M.L. Rio’s ‘Graveyard shift’ is a novella about 5 ragtag insomniacs who gather in an abandoned graveyard by night, one evening discovering a freshly dug hole and over the course of that night vowing to get to the bottom of its mysterious appearance. It was a gripping story with such an atmospheric and exciting setting. It was full of intertextual literary references that I always enjoy, and oddly many associations to Scooby Doo. It was a bit untidy at times but with a lack of resolution that really attests to the endless hours of wakefulness that don’t have the resolution of the days conclusion in slumber. I feel like for a novella the cast of characters was a little too large, there not being a chance to explore many of them to the extent I would’ve liked, but they are each unique and believable nonetheless. 

The highlight of ‘Graveyard Shift’ was absolutely M.L. Rio’s authors note and essay that concluded the book discussing her own sufferings with insomnia and its relationship with academia. This made me feel so seen (along with its representation within the novella) as an aspiring academic who also suffers with such. Ironically, reading another experience with a lack of sleep and the loneliness that comes in the early hours are the hours I am never seen, stuck with my thoughts and loneliness until the sun rises again. For this reason ‘Graveyard Shift’ was so comforting in a way, and made me feel a little less alone concluding the book as the time creeps beyond midnight.