Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

When Things Get Dark by Ellen Datlow

6 reviews

vampirehelpdesk's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Favorites of this collection include: For Sale by Owner, Money of the Dead, Hag, and Skinder’s Veil (banger to end on, seriously). Least favorites: Refinery Road (I wish I liked Stephen Graham Jones but I can’t), The Party (same sentiment but with Paul Tremblay—both seem like guys I would love to hang with but writing wise, not my jam), and Something Like Living Creatures (same about John Langan, whoops). I loved how everyone interpreted the theme of Shirley Jackson’s influence—whether it be a phrase from one of her books (looking at Carmen Maria Machado), to her tropes of cruel mothers (Joyce Carol Oates does this one) and outsiders (Cassandra Khaw’s contribution) and the overall feeling of a world that seems somewhere between reality and dreams (Kelly Link, again, what a great end note). One of the best anthologies I’ve read and highly recommend.
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toffishay's review

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funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This was a really fun collection and it makes me want to read more Shirley Jackson. My favorite stories were "In the Deep Woods; The Light is Different There" by Seanan McGuire, "Something Like Living Creatures" by John Langan, "Hag" by Benjamin Percy, "A Trip to Paris" by Richard Kadrey, "Refinery Road" by Stephen Graham Jones, "Pear of Anguish" by Gemma Files, "Sooner or Later, Your Wife Will Drive Home" by Genevieve Valentine, "Tiptoe" by Laird Barron, and "Skinder's Veil" by Kelly Link. That's like half the stories in this collection, which is a real win for these types of books with so many different authors :)
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lola_milk's review

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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? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A good collection of short stories, although most of them don't scratch the Shirley Jackson itch. I would recommend Dead Relatives by Lucy McHardy Knight for that. The story Skinder's Veil by Kelly Link is really wonderful, as all of her stories are. 
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mangofandango's review

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

Shirley Jackson is a fave, and some of the authors in this collection are too (Elizabeth Hand! SGJ!) so I was pretty excited to find this one at my library. And it was as enjoyable as I hoped! Sometimes, I find short story collections make me kind of restless, because they're uneven and it's hard to keep momentum going when changing stories frequently, and I start to become preoccupied with how many are left. There were a couple stories in here that didn't really do it for me, but most of them really did, enough that I felt invested even between tales. Some stories were enchanting (the Kelly Link) some haunting (Elizabeth Hand), atmospheric ("Hag", the Seanan McGuire), some skin-crawlingly horrifying ("Tiptoe", oh my god). There's a touch of dystopia ("Special Meal") and a story by Joyce Carol Oates so disturbing and sad that it will stay with me in a horrifying way. They all have a Shirley Jackson-esque thread running through them, despite being extremely different stories.
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missbreathing's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This hauntingly beautiful anthology edited by Ellen Datlow contains stories inspired by Shirley Jackson. As a huge fan of Jackson’s, I knew I had to get my hands on this the minute I found out about it. It did not disappoint! These stories channel Jackson in tone, mood, and theme and are hauntingly memorable.
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The writers featured in this anthology are household names in the horror, thriller, and dark fantasy genres. They’re all at the top of their game, making this collection a truly sublime reading experience and a must for fans of these genres. Though I do recommend checking the trigger warnings and treading lightly, especially if you’re not used to the darker side of fiction.
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Some standout stories in the collection include: Quiet Dead Things by Cassandra Khaw; Hag by Benjamin Percy; A Trip To Paris by Richard Kadrey; Refinery Road by Stephen Graham Jones; Sooner or Later, Your Wife Will Drive Home by Genevieve Valentine; and Tiptoe by Laird Baron. Even the stories I didn’t love proved haunting and thought-provoking. 
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I can’t recommend this enough to fans of the dark and the macabre. 
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whatmeworry's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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