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A Murder of Crows
A Murder of Crows: Seventeen Tales of Monsters and the Macabre
A collection of short horror, ghost, and dark fantasy stories for adults, woven together by a flock of crows, telling stories to entertain a girl trying to survive a tragedy...
It was we crows who took your daughter, in case you were wondering. She didn’t run away. We had--I had--been watching her for some time, listening to her tell stories in the grass behind the house. She would sit near the chicken coop and watch the white chickens pick at the dirt, pulling up fat worms and clipping grasshoppers out of the air as they jumped toward the fields.
Some of them were good stories. Some of them were bad. But that’s what decided it, even more than any issue of mercy or salvation or anything else. Crows are, for one, possessive of stories. And also by then I had pecked almost all the elders into coming to listen to her at least once, except Facunde, who was then mad and responded to nobody’s pecking, not that I had had the courage to exactly take my beak to her. “She is like a daughter to me,” I had pled with the others. “She listens.” They laughed at me, they rattled their beaks, they came and heard her and were convinced, or at least bullied into pretending they were convinced.
We took her on the same cold winter day that you traded your son to the fairies, the wind blowing in cold gray threads, ruffling our feathers. It had snowed a few days before that, a storm that had killed your husband, or so it was said. The wind had snatched the snow out onto the prairie, hiding it in crevices. It had been a dry year, and even though it was still too cold to melt the snow, the thirsty dirt still found places to tuck it away in case of a thaw.
I stamped my feet on a sleeping branch while the others argued. Some argued that we should wait for spring. So many things are different, in the spring. But old Loyolo insisted: no, if we were to take the child, we would have to take her then and there: there had been at least one death already, and no one had heard the babe’s cry for hours.
We covered the oak trees, thousands of us, so many that the branches creaked and swayed under our weight. I don’t know if you noticed us, before it was too late. You were, it is to be admitted, busy.
The girl played on the swings, rocking herself back and forth in long, mournful creaks. She wore a too-small padded jacket and a dress decorated in small flowers. She was so clean that she still smelled of soap. Her feet were bare under their shoes, the skin scabbed and dry, almost scaly. Her wrists were pricked with gooseflesh, and her hair whipped in thin, colorless threads across her face as the wind caught it. The house had the smell of fresh death, under the peeling paint and the dusty windows, and seemed to murmur with forgotten languages, none of which were languages of love or tenderness. Afternoon was sinking into evening. The girl’s breath smelled like hunger.
“Now!” called old Loyolo, at some signal that not even I could have told you. And thousands of birds swept out of the trees toward her. From the middle of it, I can tell you, it seemed a kind of nightmare. Wings in my face, claws in my feathers. The sun was temporarily snuffed out, it was a myriad of bright slices reflected off black wings...
A collection of short horror, ghost, and dark fantasy stories for adults, woven together by a flock of crows, telling stories to entertain a girl trying to survive a tragedy...
It was we crows who took your daughter, in case you were wondering. She didn’t run away. We had--I had--been watching her for some time, listening to her tell stories in the grass behind the house. She would sit near the chicken coop and watch the white chickens pick at the dirt, pulling up fat worms and clipping grasshoppers out of the air as they jumped toward the fields.
Some of them were good stories. Some of them were bad. But that’s what decided it, even more than any issue of mercy or salvation or anything else. Crows are, for one, possessive of stories. And also by then I had pecked almost all the elders into coming to listen to her at least once, except Facunde, who was then mad and responded to nobody’s pecking, not that I had had the courage to exactly take my beak to her. “She is like a daughter to me,” I had pled with the others. “She listens.” They laughed at me, they rattled their beaks, they came and heard her and were convinced, or at least bullied into pretending they were convinced.
We took her on the same cold winter day that you traded your son to the fairies, the wind blowing in cold gray threads, ruffling our feathers. It had snowed a few days before that, a storm that had killed your husband, or so it was said. The wind had snatched the snow out onto the prairie, hiding it in crevices. It had been a dry year, and even though it was still too cold to melt the snow, the thirsty dirt still found places to tuck it away in case of a thaw.
I stamped my feet on a sleeping branch while the others argued. Some argued that we should wait for spring. So many things are different, in the spring. But old Loyolo insisted: no, if we were to take the child, we would have to take her then and there: there had been at least one death already, and no one had heard the babe’s cry for hours.
We covered the oak trees, thousands of us, so many that the branches creaked and swayed under our weight. I don’t know if you noticed us, before it was too late. You were, it is to be admitted, busy.
The girl played on the swings, rocking herself back and forth in long, mournful creaks. She wore a too-small padded jacket and a dress decorated in small flowers. She was so clean that she still smelled of soap. Her feet were bare under their shoes, the skin scabbed and dry, almost scaly. Her wrists were pricked with gooseflesh, and her hair whipped in thin, colorless threads across her face as the wind caught it. The house had the smell of fresh death, under the peeling paint and the dusty windows, and seemed to murmur with forgotten languages, none of which were languages of love or tenderness. Afternoon was sinking into evening. The girl’s breath smelled like hunger.
“Now!” called old Loyolo, at some signal that not even I could have told you. And thousands of birds swept out of the trees toward her. From the middle of it, I can tell you, it seemed a kind of nightmare. Wings in my face, claws in my feathers. The sun was temporarily snuffed out, it was a myriad of bright slices reflected off black wings...
258 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 23, 2014
8 people are currently reading
427 people want to read
About the author
DeAnna Knippling
173 books282 followersDeAnna Knippling is a professional freelance writer, ghostwriter, and editor. She has a browser history full of murder, gore, and Victorian street maps. She writes across many genres, but has a soft spot for all things crime, horror, and gothic. Her latest book is the Gothic horror novel The House Without a Summer. You can find her in Colorado with her husband and daughter, on her website at www.WonderlandPress.com, or on Facebook.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
January 29, 2015
A young girl is spirited away from her current situation by a flock of Crows who take her and to pass the time tell her dark and twisted scary stories while trying to keep warm on a cool night.
I enjoyed checking out this horror short story collection. Reading this reminds me of the shows Tales from the Crypt and Are You Afraid of the Dark where the Crows all gather around a campfire and tell scary stories to a little girl instead of in the back of a truck cab where the story is set. If you enjoy a good scare and like a good dark and twisted tale, definitely check out A Murder of Crows. The book is now available on Amazon and as a free ebook download on goodreads.
I enjoyed checking out this horror short story collection. Reading this reminds me of the shows Tales from the Crypt and Are You Afraid of the Dark where the Crows all gather around a campfire and tell scary stories to a little girl instead of in the back of a truck cab where the story is set. If you enjoy a good scare and like a good dark and twisted tale, definitely check out A Murder of Crows. The book is now available on Amazon and as a free ebook download on goodreads.
October 29, 2014
I love that this mysterious, thrilling book is really a number of short stories. Makes it easy to dip in when I have the time, then return to later when I have more reading time. The only hard part is stopping when one story ends... quite enthralling.
October 30, 2014
Delightfully Creepy - This is a scary collection of short stories cleverly designed to put your imagination into overdrive. The stories are gathered together by a flock of crows, which is a horror story unto itself. I don't think I'll ever look at those birds quite the same way again. Definitely need to read this collection a second time.
October 27, 2014
This book was written by my pal Deanna and she's amazing at horror as well as great at the art of writing short stories which is something I can't do. Looking forward to reading this one.
January 10, 2015
Stories within Stories
(Full disclosure: I received a free e-copy of this book for review though Library Thing's Member Giveaways program. Also, trigger warning for rape.)
It was we crows who took your daughter, in case you were wondering. She didn’t run away. We had--I had--been watching her for some time, listening to her tell stories in the grass behind the house. She would sit near the chicken coop and watch the white chickens pick at the dirt, pulling up fat worms and clipping grasshoppers out of the air as they jumped toward the fields.
Some of them were good stories. Some of them were bad. But that’s what decided it, even more than any issue of mercy or salvation or anything else. Crows are, for one, possessive of stories. And also by then I had pecked almost all the elders into coming to listen to her at least once, except Facunde, who was then mad and responded to nobody’s pecking, not that I had had the courage to exactly take my beak to her. “She is like a daughter to me,” I had pled with the others. “She listens.” They laughed at me, they rattled their beaks, they came and heard her and were convinced, or at least bullied into pretending they were convinced.
We took her on the same cold winter day that you traded your son to the fairies, the wind blowing in cold gray threads, ruffling our feathers. It had snowed a few days before that, a storm that had killed your husband, or so it was said. The wind had snatched the snow out onto the prairie, hiding it in crevices. It had been a dry year, and even though it was still too cold to melt the snow, the thirsty dirt still found places to tuck it away in case of a thaw.
I stamped my feet on a sleeping branch while the others argued. Some argued that we should wait for spring. So many things are different, in the spring. But old Loyolo insisted: no, if we were to take the child, we would have to take her then and there: there had been at least one death already, and no one had heard the babe’s cry for hours.
We covered the oak trees, thousands of us, so many that the branches creaked and swayed under our weight. I don’t know if you noticed us, before it was too late. You were, it is to be admitted, busy.
The girl played on the swings, rocking herself back and forth in long, mournful creaks. She wore a too-small padded jacket and a dress decorated in small flowers. She was so clean that she still smelled of soap. Her feet were bare under their shoes, the skin scabbed and dry, almost scaly. Her wrists were pricked with gooseflesh, and her hair whipped in thin, colorless threads across her face as the wind caught it. The house had the smell of fresh death, under the peeling paint and the dusty windows, and seemed to murmur with forgotten languages, none of which were languages of love or tenderness. Afternoon was sinking into evening. The girl’s breath smelled like hunger.
“Now!” called old Loyolo, at some signal that not even I could have told you. And thousands of birds swept out of the trees toward her. From the middle of it, I can tell you, it seemed a kind of nightmare. Wings in my face, claws in my feathers. The sun was temporarily snuffed out, it was a myriad of bright slices reflected off black wings...
###
DeAnna Knippling's A Murder of Crows is, at its heart, a love letter to the art of storytelling. A collection of short stories which forms the backbone of a larger narrative, the sixteen tales here - macabre, horrific, sometimes surreal - are shared with a grieving young girl by the murder (flock) of crows who rescued her from her wicked, murderous mother. (Crows being both connoisseurs and collectors of the oral tradition, natch.) Their story, told between the lines and in the margins of the other sixteen tales, is the seventeenth piece in this delightfully dark anthology.
The collection starts off on an impossibly strong note with "Be Good." (I say "impossibly" because none of the other stories, as lovely as some of them undoubtedly are, quite lived up to the high expectations I had after reading - no, devouring - "Be Good.") When a tornado approaches "the Home" near Laurie Lee's house, threatening to annihilate it - and the many "delinquent" kids imprisoned inside - the young girl wonders why her evil, kitten-killing cousin Tim couldn't be trapped there. Instead, her friend Martin - sent there by his parents for being gay - is one of the children who will pay the ultimate price for the adults' warped ideas about "good" and "bad," "wrong" and "right."
I also quite enjoyed "Treif," a post-apocalyptic tale in which humans and zombies coexist under a fragile, tenuous truce. Having tamed some humans so thoroughly that they've evolved into a different creature entirely - vaguely bovine animals called behemah - the zombies mostly leave the residents of Goodland alone. But when there's an unexpected zombie outbreak within its borders, all eyes turn to the traveling storyteller Nitzaniya - and the illicit trief (smoked behemah meat) she smuggled into the town. Like the individual, numbered stories themselves, "Treif" turns out to be a story-within-a-story - just one example of the many intricate layers to be discovered, peeled back, and savored in A Murder of Crows.
"Inappropriate Gifts" is one of many tales that deals with rape and rape culture. In a misguided (but heartfelt) attempt to protect her granddaughter - and then great-granddaughter - from the unwanted advances of men, a dying woman gives her a magical apron which delays the onset of puberty and just generally makes sex repellent to the recipient. Of course, this does nothing to prevent sexual harassment or assault - because it's never the victim's fault.
Perhaps in recognition that women belonging to other marginalized groups (racial and ethnic minorities; those with physical or mental disabilities; lesbian, bisexual, queer, and transgender women) are more likely to face abuse, "The Strongest Thing About Me is Hate" features a Native American ("half-breed," her schoolmates taunted) protagonist named Lisa. Tired of the constant sexual harassment endured on the ride to and home from school (rape is also hinted at), she finally decides to confront her tormenter - just as the bus is attacked by a group of monsters. Lisa is the sole survivor, though she and her family will never be the same.
Knippling also addresses male-on-male rape with "The Edge of the World," in which a gay man named Roberto - kidnapped and abused by the faeries as a kid, but now all grown up - refuses to steal another changeling-to-be to take his place.
The animal lover in me got a kick out of "Lord of Pigs," a sort of farmed animal revenge tale. Upon discovering that Uncle Chuck's herd of pigs killed him (or did they?), little Deanna attempts to ferry the group to safety before the adults discover their crime and sentence them all to death. However, one brave sow refuses to run, readily trading her life for the freedom of her family. Pigs rock, okay.
While these are among my favorites, the remainder of the stories are enjoyable enough; most I rated 3 stars or above, with a few 2-star stories sprinkled throughout. Weirdly enough, I feel like the whole is overall greater than the sum of its parts. Each story is told not just to comfort a grieving girl - although the storytelling certainly begins on this note - but to impart a specific lesson or moral, suggest a course of action, or even offer a glimpse into the mind of the storyteller. As a result the audience comes to appreciate the intricacies of the titular murder of crows, including each member's personality and life experiences. The crows truly steal the show.
Of those stories I didn't care for, I can't say it's necessarily due to any shortcomings in Knippling's writing; rather, these veered towards the more surreal and cryptic, and I wasn't always able to decipher the meaning embedded within.
When taken as a whole, A Murder of Crows isn't diverse enough that I'd categorize it as a diverse book (as in "we need diverse books"); but a number of stories are noteworthy for featuring gay protagonists ("The Edge of the World"; "Be Good"); Native American characters ("The Strongest Thing About Me is Hate"; "The Vengeance Quilt"); and those with physical disabilities (for example, the grandmother in "Inappropriate Gifts" suffers from Bell's Palsy and is self-conscious about how it affects her speech). And of course "Be Good" is just a shiny, lovely (but heartbreakingly so), gay-friendly gem.
One thing I especially enjoy about Knippling is her ability to turn a phrase with artistic ease; the more lyrical lines shine even brighter when juxtaposed with Knippling's copious use of obscenities, particularly from the mouths of babes. The result is as beautiful as it is profane, a style which suits the stories damn near perfectly.
http://www.easyvegan.info/2015/01/19/...
(Full disclosure: I received a free e-copy of this book for review though Library Thing's Member Giveaways program. Also, trigger warning for rape.)
It was we crows who took your daughter, in case you were wondering. She didn’t run away. We had--I had--been watching her for some time, listening to her tell stories in the grass behind the house. She would sit near the chicken coop and watch the white chickens pick at the dirt, pulling up fat worms and clipping grasshoppers out of the air as they jumped toward the fields.
Some of them were good stories. Some of them were bad. But that’s what decided it, even more than any issue of mercy or salvation or anything else. Crows are, for one, possessive of stories. And also by then I had pecked almost all the elders into coming to listen to her at least once, except Facunde, who was then mad and responded to nobody’s pecking, not that I had had the courage to exactly take my beak to her. “She is like a daughter to me,” I had pled with the others. “She listens.” They laughed at me, they rattled their beaks, they came and heard her and were convinced, or at least bullied into pretending they were convinced.
We took her on the same cold winter day that you traded your son to the fairies, the wind blowing in cold gray threads, ruffling our feathers. It had snowed a few days before that, a storm that had killed your husband, or so it was said. The wind had snatched the snow out onto the prairie, hiding it in crevices. It had been a dry year, and even though it was still too cold to melt the snow, the thirsty dirt still found places to tuck it away in case of a thaw.
I stamped my feet on a sleeping branch while the others argued. Some argued that we should wait for spring. So many things are different, in the spring. But old Loyolo insisted: no, if we were to take the child, we would have to take her then and there: there had been at least one death already, and no one had heard the babe’s cry for hours.
We covered the oak trees, thousands of us, so many that the branches creaked and swayed under our weight. I don’t know if you noticed us, before it was too late. You were, it is to be admitted, busy.
The girl played on the swings, rocking herself back and forth in long, mournful creaks. She wore a too-small padded jacket and a dress decorated in small flowers. She was so clean that she still smelled of soap. Her feet were bare under their shoes, the skin scabbed and dry, almost scaly. Her wrists were pricked with gooseflesh, and her hair whipped in thin, colorless threads across her face as the wind caught it. The house had the smell of fresh death, under the peeling paint and the dusty windows, and seemed to murmur with forgotten languages, none of which were languages of love or tenderness. Afternoon was sinking into evening. The girl’s breath smelled like hunger.
“Now!” called old Loyolo, at some signal that not even I could have told you. And thousands of birds swept out of the trees toward her. From the middle of it, I can tell you, it seemed a kind of nightmare. Wings in my face, claws in my feathers. The sun was temporarily snuffed out, it was a myriad of bright slices reflected off black wings...
###
DeAnna Knippling's A Murder of Crows is, at its heart, a love letter to the art of storytelling. A collection of short stories which forms the backbone of a larger narrative, the sixteen tales here - macabre, horrific, sometimes surreal - are shared with a grieving young girl by the murder (flock) of crows who rescued her from her wicked, murderous mother. (Crows being both connoisseurs and collectors of the oral tradition, natch.) Their story, told between the lines and in the margins of the other sixteen tales, is the seventeenth piece in this delightfully dark anthology.
The collection starts off on an impossibly strong note with "Be Good." (I say "impossibly" because none of the other stories, as lovely as some of them undoubtedly are, quite lived up to the high expectations I had after reading - no, devouring - "Be Good.") When a tornado approaches "the Home" near Laurie Lee's house, threatening to annihilate it - and the many "delinquent" kids imprisoned inside - the young girl wonders why her evil, kitten-killing cousin Tim couldn't be trapped there. Instead, her friend Martin - sent there by his parents for being gay - is one of the children who will pay the ultimate price for the adults' warped ideas about "good" and "bad," "wrong" and "right."
I also quite enjoyed "Treif," a post-apocalyptic tale in which humans and zombies coexist under a fragile, tenuous truce. Having tamed some humans so thoroughly that they've evolved into a different creature entirely - vaguely bovine animals called behemah - the zombies mostly leave the residents of Goodland alone. But when there's an unexpected zombie outbreak within its borders, all eyes turn to the traveling storyteller Nitzaniya - and the illicit trief (smoked behemah meat) she smuggled into the town. Like the individual, numbered stories themselves, "Treif" turns out to be a story-within-a-story - just one example of the many intricate layers to be discovered, peeled back, and savored in A Murder of Crows.
"Inappropriate Gifts" is one of many tales that deals with rape and rape culture. In a misguided (but heartfelt) attempt to protect her granddaughter - and then great-granddaughter - from the unwanted advances of men, a dying woman gives her a magical apron which delays the onset of puberty and just generally makes sex repellent to the recipient. Of course, this does nothing to prevent sexual harassment or assault - because it's never the victim's fault.
Perhaps in recognition that women belonging to other marginalized groups (racial and ethnic minorities; those with physical or mental disabilities; lesbian, bisexual, queer, and transgender women) are more likely to face abuse, "The Strongest Thing About Me is Hate" features a Native American ("half-breed," her schoolmates taunted) protagonist named Lisa. Tired of the constant sexual harassment endured on the ride to and home from school (rape is also hinted at), she finally decides to confront her tormenter - just as the bus is attacked by a group of monsters. Lisa is the sole survivor, though she and her family will never be the same.
Knippling also addresses male-on-male rape with "The Edge of the World," in which a gay man named Roberto - kidnapped and abused by the faeries as a kid, but now all grown up - refuses to steal another changeling-to-be to take his place.
The animal lover in me got a kick out of "Lord of Pigs," a sort of farmed animal revenge tale. Upon discovering that Uncle Chuck's herd of pigs killed him (or did they?), little Deanna attempts to ferry the group to safety before the adults discover their crime and sentence them all to death. However, one brave sow refuses to run, readily trading her life for the freedom of her family. Pigs rock, okay.
While these are among my favorites, the remainder of the stories are enjoyable enough; most I rated 3 stars or above, with a few 2-star stories sprinkled throughout. Weirdly enough, I feel like the whole is overall greater than the sum of its parts. Each story is told not just to comfort a grieving girl - although the storytelling certainly begins on this note - but to impart a specific lesson or moral, suggest a course of action, or even offer a glimpse into the mind of the storyteller. As a result the audience comes to appreciate the intricacies of the titular murder of crows, including each member's personality and life experiences. The crows truly steal the show.
Of those stories I didn't care for, I can't say it's necessarily due to any shortcomings in Knippling's writing; rather, these veered towards the more surreal and cryptic, and I wasn't always able to decipher the meaning embedded within.
When taken as a whole, A Murder of Crows isn't diverse enough that I'd categorize it as a diverse book (as in "we need diverse books"); but a number of stories are noteworthy for featuring gay protagonists ("The Edge of the World"; "Be Good"); Native American characters ("The Strongest Thing About Me is Hate"; "The Vengeance Quilt"); and those with physical disabilities (for example, the grandmother in "Inappropriate Gifts" suffers from Bell's Palsy and is self-conscious about how it affects her speech). And of course "Be Good" is just a shiny, lovely (but heartbreakingly so), gay-friendly gem.
One thing I especially enjoy about Knippling is her ability to turn a phrase with artistic ease; the more lyrical lines shine even brighter when juxtaposed with Knippling's copious use of obscenities, particularly from the mouths of babes. The result is as beautiful as it is profane, a style which suits the stories damn near perfectly.
http://www.easyvegan.info/2015/01/19/...
March 22, 2017
I'm a fan of short stories. Don't get me wrong, I love longer novels too. But, the magic is condensed and more pronounced in shorter forms. And the last two reads that I've had on my Kindle were short story collections. And, by leaps and bounds, this is a much better version. There are seventeen short stories in total, even though there are sixteen titled stories, the seventeenth story is the one that ties it all together. Which is also something that I like about this book. I love that there is a story that these stories that are woven into the narrative of this collection. The crows are well done, even if I am a little confused at parts where stuff happens that is not shown through the eyes of our main crow narrator. But, don't let that distract you from the sixteen unique tales. I will admit, not all of the tales are going to be for you, but you should go check this short story collection out anyway.
June 13, 2017
*I received a free copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.*
This was a very interesting book! It is a story told from the viewpoints of the crows and the little girl that it is centered around. The crows, or the girl tell stories to keep the story line going, if that makes sense. The little stories were perfectly gruesome at times, although some were a bit confusing. There were minimal grammar errors, but not enough to remember exactly where. For anyone that might be worried, yes, there is some harsh language and the nature of the stories is for adults, not meant for kids at all! Overall, I really enjoyed this book!
This was a very interesting book! It is a story told from the viewpoints of the crows and the little girl that it is centered around. The crows, or the girl tell stories to keep the story line going, if that makes sense. The little stories were perfectly gruesome at times, although some were a bit confusing. There were minimal grammar errors, but not enough to remember exactly where. For anyone that might be worried, yes, there is some harsh language and the nature of the stories is for adults, not meant for kids at all! Overall, I really enjoyed this book!
June 9, 2018
I am a huge fan of short stories and these did not disappoint. Here, the story that weaves together the short stories is just as magical and wonderful as the stories themselves. So, rather than a collection of stories, they are all tied into this central story. This is an exploration of mythology, magic, and lore with varied stories that are fantastic and, at times, macabre. This was an utterly fantastic read for me.
I received a free copy of this book
I received a free copy of this book
August 13, 2018
Thoughtful horror
I've always been partial to horror that goes beyond trap doors and bloody knives; the kind that sticks with you and returns to your thoughts on random Tuesdays. This is that type of story, in that all of its secrets aren't apparent on the first read. It's an enjoyable anthology tied together by the titular crows and their against-type behavior.
I've always been partial to horror that goes beyond trap doors and bloody knives; the kind that sticks with you and returns to your thoughts on random Tuesdays. This is that type of story, in that all of its secrets aren't apparent on the first read. It's an enjoyable anthology tied together by the titular crows and their against-type behavior.
October 2, 2018
I found this book to be totally different from anything I have ever read in the past but it was entertaining enough to keep me reading until the end. I'll admit I had trouble seeing where some of these stories actually fitted in but they were all woven together for a reason. I found myself feeling rather sad at the demise of the crows at the end.
February 17, 2018
Intriguing and creepy. Fantastically written
June 9, 2019
It covers the range from things that go bump in the night to zombies, with some surreal monsters of the mind that twist reality. Real chills.
August 9, 2019
Well, this was just a delightfully scary bunch of horrifying short stories. A young girl is kidnapped by a murder of crows...how's that for horrifying...when things at her actual home are becoming fairly terrifying. To keep her occupied, they tell her scary stories. I can just envision them all roosting around a blazing campfire!!! Anyway, I love short stories anyway and these were, for the most part, creepy enough to get hairs on my arms to stand up. Some were a little confusing but overall a great collection of stories to keep you on edge.
December 30, 2014
4.5 stars
I received a copy of this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.
Ten Second Synopsis:
Machado and his flock rescue a young girl from a dangerous home, and keep out the cold by sharing creepy stories.
I have read quite a few short story anthologies and collections that are interwoven about a central narrative, but I have to say that this book is an extremely good example of the genre. Putting aside the content for a moment, Knippling has created a tight, thoughtfully constructed collection here that subtly links each story to the greater narrative and covers a great variety of horror-themed tales. There’s a nifty little zombie narrative, in which humans and the undead coexist in an uneasy sharing of geographical space, stories of changelings and fey interference in human affairs, tales of summoning what should not be summoned, particularly where revenge is involved and stories featuring objects imbued with a power not their own. I was surprised and impressed by first the number of stories included here, as well as their quality – while the content of some was a little beyond my horror-tolerance, they were all remarkably well written and engaging, something that is not always the case in longer anthologies.
As the subtitle suggests, there are seventeen short stories within the greater narrative and they are all quite hefty in themselves and therefore the reader won’t be left wanting in terms of reading time. Like I mentioned, some of the stories, especially toward the end became a bit too realistically violent for my tastes, but I suspect they will please more experienced horror-buffs than I.
I particularly enjoyed the characterisation given to the various crows, from the elders to the chicks, and the backstories that coloured both the stories the crows shared and their attitude to the unfolding monster-based crisis. Machado particularly had a very relatable voice and I enjoyed his musings between the short stories.
This was an out-of-the-box, quality find for me and I will no doubt end up seeking out some other examples of Knippling’s work in the future.
I received a copy of this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.
Ten Second Synopsis:
Machado and his flock rescue a young girl from a dangerous home, and keep out the cold by sharing creepy stories.
I have read quite a few short story anthologies and collections that are interwoven about a central narrative, but I have to say that this book is an extremely good example of the genre. Putting aside the content for a moment, Knippling has created a tight, thoughtfully constructed collection here that subtly links each story to the greater narrative and covers a great variety of horror-themed tales. There’s a nifty little zombie narrative, in which humans and the undead coexist in an uneasy sharing of geographical space, stories of changelings and fey interference in human affairs, tales of summoning what should not be summoned, particularly where revenge is involved and stories featuring objects imbued with a power not their own. I was surprised and impressed by first the number of stories included here, as well as their quality – while the content of some was a little beyond my horror-tolerance, they were all remarkably well written and engaging, something that is not always the case in longer anthologies.
As the subtitle suggests, there are seventeen short stories within the greater narrative and they are all quite hefty in themselves and therefore the reader won’t be left wanting in terms of reading time. Like I mentioned, some of the stories, especially toward the end became a bit too realistically violent for my tastes, but I suspect they will please more experienced horror-buffs than I.
I particularly enjoyed the characterisation given to the various crows, from the elders to the chicks, and the backstories that coloured both the stories the crows shared and their attitude to the unfolding monster-based crisis. Machado particularly had a very relatable voice and I enjoyed his musings between the short stories.
This was an out-of-the-box, quality find for me and I will no doubt end up seeking out some other examples of Knippling’s work in the future.
December 16, 2014
*I was given a free copy for an honest review.*
As per Amazon: "A collection of short horror, ghost, and dark fantasy stories for adults, woven together by a flock of crows, telling stories to entertain a girl trying to survive a tragedy..." That line alone made me interested in reading this book.
At first I wasn't sure how to review this book because I wasn't completely certain what was happening in the overarching storyline about the crows and the young girl. I know there is symbolism there I am missing, through no fault of the author. So I decided to take the book at face value, a collection of 17 short stories. I've read other short story collections where each tale seemed so similar to the last that they all blend together. You don't have to worry about that here. Each story is an individual that stands out from the crowd. The author is very skilled at giving each story its own voice. The endings are open-ended so the stories make you think too. I especially enjoyed "Vengeance Quilt" and "Family Gods." I would love to see those two stories worked into full-length novels.
4 stars
As per Amazon: "A collection of short horror, ghost, and dark fantasy stories for adults, woven together by a flock of crows, telling stories to entertain a girl trying to survive a tragedy..." That line alone made me interested in reading this book.
At first I wasn't sure how to review this book because I wasn't completely certain what was happening in the overarching storyline about the crows and the young girl. I know there is symbolism there I am missing, through no fault of the author. So I decided to take the book at face value, a collection of 17 short stories. I've read other short story collections where each tale seemed so similar to the last that they all blend together. You don't have to worry about that here. Each story is an individual that stands out from the crowd. The author is very skilled at giving each story its own voice. The endings are open-ended so the stories make you think too. I especially enjoyed "Vengeance Quilt" and "Family Gods." I would love to see those two stories worked into full-length novels.
4 stars
December 10, 2014
This was a rich, layered book of short stories, though so many of them were inter-woven that it felt more like a novel. Because my brain wanted to connect all the dots of every story and every story-within-a-story and every storyteller, I found the book slow to get through, but satisfying in each section.
Knippling creates a dark and strange world of crows and magic, a world filled with stank and evil and sweat and blood. I actually had a gag reflex that caused me to get up and settle myself reading one passage (the ear on the bus) and another story had me googling for definitions (behemah, treif & ipish) sending me on an hourlong journey of clicking links to explore these words associated with that particular lush tale of zombies.
I suppose you could read these stories at face value, one at a time, enjoying the nested tales without over-thinking them, but for me the whole was much greater than the parts, and although I did not completely understand the book in its entirety, one of my takeaways was the theme of storyteller as spell-weaver, storyteller as magician. Knippling is just that!
Knippling creates a dark and strange world of crows and magic, a world filled with stank and evil and sweat and blood. I actually had a gag reflex that caused me to get up and settle myself reading one passage (the ear on the bus) and another story had me googling for definitions (behemah, treif & ipish) sending me on an hourlong journey of clicking links to explore these words associated with that particular lush tale of zombies.
I suppose you could read these stories at face value, one at a time, enjoying the nested tales without over-thinking them, but for me the whole was much greater than the parts, and although I did not completely understand the book in its entirety, one of my takeaways was the theme of storyteller as spell-weaver, storyteller as magician. Knippling is just that!
December 30, 2014
I won a copy of this book from Library Thing, in exchange for an honest review.
“A Murder of Crows” by Deanna Knippling is subtitled, “Seventeen Tales of Monsters and the Macabre”, and it showcases a fine collection of short stories, narrated by a crow named Machado. To pass the cold nights, and to comfort the young human girl they’ve just abducted/rescued from her wicked mother, the crows take turns telling stories. Bizarre, frightening tales spill forth from the crows, along with a couple the girl tells them. Some will startle you, some will amuse you, and some will make your heart pound frantically within your chest.
This collection of stories is a good one. Deanna Knippling either has an excellent head for creating short horror stories, or she is on speaking terms with a number of intelligent, story-telling crows. Either way, the reader comes out the winner with this book. Readers who enjoy short horror stories will find “A Murder of Crows” very much to their liking. I would definitely recommend this book to horror fans, as well as fans of just plain good writing.
“A Murder of Crows” by Deanna Knippling is subtitled, “Seventeen Tales of Monsters and the Macabre”, and it showcases a fine collection of short stories, narrated by a crow named Machado. To pass the cold nights, and to comfort the young human girl they’ve just abducted/rescued from her wicked mother, the crows take turns telling stories. Bizarre, frightening tales spill forth from the crows, along with a couple the girl tells them. Some will startle you, some will amuse you, and some will make your heart pound frantically within your chest.
This collection of stories is a good one. Deanna Knippling either has an excellent head for creating short horror stories, or she is on speaking terms with a number of intelligent, story-telling crows. Either way, the reader comes out the winner with this book. Readers who enjoy short horror stories will find “A Murder of Crows” very much to their liking. I would definitely recommend this book to horror fans, as well as fans of just plain good writing.
June 2, 2015
A flock of crows take a young girl. The girl's mother is practicing dark magic. The crows tell the young girl a series of stories to help prepare her to be able to face and fight her mother.
This is an unusual collection of short stories. While they really don't seem to have a connection, the story of the young girl and her mother is used to tie them all together. While I can't say that I understood all of the lessons the crows were trying to teach the young girl, I did enjoy most of the stories. Like most collections, some stories were better and some were worse. Overall, I found more to my liking than not. I did find most of the stories to lean towards the darker side though which is to be expected with the title.
I would say this falls between 3 (liked it) and 4 (really liked it) stars.
This is an unusual collection of short stories. While they really don't seem to have a connection, the story of the young girl and her mother is used to tie them all together. While I can't say that I understood all of the lessons the crows were trying to teach the young girl, I did enjoy most of the stories. Like most collections, some stories were better and some were worse. Overall, I found more to my liking than not. I did find most of the stories to lean towards the darker side though which is to be expected with the title.
I would say this falls between 3 (liked it) and 4 (really liked it) stars.
December 2, 2014
This anthology of seventeen stories is woven together with dialogue and stories of a murder of crows. The crows have taken a young girl from her home, secured her in a junk yard and the stories are entertainment as well as a way to help her learn about how to be human and perhaps have a better life than she otherwise would have if she had remained with her mother. Some of the stories are related to one another and some are not but all are interesting, well written and just creepy enough to leaving me wanting to read another one.
This book was received through a LibraryThing giveaway and I am thankful I won. I would definitely read more books by DeAnna Knippling.
This book was received through a LibraryThing giveaway and I am thankful I won. I would definitely read more books by DeAnna Knippling.
May 1, 2015
Presenetljivo dobra knjiga, kupila sem jo res čisto na blef in upala, da bo za kaj. In je. Če imate radi izredno morbidne, na trenutke rahlo nagnusne in predvsem zelo žalostne zgodbe. Ki vam jih pripovedujejo povečini vrani, za katere je umetnost pripovedovanja zgodb tako pomembna, da slabo povedana zgodba lahko pomeni tudi smrt. Nekateri deli zgodb so napisani malce zmedeno, toliko, da izgubiš rdečo nit, edino to me je zmotilo. Ne vem, a je bilo tako namenoma, ker v končni fazi pripovedujejo zgodbe ali vrani ali zelo zatravmirani ljudje, v vsakem primeru pa je situacija precej bizarna, ali pa gre za kiks pisateljice. V vsakem primeru poberem še kakšno njeno knjig.
February 4, 2016
I love short stories (especially horror ones). Unfortunately, I have been so disappointed with some of the horror books I have picked up and read. This is not one of them. I love a book that can play with my emotions and actually leaves a feeling of dreadful anticipation as to what is going to happen next and can still sit with me hours later. The beauty of short stories is I can go back and forth between books. I really enjoyed author's writing style and look forward to reading more books by author.
December 2, 2014
This is a kinda scary collection of short stories that put my overactive imagination into hyper drive. A flock of crows gather the stories together. In a strange way it reminded me of the old twilight zone TV show, which I enjoyed. Halloween is my favorite holiday and I always make a point to find scary stories to read, this collection of short stories filled the bill.
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April 17, 2015
This is an excellent collection of "ghost stories" and the narrative thread that ties them all together has been done in a very interesting fashion and yes--it involves one of the most intelligent beings on the planet: crows. I'd never read anything in second person that I enjoyed & really liked the way this was handled to great effect in so many places.
July 7, 2016
I'm not even sure what to say about this one. I don't think it was at all what I was expecting. Very cryptic to say the least. And chaotic. Not something I was able to wrap my brain around.
That said, if you're into some mind bending literature, you've found it
*I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
That said, if you're into some mind bending literature, you've found it
*I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
July 17, 2016
I tried to like this book. I was drawn to the description of "horror" stories. I read four of the stories, and honestly, didn't get any of them. I have no idea what the author was trying to convey with any of them. They all left me with a puzzled look, thinking "Huh?" I have to read a collection of short stories for my library's adult summer reading challenge; going to pick a different one.
February 25, 2015
won on goodreads.
well written engaging stories with a twist
well written engaging stories with a twist
January 27, 2015
Good book
A bunch of stories within a story. Everything is blended in and gets a little confusing. I got lost a few times.
A bunch of stories within a story. Everything is blended in and gets a little confusing. I got lost a few times.
April 7, 2017
Not Kindle Unlimited, liked it but not luved it type thing, may be more personal thing rather than writer/stories, not sure. Check amazon writer page for other books. Collection of somewhat related stories, all 'odd' but overall interesting.
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