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Book Review: The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales edited by Dominick Parisien and Navah Wolfe

The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales by Dominick Parisien and Navah Wolfe
Saga Press, 2016
ISBN-13: 978-1481456128
Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

The editors of The Starlit Wood challenged writers to choose a fairytale and view it through a dark crystal, choosing a new context to hang over the bones of the original story. In some cases, elements of the original stories were removed, and in others, transformed. Seanan McGuire, Catherynne M. Valente, Garth Nix, Karin Tidbeck, Naomi Novik and Stephen Graham Jones, among others, contributed, so I’m not surprised at all by the quality of writing. The originality and unsettled feelings stirred up by these stories will intrigue fairytale lovers, but you don’t have to be familiar with the fairytale behind each story to thoroughly enjoy the collection.

Outstanding stories include Stephen Graham Jones’ “Some Wait”, a tale of disappearing children and parental paranoia and disintegration that has crawled into my brain to take up permanent residence; Seanan McGuire’s “In The Desert Like A Bone”, a supernatural, magical realist Western; Karin Tidbeck’s “Underground”, which lights the way in showing how a person can be literally trapped in an abusive relationship;  Charlie Jane Anders’ “The Super Ultra Duchess of Fedora Forest”, set in a bizarre dystopia of talking animals and breakfast meats; Amal El-Mohtar’s “Seasons of Glass and Iron”, in which two women are able to set each other free; and Kat Howard’s “Reflected”, a science fantasy grounded in mirrors, snow, love, and physics.Every story in the collection plays with the tropes of fairytales from diverse sources and cultures, creating the sense of disquiet and magic that we expect from fairytales, with more darkness and dimension. Highly recommended for lovers of fairytales, short stories, and unsettling, genre-crossing tales. If you enjoy the stories of Kelly Link, you’ll definitely want to try these.

Contains: drug use, violence, abusive behavior and relationships, implied child sexual abuse.

 

 

Posted on October 30, 2017 by , Reply

Book Review: Ink Stains: A Dark Fiction Anthology (Volume 3) edited by N. Apythia Morges

Ink Stains: A Dark Fiction Anthology (Volume 3) edited by N. Apythia Morges

Dark Alley Press, 2017

ISBN-13: 978-1946050014

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

This is the third volume in a planned quarterly anthology of horror short stories published by Dark Alley Press.  The collection presents a variety of ghost stories, in which contemporary protagonists are stalked by ghosts from the distant or recent past, seeking solace, release or revenge.  The other Ink Stains anthologies in the series present stories about death and trust.

Volume 3 consists of 10 short stories of varying length, some written by seasoned writers and others by authors who recently entered the horror genre.  The three most interesting ghost stories were among the longest.  The greater length gave authors more time to develop characters and to add twists and turns to the plots.

New author Andrea Hansell wrote “A Visit from Elizabeth”.  A young couple, Mark and Bethany, buy a Nantucket sea captain’s house and invite former college classmates to spend a weekend.  However, Bethany is insecure and jealous of Mark’s gorgeous ex-girlfriend. Unknown to the couple, the house has a tragic history.  A sea captain built the house for his young bride, Elizabeth, then left to run the British blockade during the War of 1812.  The captain was captured and imprisoned.  Elizabeth was pregnant, and the British blockade caused famine in the island. Malnourished, Elizabeth had a stillbirth and died.  Her ghost watched her husband return, marry again, and raise a family in Elizabeth’s house. Elizabeth appears only to Bethany.  The ghost lures the frantic Bethany up to the house’s widow’s walk, where Mark is standing.  Elizabeth wants something, and will use Bethany’s jealousy to get it.

Diane Arrelle, a veteran horror author, is the author of “Misplaced”.  An elderly spinster, Miss Annamarie Place, visits an antiquated hotel in her hometown.  The room looks like it did over fifty years ago, when she was a teenager.  Annamarie has returned there because someone claiming to be her daughter called and asked to meet her.  But Annamarie has never been married or pregnant.  Could she have forgotten something so important?  Is dementia or psychosis robbing her of her memories?  When she looks into an old mirror, Annamarie hears a baby wailing, then sees the bed and walls covered in blood.  Bleeding, and in terrible pain, she relives what happened in that room.  Is this all a nightmare, or have Annamarie Place’s memories been truly misplaced?

Another new horror author, Olga Monroe, is the author of “The Amsterdam Chest”.  An English couple is renovating a Victorian mansion.  The wife, Francesca, sees the ghost of a teenage girl dressed in a black velvet dress with a corset and bone frame tapping on a large antique chest, purchased by her husband in Amsterdam.  The mansion and estate have a history of tragedy and mystery, and has passed through many owners over time. When the new owners drain a pond, they discover a headstone that has been submerged for over a century.  It has Latin inscriptions, but no name.  There are no remains.  Francesca recently lost her newborn baby.  She is still in mourning and keeps her dead baby’s clothes in the Amsterdam chest.  Only Francesca sees the ghost, and its appearances become more frequent.  At the same time Francesca becomes more nervous and apprehensive.  She is inexplicably wracked with guilt.  The ghost takes Francesca’s hand and leads her to the chest.  The ghost keeps knocking on the chest.  Its face is blurry at first, but finally becomes clear.  Who is she?  What did Francesca do?

These are the strongest stories in the anthology. Others are more predictable. Overall, the stories have well-paced, interesting plots. Fans of ghost stories should be pleased with the collection. Recommended.

 

Contains: gore

Reviewed by Robert D. Yee

Posted on September 15, 2017 by , Reply

Book Review: Twice Upon An Apocalypse: Lovecraftian Fairy Tales edited by Rachel Kenley and Scott T. Goudsward

Twice Upon an Apocalypse edited by Rachel Kenley and Scott T. Goudsward

Crystal Lake Publishing, 2017

ISBN: 9781640074750

Available: ebook

Kenley and Goudsward hit an untapped vein with this collection of fairy tales with Lovecraftian themes. Between the pages of this book are twenty-one stories of morality mixed with the twisted gods and entities we have come to know through Lovecraftian fiction. Each story has its own flavor and maddening end. Revamped tales are culled from Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, Charles Perrault, Joseph Jacobs, Robert Browning, L. Frank Baum, and Washington Irving. While all of these stories have merit, a few stood out more than others.

The cats start disappearing from the sleepy town of Providence in “The Pied Piper of Providence” by William Meikle. The rural dwellers talk about strange creatures roaming the outskirts, but of course the city folk pay no heed; certain it is simply superstition that makes them talk. Then the rats come and all hell breaks loose. An old man, dressed in almost ridiculous attire and armed with two wooden flutes, appears in the town. He introduces himself as Rattenfänger von Hameln and he is their only salvation. What happens when the councilmen bilk the old man of his payment, and who does he take for compensation instead? David Bernard’s “Little Maiden of the Sea” tells the story of the little Deep One who wants so badly to dwell among the air-breathers. When she meets old man Whateley, she agrees to his strange terms and accepts his offer. He calls her Lavinia, and she bears him two sons that will change the fate of humanity. In “The King on the Golden Mountain” by Morgan Sylvia, a man who lost his wealth makes a pact with a strange man that he would be restored to his former glory, provided that in twelve years he sacrifice the first living thing he sees upon his return to his home. Unfortunately for the man, it is his own son who greets him as he arrives back to his humble abode. The twelve years elapse, and the son is taken back to the obelisk where the strange man is waiting. In a strange turn of events, the son, due to his only half human blood, is teleported to a new world and makes a family for himself with his new fork tongued bride. What transpires for the father and son leads to total destruction, new life, and a tragic return home.  “Once Upon a Dream” by Matthew Baugh twists the tale of the unfortunate Sleeping Beauty from the form of a girl to that of the newly birthed Cthulhu. Hastur, taking umbrage at not being invited to the great Cthulhu’s feast, curses little Cthulhu and it comes to pass. Millennia pass as little Cthulhu slumbers until the day the one man in the entire world can wake her.

My favourite story in this collection is based on Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  At the center of “The Legend of Creepy Hollow” by Don D’Ammassa, are Arthur Abrams, assistant professor of physics at Miskatonic University, and Martin Ichabod, of the Ichabod Crane Company and wealthy man about town. They meet at a social gathering meant to raise funds to expand the university’s library (a noble venture if I do say so myself). Arthur relies on empirical evidence rather than the unknown while Martin is very much a student of the occult and supernatural.  Katrina Bergen, a mathematics graduate student, enters the story, and Arthur falls in love with her immediately. Externally, she carries reference and subject related materials, but she secretly reads romance novels and watches romantic comedies in the privacy of her apartment. Alas, he finds her talking to the dashing Martin at an event celebrating the library’s newly acquired funding for the expansion. The rivalry between the two men grows with every meeting, the verbal spats about the known world versus the unknown world increase. Martin eventually invites Arthur to dinner and a demonstration that leaves the world changed forever.

Other stories include “The Three Billy Goats Sothoth” by Peter N. Dudar; “In the Shade of the Juniper Tree” by J.P. Hutsell; “The Horror at Hatchet Point” by Zach Shephard; “Follow the Yellow Glyph Road” by Scott S. Goudsward; “Gumdrop Apocalypse” by Pete Rawlik; “The Ice Queen” by Mae Empson; “Cinderella and Her Outer Godfather” by C.T Phipps; “Curiosity” by Winifred Burniston; and “Sweet Dreams in the Witch-house” by Sean Logan.

Every story in this collection is a gem. If you like dark reimaginings of fairy tales, you should check this one out. I was apprehensive about pairing Lovecraftian themes with fairy stories, but it worked rather well. Highly recommended.

Contains: some blood and gore, racial epithets in “In the Shade of the Juniper Tree”

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

Posted on July 10, 2017 by , Reply
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