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kjboldon's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Absolutely bizarre and unsettling and wondrous. For fans of Shirley Jackson. Dark, creepy, sexual, weird and very compelling collection of fantasy stories.
"He smiled at me warmly, 'there's something queer about measuring tapes. I believe they hate us, and sometimes they can't resist making fools of us--for being so silly as to imagine we can tame even a small chunk of space or fence it in. '
I went inside my house and looked at my measuring tape with new eyes. Mr. Pritchett's words only served to deepen my own conviction that the world was a fearful and wonderful place, and that in it anything could happen and the very best thing for me to do was to stay limber enough to enjoy it."
"He smiled at me warmly, 'there's something queer about measuring tapes. I believe they hate us, and sometimes they can't resist making fools of us--for being so silly as to imagine we can tame even a small chunk of space or fence it in. '
I went inside my house and looked at my measuring tape with new eyes. Mr. Pritchett's words only served to deepen my own conviction that the world was a fearful and wonderful place, and that in it anything could happen and the very best thing for me to do was to stay limber enough to enjoy it."
Content Warnings
Minor: Fatphobia, Racial slurs, and Racism
mrjonathan's review
5.0
A fabulous collection of mid century sci-fi and fantasy. Shirley Jackson in space.
My favorites include (SPOILER ALERT):
First lesson- The wife of a paratrooper has a terrible dream of his death. At the urging of a maid, she performs a spell, throwing two pennies into the river. Her husband nearly dies as in the dream on his next jump but is saved and finds two pennies in his shoes. When she asks the maid about it, the maid writes to her that she made it all up and is confused how the pennies got there.
Stair Trick- a bartender’s famous trick is miming going down stairs. Finally he meets a woman who knows it’s not a trick, and together they disappear beneath the cement floor.
The Day of the Green Velvet Cloak- a woman engaged to an insufferable man wonders into a book shop that acts as a time machine. There she meets a man from 1877 and gives him her new cloak before sending him home. In the present day, his descendant returns the cloak. She dons it with the ivory dress she’d intended to be wedded in and goes out to dinner with him, jilting her awful fiancé.
The Wild Wood- this is the most terrifying story I’ve ever read. Pseudopod has a wonderful audio rendition.
The Gay Deceiver- a woman follows a pied piper but is horrified that the towns they leave invariably report children crawling into old refrigerators and getting trapped. When confronted, he reveals that he is tracking down the descendants of those who owe him a debt. He begins to play, opening a refrigerator door…for her?
Red Hearts and Blue Roses- Mrs. Pemberton is horrified when the stranger her son brought home for the Christmas furlough announces that he intends to replace her children and has chosen her as his mother. After she kicks him out, he keeps returning, younger each time. In the end, she is pregnant and having nightmares of a baby with Damon’s same tattoo.
My favorites include (SPOILER ALERT):
First lesson- The wife of a paratrooper has a terrible dream of his death. At the urging of a maid, she performs a spell, throwing two pennies into the river. Her husband nearly dies as in the dream on his next jump but is saved and finds two pennies in his shoes. When she asks the maid about it, the maid writes to her that she made it all up and is confused how the pennies got there.
Stair Trick- a bartender’s famous trick is miming going down stairs. Finally he meets a woman who knows it’s not a trick, and together they disappear beneath the cement floor.
The Day of the Green Velvet Cloak- a woman engaged to an insufferable man wonders into a book shop that acts as a time machine. There she meets a man from 1877 and gives him her new cloak before sending him home. In the present day, his descendant returns the cloak. She dons it with the ivory dress she’d intended to be wedded in and goes out to dinner with him, jilting her awful fiancé.
The Wild Wood- this is the most terrifying story I’ve ever read. Pseudopod has a wonderful audio rendition.
The Gay Deceiver- a woman follows a pied piper but is horrified that the towns they leave invariably report children crawling into old refrigerators and getting trapped. When confronted, he reveals that he is tracking down the descendants of those who owe him a debt. He begins to play, opening a refrigerator door…for her?
Red Hearts and Blue Roses- Mrs. Pemberton is horrified when the stranger her son brought home for the Christmas furlough announces that he intends to replace her children and has chosen her as his mother. After she kicks him out, he keeps returning, younger each time. In the end, she is pregnant and having nightmares of a baby with Damon’s same tattoo.
aj_denver's review
4.0
There is no science fiction in this book. The stories are quirky in a Twilight Zone sort-of way, all set in everyday America (albeit many decades ago), but each has a spark of the outré - sometimes fortuitous, sometimes horrific. I loved this book and I look forward to reading more of her stories.
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