Book Review: The Place Frafka Nim

 

The Place Frafka Nim

165 pages, paperback

Published December, 2025

It is hard to really break new ground in horror at this point, but this is an interesting case. This was handed to me by a friend who was interested in my take on it.   Frafka Nim, according to a quick search, is an indie author, and that is an understatement. From what I am told, this collection started as a series of micro-fictions, or flash fictions, on Substack, and spread through threads.

Normally when I read an author I have some idea of who they are, or where they come from. In horror, we are a tight-knit community and word spreads. I have never heard of this author. While the stories varied in quality, a few of them didn’t work for me at all. The most effective ones really did work. 

One thing I can say is these stories are sparse in a good way. Much is left for us to fill in the gaps.  There were three stories I found most effective.

Cucum - was a story about the most organized sister, who plans everything, who disappears. The clue of her unfinished shopping list was a great hook.

?She never finished the list.

Because she never got the chance."

I was curious about what happened, although the mystery is the point. I felt the narrator's unease. That unsettling feel is easier to pull off on the page, but the story that best captured this feeling for me was one called Check the Door.

The narrator is in the grocery store when a person hands them a key, but not just any key

"I said, Öh thanks,¨ and took it without thinking."

Because I recognized it.

It was the key to my childhood home."

 I found the idea that this was the key to a long-lost house coming out of nowhere to be haunting, and an idea that I thought would make a great short horror film, or episode in a horror anthology. 

@guest.303 was the most inventive tale using Instagram to be the source of suspense.

IS this book worth. Not a huge investment, I would suggest it but reading the stories online would make more sense. It would be nice if libraries would stock it. The reason to buy is to support an interesting artist, doing something different. Is it a must-read? No, but it is cool. I hope to see a longer work from this author.