To the Kennels: And Other Stories

Hye-Young Pyun has wrangled some horrors of mundane despair in her collection To the Kennels and Other Stories, brought to English readers from the original Korean by translators Sora Kim-Russell and Heinz Insu Fenkl.

There are similar themes and imagery connecting these stories: wild animals in the city, angsty people caught in their routines, craving their patterns while also wanting to break free, needing to stay in them for economic reasons, needing to escape for emotional reasons. Humans are wearing animal masks, forced to smile and play fake instruments. The thematic connective tissue makes this book one animal. It births a meaningful collection rather than a coincidental collage of projects that happened to be done.

Sometimes horror is the fear of being trapped physically in a dark cave. Hye-Young Pyun’s stories are scary in a sad, disturbing way. Sometimes horror is the sadness of being trapped in cubicles like chicken coops, feeling pecks at your feet. Stuck in middle management in a mid-sized company. The only things keeping you going: financial necessity but also love for family and a weekly smile shared with friends.