THE GOTH HOUSE EXPERIMENT

A collection of stories by an intriguing young writer.

The stories that comprise Sindu’s latest book are engaging and energetic, written with a charismatic narrative voice that seems capable of leading the reader just about anywhere. In the collection’s first and best story, “Dark Academia and the Lesbian Masterdoc,” a professor makes her TikTok debut as both her marriage and her health seem headed toward implosion. Then she gets an email from a student: “Dr. B! Saw the video! I know you didn’t ask, but if you thought a little more about lighting and composition, you could really be killing it.” In other stories, a boy one day sprouts wings from his shoulders; a woman finds solace from the early days of pandemic lockdown—and her wife—in brewing beer; and a man marches obliviously toward his own death, which is foretold in the first sentence. It’s an intriguing collection, but not an entirely satisfying one. Aside from the opening piece, the stories seem to skim the surface of emotion while ignoring the depths. Likewise, in story after story, Sindu poses questions about gender, race, sexuality, and colonialism, among other things—but fails to interrogate them deeply. “Wild Ale” and “The Goth House Experiment” both have endings that feel abrupt and unearned, even somewhat cliché in their bombastic violence. “Miracle Boy” has a bit too much overlap with Sindu’s last book (Blue-Skinned Gods, 2021) as it wonders what might happen if the divine were to be made manifest. As a whole, the book feels somewhat skimpy, and taken one by one, the stories feel as though Sindu were taking shortcuts. Here’s hoping that next time, Sindu digs deeper.

An engaging but ultimately unsatisfying collection.