The Doll Collection

by Ellen Datlow

The Doll Collection is exactly what it sounds like: a treasured toy box of all-original dark stories about dolls of all types, including everything from puppets and poppets to mannequins and baby dolls.
Featuring everything from life-sized clockwork dolls to all-too-human Betsy Wetsy-type baby dolls, these stories play into the true creepiness of the doll trope, but avoid the clichés that often show up in stories of this type.
Master anthologist Ellen Datlow has assembled a list of beautiful and terrifying stories from bestselling and critically acclaimed authors. The collection is illustrated with photographs of dolls taken by Datlow and other devoted doll collectors from the science fiction and fantasy field. The result is a star-studded collection exploring one of the most primal fears of readers of dark fiction everywhere.

Table of Contents:
“Skin and Bone” Tim Lebbon
“Heroes and Villains” Stephen Gallagher
“The Doll-Master” Joyce Carol Oates
“Gaze” Gemma Files
“In Case of Zebras” Pat Cadigan
“There Is No Place for Sorrow in the Kingdom of the Cold” Seanan McGuire
“Goodness and Kindness” Carrie Vaughn
“Daniel’s Theory About Dolls” Stephen Graham Jones
“After and Back Before” Miranda Siemienowicz
“Doctor Faustus” Mary Robinette Kowal
“Doll Court” Richard Bowes
“Visit Lovely Cornwall on the Western Railway Line” Genevieve Valentine
‘Ambitious Boys Like You” Richard Kadrey
“Miss Sibyl-Cassandra” Lucy Sussex
“The Permanent Collection” Veronica Schanoes
“Homemade Monsters” John Langan
“Word Doll” Jeffrey Ford

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fantasy, Fiction, Short Story Collection, Adult

351 pages, Hardcover

First published March 10, 2015

About the author

Ellen Datlow has been editing science fiction, fantasy, and horror short fiction for forty years as fiction editor of OMNI Magazine and editor of Event Horizon and SCIFICTION. She currently acquires short stories and novellas for Tor.com. In addition, she has edited about one hundred science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologies, including the annual The Best Horror of the Year series, The Doll Collection, Mad Hatters and March Hares, The Devil and the Deep: Horror Stories of the Sea, Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories, Edited By, and Final Cuts: New Tales of Hollywood Horror and Other Spectacles.
She's won multiple World Fantasy Awards, Locus Awards, Hugo Awards, Bram Stoker Awards, International Horror Guild Awards, Shirley Jackson Awards, and the 2012 Il Posto Nero Black Spot Award for Excellence as Best Foreign Editor. Datlow was named recipient of the 2007 Karl Edward Wagner Award, given at the British Fantasy Convention for "outstanding contribution to the genre," was honored with the Life Achievement Award by the Horror Writers Association, in acknowledgment of superior achievement over an entire career, and honored with the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award at the 2014 World Fantasy Convention.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

i am going to read one story a night as my bedtime reading for the remainder of october so i can have awesome dreams.

AND NOW I HAVE FINISHED!

Skin and Bone - Tim Lebbon

★★★☆☆

"My eyes are mine!"



Heroes and Villains - Stephen Gallagher

★★★★★

"You can't give the people a story like that. It's nothing but tragedy. We're trying to find something to celebrate."

"Then perhaps," Alex said, "it's better if you don't ask the dead to speak."



The Doll-Master - Joyce Carol Oates

★★★★☆

Annie was a pretty-faced girl-doll with skin like real skin to touch except some of the dye had begun to wear off and you could see the gray rubber beneath, which was shivery and ugly.





Gaze - Gemma Files

★★★☆☆

Keep it secret, please, therefore. Keep it safe.
She will come for it, one day.



In Case of Zebras - Pat Cadigan

★★★☆☆

"It's very old. And very private."



There Is No Place for Sorrow in the Kingdom of the Cold - Seanan McGuire

★★★★☆

I looked from empty face to empty face, searching for the one that called to me, that whispered, I could be the vessel of your sorrows.



Goodness and Kindness - Carrie Vaughn

★★★★☆

Three or four gaming booths had caught fire, it looked like. Roofs had caved in, signs blackened and illegible, contents scorched and scattered. At the first burned-out booth, what must have been hundreds of Kewpie dolls had melted and exploded into a thousand broken pieces and plastic blobs. They still managed to keep looking up with those big baby eyes, smiling with rosy cheeks through the scorch marks.



Daniel's Theory About Dolls - Stephen Graham Jones

★★★★☆

This is how you say goodbye.



After and Back Before - Miranda Siemienowicz

★★★★★

"I'm glad you like it, Bel. I really am."



Doctor Faustus - Mary Robinette Kowal

★★★☆☆

He grinned at her. "You aren't scared, are you?"



Doll Court - Richard Bowes

★★★☆☆

In Doll Court there's no such thing as inadmissible evidence.



Visit Lovely Cornwall on the Western Railway Line - Genevieve Valentine

★★★★☆

The girl in the train car is all alone, except for the doll.



Ambitious Boys Like You - Richard Kadrey

★★★★☆

"Que penses-tu de ma nouvelle poupée?"



Miss Sibyl-Cassandra - Lucy Sussex

★★★★☆

A rare and unique item.



The Permanent Collection - Veronica Schanoes

★★★★☆

We watch years pass, unable to blink or lie with our eyes shut instead. Thinking.



Homemade Monsters - John Langan

★★★★☆

What you're feeling is normal, but what happened was not your fault. Only I knew how true and not true that statement was...



Word Doll - Jeffrey Ford

★★★★☆

The more the child played with it during work, the clearer it became, till it had the same detail as dreams or memories.



review for collection as a whole:

i misunderstood.

i took my own prejudices about dolls (i.e. - that they are creepy as hell), that cover image, and the fact that ellen datlow has edited a bunch of horror anthologies in her day and assumed this was a horror anthology suitable for "october is spooky" reading. but it's more a collection of "disquieting" stories than anything that's going to keep you up all night. the stories all involve dolls in some way (although 8-year-old boys everywhere are bellowing "godzilla's not a doll, mom, JEEEEEZ!"), but datlow, a doll collector herself, put her foot down right at the beginning of the project:

…when I approached writers about contributing to this anthology, I made one condition: no evil doll stories.

which rule makes for some surprising variations on the theme. it's a more sophisticated horror collection, one that squirms instead of splatters, although there's at least one story in which splatter plays a part. there's more insidious lingering to the kind of horror this book offers.

…what [the stories] so often highlight is the malevolence that lurks not in dolls - which are, after all, only poor copies of ourselves, only objects at our mercy - but in the human beings who interact with them. Not horrific in themselves, but imbued with horror by their owners or controllers, what the dolls in these stories often reveal is the evil within us, the evil that we try to keep hidden, but that dolls bring to light.

so even though it was not the nail-biting collection i'd been hoping for, there are some fantastic stories by great writers, and the very first acknowledgment is to jonathan carroll, which makes me very happy indeed.

but i still think dolls are creepy, and in seeking out pictures for this review, i found out that the internet agrees.













eek!!!!

come to my blog!

[Debra - can't post any comments on site today grrr · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Dolls, perhaps more than any other object, demonstrate just how thin the line between love and fear, comfort and horror, can be."

-isn't that the truth? Little known fact about me....As a child, I lived in fear of a doll my one grandmother had. It was an old doll with a porcelain face/head and really blue eyes with painted on hair. CREEPY!


The first short story in this collection remained my favorite throughout the book. Obviously, all of the short stories have a doll or dolls in them. All are creepy - some more than others. For me this was a good collection. Solid three stars. I think I would have enjoyed this more if the stories were even creepier.

[Adrienne L · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up

I must admit that when I read Ellen Datlow's introduction to The Doll Collection, I was disappointed when she said she had given her contributors one directive: no evil dolls. I mean, it's my first read of the spookiest month of the year and evil dolls is sort of what I came for. I should have known to have faith in Datlow's capable hands which have shown me over and over again her knack for curating some of the best collections of the most unsettling and horrifying of horror and weird short stories. There may be no explicitly evil dolls in The Doll Collection, but some are creepy as hell, and even in the stories where they only make up part of the background, I still found a lot to enjoy.

Although I didn't love every single story in this anthology, I loved the majority of them. Most of the four-star stories were high four-star stories in their various tones, themes and methods, and there was more than one standout five-star horror to be found. My favorites were:

"In Case of Zebras," by Pat Cadigan - An accident victim shows up in the ER with a strange mini figurine of himself in his pocket, and a teen doing her community service becomes unsettled and a little obsessed when the figure disappears.

"Daniel's Theory of Dolls," by Stephen Graham Jones - A man recounts a doll burial in the woods behind his house when he was a kid, and how this has continued to haunt himself and his younger brother, to varying degrees, as adults. I've read several novels and stories by Jones and I have to say this was one of the darkest and goriest. TW for animal cruelty to a possum, and whole lot else.

"Visit Lovely Cornwall on the Western Railway Line," by Genevieve Valentine - A long, solo train journey can be an unsettling experience in itself, but what if you find yourself seated across from a haunted looking child who doesn't speak and carries only an old doll in a rust-colored dress?

"Word Dolls," by Jeffrey Ford - If you're staying in the midst of Ohio farmland, surrounded by fields of corn, and you see a tattered, staggering figure in a wide brimmed hat in the distance swinging a scythe, lock your doors and draw your curtains. This was an excellent little folk horror to wrap up the collection.

[Althea Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another high-quality collection of tales of horror from Ellen Datlow; unquestionably the best editor working in the genre.
As the title indicates, "dolls" are the theme. The one stipulation here was that the contributing authors avoid the frequently-used trope of the 'evil doll.' The dolls here might not be evil, but some of them are damn well spooky!

**** Skin and Bone - Tim Lebbon
Hallucination meets madness - and possibly something more eldritch - in this tale of two modern Antarctic explorers on an ill-fated expedition.
I'm not sure how well this piece fits in with the theme of the collection, but it's an excellent story.

**** Heroes and Villains - Stephen Gallagher
Ventriloquist's dummies (excuse me, 'dolls' or 'figures') are pretty much automatically creepy. However, this story brings both a wealth of authentic detail and a new twist to the old horror trope. A town has had the idea of hiring a ventriloquist to animate an old doll found in the museum's archives for a local festival. But the interview with a ventriloquist doesn't quite go how the curator expected.

**** The Doll-Master - Joyce Carol Oates
While, in general, I don't think that there's anything wrong with little boys playing with dolls, there's certainly something quite, quite wrong with this specific boy playing with dolls.

**** Gaze - Gemma Files
Slightly reminiscent of a 'Friday the 13th' episode (the TV show, not the movie series, of course). I love the 'haunted antique' trope, and it's done well here. When a dealer is contacted by a stranger asking if she might be interested in a matching item to one of her pieces, she's intrigued. Miniatures featuring only an eye are rare, and her new contact has a fascinating and extensive provenance for his item. But answering his e-mail has opened the door to far more than she could have expected.

**** In Case of Zebras - Pat Cadigan
A teenager has been sentenced to community service - she's required to volunteer at the local emergency room. She throws herself into the work willingly - but when a small, intriguing doll falls out of a patient's pocket, her fascination with it seems likely to lost he co-workers' newfound trust. But is there truly something odd about this doll, that no one else seems to have seen?

**** There Is No Place for Sorrow in the Kingdom of the Cold - Seanan McGuire
Hobbyists might have many reasons for crafting their dolls. However, it's fairly certain that you won't have guessed at the one this narrator has. I loved the supernatural background here, was slightly less enthused by the domestic violence/office aspects of the plot. If you're going to take supernatural, murderous revenge on someone, you shouldn't call the police. If on the other hand, you ARE going to call the police; don't say no to the restraining order!I am so, so glad that years ago, when my beloved vinyl collection was stolen and sold to a local store, that the employees at the store were ever so much nicer to me about it than what the protagonist here experiences!
Overall, a very good story. Loved the Pinocchio tie-in!

*** Goodness and Kindness - Carrie Vaughn
New York City - maybe the 1950s? An aspiring reporter is willing to put his career before anything else in his life - but doesn't have the instincts needed for the job. And there are an awful lot of kewpie dolls.

*** Daniel’s Theory of Dolls - Stephen Graham Jones
Weird, weird fiction. The narrator tells us there's always been something... off... about his younger brother. And then he tells us about how his family handled the miscarriage of a much-anticipated infant, and how that incident scarred them all. And then things just keep getting stranger...

*** After and Back Before - Miranda Siemienowicz
This is one in the subgenre I might describe as 'Children of the Apocalypse,' where after a disaster, young survivors, expecting to die, have formed a dysfunctional kind of society. There are some 'adults' here as well, but I was still reminded in tone of Star Trek's 'Miri,' for example.
It's good, but there are a few disorienting shifts, and I don't think the 'shocking reveal' fully worked as a dramatic climax.

*** Doctor Faustus - Mary Robinette Kowal
In this genre, it's always a bad idea to mess with ancient magical symbols found in an old book you don't know much about. No, your theatrical production doesn't have to be *that* accurate. Here, some well-intentioned set design goes horribly wrong, in a brief and bloody tale.

*** Doll Court - Richard Bowes
An older man begins to have dreams where he is called to account for all his alleged misdeeds against dolls, both in the recent past and in his childhood. When these dreams start intruding into real life, there's a potential for true eeriness - but that's undercut by a thread of silliness to the whole thing.

*** Visit Lovely Cornwall on the Western Railway Line - Genevieve Valentine
A series of random travelers encounter a girl, alone with her doll, on a train en route from London to Cornwall. The writing here is beautiful, and the imagery memorable. I also like how the piece plays with the readers' preconceptions and expectations. However, I still wish that it had all been tied up a bit more conclusively.

**** Ambitious Boys Like You - Richard Kadrey
A pure horror tale; would make a great start to a late-night movie. Two lowlifes decide to burglarize the home of an old man whose eerie, doll-festooned, dilapidated house was always rumored to be haunted. The house looks like it was upper-class, once upon a time, and they suspect he's got something good stashed away. However, the 'something' in the house is more than they bargained for.

** The Permanent Collection - Veronica Schanoes
This story is clearly inspired by a visit to this now-closed business. http://www.yelp.com/biz/new-york-doll.... You know, you could've just written a bad yelp review instead of this story. All I can say is, I'm sure it's true enough that the elderly proprietor may have been cantankerous, and his prices were surely high, but I actually feel like this piece is an uncalled-for slandering of the dead.

*** Homemade Monsters - John Langan
An effective description of childhood bullying - and a strange and ambiguous incident that's finally triggered when the bully decides to mess with his 'friend's' "Godzilla" figure.

**** Word Doll - Jeffrey Ford
As an archivist with a personal interest in anthropology & history-related topics, this one pushed all the right buttons for me. A man (coincidentally sharing the author's name) has his curiosity piqued by a small sign for a "Word Doll Museum." He goes to see what on earth a "Word Doll" might be, and meets a woman who tells him a fascinating (and strange) story of local history.

**** Miss Sibyl-Cassandra - Lucy Sussex
Presented as the description of an item up for auction at Sotheby's. (I have to give a bonus point for an off-hand mention of a Sotheby's employee named Althea... no, I never worked there, but I did consider applying...) The item is a fortune-telling doll, and the letters that are included as provenance tell the strange story of the fortunes that she 'told.'

Many thanks to Tor and NetGalley for the opportunity to read! As always, my opinions are solely my own.

[Fiona Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Doll Collection is an unsettling thing - so it lives up to the name, really, because I've yet to see a doll collection that wasn't. It's subtle and unsettling rather than jump scares and high stakes, and as usual with an Ellen Datlow collection, there's variety enough that almost every reader will find something to enjoy. Lucky me, most of the stories here fell into the positive side of the equation, and I came away more than satisfied.

As always, some stories stood out:
Heroes and Villains, by Stephen Gallagher, took a simple premise, and a simple narrative, and made something much greater than the sum of its parts.
The Doll-Master, by Joyce Carol Oates, was easily one of my favourites. Her short fiction usually goes one of two ways for me, great premise but gets carried away, or sheer perfection that lives in my head for months. This was sheer perfection.
Pat Cadigan's In Case of Zebras sparked some imaginative cell in my head and I can't stop thinking about it.
The Permanent Collection by Veronica Schanoes was unsettling, almost poetically written, and I loved each and every word. This is the one I'd pick out from this collection time and time again.

[✨Bean's Books✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dolls... cute, serene, deadly!!!
A very wonderful collection of killer doll stories.

[Mauoijenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's this house in the town I live near that does this front window display of CREEPY ASS DOLLS for Halloween. I just roll on by and look while goose-bumps crawl all over my skin.

I have never been into dolls. Barbie some what, I use to cut and color on her, but "dolls" not really. They all just CREEP me the fuck out. This book did the same and I didn't even need a doll to stare at. Great book of doll stories and very edge of your seat details. Loved it!! :)

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this one. Sorry I never posted the link to my review! Here it is!: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sc...

[Richard Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review was originally published at LitReactor.

****************************************************

Title:

The Doll Collection

Who Wrote It?:

Edited by Ellen Datlow, with fiction by Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen Graham Jones, Tim Lebbon, Gemma Files, John Langan, and many others.

Plot in a Box:

These are short stories about dolls, in every possible shape, form, and myth.

Invent a New Title For This Book:

Doll Parts

Read This If You Liked:

Other anthologies by Ellen Datlow, such as Fearful Symmetries, Lovecraft Unbound, Nightmare Carnival, and of course The Best Horror of the Year. Outside of Ellen’s work, I’d suggest three I edited: The New Black, Exigencies (2015), and Burnt Tongues (with Chuck Palahniuk and Dennis Widmyer) as well as The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror, edited by Paula Guran.

Meet the Book’s Lead(s):

Obviously, it’s the dolls. There are all kinds here—masks, kewpies, puppets, poppets, and mannequins.

Said Lead(s) Would Be Portrayed In a Movie By:

The closest I can come is the film Annabelle. She reminds me of a lot of the dolls in this anthology. Of course I’m reminded of the clown in Poltergeist as well, and for some reason The Badadook. And I guess I have to mention Chucky, right?

Setting: Would You Want to Live There?

Oh, God no. I don’t have an insane fear of dolls, but still, these settings are deadly.

What Was Your Favorite Sentence?

"When I knelt down by Daniel again, he opened his mouth like a baby bird and I knew I was right: this was part of his process. You save one doll from inside a woman, and you start over with hair from one of the other women. Like paying. Like trading. Like closing a thing you’d opened.
—Stephen Graham Jones, “Daniel’s Theory About Dolls”

The Verdict:

It’s impossible to put together an anthology where every single story resonates with a reader, but if anybody can do it, it’s probably Ellen Datlow. What I love most about this collection is the variety—there are stories that utilize the classic idea of what a doll is, showing us the standard toys and playthings, but then there are other “dolls” that really take you to some unexpected places. By soliciting a wide variety of authors, not just horror, but also dark fantasy, and other surreal voices, Ellen certainly has something for everyone in this book.

I wanted to list my three favorites.

Have you ever picked up an anthology and seen a “big name” and then read the story and thought, “Well, that wasn’t anything special”? I hate when that happens. In this anthology, Joyce Carol Oates brings the goods. Man, she gives us a slow burn that gets darker and darker the longer it’s told. I sat there saying, “Don’t do it, don’t go there,” and still the ending surprised me, upset me, carried such weight—a powerful tale for sure. “The Doll-Master” is the title.

Second, is no surprise, for people who know what I love to read—“Daniel’s Theory About Dolls,” by Stephen Graham Jones. I don’t know how he constantly surprises me, since I’ve read more of his writing than anybody not named Stephen King. And yet, this tale is so dark and strange, so violent and yet peaceful, quiet and still deafening with its impact. He finds a way to tap into our primal fears, and does so in this story with the subtle touch of a maestro.

And finally, the third story that really got to me was, “There is No Place for Sorrow in the Kingdom of Cold,” by Seanan McGuire. Now, Seanon is a new voice to me, but she’s certainly not new to the worlds of fantasy and horror. What I loved about this story was how different it was, tapping into ancient folklore and myth, while remaining in a contemporary setting. The magic is something that’s easy to believe in, the emotion and heart giving the story character and great depth.

Overall, this is a great collection, not a weak story in the bunch, but certainly some that will get to you more than others—depending on where exactly your fears lie.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Doll Collection”, the latest collection from prolific and esteemed editor Ellen Datlow, isn't what one might expect given the title and cover. As Datlow states in her introduction, the book contains “no evil doll stories”. While the stories gathered here adhere to that on a surface level, there are a few clever workarounds. For the most part, though, it holds true: the stories are unique, creative, and come bearing a welcome disregard for genre convention. Horror, fantasy (of both the urban and post-apocalyptic varieties), mystery, lit-fic, and various tough-to-classify elements rest well beside each other and are often woven together in the same story. It's a wild and varied bunch of tales, but the thematic connection holds it all together and keeps things fresh from first page to last.

Highlights include:

Joyce Carol Oates' “Doll-Master”, in which the titular character is an ardent collector whose heart seems at first to be in the right place. His mind, however, is decidedly as broken as the pieces in his macabre collection.

Richard Kadrey's “Ambitious Boys Like You”, in which two unfortunate robbers get up close and personal look at some dolls that are anything but cute. The one playing with the dolls has no intention of growing up at all, let alone moving on.

Seanan McGuire's “There Is No Place for Sorrow in the Kingdom of the Cold”, a wonderfully wrought modern fantasy yarn that brings the seemingly odd but ultimately natural-feeling combination of Pinocchio and Pandora.

John Langan's “Homemade Monsters”, in which a troubled, bullied youth finds solace (and perhaps a whole lot more) in the monster movies he comes to cherish.

While some of the stories are stronger than others, they're all fine reads for their own reasons and prime examples of their respective genres. Chilling, thrilling, and memorable moments abound, and there's a great deal of poignancy running through and between the lines. While not typical of the subgenre, “The Doll Collection” is nonetheless a book that horror fans will want to pick up. Recommended.

review originally posted at horrornovelreviews.com

[Majanka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review originally published here: http://www.iheartreading.net/mini-rev...

Dolls are creepy. Enough said. Now, in this collection, which packs a bunch of the most original stories I’ve ever read in the genre, the authors explore the trope of creepy dolls. A range of haunted dolls, mad doll owners, creepy doctors and ventriloquists pass by, and each story is unique and strong in its own way. One of the best horror anthologies I’ve read.

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
I would recommend this collection to anyone who, like myself, find dolls incredibly creepy. I was slightly disappointed that the editor decided not to include any stories involving evil dolls. While it might be an overused trope, it's one of my personal favourites.

This collection is a great example of how the genre of horror excels in the form of short fiction. As with most short story collections, some pieces were stronger than others. My personal favourite in the collection was There Is No Place for Sorrow in the Kingdom of the Cold by Seanan McGuire. There is a good variety of stories with each writer taking a unique perspective on the topic. There were a few creepier stories, but others were not scary at all, reading more like urban fantasy than horror. Overall, I would recommend this book anyone looking for an intelligently written short story collection.

Ratings & Comments on the Individual Stories:

Skin and Bone - Tim Lebbon - 4.0 Stars
The cold and isolated Antarctica setting created a great atmosphere for the short story. The ending really packed a punch.

Heroes and Villains - Stephen Gallagher - 4.0 Stars
More unsettling than traditionally scary, but I personally find Ventriloquist dolls creepy which added to my reading experience.

The Doll-Master - Joyce Carol Oates - 3.5 Stars
Well written with some creepy details, but I was underwelmed. I'm uncertain why this is most people's favourite story in the collection.

Gaze - Gemma Files - 3.0 Stars
I did not connect with this one, but I appreciated the inclusion of the lesbian relationship. I would love to see more LGBT+ representation in horror.

In Case of Zebras - Pat Cadigan - 4.0 Stars
One of the most compelling narratives. Not exactly creepy, but I liked it a lot.

There Is No Place for Sorrow in the Kingdom of the Cold - Seanan McGuire - 5.0 Stars
Immersive well written piece, which mixed magical realism with horror. The idea behind this story felt creative and fresh. The narrative was emotionally complex, yet surprisingly creepy. In my opinion, this
was the strongest story in the collection.

Goodness and Kindness - 3.0 Stars

Daniel’s Theory of Dolls - Stephen Graham Jones - 3.0 Stars

After and Back Before - Miranda Siemienowicz - 3.5 Stars
I appreciated the gruesome moments in this one.

Doctor Faustus - Mary Robinette Kowal - 3.0 Stars

Doll Court - Richard Bowes - 3.0 Stars

Visit Lovely Cornwall on the Western Railway Line - Genevieve Valentine - 3.0 Stars

Ambitious Boys Like You - Richard Kadrey - 3.0 Stars

The Permanent Collection - Veronica Schanoes - 4.0 Stars

Homemade Monsters - John Langan - 3.0 Stars

Word Doll - Jeffrey Ford - 3.0 Stars

[Crowinator · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like horror really shines in short story form. This collection has everything from creeping psychological horror to gory serial murder, and everything from realistic monsters to supernatural ones. Plus, the pictures of antique dolls add to the disturbing atmosphere, though I wish they were bigger, and in color (or at least glossy). Very nice.

Favorite story: "There Is No Place for Sorrow in the Kingdom of the Cold" by Seanan McGuire. Hands down one of the best short stories I've read.

Next favorites: "The Doll-Master" by Joyce Carol Oates, "Ambitious Boys Like You" by Richard Kadry and "After and Back Before" by Miranda Siemienowicz

[Phillip Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful variety of some really excellent quiet horror.

[Carolyn F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthology. I was planning on reading every short story in this book but I'm not really into horror so much anymore so I'm going to pick and choose. So for the 3 stories I finished, the average rating is 3.33 stars. Better than I thought. If you're into creepy stories, then this anthology is for you!

Skin and Bone by Tim Lebbon. A doppelganger-ish story. The guys were idiots to even try this trek in my opinion. 3 stars.

There Is No Place for Sorrow in the Kingdom of the Cold by Seanan McGuire. A creepy story of a otherworldly doll maker. 4 stars.

Goodness and Kindness by Carrie Vaughn. Another creepy story. Are the Kewpies good or bad? 3 stars.

[Jack Haringa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found The Doll Collection less consistent than most Datlow anthologies I've read over the last five years, but it contains enough gems to warrant three and a half stars at any rate. The restriction of "no evil dolls" forced writers to be more creative than the theme might initially have suggested, which results in some unusual pieces that straddle the line between fantasy and horror nicely.

Most of the anthology's strongest stories are bunched toward the end, though both Tim Lebbon and Stephen Gallagher turn in effective tales early on (and Lebbon's story could easily be a part of a much larger work). My particular favorites were Pat Cadigan's witty and weird "In Case of Zebras," Stephen Graham Jones' deeply disturbing "Daniel's Theory of Dolls," Richard Bowes' redemptive "Doll Court," Veronica Schanoes' "The Permanent Collection," John Langan's "Homemade Monsters," and Jeffrey Ford's "Word Doll." Those final three stories in my list are also the last three in the anthology, ending the book with strength upon strength from some of the best writers in horror working today.

The biggest disappointment had to be Joyce Carol Oates' entry, "The Doll Master," a story so obvious and over-extended that even someone with the only the most cursory experience in genre work could have easily predicted its ending. This isn't always a death-knell for a story, but in this case the resolution is presented as a shocking twist. I've very much enjoyed Oates' Gothic stories in the past, so this came as quite surprise. Other than that piece, the stories were all quite inventive, even the ones that didn't particularly work for me. A worthwhile read overall.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE DOLL COLLECTION: Seventeen Brand-New Tales of Dolls
Edited by Ellen Datlow

3 STARS

As I was checking in books being returned to the library I noticed "dolls" and Joyce Carol Oates - SOLD! This collection of short stories are edited by Ellen Datlow but the draw for me was definitely Oates. There were about two other authors I have heard of but never read (Carrie Vaughn was probably the next big name in the collection - at least for me). I didn't read every story in this collection but did attempt to read them all. These stories are classified as horror and thriller and read them with that in mind. The real standout in this book was Joyce Carol Oates story, The Doll Master. It was the right amount of creepy and was written so well. The writing style reminded me of her novel, Rape: A Love Story - disturbing yet so interesting. I would recommend this book for Oates story alone.

(k) My Novelesque Life

[AmberBug com* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of creepy doll stories. This was the perfect time for me to read this because I was creating my own creepy dolls for Halloween. Obviously Joyce Carol Oates was one of my favorites and I loved the story about the girl in the hospital working in the ER. Some misses, but no fails. I would highly suggest this to anyone who is looking for something other than "possessed doll" stories. Ellen Datlow specifically tells the Authors to avoid this, she was convinced that there are untapped stories that don't have to deal with evil dolls... and she is right. This might have to come down off my shelf every now and then for a re-read.

[Trudi]

Shizzle. I neglected this one too long and my NetGalley copy expired and they now have it archived.

[Dez Nemec · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were a few good ones in here, but I was expecting more.

[lethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skin and Bone - Tim Lebbon: 2*
Heroes and Villains - Stephen Gallagher: 2.5*
The Doll-Master - Joyce Carol Oates: 3.5*
Gaze - Gemma Files: 3*
In Case of Zebras - Pat Cadigan: 2*
There Is No Place for Sorrow in the Kingdom of the Cold - Seanan McGuire: 3.5*
Goodness and Kindness - Carrie Vaughn: 2*
Daniel's Theory About Dolls - Stephen Graham Jones: 2.5*
After and Back Before - Miranda Siemienowicz: 1.5*
Doctor Faustus - Mary Robinette Kowal: 1*
Doll Court - Richard Bowes: 2*
Visit Lovely Cornwall on the Western Railway Line - Genevieve Valentine: 4*
Ambitious Boys Like You - Richard Kadrey: 2*
Miss Sibyl-Cassandra - Lucy Sussex: 3*
The Permanent Collection - Veronica Schanoes: 3.5*
Homemade Monsters - John Langan: 3*
Word Doll - Jeffrey Ford: 3.5*

Average total 2.62*, so rounded up to 3.

After finishing the book, I read "Visit Lovely Cornwall..." another time. It consists of four vignettes, about a girl and her doll in a train car and various people who sit across from her. I can't really explain why I love it so much, but I do, especially the first vignette.


Edit 18 June 2022: adding my text updates under the spoiler tag in case they are disappeared:

October 17, 2021 – page 97
28.2% "I intend to read one or two stories each day in order to finish it by 31 October."

October 22, 2021 – page 225
65.41% "Since I didn't care for 'After and Back Before' at all (even though I like post-apocalyptic stories), I decided to read the 7-page 'Doctor Faustus' right after, but hated that one as well."

October 24, 2021 – page 259
75.29% ""I had a doll very much like that," she says to her husband ― to his collar, stiff and white as enamel. He's so much taller, and it already seems like too much trouble to look up the extra few inches to his face when he's never looking back at her no matter what she says. ("Visit Lovely Cornwall on the Western Railway Line", p. 246)"

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly, this was a pretty solid collection, with a few gems but no real duffers. Even the middling ones weren't a chore to read. The ones that didn't shine weren't badly written, but you could see where the doll theme had been crowbarred in.

The best ones were definitely the Seanan McGuire and the Stephen Graham Jones offerings. Very effective.

The last story was "Word Dolls" and it had one of those abrupt endings that short stories frequently suffer from, but it was a very cool idea that I now need to go and look into to see if it's true o.O

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures:
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/20...

Dolls are a staple in horror media, and for good reason. They’re similar enough to us that we can see ourselves in them, and yet alien enough to be unnerving. The Doll Collection, edited by anthologist Ellen Datlow, presents seventeen short stories, each of which feature dolls. But the dolls in this collection are not themselves so horrifying, rather, they serve as a mirror to reflect the darkest parts of human nature.

I’m a much slower reader with short stories, as I don’t have the same continued immersion as with longer fiction. I read this collection slowly over the course of several months, savoring a story here and there, and then pondering what I’d read.

Many of the short stories in The Doll Collection were a bit too gruesome for my taste, but others were haunting and thought-provoking. Here are some brief thoughts about and reactions to each of the short stories in this compilation:

Skin and Bone by Tim Lebbon

An Antarctic expedition fades away into the snow, but with dolls.

Heroes and Villains by Stephen Gallagher

The doll in this story is actually a ventriloquist dummy.

The Doll-Master by Joyce Carol Oates

The Doll-Master is one of the most disturbing short stories in The Doll Collection. It starts out innocently enough as a young boy describes his experiences playing with dolls, but as the story progresses, we realize that he should not be. *shudders*

Gaze by Gemma Files

Some artifacts are more than they seem…

In Case of Zebras by Pat Cadigan

A teenager working in a hospital encounters a patient with a doll, and realizes that the world isn’t quite as simple as it seems.

There Is No Place for Sorrow in the Kingdom of the Cold by Seanan McGuire

There Is No Place for Sorrow in the Kingdom of the Cold was one of the more memorable stories in this volume. The narrator is an alien-like creature who makes dolls to keep her overflowing emotions from cracking her into pieces. Her father is dying, and she’s trying to hang onto him, but she needs to take her own place in the circle of life. A haunting tale of grief, death, and the cycle of creation.

Goodness and Kindness by Carrie Vaughn

A reporter looking for his big break falls into a depression, and has an encounter with Kewpie dolls.

Daniel’s Theory About Dolls by Stephen Graham Jones

Daniel’s Theory About Dolls begins in childhood, when Daniel’s mother had a miscarriage. Daniel goes to dig up the body, but finds a doll instead. Rather disturbing.

After and Back Before by Miranda Siemienowicz

A dystopian and post-apocalyptic tale about two children who leave their commune. Very creepy.

Doctor Faustus by Mary Robinette Kowal

A stage production of The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus goes horribly wrong as tragedy strikes.

Doll Court by Richard Bowes

If you do not treat dolls properly, they will come after you. It’s a matter of justice, really.

Visit Lovely Cornwall on the Western Railway Line by Genevieve Valentine

A girl with a doll rides on a train, and we see brief vignettes of the travelers she encounters along her way. This one started off promisingly, but then later felt incomplete.

Ambitious Boys Like You by Richard Kadrey

This was one another of the most gruesome stories in the volume. Two young boys break into a haunted house, only to find that it is more demented than they expected. Even though the protagonists are little shits, I couldn’t wish their fate upon them.

Miss Sibyl-Cassandra by Lucy Sussex

Miss Sibyl-Cassandra is a historical tale about a fortune doll purchased from a gypsy. It follows the lives of each of the characters whose fortunes had been told to see whether each fortune was true. I particularly enjoyed the ending.

The Permanent Collection by Veronica Schanoes

The Permanent Collection is easily my favorite short story in this collection. It’s set in a doll hospital, and the store’s owner is pretty much Sid from Toy Story. A pristine Shirley Temple doll narrates the tale of how he got his comeuppance. Haunting and beautiful.

Homemade Monsters by John Langan

Homemade Monsters is a charming tall tale about a homemade Godzilla doll and revenge against childhood bullies.

Word Doll by Jeffery Ford

While The Permanent Collection was my favorite story in this book, Word Doll was a close second. It’s set in a rural town that reminds me a bit of my own childhood. An old woman runs a hotel dedicated to Word Dolls, a tradition designed to help children labor in the fields. While initially benevolent, something goes wrong, resulting in a grim local legend.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with almost all anthologies it has some great stories, some "eh" stories and a couple that confounded me. Still, I would have to say that as a whole, the collection stayed within the boundaries of horror and dolls. Two things I think go great together. For those that shy away from horror, it isn't too scary that you can't handle it (I'm an admitted wimp) but it is creepy. Not one is a happy go lucky, feel good story. That's a good thing for this collection. :)

I have to say that my favorite stories didn't surprise me. Seanan McGuire and Carrie Vaughn are worth the price of admission for the book. Other stories captured me and creeped me out but there were also a couple that just confused me to no end. I don't want to call out those specific stories since it could rightly be just me and I don't want to color your view of the story before you get to it.

I give this collection 3 stars and I highly recommend it to those that love horror and just being creeped out. :)

[Orrin Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't actually get to read all the stories in this book before I had to move on to some other stuff for various reasons, but I read enough to know that it's an impressive collection. Anyone who knows Ellen at all knows that this is kind of the collection she was born to edit, and it shows. I'm personally a little saddened by the prohibition against "evil" dolls, because I do love a good evil/possessed doll story, but I understand why it would be necessary, and I think it did push some of the authors to stretch outside of what you might generally find in an anthology with this theme. Standouts for me included "Gaze" by the always-reliable Gemma Files and "Daniel's Theory About Dolls" by the equally-reliable Stephen Graham Jones.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. "The Doll Master" by Joyce Carol Oates was my favourite of the collection by a long chalk. I also enjoyed Skin and Bone, Heroes and Villains, and Word Doll. A couple of the others were not so bad - Home Made Monsters and Visit Lovely Cornwall... For a book entitled "The Doll Collection" the idea of "doll" in many of the stories was tenuous. A lot of the stories were boring to the point that when I read other people's reviews I had to go back and re-read sections to remember what they were even about. None of them were scary though one was quite gory. I ploughed through to the end but didn't enjoy most of it. I think it was just not to my taste. I bought the book hoping for a collection of gothic ghost stories, based on the title and cover images. I know! Don't judge a book by its cover, right?

[Rabbit {Paint me like one of your 19th century gothic heroines!} · Rating 5 out of 5]

Need to be reviewed.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stumbled across Ellen Datlow when I was browsing through the old Goodreads award pages to try and find more horror to read. It turns out she is a very prolific editor of anthologies and I promptly added several of her works to my TBR. The first I decided to read was The Doll Collection which is a horror anthology all about creepy dolls. However, in the introduction to the anthology a neat twist is revealed-the authors were specifically instructed not to use the 'creepy doll comes to life' cliche. Instead what we get is a fantastic collection of horror stories where dolls feature prominently in some way. This leads to a lot of scope in creativity and was a brilliant surprise.

As per usual with my anthology reviews, I am going to go through each story briefly and give my opinion of it. There are a lot of stories in here so you definitely feel like you get your money's worth in that regard, even if they weren't all winners.

Skin and Bone, Tim Lebbon-While hiking on a snowy mountain, a man discovers something very sinister indeed. This was a perfect example of how creative the doll concept could get and an interesting start to the anthology. One of the most linear and straightforward of plots (in a good way).

Heroes and Villains, Stephen Gallagher-A famous ventriloquist has died and someone is hired to use his dummy for an event celebrating his heroic death. Unfortunately some dark details surrounding his death are revealed. This was another cool concept but it wasn't told in the best way for me. Something about it almost dragged and I think the reveal would have worked better in a punchier story. Still a decent read.

The Doll-Master, Joyce Carol Oates-A man has a doll collection...or does he? I knew exactly where this story was going from the start but that wasn't necessarily an issue. I think the reveal happening earlier would have been more beneficial since it was so obvious. Pretty creepy with a sense of surrealism about it.

Gaze, Gemma Files-I started to read this story and only got a few pages in before skipping it. Something about glass doll eyes? The writing style did not agree with me.

In Case of Zebras, Pat Cadigan-Whilst working at a hospital on community service, a young girl finds a doll on a crash victim. This one was well-written but far, far too confusing and muddled. I didn't really get what was going on and I felt it could have been executed a lot clearer.

There Is No Place for Sorrow in the Kingdom of the Cold, Seanan McGuire-A fantasy story about a woman who makes dolls and these dolls become vessels for emotions. This was fascinating as a story and I got sucked into the world very quickly. My only criticism is it could have been darker. It was more fantasy than horror and the setup for horror elements was definitely there.

Goodness and Kindness, Carrie Vaughn-A man becomes convinced that Kewpie dolls are linked to kindness and obsessively collects them. This was an okay story with a somewhat sinister undertone to it but was ultimately a little average for me and I don't remember it that well.

Daniel's Theory About Dolls, Stephen Graham Jones-When a mother miscarries, she tells her two young sons that their baby sister is a doll they bury in the backyard. This has a troubling effect on one of them. This was one of the stronger stories definitely, with very weird but interesting horror elements. Again, it seemed to be told in a more confusing style than it needed to be but I did enjoy it.

After and Back Before, Miranda Siemienowicz-This is set in a dystopian world and I can't really say much more about it. Very confusing narrative but a creepy and strong ending.

Doctor Faustus, Mary Robinette Kowal-Whilst working on a play, a real demon is accidentally summoned and a puppeteer must use her skills to escape. This was very very loosely related to the doll concept but apart from that, it was a decent horror story. Quite short and simple but again, that's not a bad thing.

Doll Court, Richard Bowes-A man starts dreaming of doll court, a place where previous childhood crimes against dolls are punished. This was another great idea executed in a slightly muddled way. It was done well enough to keep me interested but there was a weird book element that I wasn't sure needed to be there (unless it's a reference to something I don't understand).

Visit Lovely Cornwall on the Western Railway Line, Genevieve Valentine-A woman sees a young girl on the train holding a doll. I didn't really like this story sadly. I didn't get what it was trying to do and I ended up skimming most of it.

Ambitious Boys Like You, Richard Kadrey-Two men break into a house with the intention to steal things. However, the old man who owns it has installed some horrifying forms of defense. This was absolutely my favourite story of the whole lot. It had an interesting and well-executed concept, some great horror moments and created genuine tension.

Miss Sibyl-Cassandra, Lucy Sussex-A doll is sold at auction. Honestly I skim read this one since it was told in letter format and I found it very hard to follow.

The Permanent Collection, Veronica Schanoes-Told from the point of view of an expensive doll in a doll collection, this is the story of the owner of the collection and how he abuses dolls. There could have been more done with this concept but it was one of the stronger stories and had some neat moments.

Homemade Monsters, John Langan-A child creates his own homemade Godzilla figure when his family can't afford one. His friend trashes it and then horror things happen. Again, a super creative use of the doll concept and I mostly thought this was done well.

Word Doll, Jeffrey Ford-I honestly don't remember this story at all unfortunately.

Overall, this was an interesting collection but it failed to live up to its potential. Many of the stories seemed to use a confusing narrative style that made it difficult to tell what was actually going on, and that made me disconnect. I skimread a couple and while there were some gems in here, the majority of stories were just average. I am still keen to check out other anthologies that Datlow has edited and I hope they leave more of a lasting impact.

Overall Rating: 3/5

[Zeke Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Doll Collection is a book composed of 17 short stories featuring dolls that are written by various authors and edited by Ellen Dartlow. Overall, I think the theme of the collection was spot-on, and Ellen Datlow’s photographs and introduction were great. On top of that, the majority of these stories are highly imaginative and engaging, and that made reading this book worth it for me. However, the collection is advertised as a horror collection and the majority of the stories were far more philosophical than they were scary. So while I enjoyed the stories, I was pretty disappointed that they weren’t scarier. All that said, I’m excited to read more collections edited by Ellen Dartlow!

My mini-reviews of the individual short stories can be found in my progress updates of the collection, but I would place the average quality of these stories to be around a 3.5 or a 4. Fun, interesting, and creative stories, though some are a bit hard to follow or boring. If you enjoy introspective but sometimes creepy short stories, this is a great collection for you!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ratings on these averaged out to be about 3.7 so a rounded up 4.
The standout stories were the Seanan McGuire, the last story by Jeffrey Ford, the second story from Stephen Gallaghar, and seventh story by Carrie Vaughn.
It was a surprising mix as well. You'd expect just straight creepy dolls the whole way through but this managed to take the idea of a 'story about a doll' and frame it in a variety of different ways. Especially the last story Word Doll, I don't know if it or the Seanan McGuire story were my favorite. It had the most unique premise for me though.