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Kelly Robson
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A Human Stain: A Tor.com Original Kindle Edition

by Kelly Robson (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 296 ratings
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Winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novelette

"A Human Stain" by Kelly Robson is a disturbing horror novelette about a British expatriate at loose ends who is hired by her friend to temporarily care for his young, orphaned nephew in a remote castle-like structure in Germany.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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  1. Print length
    40 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Tor Books
  5. Publication date
    January 4, 2017
  6. File size
    811 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01MTR06SQ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tor Books (January 4, 2017)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 4, 2017
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 811 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 40 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 296 ratings

About the author

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Kelly Robson

Kelly Robson

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Like you, I'm a passionate reader. I spent most of my teenage years either hanging out at the drugstore waiting for new issues of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine, or when I was in the city, lurking in the SF and Fantasy section of the bookstore. This was pre-Internet and since there were no bookstores in my town and the library was pretty bare, good books -- the kind that made my heart sing -- were precious treasures. To this day, nothing is more important to me than reading, nothing is more delicious than a great novel, and few people are as important as my favorite writers.

My writing life has been pretty diverse. I've edited science books, and from 2008 to 2012 I had the great good luck to write a monthly wine column for Chatelaine, the largest women's magazine in Canada. I've published short fiction at Tor.com, Asimov's Science Fiction, Clarkesworld, and a number of anthologies. Several of my stories have been chosen for "year's best" anthologies, and in the past two years I've been a finalist for several high-profile awards.

My favorite writers are Connie Willis, Walter Jon Williams, Michael Bishop, Jack Womack, Hilary Mantel, Alan Bennett, Patrick O'Brian, A.M. Dellamonica, Saladin Ahmed, Gemma Files, Maureen McHugh, Cat Rambo, Peter Watts, and Caitlin Sweet. I have a huge soft spot for classic literature, including Jane Austen, Anne Bronte, Charlotte Bronte, Thomas Hardy, Ford Maddox Ford, John Galsworthy, George Eliot, and Mrs. Gaskell. I also love reading non-fiction -- history, historical geography, and science.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
296 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Cassie Nichols
5.0 out of 5 stars Lush, uncanny excellence
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2018
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Eerie and gorgeous with a richly gothic sense of place and lush descriptions. I loved the slow, unsettling build of this story and I might be more than a little in love with Miss York. Loved it!
One person found this helpful
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Shari's Peculiar Fascination
4.0 out of 5 stars Worth the Ride
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2017
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I liked this tale. The main character is funny, and her witty observations keep the story from being too melodramatic dark. But I'd still call it Gothic Horror. My only complaint is that I really didn't get the payoff at the end. I read the book twice, and maybe I'm just thick, but I don't get a picture of the monster. Some might find this vagueness adds to the horror; however. The author writes well, and for a short story, develops the characters nicely. It's such a good story, I may read it a third time... and maybe I'll get a better take on the what the human stain is. It was a fast-moving, unique tale, that felt like a good scary amusement ride.
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Sarah B
3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, but too short for the premise imho
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2017
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My only complaint is that Robson made this a novella rather than a novel. The twist is so weird, the atmosphere so deliciously unsettling, the family so...effed up, that I would have easily devoured at least 200 more pages. And I think Robson honestly needed 200 more pages to explain and derive the full impact from her twist. I'd never ask an author, a horror author especially, to spell everything out-- but Robson's twist was so rich and unique that I think the novel would have benefitted from more development.

As it is, this is a wonderful piece of writing--cross between a Victorian gothic and a Shirley Jackson haunting. Will certainly read something longer from Robson.
5 people found this helpful
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Ron K
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended due to writing style and character development
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2017
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A Human Stain by Kelly Robson is a 37-page horror novelette (novella?) with a unique writing style. Helen is a companion recruited by Barchen Lambrecht, a person we can assume to be one of the dissolute hanger-on nobility types. Lambrecht has a castle or at least an almost castle. A few more turrets might fulfill the requirements of the definition. Peter, a child who is Lambrecht's ward lives in the castle with a nanny and two other servants. But Lambrecht needs something more for young Peter, he needs a governess who can also teach Peter things like reading, writing, and languages. Peter might be six or seven years old; he has yet to learn the order of the alphabet.

Lambrecht is devoted to the life of a playboy and constant party-goer in the countries of Europe. He doesn't have a reputation as a ladies man as he prefers men and boys but this does not deter Helen from approaching him, developing a friendship, and settling into a comfortable arrangement as a governess for Peter. She needs the work as she has nothing but debt in Paris, no family, no job, no friends but lots of creditors. Lambrecht's castle will be a good place to escape, live, and earn money. Also, as she found out after arriving at the castle, the governess, Mimi was cute so there might be a possibility for romance.

Helen walks into a situation which has no certainties; there are no answers to the many questions she has. Mimi answers her questions in either monosyllables, with crying, or not at all. Peter answers in the same way. Peter also depends to disappear a lot. He is not easy to find and in searching for him, Helen explores much of the castle. The house servants, a cook and a steward accept her questions and echo them back to her as answers. After only a few days, Barchen disappears to Munich pleading business but says he will be back in a few days. Helen is left essentially on her own; any answers she might get will be as a result of her searches of the castle.

The castle has a family crypt. Inside there are Peter's mom and dad. Dad was the brother of Barchen Lambert. Helen wants to get into the crypt but there are no keys to be found. She improvises. She gets in but finds that this crypt is like none other she has seen before. Peter has followed her into the crypt and immediately begins to eat some of the material, both vegetable and insect, that cover the interior walls of the crypt. Helen finds that she has urges to eat some of this same material. Initially resisting this impulse, Helen returns to her room to make further plans. During the evening hours as she is looking out on a lake, she determines that previously thought floating inert material has a life. And it (they) is/are watching her.

This is a very well written heavily character dependent short story of a style I would call European. But I won't call it that because author Kelly Robson is Canadian. She has a fascinating author page on Amazon; it is worth going there to see what else she has written and read about the authors who influence her.

For those developing their writing skills, I recommend looking at the character of Helen. She reveals the elements of this short story in several clever and diverse ways. She doesn't tell the story. It is not through Helen's behavior only that story elements come to light, this novella is a delight to read as a display of an accomplished writer's skills.
4 people found this helpful
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Alexis☺
4.0 out of 5 stars Uniquely disturbing
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2017
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Everything about Robson's "Human Stain" is like watching a studio artist at work, chisel chipping stone or paint colors mixing at the tip of the brush. The story is raw, the choice of words unexpectd and the images fresh. A fraudulent governess tries to recount her discovery of a small boy trapped in his suspended evolutionary ancestry, while she can. Narrator and reader discover the reality and horror of myth together. This is a well wrought tale that occasionally jettisons the reader out of suspended disbelief.
3 people found this helpful
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K1337
5.0 out of 5 stars A Human Stain is a dark and ultimately disturbing story...
Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2017
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A Human Stain is a dark and ultimately disturbing story. Helen, a young woman who is anxious to leave Paris and her debts behind, accepts a job as a governess to a young boy. The job offer comes from the boy’s uncle, the owner of a large, almost castle-like house on a lake in a remote part of Germany. The uncle has just met Helen, so this whole situation seems a little odd and too convenient to solve Helen’s immediate problems.

Helen is told by the uncle that the boy’s parents have recently died and the uncle is not interested in spending time raising any children, even his nephew. Helen arrives at the manor to find it quite isolated in the mountains, with only a younger women as the boy’s caretaker, and an elderly couple who cook and maintain the property. Very soon the uncle uniformes Helen that he must return to the city to obtain some help in settling his late brother’s affairs, leaving Helen alone with this odd group of characters. This is when things get weird.

Robson is an expert at setting mood and atmosphere. Her description of the house, the grounds, the lake, the crypt, slowly build the sense of dread and impending doom. You want to shake Helen and tell her to “get out of here” even if she has to walk to the next village. But she can’t she’s drawn into the life of the house and the strange characters that live there.

This story is short, but engrossing in its depiction of Helen’s journey down the deep well of this paranormal spider’s web.
11 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

J. E. Bearden
5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet nourishment
Reviewed in Canada on October 15, 2019
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Each bite is a blessing. I will need to seek out at read so many more of Kelly's stories now. No more sleep for me I'm afraid.
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Matthias K.
5.0 out of 5 stars Rightfully award winning
Reviewed in Germany on October 26, 2018
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It’s a spooky tale that harkens back to Lovecraftian horror, except there is no racism in this which is for the better.

If you like horror you should enjoy this. Recommended.
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Kim
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read short story!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 1, 2018
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This is fantastic creepy short story. I love the author's wonderfully descriptive writing. I can't wait to devour more from this incredibly talented Canadian writer.
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The Grim Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars Dark, gruesome and great!
Reviewed in Australia on January 8, 2017
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Fantastic short story available to read for free at Tor.com It is ugly and deeply unsettling horror. Very good indeed.
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Leigh Teetzel
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on June 28, 2018
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Loved it! Super creepy.
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