Tag Archives: Black Feathers

The Orphan Bird by Alison Littlewood

Book Review, ,
Overview
Image result for black feathers ellen datlow book cover

Title: The Orphan Bird
Author: Alison Littlewood
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Horror
Dates read: 22nd February 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: The water no longer felt cold; it was warming against his skin, running down his face and into his eyes.

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Synopsis

Birds and orphans intertwine to create a horrifying tale of revenge.

Thoughts

This story gave me the heeby jeebies. Which most of the stories in the Black Feathers collection do. The watching of birds and flashbacks to a past of bullying and abuse gave this story a very disjointed feel. But it isn’t until the end that I start to feel truly uncomfortable. After all, that is kind of horrifying. And it did leave me with some very not-okay dreams.

I think one of the reasons that I find this story so horrifying is that I like the idea of adopting in my future. And this child, the orphan bird, is a terrifying idea. He thinks nothing at murder, and even finds himself a young child to train in his place. There is such a sense of horror at the calm and assured way in which he follows the birds and commits his acts. Just. Terrifying.

 <- The Season of the Raptors ReviewThe Murmurations of Vienna Von Drome Review ->
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The Season of the Raptors by Richard Bowes

Book Review, ,
Overview
Image result for black feathers ellen datlow book cover

Title: The Season of the Raptors
Author: Richard Bowes
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Horror
Dates read: 18th February 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: When that happened, the parents stopped feeding them.

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Synopsis

The countryside seems to be obsessed with birds of prey, and more specifically, the hawks that have taken up residence. But is there a more sinister side to this obsession?

Thoughts

The flickering between real world observations of the hawks and the dreamscape that the lead character finds himself in creates an incredibly spine tingling (and somewhat confusing) dreamscape across this storyline. It makes feelings of horror and goosebumps come to the forefront as the storyline unfolds. And leaves a feeling of uncanny confusion and, even slight obsession when you turn the last page.

I think one of the things that left me with the most intense goosebumps on reading this story is the fact that I myself have a slight obsession with raptors. There is something about them that really draws me in. So the fact that this is a story about obsession slowly turning into insanity… well, that is uncomfortable. Which kind of feels like the point of most of the stories in the Black Feathers collection…

 <- Great Blue Heron ReviewThe Orphan Bird Review ->
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Great Blue Heron by Joyce Carol Oates

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
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Title: Great Blue Heron
Author: Joyce Carol Oates
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Death, Horror, Mental health
Dates read: 30th January 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: The wife is shivering, her feet are getting wet, she would like to turn back but the husband presses forward, he has something to show her.

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Synopsis

The Wife is mourning the loss of her husband. The Wife keeps on remembering moments together and seeing a Great Blue Heron flying free. As her grief and love for the birds collide, there is no telling what will happen next.

Thoughts

This story had my heart racing. Something about the pace of it and the way in which it was written felt like an intense horror story. That, and the setting is based around a lake with overcast days… the perfect setting for a horror story and a horrific murder if I ever did hear one.

This is the fourth story in this series of bird-based horrors (I never knew that there was such a thing, or that it could be this TRULY scary… but I digress). And it is the second story that has an essence of grief and loss in its heart. This feeling of loss and grief is intense and the slightly broken way in which this story is told really drives this idea home. There is an almost ethereal quality to the storyline which makes it both solidly real and wispily dreamlike.

 <- Something About Birds ReviewThe Season of the Raptors Review ->
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Something About Birds by Paul Tremblay

Book Review, ,
Overview
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Title: Something About Birds
Author: Paul Tremblay
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Horror
Dates read: 29th January 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: Or I didn’t consciously realize, if that makes sense.

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Synopsis

An interview with a cult horror writer begins to turn weird when the interviewer is given an exclusive invite. And then it starts to get down-right scary…

Thoughts

The mirror image of the horror short story in the story and the one that you are reading works beautifully. If not a little confusedly. Especially as the story unfolds, parts of the tale in the story unfolds too. And there is this constant echo between the snippets of interview and what happens after, in Ben’s house. This sense that not all is as it seems, and things are headed for a not-so-pleasant ending.

The dual imagery throughout this story was intense and engaging. However, this wasn’t as spine-tingling as many of the other stories that I’ve read in the Black Feathers collection. It’s engaging and entertaining, a little creepy. But it doesn’t have the intensity of goosebumps that many of the other stories have. Which is probably why I enjoyed the change of pace… it was horrific, but not terrifying…

 <- The Mathematical Inevitability of Corvids ReviewGreat Blue Heron Review ->
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The Mathematical Inevitability of Corvids by Seanan McGuire

Book Review, , ,
Overview
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Title: The Mathematical Inevitability of Corvids
Author: Seanan McGuire
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Horror,
Mental health
Dates read: 28th January 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: She’s the only one that’s stayed.

Synopsis

“One’s for sorrow, two’s for joy.” Brenda counts corvids as a way to understand the mathematics of her day. But when the unthinkable happens, will her counting and corvids help her? Or will they spell the end?

Thoughts

I feel like I liked this story a little tooooo much. It was dark, twisted and resulted in murder. And yet I absolutely loved it. Can’t stop thinking about it. Feel almost completely obsessed with it. Although, unlike most short stories that I love this much… I’m more than happy that it ended when it did. This was poignant and powerful, but it was also perfectly succinct in what it was attempting to entail.

There’s something hard about being different. And in this short story, the horrific way in which others can treat a child who is different are highlighted. There is a knowledge and understanding in the slightly jittery voice that highlights just how aware the young protagonist is. And when this hatred of her difference leads to something far too horrible to contemplate… well, that’s why this short story is on the horror shelf.

I don’t often feel sympathy for people who do a “bad thing”. Especially not something delivered in cold blood. But I definitely did in this story. And it left me feeling both awed and uncomfortable. A feeling that I think is fantastic to gain from a well-written short story.

 <- The Obscure BirdSomething About Birds ->

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The Obscure Bird by Nicholas Royle

Book Review, ,
Overview
Image result for black feathers ellen datlow book cover

Title: The Obscure Bird
Author: Nicholas Royle
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Horror
Dates read: 27th January 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: Lying in the darkness, she heard his carefully weighted footsteps approach their bedroom door, stop for a moment and then continue past.

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Synopsis

There is something dark and twisted sitting between a married couple. But it isn’t until the end that you realise how truly dark it is…

Thoughts

This story started out interesting and with a little mystery. It was engaging and I really liked it. And then it very quickly become uncomfortable. Very, very, very uncomfortable.

I’ve always liked owls and other birds of prey. There is something both mysterious and intriguing about them. Also a little creepy and dangerous. So the fact that this story took those aspects of owls and used them to create a horror short story worked really well for me. A little bit too well if I’m being honest… I had some very weird and shadowy dreams after reading this just before bed…

 <- O Terrible Bird ReviewThe Mathematical Inevitability of Corvids Review ->
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O Terrible Bird by Sandra Kasturi

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for black feathers ellen datlow book cover

Title: O Terrible Bird
Author: Sandra Kasturi
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Horror, Poetry
Dates read: 23rd January 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Poem
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: Was it you? Are they limp in your claws?

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Synopsis

An incredibly dark avian poem that will leave tingles running up and down your spine.

Thoughts

I knew that the collection Black Feathers was a horror collection based around birds. I knew this, and yet, it wasn’t until I read the opening poem that I really clicked as to what this truly meant. And then I was just uncomfortable. And drawn in. And imagining dark shadows soaring above us. This poem took me on a complete journey of horror and wonder. And in such a short amount of time.

This is the second of Kasturi’s poems that I’ve had the fortune of reading. And man, is it worth it. this is an incredibly intense and dark poem. One that, like all good pieces of poetry, has layer upon layer of meaning. And one that I will probably reread again and again in an attempt to find more meaning.

 <- Black Feathers ReviewThe Obscure Bird Review ->
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