Title: Hula Ville Author: James P. Blaylock In: Hauntings (Ellen Datlow) Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one) My Bookshelves:Ghosts, Horror Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Tachyon Year: 2013
This was a bit of an eerie feeling short story, one featuring angels and mummies. And just all of the discomfort that facing the unknown entails. It also had a bit of that feel that if I read it multiple times, I’d find symbols throughout that I missed the first time around. It was all about the mystery of the unknown without providing any answers whatsoever at the conclusion of the tale. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it does make it hard to recount / write a review on…
There were so many layers of meaning throughout this that I just know I didn’t quite grasp. Or at least, that’s how this story made me feel. As though I was almost reaching the reality being revealed, but not quite getting there. Although, this is in a collection called Hauntings so that very elusiveness makes it sit really well within that theme…
Everything about this story, particularly Hula Ville is just not quite what it seems. There is the constant threat of something terrifying happening from the tone of the story. And, even when things didn’t quite end as tragically as anticipated… I was still left feeling disquieted from this story.
This is, as with all Ellen Datlow collections, seriously fun and enjoyable. The fact that this fantastic collection is full of seriously creepy stories made it that much more enjoyable. Mostly because it’s out of my usual genre of choice. Horror and ghost stories might not be quite my usual speed, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t love reading this collection!
Although I really enjoyed reading all of these short stories, I did find that this was not an anthology I should be reading late at night. Or when I was home alone. Whilst some of the stories were kind of mild and not too terrifying, some made it really difficult to sleep after turning the final page. Or just made it difficult to turn off the lights. Which is why this took me a little bit longer to read than I had anticipated.
Hauntings runs the gambit of horror and ghost stories, from horrible hauntings to stories that had a little bit more hope at the end. They made me feel all of the feelings, and I would most definitely read this collection again in the future.
Gaslamp fantasy, or historical fantasy set in a magical version of the nineteenth century, has long been popular with readers and writers alike. Many wonderful novels, such as Stardust by Neil Gaiman, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, and The Prestige by Christopher Priest, ower their inspiration to works by nineteenth-century writers, including Jane Austen, the Brontes, Charles Dickens, and Anthony Trollope. And, of course, the entire steampunk genre and subculture owes more than a little to literature from and inspired by this period.
Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells is an anthology for everyone who loves neo-Victorian fiction and modern fantasists using vintage settings, characters, and themes. Their approaches stretch from steampunk fiction to the Austen- and Trollope- inspired works known as fantasy of manners. The result is eighteen stories by experts from the fantasy, horror, main-stream, and young-adult fields, including both bestselling writers and exciting new talents, who present a bewitching vision of a nineteenth century enhance (or cursed!) with magic.
This is an absolutely brilliant collection. One that I didn’t want to put down and introduced me to a whole new genre. It’s my first ever Gaslamp collection, and although I found some of the stories throughout a little weird and intense… I also loved the vast majority of them. Enough so that I plan to read this again and again in the future.
I was expecting a pretty simple and balanced collection. I
really wasn’t expecting such a convoluted and twisted set of stories. But, as
I’ve often found in life, it’s those unexpected surprises are the best and most
exciting aspects of life. They’re the moments that you don’t want to forget
because they were unplanned. And this anthology kind of felt like that.
I tend to read a lot of short stories late at night. Or when
I’m just needing a quick little break from the many complexities of my PhD. This
is not the collection that does that for me. It’s seriously intense, completely
unexpected and very full on. The kind of short stories that you want to read
when you have your concentrating brain working… not when it’s late at night and
you just want some easy entertainment…
Title: Smithfield Author: James P. Blaylock In: Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling) Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one) My Bookshelves:Easy reading, Gaslamp Dates read: 5th September 2019 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: Tor Year: 2013 5th sentence, 74th page: The moon had climbed higher into the sky now and shone on the cobbles in the street.
It’s the turn of the century and things are beginning to change. Will they be able to catch this through the lens of a camera?
This was a really fun, easy read. But it wasn’t one that I
really got into. I very quickly skimmed through it, and although it was
enjoyable, it wasn’t memorable. The writing was really good though which is
probably why I did enjoy it as much as I did… it was well written, fun, but
just not enough to keep my easily distractible self paying attention…
I really liked the turn of the century feel to this story. The
use of cameras and gas lighting throughout was very atmospheric and helped to pull
along the fantastical elements of the story. It left you with a feeling of mystery
and wonder when you finally turned that last page – not quite sure what
happened, but certain that you enjoyed it.
Smithfield is one of those short stories that I’ll probably read
again in the future. Just because that lingering feeling of wonder and mystery
is still hanging around over 24 hours after I turned that final page. It is the
type of story that will keep on feeding on itself and I’m sure that I’ll find
something new to love each and every time I read it…
Earth and Skye 