Into the Dread Unknown: Women in Horror Anthology

by Azzurra Nox, L.E. Daniels, Grace R. Reynolds

A curse. A castle. Strange noises in the dark. What could possibly go wrong?



Thirteen authors explore the chilling theme of Gothic Literature with a modern twist. In this collection you will find fairytale retellings, folklore, and atmospheric settings bound to seduce as much as it unsettles.



Stories



Strega by Azzurra Nox

The Howling Places by L.E. Daniels

Moonlight Sonata by Grace R. Reynolds

Green Eyes by DW Milton

Kiss Me To Sleep by Pauline Yates

Ring of Blood, Ring of Ashes by Jasmine De La Paz

Please Serve Cold by Rachel Bolton

Thief of Dreams by Elana Gomel

The Secret of Thornwick Hall by Alyson Faye

Becoming The Deathless by Joni Chng

The Lady and the Viper by Kay Hanifen

Ladylike by TM Lunn

The Awakening of Prince Tristan by Marnie Azzarelli

Genres: Horror, Anthologies, Gothic, Fantasy

276 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 11, 2025

About the author

Born in Catania, Sicily, she has led a nomadic life since birth. She has lived in various European cities and Cuba, and currently resides in the Los Angeles area. Always an avid reader and writer from a young age, she loved entertaining her friends with ghost stories. She loves horror movies, cats, and a good rock show. She dislikes Mondays and chick-flicks. CUT HERE, her debut paranormal urban fantasy was inspired by a nightmare the writer had a few years ago. Some of her favourite authors include Anne Rice, Oscar Wilde, Chuck Palahniuk, and Isabella Santacroce.

Reviews

[Kate Victoria RescueandReading · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love an anthology with a theme, and amongst these pages you’ll find tales of magic, gothic dread, and dark fantasy. All written by female authors.

Some of the stories are retellings, some set in more modern, futuristic or historic time periods. I found the tales were a bit hit or miss in terms of my personal enjoyment of them, but all were interesting- you never know what might happen in the current tale or next entry.

Thank you to NetGalley, the editor and authors, as well as Twisted Wing Productions/Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op for a copy!

[Milt Theo · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the word "Dread" in the title and mention of the Gothic in the synopsis, I expected an anthology leaning more on horror than dark fantasy; unfortunately, the stories are all mashups of fantasy and romance, or retelling of fairy tales (Hansel and Gretel in a post-apocalyptic context, Cinderella, Bluebeard). And the writing is not so good: the stories are dull, uninspired, and boring. One story I'd exempt from this is Elana Gomel's "Thief Dreams," thanks to which I give three stars to the book rather than the two I think it deserves. That said, I did enjoy the authors' interviews found at the end of the anthology.

[val | starrynight.reads ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really enjoyed this collection! i’ve been trying to read more short stories this year and this one hit the spot! i loved the gothic settings in the stories, and all the different retellings. i loved how they all had a fantastical or sci-fi setting but also had the gothic and mystery vibes i was looking for. overall an amazing collection and i would definitely read from these authors again!

*thank you to netgalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review*

[Maya J. Lujan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I should note that short story anthologies are sometimes a miss for me (the stories often feel rushed or unfinished) I feel like every single one of these stories felt well flushed out and were concluded very well. Because of this, I am bumping my 4.5 to a 5 star.

This book HIT. THE. SPOT! It was EXACTLY what I was in the mood for. I am a sucker for dark retellings of fairy tales, and gothic horror has recently become one of my favorite genres. There were fun and dark retellings of Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Baba Yaga, and Sleeping Beauty. There was maybe one story that I wasn't super into (a bit too sci-fi for me), although I still really enjoyed the ending.

Favorite Stories (5 stars):
Moonlight Sonata
Ring of Blood, Ring of Ashes
The Secret of Thornwick Hall

Least Favorite Stories (3 stars):
The Howling Places
Green Eyes

For anyone who wants to support women in horror, likes gothic tales/short stories, and retakes of fairytales, I would highly recommend this one.

I received this ARC from Netgalley. The opinions are that of my own.

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for pro riding me with the Arc.
Most of the stories are like fairy tales, fantastical and magical. I am not the biggest fan of retellings and some of the sories are like that, which was to be expected, but still I was left with more to be desired. I was highly impressed by the first story The howling place - it was absolutely amazing, this one I think is not a retelling. Strega was very disappoining Hensel and Geretel retelling, Moonlight sonata was too short and unimpactful, Green eyes was more of a sci-fi story, but I didn't vibed with it. Kiss me to sleep was boring, Ring of blood, Ring of ashes was pretty good, I probably liked it the most of the retellings. Please serve cold was so odd and weird, I liked it but I didn't get it. The last six stories were okay I guess. My favourite story is the first one. I recommend if you are a fan of the fairy tale narrative and are in a need of a good-night story to read before bed

[Sibyl Espada · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this through NetGalley, and I think I was a perfect audience for it. This is a collection of gothic short stories by 13 women authors. There are also interviews at the end.

A number of these stories have fairytale elements or are more direct retellings of fairytales. 1 story is actually sci-fi in setting which was a pleasant surprise. Many of the stories also had clear feminist themes to them. I'll list some of my favorites here

The Howling Places by LE Daniels - A spooky tale of an elderly nurse visited by a hag
Moonlight Sonata by Grace R Reynolds - I loved the prose & imagery here
Green Eyes by DW Milton - The scifi one but with a ghostly twist
Ring of Blood, Ring of Ashes by Jasmine De La Paz - A witchy retelling of Cinderella
Thief of Dreams by Elana Gomel - I've never seen Inception but take the concept of dream walking and add in Russian folktale imagery
The Lady and the Viper by Kay Hanifen - Sapphic romance with a monster girl

[Hana · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.25 ⭐️

It’s hard to rate an entire anthology because I actually really enjoyed a few of the stories in this, but on the whole, this completely missed the mark for me.

My main issue lies in the way it was described in both the synopsis and the introduction; I went into this expecting gothic horror—which is 100% up my alley—and was instead met with mostly fairytale retellings.

‘The Howling Places’ and ‘Thief of Dreams’ were both easily 4 stars though, and ‘Please Serve Cold’ was a weird read that I really enjoyed. I can see myself reading more from these authors in the future.

Unfortunately, everything else just wasn’t very memorable to me, or the writing itself pulled me out of the story. I also found a lot of the retellings to be thematically weak, which was disappointing—there’s so much you can do with a retelling that just wasn’t done here.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[Chimene · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great collection of 13 gothic short stories penned by amazing female authors.

And its the fith volume.

It's hard to write a general review for such a great collection but I really enjoyed the themes explored in the stories.
There were a couple of stories that I would love to see as a full novel.
One of my favourites was Green Eyes by DW Milton, which has a gothic science fiction theme. It built tension well and it left me feeling reflective.

I really enjoyed reading the author reviews at the end - It was a great way to fund out more about the authors, their work and inspiration.

This would be a great collection to read around spooky season.

3.5 / 5 ... Enjoyable collection of stories. Mysterious, supernatural and often macabre- Into the Dread Unknown offers a varied look into the gothic horror genre.

[Netanella · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Into the Dread Unknown" is a collection of 13 women-authored horror stories of mixed caliber. Some of the stories were great; others were a bit like rehashed fairy tale retellings with not a lot of oomph in the retelling. I think I would have liked this collection better had the preface not waxed poetic about the gothic nature of these stories. Maybe my definition of gothic is a little bit more high-brow. Maybe it's not. Either way, most of the stories included dark fairy tale retellings, folklore, a pretty cool cosmic scifi horror, and more.

My favorites of the group included the first story, "The Howling Places," and two interior stories, the Baba Yaga tale of "Becoming The Deathless" and "Thief of Dreams."

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to review this ARC!

When I first saw this title come available, I was so excited - I am always up for a new venture into gothic fiction, especially with all female authors! And I did enjoy so many of the stories within this collection - it just felt more like a collection of Fantasy and Sci Fi stories, rather than gothic.

The authors again are truly enjoyable, and I look forward to the opportunity to read more works by them, but I just wish this had been marketed more as a female author story collection, rather than a Gothic collection!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these stories have great catch phrases, like Pauline Yeats' line, "What happened to make you lose your fizz?". Some have spectacular twist(ed) endings, like L.E. Daniels "The Howling Places". Some are more science fiction than horror, but still chilling, as seen in DW Milton's "Green Eyes". Some are violent fairy tales, including Kay Hanifen's "The Lady and the Viper" and Azzura Nox's "Strega". But one thing they all have in common is that they will keep you awake at night.

The lack of a fifth star is for the many typos, especially in the author interviews in the back of the book.

[Ava · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC!

I really enjoyed every one of these stories, which is always a pleasant surprise in an anthology. I liked the variety of interpretations of "gothic", from fairy tale retellings to monstrous women in attics, as well as the variety of settings and time periods other than the standards of medieval Europe or Victorian England.

[Corinne Pollard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Into the Dread is a female writers anthology exploring the Gothic through exciting modern perspectives by merging with gothic elements into new fairy tales and feminist approaches. With thirteen stories, there is a wide range of the gothic genre and as such, some stories may miss the mark for readers while others shine brighter.
My favourites include "Kiss Me To Sleep" by Pauline Yates, a modern retelling of the princess in the tower that had me on the edge of my seat, "Ring Of Blood, Ring Of Ashes" by Jasmine De La Paz, a folkloric telling about a witch in the woods that read just like an old fairy tale, "Thief Of Dreams" by Elana Gomel, a modern Russian dark fantasy about dreams that was so compelling, "The Secret Of Thornwick Hall" by Alyson Faye, a Victorian Gothic story with an emphasis on the supernatural and the undead that was so thrilling, and lastly, "The Lady And The Viper" by Kay Hanifen, which reminded me of Jane Eyre but with a wonderful modern twist.
As well as the stories, I enjoyed reading an interview with each of the writers at the end of the book, learning about their inspirations and their work.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Vela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short gothic stories. Fairytale retellings. Women authors. All the things I love! This was a great little collection of stories I could just pick up and read a few at a time. Really enjoyed this!

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there were a few highlights, the quality of the stories was really uneven.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fantastic collection of women forward short horror stories, and I enjoyed reading all of them. I found it interesting to see how each author wrote horror in their own style and how they all tied in the overarching themes of the collection. The horror is more of a creepy and unsettling vibe, which I still think worked out for the best. No two stories felt like the same and I felt that it was a fantastic showcase of each author's talent and writing style.
I would absolutely enjoy another collection by the same authors!