Reviews

Very good collection overall. There were two that I loathed*, and a few I was indifferent to, but most of them were quite good.
*Both have a protagonist with no agency who is sexually exploited. Not to my taste.

The star rating is how good I think it is as a story. The tentacle rating is how well I think it deserves the "Lovecraftian" label.

Shadows of the Evening by Joyce Carol Oates (4 stars, 2.5 tentacles) - Well written vampiric ghost yarn. When I finished, it took me a while to figure out why all the back story had been included (seemed like enough for a novella) ... then I made the connection.

Spoiler

The reason the aunt seemed so old was that she had also visited the ghost, and not been lucky enough to be a lousy singer.

Lacked the creeping dread I would expect in a Lovecraftian tale, but may actually have been the better for it, story-wise.
The Woman in the Hill by Tamsyn Muir (4 stars, 5 tentacles) - Good creeper. Inevitable doom. Note: I'd read this one before from an online posting.
The Face of Jarry by Cat Hellisen (3 stars, 4 tentacles) - Nice use of Lovecraftian themes. Starts out like it's going to be a Dreamlands tour, then turns into something else.

Spoiler

Don't eat blue stones given to you by strange people

I'm only giving it 3 stars because it ends rather abruptly, with a complete change of tone and pace.
Our Lady of Arsia Mons by Caitlin R. Kiernan (4 stars, 4 tentacles) - Beautifully written "Elder Gods on Mars" tale. Doesn't quite make 5 stars/tentacles because while there was an attempted in-story resolution at the end, it's the sort of resolution you don't actually expect to work in a Lovecraftian setting. It feels like the start of a longer work (and I really REALLY want to see this work).
The Body Electric by Lucy Brady (3 stars, 5 tentacles) - Emulates Lovecraft's distancing style to good effect. I wonder if it could have been done with more journal entries and less exposition in-between. Would-be programmer believes she's created/summoned a god in her attempt to make a learning program.
The Child and the Night Gaunts by Marly Youmans (3 stars, 3 tentacles) - I felt like I was missing something on this one. Series of vignettes about a child with an ancestor who, er, produced a human-nightgaunt-hybrid. Unclear to me whether the hybrid is also an ancestor, or what the nightgaunts getting faces means. Well written, but I couldn't make heads or tails of the content.
All Our Salt-Bottled Hearts by Sonya Taaffe (4 stars, 4 tentacles) - This almost works as a contemporary addition to Emrys' Innsmouth universe, but a few details don't match up. One that's creepy due to human actions rather than "monster" ones. Very enjoyable.
Every Hole in the Earth We Will Claim As Our Own by Gemma Files (4 stars, 4 tentacles) - Eerily creepy one. What wouldn't a mother do to "save" a child? Makes better use of the first person unattached observer than Lovecraft ever did.
But Only Because I Love you by Molly Tanzer (4 stars, 4 tentacles) - Impressive tomb raid gone wrong, from the local guide's POV. Very nicely done. Uses the "Colour" and takes place on Leng.
Cthulhu’s Mother by Kelda Crich (3 stars, 2 tentacles) - Odd humor piece, dialogue only. I think it would work better acted out than read. I can certainly picture the Python players doing a sketch like this.
All Gods Great and Small by Karen Heuler (3 stars, 5 tentacles) - Mixed feelings on this one. On the plus side, you have a racist jackass getting his comeuppance. Unfortunately, it's via the Magical Indian trope. Could have been better and more effective with a more generic "uprising of nature," imo.
Dearest Daddy by Lois H. Gresh (1 star, 2 tentacles) - Hopeless squalor, filth, and misery, with mysterious mushrooms and an abusive, contortionist father. Not at all to my taste. I will admit that it's well-written and constructed, but I did not enjoy it at all. ADDENDUM: Occurred to me that this protagonist has almost no agency. The one time she exercises any agency is rather horrific, and

Spoiler

probably ruined her one chance of getting out of the caves

.
Eye of the Beholder by Nancy Kilpatrick (1 star, 3 tentacles) - The human "friends" in this one are nearly as horrific as the monster. My biggest gripe is that the protagonist has absolutely no agency; she just agrees to whatever is suggested, whether by her "friends" or the monster.
Down at the Bottom of Everything by E.R. Knightsbridge (2 stars, 2 tentacles) - Semi hallucinatory pastiche about someone who became trapped while diving to investigate one of the large ocean garbage patches. Reads like it could just be panicked hallucination rather than anything eldritch. Leaves the POV character with PTSD about water.
Spore by Amanda Downum (4 stars, 2 tentacles) - Very interesting take on creepy mushroom assimilation. More eerie than creepy, imo.
Pippa’s Crayons by Christine Morgan (4 stars, 3 tentacles) - A child's version of Colour Out of Space. I would recommend reading Colour Out of Space before this one, if you have not.
The Wreck of the Charles Dexter Ward by Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette (4 stars, 5 tentacles) - I loved the other two "boojum" stories. This one is equally good. This time we have a crew sent to investigate a dead boojum run into a mad reanimator.
From the Cold Dark Sea by Storm Constantine (5 stars, 4 tentacles) - Beautiful story. Innsmouth inspired. I like that Cara avoided looking too closely because she wanted the story to be true, rather than because she feared it was.
Mnemeros by R.A. Kaelin (4 stars, 3 tentacles) - Enjoyable Weird West tale. The creep is more visceral than Lovecraftian, though Lovecraftian themes are used.

morcades's review against another edition

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3.0

Muy recomendable. Me ha descubierto autoras que quiero leer fuera de esta antología.

sabernezumi's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

3.0

jonnyh9's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Our lady of Arsia Mons was my favourite of this selection, along with Cthulus Mother. A fantastic range of strange, unsettling and horrific stories.

sweetbriar15's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

norcani's review against another edition

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3.0

I read this after [b:Year's Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 2|27192545|Year's Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 2|Kathe Koja|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1444887178s/27192545.jpg|47234707] which although doesn't advertise itself as female weird fiction it more or less is (one or two stories by men I believe). If you are interested in the subject I'd suggest that book over this. I found the stories in this book much more of a mixed bag. Although there are some standout stories:

5 stars
Our Lady of Arsia Mons by Caitlín R. Kiernan
The Body Electric by Lucy Brady
Every Hole in the Earth We Will Claim As Our Home by Gemma Files

4 stars
From the Cold Dark Sea by Storm Constantine
The Woman in the Hill by Tamsyn Muir
The Wreck of the Charles Dexter Ward by Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette

Sadly the other stories bored me, besides the few I outright hated. I think I would have enjoyed some more if I was familiar to the Lovecraft stories they were based on, so it might be on me.

cassattack's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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