Some very dark tales

Two and Twenty Dark Tales: Dark Retellings of Mother Goose Rhymes by Multiple Authors

Rating: 2 out of 5 hearts

340 pages

Released: October 2012

Buy it @ book depository

In this anthology, 20 authors explore the dark and hidden meanings behind some of the most beloved Mother Goose nursery rhymes through short story retellings. The dark twists on classic tales range from exploring whether Jack truly fell or if Jill pushed him instead to why Humpty Dumpty, fragile and alone, sat atop so high of a wall. The authors include Nina Berry, Sarwat Chadda, Leigh Fallon, Gretchen McNeil, and Suzanne Young.

Review 

You've probably read, like me, many fairytale re-tellings of Hans Christian Anderson and The Brothers Grimm - well these are all Mother Goose nursery rhymes. At times with only a few lines to work with, these authors have weaved some haunting and truly imaginative re-tellings of these well known nursery rhymes.

With so many different writing styles it was hard to get absorbed in the story but at times the author was able to take me away and get totally wrapped up in their spine tingling tale of horror. It must be terribly hard to suck the reader in with such a short amount of time, but when the author got it right it was amazing.

While some of these stories were pretty amazing, some of them were a bit so so. I didn't end up finishing all the short stories, I only got through 12 of the 20. So below is a short write up of each of the stories that I read.

'As Blue as the sky and just as old' by Nina Berry: This one tells the nursery rhyme of Taffy was a welshman. It was ok but I'd never really heard of the rhyme before because it's a welsh tale.

'Sing a song of sixpence' by Sarwat Chadda: It must be hard to write a short story with interesting characters but I felt like this author achieved that with this story. It was interesting and had plenty of depth to it for something written in a short amount of pages.

'Clockwork' by Leah Cypess: This was an interesting spin on the Hickory Dickory Dock nursery rhyme.It was a great short story that didn't need a lot of back story, although it did seem a little cliche.

'Blue' by Sayantani DasGupta: Tale based on Little boy blue rhyme which was written in verse and very imaginative.

'Pieces of eight' by Shannon Delaney: I didn't know this rhyme either, some sleep baby sleep rhyme. I found it a bit boring but I did like the slight humor between two characters.

'Wee Willie Winkie' by Leigh Fallon: Such a haunting tale. In such a short period of time I was grabbed and taken along for the spooky tale of Wee Willie Winkie. A favourite so far and I want to read more by this author.

'Boys and girls come out to play' by Angie Frazer: Another really great story that was very imaginative about witches and witchcraft.

'I Come bearing souls' By Jessie Harrell: A creepy egyptian twist on the well known Hey Diddle Diddle rhyme.

'The Lion and the unicorn: part the first' by Nancy Holder: This one was really confusing and I didn't really get the meaning behind the story.

'Life in a shoe' by Heidi R. King: Very interesting and a little bit dystopian. Based on the rhyme there was an old lady who lived in a shoe. The idea behind this story would be the only reason why an old lady would have a reason to have so many children. This one whisked me away into it's world right away.

'Candlelight' by Suzanne Lazear: This was amazing! I would've loved reading a whole book about it. So much more of the background story could get fleshed out and I could read more about these characters in a full length book.

'One for sorrow' by Karen Mahoney: A little boring and felt very long for a short story. I've never heard this rhyme before either and I didn't really understand what the story had to do with the rhyme. The story was fairly predictable too.

Overall there were some fantastic stories and it made me want to read other books by those authors, but I gave this 2 stars mainly because I didn't finish it and because I was disappointed. Thank you to Month9Books and Netgalley for my copy.

On the cover

This cover is a bit creepy which I guess sums up a lot of the short stories in this anthology. I never really got to see this cover as this was a kindle edition.

What I'm reading next: The Dead and buried by Kim Harrington

Books I'm pining for ~ Halloween style!

"Books I'm pining for" is a feature for new and old books that I want to read. But being so close to Halloween I thought I would share some spooky reads that I'm looking forward to. Enjoy! *Evil laugh*

Hemlock Grove: A Novel by Brian McGreevy
Released: March 2012
An exhilarating reinvention of the gothic novel, inspired by the iconic characters of our greatest myths and nightmares.


The body of a young girl is found mangled and murdered in the woods of Hemlock Grove, Pennsylvania, in the shadow of the abandoned Godfrey Steel mill. A manhunt ensues—though the authorities aren’t sure if it’s a man they should be looking for.

Some suspect an escapee from the White Tower, a foreboding biotech facility owned by the Godfrey family—their personal fortune and the local economy having moved on from Pittsburgh steel—where, if rumors are true, biological experiments of the most unethical kind take place. Others turn to Peter Rumancek, a Gypsy trailer-trash kid who has told impressionable high school classmates that he’s a werewolf. Or perhaps it’s Roman, the son of the late JR Godfrey, who rules the adolescent social scene with the casual arrogance of a cold-blooded aristocrat, his superior status unquestioned despite his decidedly freakish sister, Shelley, whose monstrous medical conditions belie a sweet intelligence, and his otherworldly control freak of a mother, Olivia.

At once a riveting mystery and a fascinating revelation of the grotesque and the darkness in us all, Hemlock Grove has the architecture and energy to become a classic in its own right—and Brian McGreevy the talent and ambition to enthrall us for years to come.

Spook's Blood (The Last Apprentice/Wardstone Chronicles #10) 
by Joseph Delaney
Released: June 2012

Time is running out for Thomas Ward. His final battle against the Fiend is drawing near, and the Spook's apprentice has never felt more alone in his task. Isolated and afraid, the Fiend is set to send the greatest of his servants against him - Siscoi, a Vampire God more ferocious than anything he has yet faced. Tom must risk his life to prevent the evil beast from entering this world, even as he learns that the final destruction of the Fiend may involve a sacrifice more terrible than he can imagine...

Seed by Ania Ahlborn
Released: June 2011

Fans of Stephen King, Jack Kilborn, and Blake Crouch… prepare to meet the Devil.

In the vine-twisted swamps of Louisiana, the shadows have teeth.

Jack Winter has spent his entire life running from something no one else can see. His childhood is his darkest secret, but after a near fatal accident along a deserted road, the darkness he was sure he’d escaped rears its ugly head… and smiles.

But this time, he isn’t the only one who sees the soulless eyes of his past. This time, his six-year-old daughter Charlie leans into his ear and whispers: Daddy, I saw it too.

And then she begins to change.

Faced with reliving the nightmares of his childhood, Jack watches his daughter spiral into the shadows that had nearly consumed him twenty years before.

But Charlie isn’t the only one who’s changing.

Jack never outran the darkness. It’s been with him all along.

And it’s hungrier than ever.

A new breed of dark fiction: the subtlety of Seed will haunt you, and the end will wickedly satisfy.

Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough
Released: April 2011

Beware of Long Lankin, that lives in the moss. . . .When Cora and her younger sister, Mimi, are sent to stay with their elderly aunt in the isolated village of Byers Guerdon, they receive a less than warm welcome. Auntie Ida is eccentric and rigid, and the girls are desperate to go back to London. But what they don't know is that their aunt's life was devastated the last time two young sisters were at Guerdon Hall, and she is determined to protect her nieces from an evil that has lain hidden for years. Along with Roger and Peter, two village boys, Cora must uncover the horrifying truth that has held Bryers Guerdon in its dark grip for centuries -- before it's too late for little Mimi. Riveting and intensely atmospheric, this stunning debut will hold readers in its spell long after the last page is turned.

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter
Released: September 2012

She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….

I wish I could go back and do a thousand things differently.
I'd tell my sister no.
I'd never beg my mother to talk to my dad.
I'd zip my lips and swallow those hateful words.
Or, barring all of that, I'd hug my sister, my mom and my dad one last time.
I'd tell them I love them.
I wish... Yeah, I wish.

The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle
Released: September 2012

Katie is on the verge of her Rumspringa, the time in Amish life when teenagers can get a taste of the real world. But the real world comes to her in this dystopian tale with a philosophical bent. Rumors of massive unrest on the “Outside” abound. Something murderous is out there. Amish elders make a rule: No one goes outside, and no outsiders come in. But when Katie finds a gravely injured young man, she can’t leave him to die. She smuggles him into her family’s barn—at what cost to her community? The suspense of this vividly told, truly horrific thriller will keep the pages turning.

Two and Twenty Dark Tales: Dark Retellings of Mother Goose Rhymes by Many Authors
Released: October 2012

In this anthology, 20 authors explore the dark and hidden meanings behind some of the most beloved Mother Goose nursery rhymes through short story retellings. The dark twists on classic tales range from exploring whether Jack truly fell or if Jill pushed him instead to why Humpty Dumpty, fragile and alone, sat atop so high of a wall. The authors include Nina Berry, Sarwat Chadda, Leigh Fallon, Gretchen McNeil, and Suzanne Young.

Dead River by Cyn Balog
Released: April 2013

My friends and I are spending prom weekend at a remote wooded cabin on the Dead. The Dead River.

I thought it was going to be just us.

I was wrong. 
Nothing is what it seems in this creepy paranormal thriller by Cyn Balog.

What books are you pining for?