Adorable

A young boy befriends a girl from a haunted house known as ‘ Adorable’ . A roast pig at a Taoist funeral becomes a symbol of rebellion. A man adopts a Thai doll, hoping it would change his luck. Meanwhile, a family of monsters live on Mount Pleasure, disguising themselves with anagrams, and a black metal scandal ruins a teenage couple’ s after-school hangout at Gurney Plaza. Set in Penang, Malaysia, these short stories describe how the island makes its people do crazy things. Its characters navigate a world of social tension and moral panic, while trying to find peace for themselves.

Wan Phing Lim was born to Malaysian parents in 1986 in Butterworth, Penang. Her short stories and personal essays have appeared in Catapult, Ricepaper Magazine, This is Southeast Asia, Sine Theta Magazine, Portside Review, Kyoto Journal, and more. She lives in Penang, and Adorable is her second collection of short stories.

Adorable 1 Parasite 11 Leg of Lamb 25 Four 35 The Doll 45 Pig’ s Head 65 Let’ s Go and Sit by the Pool 77 The Mock 93 The Moon Is Bright 109 Come Out and Play 125 Got Mountain, Got Water 143 Acknowledgements 155