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esotericorder's review against another edition
5.0
A masterpiece, Aickman is phenomenal. I am mad at myself for not reading him earlier.
mayyya02's review against another edition
3.0
Like a lot of books of short stories, there are better stories than others. Unfortunately those others just made this book really difficult to slog through at times. For a book this short, it should've been a much quicker read.
jant8's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
lbrex's review against another edition
5.0
These stories are strange in the best way possible. Aickman writes clean, understandable prose that still, despite its seeming transparency, befuddles the reader. My two favorites here were "Ringing the Changes" and "Bind Your Hair." These stories will probably be frustrating for someone looking for a conclusion that answers all the story's questions, but they are perfect for the creepiness that they create.
Also, please note that Aickman was the grandson of famed late-Victorian Gothic writer Richard Marsh, author of _The Beetle_. This is a fascinating connection.
Also, please note that Aickman was the grandson of famed late-Victorian Gothic writer Richard Marsh, author of _The Beetle_. This is a fascinating connection.
robotwitch's review
3.0
Only took me 4 years to finish the bloody thing. Not for lack of wanting -- the tone of the writing makes it read very slowly and, after a while, I just sort of forgot to pick it up again.
The School Friend ✭✭✭✭✩ A sufficiently short yet creepy start to these short stories
Ringing the Changes ✭✭✭✭✩ I really liked this one, the suspense is superb. Although, between this and The School Friend, it did prime me for more in-your-face horror than the rest of the stories were.
Choice of Weapons ✭✭✭✩✩ This had a lot of potential, but it lost its threads. It's also the first instance, but not the last, of manic pixie dream girlism in this collection
The Waiting Room ✭✭✩✩✩ Maybe this wasn't a trope back when this was published, but I suspect it wouldn't have been wholly original even then. A throwaway story.
The View ✭✭✩✩✩ Overlong, bland, somewhat pointless. The second manic pixie dream girl, replete once more with a mediocre man who falls prey to her mysteriousness.
Bind Your Hair ✭✭✩✩✩ The dream girl gets to be the perspective of this story, but Aickman throws in a secondary character to be even more MPDG-ish. I really liked the build-up, though, and the conflict, but the ending fell very flat for me.
The School Friend ✭✭✭✭✩ A sufficiently short yet creepy start to these short stories
Ringing the Changes ✭✭✭✭✩ I really liked this one, the suspense is superb. Although, between this and The School Friend, it did prime me for more in-your-face horror than the rest of the stories were.
Choice of Weapons ✭✭✭✩✩ This had a lot of potential, but it lost its threads. It's also the first instance, but not the last, of manic pixie dream girlism in this collection
The Waiting Room ✭✭✩✩✩ Maybe this wasn't a trope back when this was published, but I suspect it wouldn't have been wholly original even then. A throwaway story.
The View ✭✭✩✩✩ Overlong, bland, somewhat pointless. The second manic pixie dream girl, replete once more with a mediocre man who falls prey to her mysteriousness.
Bind Your Hair ✭✭✩✩✩ The dream girl gets to be the perspective of this story, but Aickman throws in a secondary character to be even more MPDG-ish. I really liked the build-up, though, and the conflict, but the ending fell very flat for me.
jake_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
4.25
A lot has been written about Aickman, and I don't feel I need to add to that. He is a master of the short story, and like M. John Harrison he prefers unsettling ambiguity and omission to typical horror.
This was my first Aickman collection having been enthralled by 'The Hospice' in The Weird and I will definitely seek out more of his work.
Edit: On rereading some stories, I am struck by the tedium of the prose and plots, but I can't deny the precision with which each Kafkaesque narrative world is constructed.
This was my first Aickman collection having been enthralled by 'The Hospice' in The Weird and I will definitely seek out more of his work.
Edit: On rereading some stories, I am struck by the tedium of the prose and plots, but I can't deny the precision with which each Kafkaesque narrative world is constructed.
blatdriver's review against another edition
2.0
This book was just ok for me, I found the writing style almost poetic in style but heavy to read, which is partley because of its age, a bit like Shakespear, the stories has a creepy atmospher, but that is as far as they went, they kind of dwindle away, often with vage abrupt endings.
pinkpengin's review
4.0
Of the six stories, three were REALLY good and unsettling. Two weren’t bad and one was just kind of average. Overall well worth reading for any sci-fi/suspense/horror short story fans.
tbr_the_unconquered's review against another edition
4.0
A reviewer or a group of reviewers ( I don’t remember who specifically) called Robert Aickman a writer who has produced fantastic works in the horror genre. If ‘Dark Entries’ is any indicator, then Aickman is not a horror writer at all ! His prose is lush and the emotion that it switches on is unease, a very profound one at that too. The kind of unease that makes a clammy sweat break out, give you an itch behind your eyeballs and makes your head jerk up when the curtain by your window sways in the unseen wind. Ambling, slithering, slimy monstrosities do not crawl out of these pages, blood and gore are not splattered all over and yet you feel a sense of dread for no explicable reason whatsoever. Through five short stories, Aickman offers glimpses into the enigmatic labyrinth of the human mind. After two stories, I was totally in awe of Aickman’s writing prowess.
The tool that Aickman uses to terrific effect is the minor imbalances and hallucinations of the human mind. The neuroses that plague some of his characters are like tumours which grow slowly yet surely and become life threatening in the end. His short story ‘Ringing the changes’ is a fantastic piece of work. For a story that lasts approximately 40 pages, this is sheer dynamite. A strange place, even stranger people, noise that makes you want to tear your hair out looking for some peace and a realization that attempting to escape would be rather futile an endeavour are all captured grimly in this tale. This is a fine example of the craft involved when it comes to writing an unsettling tale for the horror is in watching on helplessly as things start spiralling out of control. The story is a tightrope walk between the real and the surreal and Aickman slips in and out of both these with consummate ease. Undoubtedly this is one of the tightest written short stories that I have read. Another such unsettling tale is ‘Bind your hair’. This is the last story in the book and I am still wondering what to make out of it. At first, it is a tongue-in-cheek look at the horrors of living a weekend with your in-law’s but all the while Aickman weaves a web of strangeness around the setting of the story. The Dinoysian experiences that Clarinda Hartley undergoes and bears witness to in the British countryside are enough to shake her out of the mental turgidity of living with her over loving yet tepid fiancé and family. The strangeness of this story is bested only by ‘Ringing the changes’. The other three tales are also no less stunning in execution. Aickman does not conform his stories to the three act structure but goes for taking an instance or occurrence in the lives of these characters and showing it to us in all its oddness and after stirring up our mind, he moves on to the next one. I am completely impressed, Mr. Aickman !
Ramsey Campbell writes in the afterword about Aickman’s disdain for all horror writers and their incapability in coming up with plot lines that do not step out of the ordinary. Considering the skill that he possessed in the field of weird fiction, I can completely understand Mr. Aickman’s POV on this too. Highly recommended !
The tool that Aickman uses to terrific effect is the minor imbalances and hallucinations of the human mind. The neuroses that plague some of his characters are like tumours which grow slowly yet surely and become life threatening in the end. His short story ‘Ringing the changes’ is a fantastic piece of work. For a story that lasts approximately 40 pages, this is sheer dynamite. A strange place, even stranger people, noise that makes you want to tear your hair out looking for some peace and a realization that attempting to escape would be rather futile an endeavour are all captured grimly in this tale. This is a fine example of the craft involved when it comes to writing an unsettling tale for the horror is in watching on helplessly as things start spiralling out of control. The story is a tightrope walk between the real and the surreal and Aickman slips in and out of both these with consummate ease. Undoubtedly this is one of the tightest written short stories that I have read. Another such unsettling tale is ‘Bind your hair’. This is the last story in the book and I am still wondering what to make out of it. At first, it is a tongue-in-cheek look at the horrors of living a weekend with your in-law’s but all the while Aickman weaves a web of strangeness around the setting of the story. The Dinoysian experiences that Clarinda Hartley undergoes and bears witness to in the British countryside are enough to shake her out of the mental turgidity of living with her over loving yet tepid fiancé and family. The strangeness of this story is bested only by ‘Ringing the changes’. The other three tales are also no less stunning in execution. Aickman does not conform his stories to the three act structure but goes for taking an instance or occurrence in the lives of these characters and showing it to us in all its oddness and after stirring up our mind, he moves on to the next one. I am completely impressed, Mr. Aickman !
Ramsey Campbell writes in the afterword about Aickman’s disdain for all horror writers and their incapability in coming up with plot lines that do not step out of the ordinary. Considering the skill that he possessed in the field of weird fiction, I can completely understand Mr. Aickman’s POV on this too. Highly recommended !
ninjasunknown's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25