Dammit Annie Neugebauer, why you gotta do us like this. The Outsiders Sequence can’t end! That is exactly what I said when I finished the final novella in the series, The Spare, and was sitting in awe of what I just read. The Spare is another banger from Neugebauer, a completely unsettling psychological horror that I just simply couldn’t put down.
Kasper is tired of these extended family reunions. No matter what she does, she’s always the odd one out. She’s used to feeling outnumbered, but on this remote camping trip, those numbers keep changing.
While this is a review of The Spare, Neugebauer’s final book in The Outsiders Sequence, I won’t be able to stop myself from at least diving a little into the previous two books. The Extra and The Other, while not sequels or prequels – but a sequence, give the same vibe and feelings as The Spare does, but somehow Neugebauer continues to outdo herself. In The Extra, we try to navigate a trip where 10 go hiking but 11 are actually there and they all know each other. The Other sees a couple hiking and finding their complete doppelgängers. Now, The Spare we find ourselves in another story where the number of people isn’t exactly what it seems.
There are unsettling horror stories filled with blood, guts and gore, but there are also these types of tales where it just made me feel uncomfortable and really wanting to help our protagonist Kasper and her attempt to navigate the situation she finds herself in. I couldn’t help but put myself into Kasper’s shoes and determine how I would handle such a crazy and terrifying experience. Trying to explain what is happening, when you really don’t know what is happening would be infuriating, horrifying, and scary. Those who you think know you, may not actually know you.
I have felt like the odd one out before, in a group of family or friends, so this feeling of being a spare is something that resonated with me beyond the supernatural science-fiction horror we read in The Spare. Neugebauer expertly tells a story that is far-fetched but also somehow hits close to home that, again, strikes this uncomfortable chord that reverberates long after reading.
With each of these novellas in the series, including The Spare, Neugebauer quickly puts us in a place of uncomfortable mystery. The author tells a story in a limited number of pages that lands with impact, leaving a crater behind that isn’t deep enough for how far my jaw has dropped. How you can pack a punch in a novella like this is beyond me, glueing me to each and every page from beginning to end.
The Spare is an unsettling and downright brilliant story that adds to The Outsiders Sequence perfectly. Annie Neugebauer caps off her series of novellas with a bang, crafting a story that resonated personally while making me feel uncomfortable in the best possible way. The Spare is a fantastic psychological horror that goes to show that a lasting impact can be felt in a short number of pages.
The Spare hits bookstores everywhere on March 9, 2027 from Shortwave Publishing.
