries to map out his house in an effort that puts his little brother in the worst danger, and puts him in the position to save them . . . at terrible cost. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Mapping the Interior

Thanks to Tor Nightfire for a physical arc of this beautiful rerelease! 

A unique haunted house story unlike anything else I’ve read. Someone (or something) passing a doorway. A reflection caught out of the corner of the eye. A shadow where there shouldn’t be. We’ve all heard or seen or read stories like these. But what Stephen Graham Jones is offering isn’t a boy haunted by the ghost he thinks he’s seen, but a boy encouraging the ghost it could have been. 

After the death of his father, his mother moved him and his brother away from the reservation. But if his father died elsewhere, how could he find them here? Is his father returning to save him? His brother? To make his mother less lonely? To make them whole again? He certainly thinks so, and will waste away the nights just praying for another glimpse of his hero. 

As much as this story is gut wrenching, it’s also about the boy’s hope, and regardless of whether or not that can be perceived as naive, that’s what hit me so strongly in this one. A novelette length examination on the lengths in which hope can bind us to the past, to the need of a father, to the almost vampiric nature of holding on.

C. J. Daley 

Thanks to Tor Nightfire for a physical arc of this beautiful rerelease! 

A unique haunted house story unlike anything else I’ve read. Someone (or something) passing a doorway. A reflection caught out of the corner of the eye. A shadow where there shouldn’t be. We’ve all heard or seen or read stories like these. But what Stephen Graham Jones is offering isn’t a boy haunted by the ghost he thinks he’s seen, but a boy encouraging the ghost it could have been. 

After the death of his father, his mother moved him and his brother away from the reservation. But if his father died elsewhere, how could he find them here? Is his father returning to save him? His brother? To make his mother less lonely? To make them whole again? He certainly thinks so, and will waste away the nights just praying for another glimpse of his hero. 

As much as this story is gut wrenching, it’s also about the boy’s hope, and regardless of whether or not that can be perceived as naive, that’s what hit me so strongly in this one. A novelette length examination on the lengths in which hope can bind us to the past, to the need of a father, to the almost vampiric nature of holding on.

Ryan Mateyk

this was so much more than a simple horror story and it feels unfair to be marketed as such. this was extremely emotional and delicately addressed grief and generational trauma from a child’s point of view, though this POV does not detract from the maturity it has in dealing with these themes. not to say it also doesn’t have its terrifying moments though for me reading this, the horror was more so in the themes… though that ending was unexpected, scary and troubling.

Ryan LaFerney

Stpehen Graham Jones can do no wrong. His stories are always engaging, thoughtful, creepy, and heartfelt. Mapping the Interior is about a young teenager, missing and thinking of the father who died before he could really be known, who believes he saw his father coming through a doorway. From there, we learn more about this young man, his family, Native American culture, and superstitions. Jones dives into the characters' (particularly our narrator) conflicted feelings towards their ancestry. As our narrator, the man of the house, is haunted by the ghost of his father whose death severed their ties to the reservation. 

In a way, this could be interpreted as a ghost story. It's about our narrator and his family being haunted by the trauma of their past. In another interpretation it could be thought of a coming of age story-with perhaps a little psychological horror on the side. We see our narrator struggle with the absence of his father, the need to take care of his mom and little brother. And that all takes an emotion toll that causes some of the events in the novella to take place. 

However, Jones isn't completely clear about his intentions here. This is a multilayered story. Many interpretations could be made from this novella. It's a creepy, moving piece of work that should be widely read.

Ashlyn

I didn't expect to be wowed by a novella, but here we are. I am still trying to decipher all the subtext, but my initial impression is that this piece is excellent. It's just a little over 100 pages and I think I got bait-and-switched more than three times!

Maggie Gordon

Holy bloody hell. This was an absolutely chilling little tale of dread and horror. Mapping the Interior dives deep into poverty and family struggles, following the experiences of a young boy with too many responsibilities at too young an age. He desperately wishes that he actually knew his father who had died when he was young, and is amazed when his father's ghost comes back to seemingly protect the family. But this is not a happy return, and there's a significant cost to dad's reappearance. Had the story simply stopped here, it would still be a powerful horror novel, but Jones pushes the narrative further, resulting in one of the most powerfully striking endings I've ever read. This is not a happy story. This is not an optimistic story. This is a story that goes back to the idea of a slow crawl towards events that profoundly disturb us.

Mapping the Interior is a horrifying, inward-looking novella from Stephen Graham Jones that Paul Tremblay calls "emotionally raw, disturbing, creepy, and brilliant." Blackfeet author Stephen Graham Jones brings readers a spine-tingling Native American horror novella. Walking through his own house at night, a fifteen-year-old thinks he sees another person stepping through a doorway. Instead of the people who could be there, his mother or his brother, the figure reminds him of his long-gone father, who died mysteriously before his family left the reservation. When he follows it he discovers his house is bigger and deeper than he knew. The house is the kind of wrong place where you can lose yourself and find things you'd rather not have. Over the course of a few nights, the boy tries to map out his house in an effort that puts his little brother in the worst danger, and puts him in the position to save them . . . at terrible cost.

Gabrielle Rodrigue

This was a genuinely unsettling and childlike horror experience. I’ve never read anything in horror that was as artistic and haunting as this. 

I'm not even sure how to process this novella to be honest. There were interesting elements, but they were scattered haphazardly throughout this story that was just confusing, like a long nightmare that morphs repeatedly and makes no sense once you wake up. You'd think that would make for a decent horror book, but it definitely fell flat for me because there didn't seem to be much direction, purpose, or explanation about what happened. I don't "get" it, I suppose.

Ruth Parker 

Not my favourite book by this author, but it was still interesting and moving. I’d totally recommend this book.

celeste

This was really weird. I'm only giving it two stars because of the plot-twist which I didn't see coming, but other than that, I did not understand anything that was happening at all, especially the ending. What the hell was that?

Lea de Sousa

4 ⭐

I picked this title up for Indigenous People's Day and I have no regrets. Stephen Graham Jones is a natural storyteller and this tale chilled me to the bone. I enjoyed learning more about the Native American perspective and I'll definitely be adding his other stories to my to-read list.

Kelsey Holtaway

Mid four rounded up. Stephen Graham Jones could write that book from the shining and I’d still think he did it brilliantly.

agnese

this really was not my cup of tea. the writing made it hard for me to become invested in the story, and i probably stopped paying attention halfway through the story. sad :/ i was really excited about this one.