Wintry Monsters Press

Title: Our Own Unique Affliction

Author: Scott J. Moses

Publisher: DarkLit Press

Release: April 26, 2023

Synopsis: Alice Ann is an immortal with a thirst for blood, like her sister, Hannah Grace. While luring out an imposter recklessly leaving behind their victims, Alice ends up rescuing a woman from death and stumbling upon a racket involving vampire blood, her sister, and the mortal that helps them move between cities unnoticed.

The Review: I read this novella twice in order to properly gather my thoughts. In all honesty, my first reading was through tired eyes, so I missed some things and walked away confused. Despite my questions, however, I knew I had loved the story, not that I was at all surprised—Scott J. Moses became one of most anticipated authors after his 2020 collection Hunger Pangs (which actually contains the first chapter of this novella, presented as a short story). About a week later, I returned to Our Own Unique Affliction to read it again, and I swear it was like my first time all over. (That goes to show just how tired I was the first time I read it.) I’ll admit the blur of hallucinations and memories pushed me off track several times, but I was a lot clearer headed on this go and was therefor able to make sense of it all…except one thing. There’s an important death in this story that, even after two reads, I’m still confused by what even happened. Having read a bunch of reviews by other readers, it looks as if I’m the only one to specifically note this moment (though there were others that mentioned moments of confusion), so maybe I just skipped a defining line or two both times I read this novella. Maybe I’ll figure it out on my third go. That being said, I loved OOUA both times. It’s complex, grief-laden, thought-provoking, and entirely a story all its own. I’ve never read anything quite like it.

Bottom Line: Told through a swirl of hallucinations, memories, desires, and the bleakness of desiring an escape from immortality, Our Own Unique Affliction offers a dark and unexpected look into vampires and the cursed lives they lead. It is surprisingly deep and sadly satisfying.

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