A short story set in beautiful Paris. About a haunted (make that cursed) house. Definitely a great setting for such a tale. Although, I think that Paris probably makes a great setting for most stories, it’s a beautiful location. Adding a layer of darkness through this house to it… that’s just downright intriguing.
This is an incredibly insane version of Cinderella. Like, seriously insane. One that I absolutely adored. And couldn’t get enough of. And just seriously enjoyed… but it was dark, and made me think of Cinderella (or in this case Ashputtle) as more of a monster than a victim. Which is probably why I loved it so much. Nothing like a sick, disturbing story to make my crazy brain happy.
I’ve decided I need more stories based on the moon. I’ve decided that now, after reading this short story. Because it is about Halloween set on the moon. And there is always something fun about grabbing an everyday event and pulling it onto a whole other planet. Literally.
The premise of this short story is kind of terrifying. After all, it’s the way in which a villain is able to make himself be a part of everything. Not exactly the kind of story that makes you feel safe. But, since it’s a tale about the villain of a series… it works perfectly. If you don’t think too hard about the whole hive mind villain thing.
This selection is super creepy, intense and wonderful. I absolutely adored it. Even if I spent a lot of the time reading it with my feet curled under me feeling incredibly overwhelmed and somewhat horrified. A whole new world was introduced as I read through this. This might be why I’m starting to get into the horror genre though…
Read more Haunted Nights edited by Ellen Datlow & Lisa Morton
My thoughts while reading Lost in the Dark. Late at night…
This short story is beautifully dark and impossible to put down. It has a bit of an urban fantasy feel that is reminiscent of a lot of the series that I read. But it also had a great sense of mystery to the story. One that made me wonder what was going to happen. And, since it was in this collection… if there would be a happily ever after in the end.
It’s human nature to turn around when you hear footsteps. To look into the dark when you don’t know what’s there. But, after this story, I think next time I hear a bump in the night… I’m going to hold my giant dog close and bury myself under the covers. It was just creepy. And intense. And creepy.
This so far has been one of the least graphic short stories in the The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Stories collection. Yet, the idea of an immortal Ripper recommitting his acts every night… that makes it one of the most terrifying tales in this collection. I like to imagine immortality being granted to the good and the just, not the evil and sadistic. But that might just be a personal preference.
Let me start this by saying that I basically read the whole book in one day. While I was home alone. It is not something that I recommend. To make my decision making all that much more questionable… I’d actually gone to start it late one night before bed (when my partner was next to me) and, after reading that King thinks this is the scariest story he’s ever written. So I put it down and decided it was a day time read. Which, to be fair, I did start it in the morning. Thought I’d stop when it got scary. I didn’t. I finished it at about 6 pm, realised I had a long, lonely night ahead of me… not what I would recommend at all.
