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audreychamaine's review
4.0
Tales of crime, misdeeds, sex, and drugs abound in this dark anthology. There are plenty of standard detective and mafia stories for those who enjoy standard noir fiction, but there are also tales that are a looser fit for the theme of supernatural noir. Some tales are heavier on the supernatural than the noir, some the other way around. Either way, there is a broad range of stories presented here.
Some highlights of the anthology for me include Brian Evenson’s “The Absent Eye,” a creepy story that has less hard-boiled noir characteristics, but plenty of atmosphere and an intriguing premise; “Dead Sister” by Joe R. Lansdale, a story of a grave robbing ghoul and the detective and dame who are out to stop him; and Jeffrey Ford’s “The Last Triangle,” full of mystical symbols and dark magic.
Readers of Holly Black’s Curse Workers series will probably want to pick this book up. Be warned, though, that this is not a young adult book. The stories are VERY adult in theme, and there is a great deal of sex and sexual situations. That’s not to say that teens shouldn’t read it, but be aware that the stories are very dark and explicit.
This is a meaty anthology, with brooding tales and plenty of dark atmosphere. I recommend it to those who enjoy horror and taking a walk on the darker side of society.
Some highlights of the anthology for me include Brian Evenson’s “The Absent Eye,” a creepy story that has less hard-boiled noir characteristics, but plenty of atmosphere and an intriguing premise; “Dead Sister” by Joe R. Lansdale, a story of a grave robbing ghoul and the detective and dame who are out to stop him; and Jeffrey Ford’s “The Last Triangle,” full of mystical symbols and dark magic.
Readers of Holly Black’s Curse Workers series will probably want to pick this book up. Be warned, though, that this is not a young adult book. The stories are VERY adult in theme, and there is a great deal of sex and sexual situations. That’s not to say that teens shouldn’t read it, but be aware that the stories are very dark and explicit.
This is a meaty anthology, with brooding tales and plenty of dark atmosphere. I recommend it to those who enjoy horror and taking a walk on the darker side of society.
pnw_afox's review
3.0
Like any anthology, there are stories you really like and ones you like less. Thankfully in Supernatual Noir there are no poorly crafted tales. I really liked the Jeff Ford story "The Last Triangle," Laird Barron's "The Carrion Gods in Their Heaven," Elizabeth Bear's "The Romance," and Joe Lansdale's "Dead Sister." To note, these four stories are all in sequence in the middle of the book so maybe I was just in a slightly better mood than when reading the rest of the stories :)
matosapa's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
cupcake_overlord's review against another edition
2.0
A lot of the stories I either didn't really care about or actively disliked. There were a few in here that were really quite good though. This is my personal preference, I'm sure there are other who liked every story.
roytoo's review
dark
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
4.0
Interesting and overall well written short story noir with supernatural themes.
Since it is an anthology there is a mix of quality and strict adherence to "noir", but it was overall enjoyable to me.
I read the anthology because it included a story by Elizabeth Bear (The Romance) and I really enjoy her writing. Her story was well written and interesting but a little less noir than some of the stories.
Since it is an anthology there is a mix of quality and strict adherence to "noir", but it was overall enjoyable to me.
I read the anthology because it included a story by Elizabeth Bear (The Romance) and I really enjoy her writing. Her story was well written and interesting but a little less noir than some of the stories.
samiism's review against another edition
3.0
Three that I thought stood out: The Dingus, The Getaway, and Little Shit. I find that the most interesting stories are right at the very beginning of these anthologies by Ellen Datlow.
shelleyanderson4127's review
3.0
Too tame for real horror buffs, I suspect, and not enough mystery for crime story lovers. But I enjoyed this collection. It's good beach reading and one or two stories will stay with you.
bluehairedlibrarian's review
3.0
Read the full review at Working for the Mandroid
All the stories had elements of classic noir, whether it was the weathered detective, the hot broad that never signals good things ahead, or just the hopeless feeling that comes within a dark world. A lot of the stories involved mobsters or criminals or prostitutes. Sex, both hetero- and homosexual (though only of the female persuasion), was a key element in most of the stories to the point of causing me discomfort as a reader in certain instances (but that’s because I’m a prude and don’t like erotica, others might like it better). Overall I would say it's a decent anthology, but I'm not exactly its target audience.
The Good
Dreamer of the Day by Nick Mamatas
The Absent Eye by Brian Evenson
The Last Triangle by Jeffrey Ford
Mortal Bait by Richard Bowes (which was probably my favorite of the entire book)
The Blisters on My Heart by Nate Southard
The Getaway by Paul G. Tremblay
The Dingus by Gregory Frost
There isn’t really any one thing or even handful of things that tie these stories together. Something about the story drew me in, whether it was the mythology of the magic in “The Last Triangle” or the creepy ghosties of “The Absent Eye”. The stories were well-contained, not suffering from too much detail that derailed the plot. My favorite by far was “Mortal Bait”, a story involving the classic noir detective working on a case… and faeries. And not just your ordinary every day Tinkerbell faeries either. Warrior faeries caught up in a war with evil elves. The plot alone would have hooked me, but Bowes also writes a compelling, if a little clichéd, main character, who is sympathetic without coming across as a complete loser.
Then there was the short and sweet trippiness of “Dreamer of the Day”, involving a potential assassination and a really weird old guy who may or may not be able to predict the future. “The Getaway” was a modern day parable about why you should not commit crimes with realistic guys that had what I would imagine would be realistic reactions to crazy shit happening to you.
A lot of these stories had compelling plots that would make them really good ghost stories, such as “The Dingus” and “The Absent Eye”. “The Blisters on My Heart” is probably the only story in the collection involving prostitutes that I liked and that’s because the characters were made sympathetic - the prostitute in question was one of those classic “hooker with the heart of gold” tropes. It probably helped that a number of elements of the story felt like they were lifted straight from Supernatural, if it were an HBO series.
All the stories had elements of classic noir, whether it was the weathered detective, the hot broad that never signals good things ahead, or just the hopeless feeling that comes within a dark world. A lot of the stories involved mobsters or criminals or prostitutes. Sex, both hetero- and homosexual (though only of the female persuasion), was a key element in most of the stories to the point of causing me discomfort as a reader in certain instances (but that’s because I’m a prude and don’t like erotica, others might like it better). Overall I would say it's a decent anthology, but I'm not exactly its target audience.
The Good
Dreamer of the Day by Nick Mamatas
The Absent Eye by Brian Evenson
The Last Triangle by Jeffrey Ford
Mortal Bait by Richard Bowes (which was probably my favorite of the entire book)
The Blisters on My Heart by Nate Southard
The Getaway by Paul G. Tremblay
The Dingus by Gregory Frost
There isn’t really any one thing or even handful of things that tie these stories together. Something about the story drew me in, whether it was the mythology of the magic in “The Last Triangle” or the creepy ghosties of “The Absent Eye”. The stories were well-contained, not suffering from too much detail that derailed the plot. My favorite by far was “Mortal Bait”, a story involving the classic noir detective working on a case… and faeries. And not just your ordinary every day Tinkerbell faeries either. Warrior faeries caught up in a war with evil elves. The plot alone would have hooked me, but Bowes also writes a compelling, if a little clichéd, main character, who is sympathetic without coming across as a complete loser.
Then there was the short and sweet trippiness of “Dreamer of the Day”, involving a potential assassination and a really weird old guy who may or may not be able to predict the future. “The Getaway” was a modern day parable about why you should not commit crimes with realistic guys that had what I would imagine would be realistic reactions to crazy shit happening to you.
A lot of these stories had compelling plots that would make them really good ghost stories, such as “The Dingus” and “The Absent Eye”. “The Blisters on My Heart” is probably the only story in the collection involving prostitutes that I liked and that’s because the characters were made sympathetic - the prostitute in question was one of those classic “hooker with the heart of gold” tropes. It probably helped that a number of elements of the story felt like they were lifted straight from Supernatural, if it were an HBO series.
dtaylorbooks's review
4.0
I've got a short line-up of anthologies lately. First and foremost, the formatting on this digital galley was absolutely atrocious. To the point where I couldn't even read it on my eReader, atrocious. There were a few pages a story section that I could read but then the pages would double up and snap to microscopic print that I couldn't enlarge. I tried reading it but I ended up giving myself a migraine. So I ended up tethered to a computer to read this one and had the stories been bad, I would have dropped it like a bad habit. Not only did this take me longer to read but, as I said, I was tied to a computer to read it and since I don't have a laptop, it was a major inconvenience. But I kept reading it because I really liked what I was reading.
So putting the formatting issue aside, I really did like these stories. Trust. For how put out I was reading SUPERNATURAL NOIR, I would have stopped REALLY quickly if I didn't like it. Even if I somewhat liked it, I would have stopped because the format was an issue. But I didn't. I kept reading. Had I had this book in a normal print version, I would have flown through it, I liked it that much.
And now I'm back to reviewing an anthology of stories; an issue for me as I stated in my review of FEAR last week. Well, with SUPERNATURAL NOIR, each story was distinct enough to showcase the uniqueness of each author but at the same time all of their themes blended together seamlessly, each complementing the last as the book went on. Datlow did an amazing job of compiling such similar yet vastly different stories into one book.
What you have to understand with noir is that it's a bit over the top. Normally it's not really my thing but seeing as this was of the supernatural variety, I wanted to see what it was all about. And I really liked it. Yes, some of the stories read a bit like DICK TRACEY meets SUPERNATURAL but all of the stories had personality and I certainly can't deny them that. They stood out against the rest of the "normal" supernatural stories out there because of that noir effect, and I think it made them all the better.
My favorites were 'The Getaway' by Paul G. Tremblay (about a guy driving with a semi-prostitute that ends up at an inn, stalked by wooden gnomes), 'Comfortable in Her Skin' by Lee Thomas (about two women escaping battered pasts only to be sucked into a whole new world thanks to a wayward wolf hide) and 'The Maltese Unicorn' by Caitlin R. Kiernan (about a post-WWII female detective working for the wrong side trying to make a run for a crazy whore house owner). There's just this overwhelming grit to all of them that will leave you a little uncomfortable when you're done. I like it when my stories do that. It means they've actually moved me.
I wouldn't say the stories are inherently scary but there is some level of horror aspect to all of them (although the one with the gnomes was pretty freaky). The noir is more underlying, existing more in the personalities of the characters than in the overall story itself so if you're not big on it, you'll still probably get a kick out of them anyway as they're not dripping in it. But they definitely should be read for the supernatural aspect. They're different kinds of horror stories, playing into all manner of horror, not just your standard spooks. For that I can greatly appreciate what SUPERNATURAL NOIR has to offer, as would any genuine horror fan. It's a deviation from all of the other regular horror out there and will certainly leave a lasting impression even after you close the cover.
So putting the formatting issue aside, I really did like these stories. Trust. For how put out I was reading SUPERNATURAL NOIR, I would have stopped REALLY quickly if I didn't like it. Even if I somewhat liked it, I would have stopped because the format was an issue. But I didn't. I kept reading. Had I had this book in a normal print version, I would have flown through it, I liked it that much.
And now I'm back to reviewing an anthology of stories; an issue for me as I stated in my review of FEAR last week. Well, with SUPERNATURAL NOIR, each story was distinct enough to showcase the uniqueness of each author but at the same time all of their themes blended together seamlessly, each complementing the last as the book went on. Datlow did an amazing job of compiling such similar yet vastly different stories into one book.
What you have to understand with noir is that it's a bit over the top. Normally it's not really my thing but seeing as this was of the supernatural variety, I wanted to see what it was all about. And I really liked it. Yes, some of the stories read a bit like DICK TRACEY meets SUPERNATURAL but all of the stories had personality and I certainly can't deny them that. They stood out against the rest of the "normal" supernatural stories out there because of that noir effect, and I think it made them all the better.
My favorites were 'The Getaway' by Paul G. Tremblay (about a guy driving with a semi-prostitute that ends up at an inn, stalked by wooden gnomes), 'Comfortable in Her Skin' by Lee Thomas (about two women escaping battered pasts only to be sucked into a whole new world thanks to a wayward wolf hide) and 'The Maltese Unicorn' by Caitlin R. Kiernan (about a post-WWII female detective working for the wrong side trying to make a run for a crazy whore house owner). There's just this overwhelming grit to all of them that will leave you a little uncomfortable when you're done. I like it when my stories do that. It means they've actually moved me.
I wouldn't say the stories are inherently scary but there is some level of horror aspect to all of them (although the one with the gnomes was pretty freaky). The noir is more underlying, existing more in the personalities of the characters than in the overall story itself so if you're not big on it, you'll still probably get a kick out of them anyway as they're not dripping in it. But they definitely should be read for the supernatural aspect. They're different kinds of horror stories, playing into all manner of horror, not just your standard spooks. For that I can greatly appreciate what SUPERNATURAL NOIR has to offer, as would any genuine horror fan. It's a deviation from all of the other regular horror out there and will certainly leave a lasting impression even after you close the cover.