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catevari's review
4.0
Meat Cute (sorry, I had to!)
I have a long time love of horror, and this story reminds me of the pages on pages of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock Presents anthologies I tore my way through, once upon a time.
Though brevity makes the story short on details, it’s the kind of story that’s better for knowing less and letting the imagination run wild, creating horrors greater and more horrible via the unknown. It’s also fascinating to see how Charles incorporates real history into the fantastical, a foundation from which the sparkly fiction can rise.
And then, as an adult who didn’t know what she was missing, I love the queering of my horror, the fortuitous meeting of these two very different gay couples, one just embarking on its great romance and the other possibly getting a second chance for one. I don’t know how likely it is she’ll write more about these characters, but as with pretty much everything Charles writes...I’d surely read more.
I have a long time love of horror, and this story reminds me of the pages on pages of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock Presents anthologies I tore my way through, once upon a time.
Though brevity makes the story short on details, it’s the kind of story that’s better for knowing less and letting the imagination run wild, creating horrors greater and more horrible via the unknown. It’s also fascinating to see how Charles incorporates real history into the fantastical, a foundation from which the sparkly fiction can rise.
And then, as an adult who didn’t know what she was missing, I love the queering of my horror, the fortuitous meeting of these two very different gay couples, one just embarking on its great romance and the other possibly getting a second chance for one. I don’t know how likely it is she’ll write more about these characters, but as with pretty much everything Charles writes...I’d surely read more.
mashara's review
4.0
I had to put this book away for a bit, because it really really scared the shit out of me.
I don't do scary books because I am a wuss.
I love reading Charles' books in general, but I particularly love the ones set in Victorian London. Her research is so thorough, I usually find out things I never knew before (not that I am a expert on my adopted city) and in this case is the existence of the liberty of Alasatia, and I would really recommend you to go down the Wikipedia rabbit hole that it's this bit of London's history.
As for the story, this is a short novella, not as developed or detailed as full novels. It has no explicit sex (bummer) and it's mainly about Joanna and her love Belle which has been committed to an asylum by her greedy family. This only serves to put Joanna in touch with Elias and launch the action in Alsatia and a barber shop the likes of Sweeney Todd. The novella mostly serves as a set up for Mark and Elias, other than scaring the shit out of me. Mark is only introduced at the end, but Elias has been definitely pinning for somebody and I would love to know more about their story.
A short set up novella, entertaining and scary.
I don't do scary books because I am a wuss.
I love reading Charles' books in general, but I particularly love the ones set in Victorian London. Her research is so thorough, I usually find out things I never knew before (not that I am a expert on my adopted city) and in this case is the existence of the liberty of Alasatia, and I would really recommend you to go down the Wikipedia rabbit hole that it's this bit of London's history.
As for the story, this is a short novella, not as developed or detailed as full novels. It has no explicit sex (bummer) and it's mainly about Joanna and her love Belle which has been committed to an asylum by her greedy family. This only serves to put Joanna in touch with Elias and launch the action in Alsatia and a barber shop the likes of Sweeney Todd. The novella mostly serves as a set up for Mark and Elias, other than scaring the shit out of me. Mark is only introduced at the end, but Elias has been definitely pinning for somebody and I would love to know more about their story.
A short set up novella, entertaining and scary.
ranaelizabeth's review
5.0
Spent a lot of time on Wikipedia after this one looking up the idea of liberties. And even though there was no sexy business in this one by Charles, still a wonderful story.
kjcharles's review
A standalone short horror novella (15K words) that I wrote for the [b:All In Fear: A Collection of Six Horror Tales|32903002|All In Fear A Collection of Six Horror Tales|Steve Berman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1478722255s/32903002.jpg|53516486] anthology. It's still available in that along with five other great queer horror stories, but if all you're after is this one, it'll be out with a fantastically pulpy cover by Sandra Schwab on 1 Dec.
This is very definitely horror, not romance (though there are romantic elements because me). It's my take on the classic penny dreadful, using elements of the original story of Sweeney Todd ([b:The String of Pearls: The Original Tale of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street|28810436|The String of Pearls The Original Tale of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street|Thomas Preskett Prest|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1454209797s/28810436.jpg|49025434]), plus the weird history of London's Alsatia where the law didn't apply, to create an alt-London where the barbers are lethal, the police are helpless, and the pies are definitely best avoided.
Enjoy!
This is very definitely horror, not romance (though there are romantic elements because me). It's my take on the classic penny dreadful, using elements of the original story of Sweeney Todd ([b:The String of Pearls: The Original Tale of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street|28810436|The String of Pearls The Original Tale of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street|Thomas Preskett Prest|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1454209797s/28810436.jpg|49025434]), plus the weird history of London's Alsatia where the law didn't apply, to create an alt-London where the barbers are lethal, the police are helpless, and the pies are definitely best avoided.
Enjoy!
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