This modern, feminist, short Gothic horror fiction collection will bring you out in goose-bumps.
A CREAK IN THE FLOOR, A SLANT OF LIGHT – There were some quirky details that put me in mind of Holly Black’s work. The tale had a delightfully gory legend about three girls trapped in a lift with something that bites, and a motley bunch of interesting characters sharing (often bizarre) accommodation in an industrial warehouse. In my opinion, the story ended too soon.
THE RIDER – The story began with a few paragraphs talking about a female character, but didn’t mention her name until the fourth paragraph. I liked the idea of the story with its reverse ghosts and the strange support group, but there wasn’t a lot of detail regarding the main character’s backstory.
THE GROVE – An interesting vignette on the nature of sickness, death, and the afterlife. Its tone made it almost like an old Japanese folktale. I particularly liked the poetry of the part where the mother told the daughter what would happen when she went to “sleep” in the ground and what she’d dream of.
FOLDED INTO SHADOWS – This is one of my favourites. Agnes decided to renovate an old Victorian house where her brother vanished when she was a child, a house that was a “scourge and siren” to the neighbourhood children, infamous for making most of its visitors disappear. I liked this one for its juxtaposition of the past and present, and of the mundane / kitsch with the cosmically horrible and inexplicable, the atmosphere, and mounting eeriness. The story preserved its weirdness and mystery even to the end and was all the better for doing so.
UNRAVELLING – This one was told in the first person by an ironic and world-weary character forced to reincarnate again and again. It had a YA thriller vibe. Another one of my favourites.
THE GUEST – I liked this one for the well-written Gothic tropes and the relatable main character, as well as the unique, sci-fi angle it had. Something odd about moss…
THE GIRL IN THE STAIRWELL – A strange little story about a compulsive liar and a woman falling down some stairs to her death. This was another one I particularly liked.
RIG RASH – Another favourite. This Western-themed, cosmic horror tale about the town of Sanctuary gave me goosebumps in all the right places. There were rumours of a huge, strange creature and a deadly infection. It gave off H. P. Lovecraft vibes.
DARK INHERITANCE – You’ve heard about buildings and places being haunted, but this story is about a haunted person. I liked this one as it introduced me to the concept of The Mara (or Mare, that rides on people’s chests as they sleep and gives them nightmares) and took that concept to a new and grisly level. I won’t look at the Sleep Paralysis phenomenon the same way ever again.
THE DROWNED SIREN – This was an interesting tale which fused a drowned ghost with the myth of the rusalka. The story would have been better if there was an explanation as to why the ghost chose the main character as her next victim.
THE HORROR ON SYCAMORE LANE – This story was unusual in the sense that although it was about a certain family, it was told through the third-person experiences of the small-town locals living around the family. This narrative method added an air of mystery that I liked.
THE RANCH – A longer, Western-set and horror-sci-fi tale concerning a traveller in the desert and a cattle rancher running unsettling experiments.
THE WIFE – A charming and bloodthirsty tale about a woman who wasn’t a woman but wasn’t exactly a Selki either…
MATER ANNELIDA – This was a bizarre and primal vignette of an unnamed witch (I assume) undertaking a private ritual and the birth of something that could change the world… literally.
THE WOMAN OF THE WOODS – A lonely witch who could bring the dead back to life approached a romantic relationship with a stranger… in a preying-mantis fashion.
THE DARE – An excellent vampire horror story that brought together contemporary teenagers and a monster that used to be a bon vivant from the 1920s. There was a different explanation for the nature of vampirism within the tale — read it to find out!
THOSE BENEATH, DEVOUR – This tale began right in the middle of the action, shortly after someone had been consumed by something scorching through a university library basement floor.
THE NO PLACES – This began with the atmosphere and whimsy of a Neil Gaiman road-trip story, then turned sinister. A sacrifice had to be made, and a woman learned she was more than herself.
The writing in this short fiction collection had a lot of run-on sentences and could do with another round of proofreading. Other than that, the narrative voice of these stories had a tone of private collusion with the reader, which I liked very much, and Victoria Dalpe’s descriptions engaged all of the reader’s senses. She used realistic dialogue and unusual ideas and details throughout.
Author of short stories, longer short stories and poetry. Passionate about music, doing various creative things, and making people laugh! An amateur artist and occasional book reviewer, he runs, edits and illustrates Once Upon A Crocodile e-zine.
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