These Our Monsters: The English Heritage Book of New Folktale, Myth and Legend

by Katherine Davey (Editor)

New legends for modern times; sprung from our ancient lands, stories and stones. 'The shadow from which I thought I had unshackled myself has returned. Whether this Horror is real or merely the handiwork of my imagination I cannot say. Nor can I say which of these possibilities disturbs me more.' from 'The Dark Thread' by Graeme Macrae Burnet From the legends of King Arthur embedded in the rocky splendour of Tintagel to the folklore and mysticism of Stonehenge, English Heritage sites are often closely linked to native English myths. Following on from the bestselling ghost story anthology Eight Ghosts, this is a new collection of stories inspired by the legends and tales that swirl through the history of eight ancient historical sites. Including an essay by James Kidd on the importance of myth to our landscape and our fiction, and an English Heritage survey of sites and associated legends, These Our Monsters is an evocative collection that brings new voices and fresh creative alchemy to our story-telling heritage. 'Nobody believes you when you talk about the whispering. Oh, Monny, you are funny, they say, you've such an imagination. There's a lot they don't believe.' from 'The Hand Under the Stone' by Sarah Hall The atmospheric locations: Edward Carey - Bury St Edmunds Abbey Sarah Hall - Castlerigg and other stone circles Paul Kingsnorth - Stonehenge Alison MacLeod - Down House Graeme Macrae Burnet - Whitby Abbey Sarah Moss - Berwick Castle Fiona Mozley - Carlisle Castle Adam Thorpe - Tintagel Castle

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Horror, Folklore, Anthologies, Gothic, Fantasy

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 24, 2019

Reviews

[Delphine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a beautiful concept: inspired by sites in the care of English Heritage, eight contemporary authors have turned afresh to the legends of the past.

A captivating read for anyone interested in English folklore.

The authors try to recover the history and folklore that surrounds the location and simultaneously strive to absorb some of its atmosphere:

'These our monsters' by Edward Carey
about the 'goblins' of Woolpit, two green children emerging from an underground world (a very common theme across the UK). The green boy pretty soon died, but the green girl learned English and eventually married a human being.

'Great pucklands' by Alison MacLeod
about Darwins special relationship to his little girl Annie, who died. The story features observations of fairies ('pucks') that weren't always benevolent.

'Goibert of the Moon' by Paul Kingsnorth
about Stonehenge and the folkore of the 'hare goddess': a hare dancing clockwise at full moon around a person grieving. The Hare is evoked as a witch-like creature, a sacred animal, and linked to the Easter bunny. Kingsnorth mentions the (forcefully) abandoned village of Imber, that was taken over by the army and never given back to the original inhabitants.

'The Hand under the Stone' by Sarah Hall
about the stone circles and the theory that the stones are actually bewitched people that offended on a sabbath. Beautiful story about a girl with her brother gone crazy, having prehistoric looks and living in a shed, who can't be changed into a human again.

'The Dark Thread' by Graeme Macrae Burnet
centred around Whitby (the capital of the goth), focusing on Dracula, the fictional vampire steeped deep in English and Irish folklore. Presented as pieces of Bram Stokers diary (bearing a resemblance to the Dracula novel itself), it shows how Stoker was haunted by the 'dearg due' himself.

'Breakynecky' by Sarah Moss
about the dangerous medieval staircase of Berwick Castle. 'Redcaps' would have operated there, wicked creatures (in Anglo-Scottish literature) that kill human beings with stones and use their blood to redden their caps.

'The loathly lady' by Fiona Mozley
a recounting of an Arthurian story about Sir Gawain, who is forced to marry an ugly woman (turning out to be a beautiful lady, of course). 'What do women want?' is a crucial question, the answer 'Choice' as important.

'Capture' by Adam Thorpe
about the legend of Tristan and Iseult.

I will definitely look into the English Heritage book 'Eight ghosts', which uses the same concept.

[Phoenix Mendoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite read of the year so far. A very, very boldly written anthology of short horror stories based on English heritage sites and their folklore. I enjoyed every story for different reasons, and hardly any of them blended into the rest because they were all told with such distinct voices. I felt totally transported to each world and each site. There was also a lot of creative and experimental use of language and Old English, some of which reminded me of Ridley Walker, one of my favorite novels of all time. Beautiful, haunting, memorable.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published by English Heritage, this collection of short stories was inspired by several sites run by the organisation and by British folklore. Like all short story collections, some were better than others and a couple I couldn't really see any connection with the historic site.

[E. Raquel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: Overall a creative and enjoyable book, with a few disappointments. Still 4 stars as most stories were great and I would be happy to recommend it to others overall.

Details:

I enjoyed reading this book. I think this is a creative book, and I think anyone who enjoys literary fiction, folklore, or old fairy tales a la Grimms or Anderson would also enjoy this book and I would recommend it to them. It’s inspired me to buy another book on UK folklore to understand it better.

I’d also recommend this book to someone who wants something creative and occasionally a bit “out there” but in a short space of time. No story took me more than 30 minutes to read, and most only took 10-20 minutes. This was the perfect length to add some reading time into my lunch or coffee breaks for work.

The quality of the short, literary stories that comprise the book varied. Some stories I read twice and would read again, others I was disappointed in.

Below is my take on the individual stories. I tried not to give spoilers, but some do have hints so consider yourself warned.

These Our Monsters:

The plural 1st person POV took some time to adjust to, but once I did I really enjoyed it.
I then read it again and loved it even more. I see why it is the titular story, it is unique and thought provoking and a great way to kick off the book.

The end of the book has some expanded details ano it the legend behind this story and it is very intriguing!

Great Pucklands:

Well written, but to me does not fit within the book. The fairies, the “monsters” of this short story, are barely mentioned and play no significant role in the plot.

It also has thinly-veiled jabs towards religion, which I found jarring. If the author considers faith to be a type of lore, why treat it negatively in a book of lore? I found it very off-putting in this context. In another book, I wouldn’t have minded but it felt out of place here.

Goibert of the Moon:

I LOVED this one. The author did an amazing job creating and presenting such a complex character. I’d have followed this character anywhere plot-wise.

The character was clearly strange, and someone who, if I met in person, I wouldn’t have thought I’d want to spend time with, but all the same in the book I am moved for him and want to see him helped.

His connection with the “monster” is heartfelt and really made me want to believe in it.

The hand under the stone:

Great characters, set up, and incorporation of lore. But a nihilistic ending that takes the wind out of it.

I was hoping for a twist of some kind at the end, but instead what is revealed is exactly what I expected, but without any magic in it. I found it nihilistic, which I don’t like. I don’t inherently mind sad endings, but I need them to be meaningful and make me think, which this ending did not do for me. I see no point in reading something that makes me sad without also making me think. Life does that often enough without books doing it too.

I’d still say to give the story a read. If it was a bad story I wouldn’t have minded a disappointing ending, it is because I loved the set up and characters that I really wanted the ending to live up to it. That’s an accomplishment in such a short story, bravo to the author for that.

The dark thread:

Another one which I really enjoyed. It has a sense of mystery to it and made me want to keep reading. I was actually sad when it was over, I would have happily read a novel about the characters in this short story!

Breakynecky

I found this one a disappointment. It felt too long, because it didn’t have enough story. It felt more that the author had fallen in love with a place and wanted just to describe it, and the sprinkled in a few bare elements of plot to try to stitch it together. On a human level, I completely understanding falling in love with a location and wanting to capture it with description, but as a reader when I pay for a story I want more from it than that.

This, like the rest, was a short story and yet I could have skipped most of it and still gotten the message of the story. You shouldn’t be able to do that. With such a short format, every paragraph needs to be important.

The Loathly Lady:

One of my favorites from the book! Was “weird” in the way Arthurian legends are supposed to be, but given a modern twist with lovely writing.

Out of the whole book, this one to me felt most true to the premise of this collection, it truly is a new version of a folktale.

Capture:

I personally wasn’t able to get into this one. The writing style felt dense, and it made it hard to follow what was happening, which incidentally, didn’t appear to be much. The focus was more within the characters mind rather than on plot. Of course the progress of a character’s mind can be a plot in itself but I don’t think in this example it was able to do so satisfactorily.

I *think* it was supposed to have some coming of age style commentary in it, but the thread got lost. That said, the characters were clearly very well thought-out. The author’s style is perhaps better suited to a longer format where the detail they want to put into the characters’ personalities and perspective can be done without sacrificing plot due to strict length limitations.

[Allison Clough · Rating 4 out of 5]

Introduction was a bit of a slog, but the stories were wonderfully varied and interesting and I loved the afterword exploring the myths, legends and folk tales that inspired the writers.

[Chris Housden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, the eight new stories in this aren't nearly as good as the lore they were inspired by from English Heritage sites, which is included in the back in its own section. Only two of them really worked, personally, with the rest feeling slightly 'writing exercise-y', while the introduction and the section of sites' histories and tales at the back were much more interesting.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

You should really get your hands on this anthology, if only to read the title story, These Our Monsters by Edward Carey. This short story is so good I am considering sending a copy to my long-time-ago college English professor.

It is written in the first person plural “we” of a small-minded catholic village recounting its run-in with goblins. The village is real and so is the story: Woolpit, Suffolk, and the legend of the Green Children. All the stories in the anthology are british place-based folktale retellings. This one is written like an ethnography, in a poor man's regional English. The voice is the theme, and that, in my opinion, is what makes a good story.

These we have: Adam, Aymer, Oddo, Gilbert, Hemmet, Gerolt, Roger, Hugh, John, Ralf, Nicolas, Wilkin and Watty. These we don't: Bonnacon Basilik, Chimera, Siths, Fauns, Devils, Leucrota, Ghosts and witches folk. Or either fould things in the forest. Or neihter objects they don't obey. Screaming in the houses — that we do. But not little people that are no bigger than a conker. Trees that have voices, never. Hunchedbacked longears — that we do. Childers born with two heafs, a pig with six legs, that sort of thing — no, no we do not.

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[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always hard to rate, but I’m rating this anthology for the best of its stories, rather than an aggregate of them all. Unlike its companion book Eight Ghosts this also has a highly entertaining afterword on the folklore of English Heritage sites, the first 8 being the basis for the stories included. The eponymous first story by Edward Carey is a fabulous piece of writing, and some following also come close. Only one I found dull. Also has great illustrations by Clive Hicks-Jenkins.

[Δημήτριος Καραγιάννης · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of high-quality stories. Horror is the element most commonly invoked, or to put it slightly better, awe. You might recognize some of these stories, such as the story of Gawain and his ugly intended, or the story of how Merlin helped build Stonehenge. They are reiterated here with clever, contemporary twists and do not disappoint, instilling a chilling sensation to the reader: You feel watched, you feel in tune with ancient grounds of worship and legend. Once, legendary creatures might indeed have roamed these sites and performed unspeakable rites, how can we ever really tell?

[Carly Laughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

"These Our Monsters" had some decent short stories, though most of them fell a little flat for me. The 3 I particularly enjoyed were "These Our Monsters" (the title story), "Hand Under the Stone" and "The Loathly Lady". Some of the others just didn't really go anywhere; the last story "Capture" I found really boring. I also discovered in the later section that 2 of the stories I did like were actually retellings of old folk tales and not totally original stories. Overall I was expecting a book of horror/folk tales but it felt like more of a history book.

[Isobel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really great collection of short stories from around the UK, with a variety of narrative voices, themes and tensions. Only let down slightly by the end tale, which felt wishy washy and pointless compared to the rest, but it didn't dent my enjoyment of the other stories. The highlight for me was the story about the goblin children.

[Anastasia Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this collection of lil shards of broken glass from all around the British Isles. Wonderful ear, tone, & sense of place to snippets set in Ireland, outer isles of Scotland, & various strikingly diverse locations steeped in legend around England itself. Learn a bit of history, a bit of local lore, a bit of overlapping mental paradigms from "their" time & ours. More please :)

[Richard · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am an avid English Heritage member and wanted to enjoy this book. I found it exceptionally poor. The stories were far from captivating and aside from the tale around Carlisle Castle all instantly forgettable. Sure others will find more to enjoy but the least enjoyable book of the year.

[Erica-Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as brilliant as ‘Eight Ghosts,’ the companion anthology for English Heritage, this compilation of short stories based on folktales (or folk horrors) set at various Heritage sites and written by authors such as Sarah Moss, is nevertheless very enjoyable.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought these were going to be lighthearted fairy tale - esque, but instead, it is a collectionnof creepy, dark folktales, which I love.

Some of my favourites include
Great Pucklands
Goibert of the Moon
The Dark Thread
Breaknecky

[Milan Van Bortel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful anthology. Out of the eight stories, five were magical.

The Loathly Lady, a feminist retelling of a king Arthur story, and The Dark Thread, an origin story of Bram's Stoker inspiration for Dracula, were five-star-reads!

[Matthew Harwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of short fiction stories based on a series of English heritage sites. This is an entertaining read and the collection of facts about myths from certain sites which makes up the last chapter is really interesting.

[Runalong · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very disappointing - hardly any stories of lengths and myth sacrificed for literary style with little substance. Much preferred their horror collection

[Lowthor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories are mostly decent, with a couple of very good ones. The history and folklore section at the back however is great.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very mixed bag of extremes, from great to awful

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with all collections like this, some of the stories are great, and some of the stories are not. I feel that it was worth the price of admission.

[Louise Lazenby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Absolutely loved the first story and books namesake. I was very excited to read the rest of the book, but found the rest quite disappointing

[Abigail Barthee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting, especially if you enjoy folklore. It is a little difficult to get into at times but is generally an interesting retelling of British folk tales.

[Roia McHugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This made me realise I need to read Sarah Moss.

[Chelsea Carr Kinnear · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every story in this collection and the dive into the background of each heritage site shared afterwards to explore the context of each re-imagined folktale.

[Liz Goodwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the time of year when we seek out stories to touch something primitive in us - we want to revisit the things that scared us years ago, and dig up those that have scared people through the ages. Most of all, we crave the sensation of fear, whether it’s a shiver or a gasp or - for me - a queasiness that signals dread. To satisfy this perennial hunger, English Heritage (the organization which oversees nationally important sites) commissioned two anthologies. In one, top-notch authors crafted ghost stories in historic settings; in the other, they fashioned tales around figures of legend. Time periods, styles and messages vary, but all triggered that peculiar feeling in the pit of my stomach. They also gave me an itchy Google-finger. But instead of typing, I merely flipped to the enlightening endnotes. Both books are the perfect package for any combination of: History Buff, Anglophile, Chill-seeker.