Prepare the Coffin: Tales of the Macabre - Book Review
By Zaher Alajlani
In Cassandra O'Sullivan Sachar's 2025 collection, Prepare the Coffin: Tales of the Macabre, death appears as an ambush predator that unleashes terror and vanishes into the shadows. Its role transforms the ordinary into the macabre without relying on exhausted tropes or clichés.
Most of the stories begin in unremarkable settings, featuring ordinary characters unaware of what's to come. The author uses this calm before the storm to weave the characters' backgrounds and psychological traits into her compelling narrative. It is then that death reveals itself as a force stalking the edges of everyday life.
To Sachar, simplicity and accessibility don't diminish depth. Quite the contrary, they frame it more effectively. Some of her protagonists explore creativity as a solitary, Sisyphean endeavor, while others distort our perception of reality.
Sachar also excels at engaging readers in her fiction: She provides enough details to ground them and withholds enough to let their imaginations roam.
At certain points, Sachar subtly channels the Lovecraftian and Poesque spirits, but she doesn't go beyond that. Her macabre world is uniquely hers—where wit and restraint merge into primal dread. The result is a short story collection that both disturbs and entertains.
About the Author:
Cassandra O’Sullivan Sachar is a horror, mystery, and suspense writer and an English professor with an Ed. D. She is the author of several novels and story collections. Her work has appeared in more than sixty journals and anthologies. A member of the Horror Writers Association and a Bram Stoker Award–nominated editor, she has led various multi-author projects.