It works for the most part but in certain stories, the dramatic effect falls a bit flat as a result.Ĭursed Bunny doesn’t hold any profound truths.
Sometimes the monotony of the narrating voice does get in the way, like when a cold-blooded murder is recounted quite calmly. Starting at a point where the protagonists find themselves in the middle of a strange situation, the stories weave through events in the past that led up to that point in time, and finally, end with a denouement that has just enough of a plot twist to make one sit up straight and think about what they just read. Chung takes you through a tale of betrayal, naivete, and corporate greed set in the backdrop of war, before finally ending with a twist that though not groundbreaking, is still macabre enough to make the unsuspecting reader do a double take. It leaves one curious who is this Grandfather? What are these ‘cursed fetishes’? And why is it important that they be pretty?Īll these questions and more are answered as the words that follow slowly unravel a short but enthralling story. The opening line of the titular short story is just cryptic enough to reel you in. Grandfather used to say, “When we make our cursed fetishes, it’s important that they’re pretty.” Caught in between the fiercely imaginative prose and the monotonous voice of the narrators, the reader is suspended in this grey area that is at once both detached and deeply immersive. This may be one of the reasons why Cursed Bunny feels so grounded yet oddly fairytale-like. Ghostly apparitions and emotionally manipulative cyborgs are introduced to the reader as if they are perfectly normal, and indeed they may well be in the eyes of the characters that inhabit these stories. Perhaps what is more fascinating is the way Chung narrates the stories as a matter-of-fact, almost emotionless.
The book embraces simplicity and runs with it the uncertainty behind the monsters augments the already existing terror weaved into their tales. This lack of explanation, which, rather than detracting the reader from enjoying the stories, adds to the experience.
The stories all seem to point to one thing: sometimes, the monster under the bed isn’t a traumatic memory or a reflection of the protagonist’s troubled past sometimes it’s just that-a monster. With a very unapologetic approach to horror, the author takes zero pains to explain any of the phenomena that we read about, bar a couple, and that too in vague terms-setting itself apart from the usual entries in the genre. Reading ‘ Cursed Bunny’ is a refreshing experience.
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