Antagonistic family members become the least of their worries when the power goes out and the snow keeps piling on.

As a fellow Texan, there was a lot I felt familiar with as I read through this novella. And with having gone through a certain winter event that many in the area called “Snowmageddon,” the premise drew me in almost instantly. It must have kept me there too because I read the whole thing in one sitting. Cup of hot cocoa in one hand with the kindle in the other, and happy that though it was cold outside, I actually had power unlike that time two years ago.

The content of the novella itself is rather well done. The characterization of the family that everything focuses around honestly surprised me compared to most novellas I’ve read. Usually in the smaller word counts, you don’t get as real a sense for the characters as you do with this one. An ensemble cast makes up the family most of the action centers on. Every member still feels distinct from one another and real, despite many of the tropes or almost comical descriptions of the mother/mother-in-law. Although I did have some issues with the head-hopping that happens throughout, it’s almost better that it does happen sometimes so that the character doesn’t become a caricature instead.

The length, mostly in terms of scope, is one of the main reasons behind the ultimate verdict. Pacing needs a bit of work, and with how much emphasis is placed on the buildup, the culmination of it all just feels a bit too short. Dialogue was strong, but the prose could use a lot of cleaning up. The word choice and descriptions were excellent but buried in overlong sentences. Because of that length, and how windy many lines could get, readability tanked in places. This only became worse in certain instances where the main actor could change from beginning to end.

With a little more editing and a fleshing out of the latter half of the novella, this could be an amazing read. As is though, much more work needs to be done. Enough so that unless you are a huge fan of short bites of horror, I would even say this was a possible one to skip.

I Saw Mommy Kissing the Nanny is available to buy on Amazon.

Verdict:

READABLE