Strange Horizons, April 4, 2016

“The Right Sort of Monsters” by Kelly Sandoval

Reviewed by Jody Dorsett

The gods dropped an enchanted forest next to a village. It was beautiful, but like all such beauty it has a price. The cost to those children who ran into the forest was the loss of the ability to have children of their own…at least in the natural way. Viette has recently lost yet another child, stillborn as all the rest, when her sister arrives with her new baby. One she made in the forest with the help of the gods.

There’s a problem. The children aren’t quite normal. However, the desire to have a child has caused many women to go into the forest and bring out not quite right children. Viette wants to go and make one of her own, but her sister advises her against it. There’s a terrible price to pay but the story asks what length would you go to and what abnormalities would you accept to have a child?

Stories about a mother’s love are common yet the author pulls this off well. The imagery is vivid and everything works well. In the end Viette’s decision makes perfect sense.