Scan barcode
pocketvolcano's review
3.0
Some of these stories were really good but not enough to justify keeping it on my bookshelf.
latterature's review
4.0
Solid compendium of weird and gruesome stories. While the entry in the 'Anno Dracula' series itself is short and unremarkable, serving only as an introduction to Newman's forthcoming novel, some of the other short stories presented here are among his best. 'Ubermensch' is the collection's standout, depicting an encounter with Superman that landed in Germany and became a Nazi super solider, seamlessly blending historical fact with literary fiction in the way only Newman can.
bookish_whispers's review
4.0
I stumbled across this gem at the bookstore around my birthday, and it was meant to be. Ever since I read the his book Anno Dracula, I've been a fan. Somehow I missed the announcement of this book, and even better the fact we're getting another book in the Anno Dracula series. I cannot wait for October to get my hands on book!
But, this isn't about the upcoming book. This is about this book, Anno Dracula 1899 and Other Stories. What I love about this book is it takes everything I love about Dracula series and meshes them with other pop culture icons I adore. While Edgar Allen Poe plays a heavy part in the first half of this book, no one goes untouched. Orson Welles has a story just to himself, Boris and Lugosi reprise their famous roles with a twist, and Jack is Back. Best of all though, Geneviéve Dieudonné graces the pages of the last story to fill in a few blanks that happened at the of Anno Dracula.
What I love the most about this book is how well that Kim Newman can weave a story. How he takes a genre, a story, or a character, loved my many and twists into his own creation. Turning the world into something else entirely. Something darker and little bit terrifying. It wasn't hard to get sucked into each story and need to know how it ends. Each story is beautiful written and I felt each pop culture icon was well represented.
Still, there were some stories I liked better than others. A couple that had me putting the book down, only to pick it back up, slog through that one story, just to get to the next. It was never the writing style that made me not like it, or the world building, or even the characters. Mostly it was subject matter. Maybe one too many stories about Poe (whose work I love). I was ready to move on to other icons. Other worlds.
Mostly I was excited to get to Geneviéve Dieudonné!
I think what I loved the most about these stories, was that none of them were a retelling of the original stories. For most it was a continuation from the original story, or a twisted version of the reality of how we know movie should have gone. One of my favorite ones was with HG Welles, years after he convinced the world aliens were attacking our streets. The story wove history with something more magical, more supernatural. I loved the voice Newman gave to Welles throughout the shorty pages.
All-in-all it was a great collection of short stories, and I'm glad I picked it up. Kim Newman is still one of my favorite authors out there. This book freaked me out in places, left me scratching my head, and a few times laughing out loud.
Buy, Burrow, or Skip: I'm always of the opinion to buy anything Kim Newman does for the covers alone. Plus, they're great books to reread, because I always find something I missed the first time around.
This and other reviews can be found at my blog Bookish Whispers.
But, this isn't about the upcoming book. This is about this book, Anno Dracula 1899 and Other Stories. What I love about this book is it takes everything I love about Dracula series and meshes them with other pop culture icons I adore. While Edgar Allen Poe plays a heavy part in the first half of this book, no one goes untouched. Orson Welles has a story just to himself, Boris and Lugosi reprise their famous roles with a twist, and Jack is Back. Best of all though, Geneviéve Dieudonné graces the pages of the last story to fill in a few blanks that happened at the of Anno Dracula.
What I love the most about this book is how well that Kim Newman can weave a story. How he takes a genre, a story, or a character, loved my many and twists into his own creation. Turning the world into something else entirely. Something darker and little bit terrifying. It wasn't hard to get sucked into each story and need to know how it ends. Each story is beautiful written and I felt each pop culture icon was well represented.
Still, there were some stories I liked better than others. A couple that had me putting the book down, only to pick it back up, slog through that one story, just to get to the next. It was never the writing style that made me not like it, or the world building, or even the characters. Mostly it was subject matter. Maybe one too many stories about Poe (whose work I love). I was ready to move on to other icons. Other worlds.
Mostly I was excited to get to Geneviéve Dieudonné!
I think what I loved the most about these stories, was that none of them were a retelling of the original stories. For most it was a continuation from the original story, or a twisted version of the reality of how we know movie should have gone. One of my favorite ones was with HG Welles, years after he convinced the world aliens were attacking our streets. The story wove history with something more magical, more supernatural. I loved the voice Newman gave to Welles throughout the shorty pages.
All-in-all it was a great collection of short stories, and I'm glad I picked it up. Kim Newman is still one of my favorite authors out there. This book freaked me out in places, left me scratching my head, and a few times laughing out loud.
Buy, Burrow, or Skip: I'm always of the opinion to buy anything Kim Newman does for the covers alone. Plus, they're great books to reread, because I always find something I missed the first time around.
This and other reviews can be found at my blog Bookish Whispers.
claennis's review
3.0
A book sitting on our bookshelves that I thought would be fitting for the Halloween season. Not all short stories gelled with me as it’s not exactly my kind of genre. Nevertheless, it was refreshing to read something different. I was kind of intrigued by the Anno Dracula excerpt at the end....though not enough to go read it in its entirety.
verkisto's review
3.0
I have a habit of prioritizing books as part of a series I'm reading to the top of my list, so I started this book, since I've come so far with the Anno Dracula series so far. I was disappointed to learn that this isn't really an Anno Dracula book; instead, it's a collection of various stories by Newman, only one of which is set in the Anno Dracula universe. Even then, it's more a teaser to a larger work than anything else.
There are a lot of movie-related stories, where Newman takes his expansive knowledge of horror and cinema and does a kind of mash-up/conversion of the tales, much like he did with Anno Dracula. It's clever and interesting, but after a while, you realize that, like Alan Moore and his skill at deconstructing mythologies, this is all he does. There are a handful of tales that buck this trend, but they're not nearly as interesting as the others.
Like any collection, some of the stories are OK, some are "Huh?", and some are outstanding. My favorite is probably "Is There Anybody There?", not just because it's one of those stories that buck the trend, but also because it's a spooky, effective story of time, space, and spiritualism. Newman is a good writer, but my disappointment in this not being a sincere book in the Anno Dracula series took a bit of the shine off it.
There are a lot of movie-related stories, where Newman takes his expansive knowledge of horror and cinema and does a kind of mash-up/conversion of the tales, much like he did with Anno Dracula. It's clever and interesting, but after a while, you realize that, like Alan Moore and his skill at deconstructing mythologies, this is all he does. There are a handful of tales that buck this trend, but they're not nearly as interesting as the others.
Like any collection, some of the stories are OK, some are "Huh?", and some are outstanding. My favorite is probably "Is There Anybody There?", not just because it's one of those stories that buck the trend, but also because it's a spooky, effective story of time, space, and spiritualism. Newman is a good writer, but my disappointment in this not being a sincere book in the Anno Dracula series took a bit of the shine off it.
braynard's review
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Now, I'll admit that I don't read a lot of horror, but I do love a good monster story and Kim Newman's stories are full of those. I will also say that the stories are a bit derivative, but that isn't inherently bad, especially since he admits that his work is based on other work. Frankly, it's to be expected. His work is also full of outside references, some incredibly obscure. It was a lot of fun trying to tease them all out.
Overall, I liked the stories. A few were not great, but the book was good overall. I would recommend it for those who really like old horror stories and movies. If that's not your thing, you might not enjoy it as much.
linda_edwards's review
2.0
A collection of short stories from the author who wrote all the Anno Dracula books. However, only one of them is part of that series and the rest were stories featuring people such as Jack the Ripper, The Invisible Man and Frankenstein's Monster. I'm sorry to say that I found most of the stories rather boring and hard to get through so I only enjoyed a couple of them.
matteldritch92's review
dark
funny
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
taranana's review
3.0
”Anno Dracula 1899 and other Stories” by Kim Newman [3/5]
This year seems to be a bit of a Kim Newman year and I liked the Anno Dracula novels very much so I was excited for this short story collection. But it seems I either did not understand not all stories would be set in the Anno Dracula universe or I was mislead by the description/blurb. Well. Either way this collection was not what I wanted it to be.
Anno Dracula and more
I liked eight stories in this collection.
They are:
Famous Monsters
A story about a Martian's acting career.
A Drug on the Market
What happens if the Jekyll & Hyde drug is available to the mass-market?
Illimitable Dominion
What happens if Hollywood gets to interested in Poe's stories?
Just like Eddy
Evil doppelganger Poe
The Chill Clutch of the Unseen
An Oldman protects a town against monsters
Is there anybody there
What happens when a medium contacts a modern-day hacker?
Red Jacks Wild
Follow up for a story by Robert Bloch; about Jack The Ripper
Yokai Town: Anno Dracula 1899
A story set in the Anno Dracula universe that lays the groundwork for a later novel in the series
Pop-cultue and more
I like Newman's writing style and how he uses pop-culture to his benefit in all of his story (even in the ones I did not enjoy). He is very good at it and I enjoy the “spot the reference” game I began when reading the first Anno Dracula Novel.
I am sad though that not all stories were set in the Anno Dracula universe (as I like this universe very much), mostly for the Jekyll & Hyde short story because I had hoped to get a better look at their version in the Anno Dracula universe. And I would have loved to meet them in person. The cover is a bit misleading in this regard.
For Fans
I think this collection is for fans of Newan's writing. I liked some stories but I think I might not be the direct target audience for this. I bought it because I like Anno Dracula and wanted to see the other well-known monsters in this universe – not for one Anno Dracula Story and some short stories revolving around different aspects of these well-known monsters.
This year seems to be a bit of a Kim Newman year and I liked the Anno Dracula novels very much so I was excited for this short story collection. But it seems I either did not understand not all stories would be set in the Anno Dracula universe or I was mislead by the description/blurb. Well. Either way this collection was not what I wanted it to be.
Anno Dracula and more
I liked eight stories in this collection.
They are:
Famous Monsters
A story about a Martian's acting career.
A Drug on the Market
What happens if the Jekyll & Hyde drug is available to the mass-market?
Illimitable Dominion
What happens if Hollywood gets to interested in Poe's stories?
Just like Eddy
Evil doppelganger Poe
The Chill Clutch of the Unseen
An Oldman protects a town against monsters
Is there anybody there
What happens when a medium contacts a modern-day hacker?
Red Jacks Wild
Follow up for a story by Robert Bloch; about Jack The Ripper
Yokai Town: Anno Dracula 1899
A story set in the Anno Dracula universe that lays the groundwork for a later novel in the series
Pop-cultue and more
I like Newman's writing style and how he uses pop-culture to his benefit in all of his story (even in the ones I did not enjoy). He is very good at it and I enjoy the “spot the reference” game I began when reading the first Anno Dracula Novel.
I am sad though that not all stories were set in the Anno Dracula universe (as I like this universe very much), mostly for the Jekyll & Hyde short story because I had hoped to get a better look at their version in the Anno Dracula universe. And I would have loved to meet them in person. The cover is a bit misleading in this regard.
For Fans
I think this collection is for fans of Newan's writing. I liked some stories but I think I might not be the direct target audience for this. I bought it because I like Anno Dracula and wanted to see the other well-known monsters in this universe – not for one Anno Dracula Story and some short stories revolving around different aspects of these well-known monsters.
regardingreading's review
4.0
A mixed bag. Some stories I wished were longer, others I didn't really see the point of. Over all it's an entertaining read.