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After Midnight: Thirteen Tales for the Dark Hours
On a sharp December day, the wind changes—and the birds begin to gather. In the twisting alleyways of Venice, a grieving couple catch a glimpse of their lost child. A woman returns home to find no trace of her existence.
From the inimitable imagination of Daphne du Maurier, these thirteen stories pierce to the dark heart of our relationships: between men and women, humanity and nature, love and obsession, the future and the past. Uncanny, provocative and spine-crawlingly terrifying, these tales will keep you up long after midnight. Whatever you do, don't look now...
From the inimitable imagination of Daphne du Maurier, these thirteen stories pierce to the dark heart of our relationships: between men and women, humanity and nature, love and obsession, the future and the past. Uncanny, provocative and spine-crawlingly terrifying, these tales will keep you up long after midnight. Whatever you do, don't look now...
624 pages, Hardcover
First published September 30, 2025
445 people are currently reading
15727 people want to read
About the author
Daphne du Maurier
425 books10.2k followersDaphne du Maurier was born on 13 May 1907 at 24 Cumberland Terrace, Regent's Park, London, the middle of three daughters of prominent actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and actress Muriel, née Beaumont. In many ways her life resembles a fairy tale. Born into a family with a rich artistic and historical background, her paternal grandfather was author and Punch cartoonist George du Maurier, who created the character of Svengali in the 1894 novel Trilby, and her mother was a maternal niece of journalist, author, and lecturer Comyns Beaumont. She and her sisters were indulged as a children and grew up enjoying enormous freedom from financial and parental restraint. Her elder sister, Angela du Maurier, also became a writer, and her younger sister Jeanne was a painter.
She spent her youth sailing boats, travelling on the Continent with friends, and writing stories. Her family connections helped her establish her literary career, and she published some of her early work in Beaumont's Bystander magazine. A prestigious publishing house accepted her first novel when she was in her early twenties, and its publication brought her not only fame but the attentions of a handsome soldier, Major (later Lieutenant-General Sir) Frederick Browning, whom she married.
She continued writing under her maiden name, and her subsequent novels became bestsellers, earning her enormous wealth and fame. Many have been successfully adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca, Frenchman's Creek, My Cousin Rachel, and Jamaica Inn, and the short stories The Birds and Don't Look Now/Not After Midnight. While Alfred Hitchcock's films based upon her novels proceeded to make her one of the best-known authors in the world, she enjoyed the life of a fairy princess in a mansion in Cornwall called Menabilly, which served as the model for Manderley in Rebecca.
Daphne du Maurier was obsessed with the past. She intensively researched the lives of Francis and Anthony Bacon, the history of Cornwall, the Regency period, and nineteenth-century France and England. Above all, however, she was obsessed with her own family history, which she chronicled in Gerald: A Portrait, a biography of her father; The du Mauriers, a study of her family which focused on her grandfather, George du Maurier, the novelist and illustrator for Punch; The Glassblowers, a novel based upon the lives of her du Maurier ancestors; and Growing Pains, an autobiography that ignores nearly 50 years of her life in favour of the joyful and more romantic period of her youth. Daphne du Maurier can best be understood in terms of her remarkable and paradoxical family, the ghosts which haunted her life and fiction.
While contemporary writers were dealing critically with such subjects as the war, alienation, religion, poverty, Marxism, psychology and art, and experimenting with new techniques such as the stream of consciousness, du Maurier produced 'old-fashioned' novels with straightforward narratives that appealed to a popular audience's love of fantasy, adventure, sexuality and mystery. At an early age, she recognised that her readership was comprised principally of women, and she cultivated their loyal following through several decades by embodying their desires and dreams in her novels and short stories.
In some of her novels, however, she went beyond the technique of the formulaic romance to achieve a powerful psychological realism reflecting her intense feelings about her father, and to a lesser degree, her mother. This vision, which underlies Julius, Rebecca and The Parasites, is that of an author overwhelmed by the memory of her father's commanding presence. In Julius and The Parasites, for example, she introduces the image of a domineering but deadly father and the daring subject of incest.
In Rebecca, on the other hand, du Maurier fuses psychological realism with a sophisticated version of the Cinderella story.
She spent her youth sailing boats, travelling on the Continent with friends, and writing stories. Her family connections helped her establish her literary career, and she published some of her early work in Beaumont's Bystander magazine. A prestigious publishing house accepted her first novel when she was in her early twenties, and its publication brought her not only fame but the attentions of a handsome soldier, Major (later Lieutenant-General Sir) Frederick Browning, whom she married.
She continued writing under her maiden name, and her subsequent novels became bestsellers, earning her enormous wealth and fame. Many have been successfully adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca, Frenchman's Creek, My Cousin Rachel, and Jamaica Inn, and the short stories The Birds and Don't Look Now/Not After Midnight. While Alfred Hitchcock's films based upon her novels proceeded to make her one of the best-known authors in the world, she enjoyed the life of a fairy princess in a mansion in Cornwall called Menabilly, which served as the model for Manderley in Rebecca.
Daphne du Maurier was obsessed with the past. She intensively researched the lives of Francis and Anthony Bacon, the history of Cornwall, the Regency period, and nineteenth-century France and England. Above all, however, she was obsessed with her own family history, which she chronicled in Gerald: A Portrait, a biography of her father; The du Mauriers, a study of her family which focused on her grandfather, George du Maurier, the novelist and illustrator for Punch; The Glassblowers, a novel based upon the lives of her du Maurier ancestors; and Growing Pains, an autobiography that ignores nearly 50 years of her life in favour of the joyful and more romantic period of her youth. Daphne du Maurier can best be understood in terms of her remarkable and paradoxical family, the ghosts which haunted her life and fiction.
While contemporary writers were dealing critically with such subjects as the war, alienation, religion, poverty, Marxism, psychology and art, and experimenting with new techniques such as the stream of consciousness, du Maurier produced 'old-fashioned' novels with straightforward narratives that appealed to a popular audience's love of fantasy, adventure, sexuality and mystery. At an early age, she recognised that her readership was comprised principally of women, and she cultivated their loyal following through several decades by embodying their desires and dreams in her novels and short stories.
In some of her novels, however, she went beyond the technique of the formulaic romance to achieve a powerful psychological realism reflecting her intense feelings about her father, and to a lesser degree, her mother. This vision, which underlies Julius, Rebecca and The Parasites, is that of an author overwhelmed by the memory of her father's commanding presence. In Julius and The Parasites, for example, she introduces the image of a domineering but deadly father and the daring subject of incest.
In Rebecca, on the other hand, du Maurier fuses psychological realism with a sophisticated version of the Cinderella story.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 158 reviews
November 3, 2025
my becoming a genius project, part 29!
i haven't done an installment of this effort, in which i read a story a day from a respected collection with the goal of achieving unprecedented brilliance, in over a year and a half.
but i have this lovely new set of tales from daphne du maurier (thanks to the publisher for the arc!) and it's the spookiest month of the year, so when better to bring it back?
even the resurrection aspect of this is seasonally appropriate. i don't know how we're getting a new daphne du maurier release in 2025, but i'm going to call it magic and move on.
read previous projects here
DAY ONE: THE BLUE LENSES
the only du maurier i've read is rebecca, so this meek protagonist going willingly and uncomplaining into a world where nothing makes sense and complaints should be made tracks. it's just a little more anthropomorphic.
rating: 3
DAY TWO: DON'T LOOK NOW
this was such a bizarre and outdated and lopsided story...and yet i was in suspense.
rating: 3.5
DAY THREE: THE ALIBI
every one of these stories has tricked me into being invested only to have the world's goofiest ending.
rating: 3
DAY FOUR: THE APPLE TREE
this is the story of an unappreciative husband whose nagging wife dies and then becomes an apple tree, which also nags to the extent that a tree can do that. it is 43 pages long.
rating: 3
DAY FIVE: THE BIRDS
did you know that our pal daphne was the inspiration for the hitchcock movie? i cannot imagine reading this anticlimactic story and turning it into a classic of the genre, but then i'm not a film genius.
rating: 3
DAY SIX: MONTE VERITA
in these unprecedented times, abandoning my life to live with a creepy organization of girls on top of a mountain doesn't sound half bad.
rating: 3
DAY SEVEN: THE POOL
i do like reading about the wonder of childhood, but...the secret world you think adults don't know about just being a woman taking tickets by a turnstile so you can run in the vague direction of a pool is kind of lame. when i was a kid i was convinced i was a fairy who could control the wind.
rating: 3
DAY EIGHT: THE DOLL
it turns out daphne du maurier has written two stories about mysterious hot girls named rebecca. this one is in love with a creepy doll named julio though.
rating: 3
DAY NINE: GANYMEDE
the real horror in this story was the internalized homophobia.
rating: 2
DAY TEN: THE LEADING LADY
this is just about a conniving woman. that's the opposite of frightening to me.
rating: 3
DAY ELEVEN: NOT AFTER MIDNIGHT
title story! kinda! and it's another wildly long winding story in which the villain reveal is literally always ableist.
rating: 3
DAY TWELVE: SPLIT SECOND
maybe i'm getting stockholm syndrome or maybe it's just that this somehow aged okay, but this one was pretty good.
rating: 3.5
yle
DAY THIRTEEN: THE BREAKTHROUGH
and for the grand finale...we're back on our ableist bullsh*t.
rating: 2
OVERALL
i have yet to find that with any of these "never before anthologized!" short story collections i come away thinking wow, i can't believe that was never anthologized! some of these had the style or tone or some shred of rebecca, but none of them came close to it. i think this can be a skip for anyone but the biggest du maurier fan.
rating: 2.5
i haven't done an installment of this effort, in which i read a story a day from a respected collection with the goal of achieving unprecedented brilliance, in over a year and a half.
but i have this lovely new set of tales from daphne du maurier (thanks to the publisher for the arc!) and it's the spookiest month of the year, so when better to bring it back?
even the resurrection aspect of this is seasonally appropriate. i don't know how we're getting a new daphne du maurier release in 2025, but i'm going to call it magic and move on.
read previous projects here
DAY ONE: THE BLUE LENSES
the only du maurier i've read is rebecca, so this meek protagonist going willingly and uncomplaining into a world where nothing makes sense and complaints should be made tracks. it's just a little more anthropomorphic.
rating: 3
DAY TWO: DON'T LOOK NOW
this was such a bizarre and outdated and lopsided story...and yet i was in suspense.
rating: 3.5
DAY THREE: THE ALIBI
every one of these stories has tricked me into being invested only to have the world's goofiest ending.
rating: 3
DAY FOUR: THE APPLE TREE
this is the story of an unappreciative husband whose nagging wife dies and then becomes an apple tree, which also nags to the extent that a tree can do that. it is 43 pages long.
rating: 3
DAY FIVE: THE BIRDS
did you know that our pal daphne was the inspiration for the hitchcock movie? i cannot imagine reading this anticlimactic story and turning it into a classic of the genre, but then i'm not a film genius.
rating: 3
DAY SIX: MONTE VERITA
in these unprecedented times, abandoning my life to live with a creepy organization of girls on top of a mountain doesn't sound half bad.
rating: 3
DAY SEVEN: THE POOL
i do like reading about the wonder of childhood, but...the secret world you think adults don't know about just being a woman taking tickets by a turnstile so you can run in the vague direction of a pool is kind of lame. when i was a kid i was convinced i was a fairy who could control the wind.
rating: 3
DAY EIGHT: THE DOLL
it turns out daphne du maurier has written two stories about mysterious hot girls named rebecca. this one is in love with a creepy doll named julio though.
rating: 3
DAY NINE: GANYMEDE
the real horror in this story was the internalized homophobia.
rating: 2
DAY TEN: THE LEADING LADY
this is just about a conniving woman. that's the opposite of frightening to me.
rating: 3
DAY ELEVEN: NOT AFTER MIDNIGHT
title story! kinda! and it's another wildly long winding story in which the villain reveal is literally always ableist.
rating: 3
DAY TWELVE: SPLIT SECOND
maybe i'm getting stockholm syndrome or maybe it's just that this somehow aged okay, but this one was pretty good.
rating: 3.5
yle
DAY THIRTEEN: THE BREAKTHROUGH
and for the grand finale...we're back on our ableist bullsh*t.
rating: 2
OVERALL
i have yet to find that with any of these "never before anthologized!" short story collections i come away thinking wow, i can't believe that was never anthologized! some of these had the style or tone or some shred of rebecca, but none of them came close to it. i think this can be a skip for anyone but the biggest du maurier fan.
rating: 2.5
August 14, 2025
Daphne du Maurier has always had an unparalleled gift for weaving the unsettling into the everyday, and After Midnight is a masterclass in that haunting craft. This collection of thirteen chilling tales slips effortlessly between the eerie, the macabre, and the breathtakingly human, each story a slow-burn descent into shadows you didn’t realize were gathering until it’s too late. From the creeping menace of The Birds to the surreal unease of The Blue Lenses, du Maurier’s prose is sharp as a knife’s edge, cutting into the delicate fabric of reality and revealing the darkness beneath. Her characters—whether ordinary men making terrible choices, lovers stumbling into danger, or wanderers lured by strange mysteries—are drawn with such precision that their fears feel like our own.
The beauty of this collection lies in its range: there are stories steeped in supernatural dread, others anchored in psychological tension, and all are layered with the author’s uncanny ability to evoke dread from a single image, gesture, or twist of fate. These are not just ghost stories or thrillers; they are portraits of human vulnerability, jealousy, obsession, and the fragile line between reason and madness. Every page carries the signature du Maurier atmosphere—moody, cinematic, and unshakably tense.
Whether you are discovering her short fiction for the first time or returning to these classics with fresh eyes, After Midnight is an unforgettable reminder of why Daphne du Maurier remains one of the most influential voices in gothic and suspense literature. Each tale lingers like the echo of a whispered warning, urging you to read just one more—long after midnight.
Many, many thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for granting me the opportunity to experience this remarkable collection early. I’m deeply grateful for the chance to revisit du Maurier’s genius in such a stunning edition, and I cannot recommend it highly enough to fans of dark, atmospheric storytelling.
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The beauty of this collection lies in its range: there are stories steeped in supernatural dread, others anchored in psychological tension, and all are layered with the author’s uncanny ability to evoke dread from a single image, gesture, or twist of fate. These are not just ghost stories or thrillers; they are portraits of human vulnerability, jealousy, obsession, and the fragile line between reason and madness. Every page carries the signature du Maurier atmosphere—moody, cinematic, and unshakably tense.
Whether you are discovering her short fiction for the first time or returning to these classics with fresh eyes, After Midnight is an unforgettable reminder of why Daphne du Maurier remains one of the most influential voices in gothic and suspense literature. Each tale lingers like the echo of a whispered warning, urging you to read just one more—long after midnight.
Many, many thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for granting me the opportunity to experience this remarkable collection early. I’m deeply grateful for the chance to revisit du Maurier’s genius in such a stunning edition, and I cannot recommend it highly enough to fans of dark, atmospheric storytelling.
Follow me on medium.com to read my articles about books, movies, streaming series, astrology:
medium blog
October 5, 2025
3.5 rounded up for King's intro. This is a collection of "short stories" by du Maurier, but they're really pretty long, more novellas. "The Birds" of course, I'd seen the film & was surprised at how different the novella was. Not "pretty people" like Uncle Stevie says, LOL! My favorite was one called "the Apple Tree" - very different & will stay with me - poor Midge! Overall it's a decent collection but it was also quite a lot to get through. Good gothic start to spooky season 🎃👻🎃
November 27, 2025
“After Midnight: Thirteen Tales for the Dark Hours”, by Daphne du Maurier
4 stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
This is was my first experience reading short stories written by this author.
To date I have only read “Rebecca”, which was a 5 stars read for me.
Although the stories picked for this compilation were not all satisfying, I cannot deny that her prose and storytelling were terrific.
These are the stories included in this book, in order of appearance:
The Blue Lenses
Don't Look Now
The Alibi
The Apple Tree
The Birds
Monte Verità
The Pool
The Doll
Ganymede
Leading Lady
Not After Midnight
Split Second
The Breakthrough
My favourites were the first two stories and of course, The Birds, which in my opinion is better than the movie adaptation directed by Hitchcock.
I’m going to look for the other short stories that were left from this volume.
I may try listening the dramatize audiobook by BBC Radio (some are available for free on YouTube), but there is an edition of 24 hours, including 4 novels and 14 short stories (8 not included in this recent publication).
4 stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
This is was my first experience reading short stories written by this author.
To date I have only read “Rebecca”, which was a 5 stars read for me.
Although the stories picked for this compilation were not all satisfying, I cannot deny that her prose and storytelling were terrific.
These are the stories included in this book, in order of appearance:
The Blue Lenses
Don't Look Now
The Alibi
The Apple Tree
The Birds
Monte Verità
The Pool
The Doll
Ganymede
Leading Lady
Not After Midnight
Split Second
The Breakthrough
My favourites were the first two stories and of course, The Birds, which in my opinion is better than the movie adaptation directed by Hitchcock.
I’m going to look for the other short stories that were left from this volume.
I may try listening the dramatize audiobook by BBC Radio (some are available for free on YouTube), but there is an edition of 24 hours, including 4 novels and 14 short stories (8 not included in this recent publication).
April 22, 2025
ARC for review. To be published September 30, 2025.
4 stars
A collection of thirteen short stories, including “The Birds” (which is nothing like the film; both are good.) To my recollection “The Birds” is the only one that I had read before. Nearly all were worth reading, some better than others of course, but all nice and eerie in some way. The introduction to the collection is by Stephen King, and, as much as I hate to criticize the master in any way, he gives away a little too much about some of the stories when talking about them. “The Breakthrough” was probably my favorite. Some good stuff here, and if you’ve enjoyed her in the past you’ll find something (likely multiple somethings) to like in this volume.
Edited to add: “Don’t Look Now.” I had read that and seen that movie also. I forgot.
4 stars
A collection of thirteen short stories, including “The Birds” (which is nothing like the film; both are good.) To my recollection “The Birds” is the only one that I had read before. Nearly all were worth reading, some better than others of course, but all nice and eerie in some way. The introduction to the collection is by Stephen King, and, as much as I hate to criticize the master in any way, he gives away a little too much about some of the stories when talking about them. “The Breakthrough” was probably my favorite. Some good stuff here, and if you’ve enjoyed her in the past you’ll find something (likely multiple somethings) to like in this volume.
Edited to add: “Don’t Look Now.” I had read that and seen that movie also. I forgot.
September 29, 2025
Massive Daphne Du Maurier fan here🙋♀️
When I learned there was going to be a new collection by one of the #classiclitbookclub favorite authors, Daphne Du Maurier, I just had to get a copy!
After Midnight is a collection of 13 atmospheric works of psychological suspense, supernatural terror, and sinister passion. The book also includes an introduction by Stephen King.
I tore through After Midnight in one sitting and could not put it down! All of these stories were new to me and solidified my love for the great Daphne Du Maurier.
It’s impossible for me to pick a favorite in this collection but the stories that stood out to me the most were-
🕯️The Blue Lenses,
🥀The Alibi,
🕯️Monte Verita,
🥀The Doll, and
🕯️Not After Midnight.
I highly recommend After Midnight to fans of Daphne’s work as well as those looking for a gothic and suspenseful read for spooky season.
After Midnight by Daphne Du Maurier will be available on September 30. Many thanks to Scribner Books for the gifted copy!
When I learned there was going to be a new collection by one of the #classiclitbookclub favorite authors, Daphne Du Maurier, I just had to get a copy!
After Midnight is a collection of 13 atmospheric works of psychological suspense, supernatural terror, and sinister passion. The book also includes an introduction by Stephen King.
I tore through After Midnight in one sitting and could not put it down! All of these stories were new to me and solidified my love for the great Daphne Du Maurier.
It’s impossible for me to pick a favorite in this collection but the stories that stood out to me the most were-
🕯️The Blue Lenses,
🥀The Alibi,
🕯️Monte Verita,
🥀The Doll, and
🕯️Not After Midnight.
I highly recommend After Midnight to fans of Daphne’s work as well as those looking for a gothic and suspenseful read for spooky season.
After Midnight by Daphne Du Maurier will be available on September 30. Many thanks to Scribner Books for the gifted copy!
October 3, 2025
4 ⭐️ A great mix of stories just in time for spooky season by Daphne Du Maurier, the author of Rebecca. There is a great intro by Stephen King.
I think my favorites of this collection of 13 short stories are The Birds and Don’t Look Now. The classic Hitchcock movie The Birds is based on the story, although the movie is different.
This is a great collection of scary stories some better than others but all sure to please!
Thank you NetGalley and Virago publishers for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
I think my favorites of this collection of 13 short stories are The Birds and Don’t Look Now. The classic Hitchcock movie The Birds is based on the story, although the movie is different.
This is a great collection of scary stories some better than others but all sure to please!
Thank you NetGalley and Virago publishers for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
December 21, 2025
I have been, of course, familiar with Daphne du Maurier for most of my life. My introduction to her was in school. I can't remember what grade I was in, but we read REBECCA. I have only the barest hint of memory of reading it back then.
But I re-read that classic just about two years ago, and enjoyed it immensely. Then, a few months ago, I caught Alfred Hitchcock's THE BIRDS for the very first time (yeah, yeah, I know...better late than never) and was shocked to see the "based on the story by Daphne du Maurier" tag in the credits. I'd had no idea.
I was about to seek out that story, when this book happened to be published. It's truly a fantastic collection. Of the thirteen stories, there was really only one that didn't quite grab me. All the rest, whether the best story in the bunch, or one of the weakest, still held fascinations that kept me going. The author's eye for detail, whether in settings or characters, is incredible, and her stories are subversive, pulling you in with the everyday, then quietly, stealthily pulling the rug out from under you without you even feeling it.
Many of the stories, in one form or another, deal with madness...either someone going mad, or being thrust into a mad situation that they simply cannot remove themselves from.
The range of stories, for whatever reason, came as a pleasant surprise. I guess I was kind of expecting everything to be in the style of her most famous novel, but she covers the spectrum here.
Fantastic collection.
But I re-read that classic just about two years ago, and enjoyed it immensely. Then, a few months ago, I caught Alfred Hitchcock's THE BIRDS for the very first time (yeah, yeah, I know...better late than never) and was shocked to see the "based on the story by Daphne du Maurier" tag in the credits. I'd had no idea.
I was about to seek out that story, when this book happened to be published. It's truly a fantastic collection. Of the thirteen stories, there was really only one that didn't quite grab me. All the rest, whether the best story in the bunch, or one of the weakest, still held fascinations that kept me going. The author's eye for detail, whether in settings or characters, is incredible, and her stories are subversive, pulling you in with the everyday, then quietly, stealthily pulling the rug out from under you without you even feeling it.
Many of the stories, in one form or another, deal with madness...either someone going mad, or being thrust into a mad situation that they simply cannot remove themselves from.
The range of stories, for whatever reason, came as a pleasant surprise. I guess I was kind of expecting everything to be in the style of her most famous novel, but she covers the spectrum here.
Fantastic collection.
December 28, 2025
Thank you Scribner #partner for the free finished copy to review.
I knew I needed After Midnight, this collection of 13 short stories by Daphne du Maurier, the author of my all time favorite book, Rebecca. The audiobook is narrated by a full cast and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this while following along with the physical copy of the book. Each of the 13 stories were excellent, none of which I had read before, and some I loved more than others, but all were unsettling and equally atmospheric and gothic. Du Maurier is a master at her craft and I am grateful to have this collection for my shelves.
I knew I needed After Midnight, this collection of 13 short stories by Daphne du Maurier, the author of my all time favorite book, Rebecca. The audiobook is narrated by a full cast and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this while following along with the physical copy of the book. Each of the 13 stories were excellent, none of which I had read before, and some I loved more than others, but all were unsettling and equally atmospheric and gothic. Du Maurier is a master at her craft and I am grateful to have this collection for my shelves.
September 13, 2025
This is a fun set of short stories. Introduced by the Kind of Horror Stephen King. He does a great job of setting the nice spooky tone but tread lightly - he does clarify that he will go into detail (and might be spoilery) in his intro so if you don't want to know, you might pause at that point and then reference back after each story (or at the end) to see what he says!
And this a great set of stories. Some stories were unsettling, some creepy, and some were just a surprise at the end. It's a nice mix of different tones and stories and they all have a little length to them so even though you are reading short stories, none of them are so short you don't get a full satisfactory story. A few really stand out (the birds, blue lenses) and were my favorite. It's a good mix, perfect for the fall season!
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
And this a great set of stories. Some stories were unsettling, some creepy, and some were just a surprise at the end. It's a nice mix of different tones and stories and they all have a little length to them so even though you are reading short stories, none of them are so short you don't get a full satisfactory story. A few really stand out (the birds, blue lenses) and were my favorite. It's a good mix, perfect for the fall season!
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
July 27, 2025
Daphne do Maurier is one of those writers I can forget how much I enjoy until I read her again. Thanks to this, I picked up The Glass Blowers today, on a book stall at the village fete, (I really shouldn't be buying more books at the moment, but I am now in the mood for more du Maurier). She is very good at short stories, as well as novels, which is often not the case. I had already read several of these, but had never read Don't Look Now, so very pleased to get to that. The Birds is still my favourite. Some really eerie stories in this collection, and I will be dipping into it again in the autumn, which seems like the perfect time to be reading it.
*Many thanks to Netgally and the publishers for a copy in exchange for an honest opinion.*
*Many thanks to Netgally and the publishers for a copy in exchange for an honest opinion.*
October 17, 2025
I have never read a book by Daphne du Maurier before and have been wanting to for a while. I was excited to receive this collection of creepy short stories. This is a great book for fall and spooky season. I love the way the author gives you that sense of dread throughout each story. The Birds was one that I'm happy to have finally read. I did see the movie and was curious how it compared to the book, and it actually was quite different, but still disturbing. The Doll was another hair raising story that really grabbed me. If you're looking for a book with the atmospheric, gothic, and chilling vibes, you can't go wrong with this book.
Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
November 30, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of
After Midnight.
I've never read Rebecca (I know, shocking) but I've seen the movies. 😆
I didn't know Daphne du Maurier wrote short stories so I went into this with an open mind and without expectations.
Stephen King writes the foreword, which is short, sweet, and to the point.
With any short story collection, a few stand out but never all of them
I liked The Birds (also didn't know she wrote the short story Hitchcock's movie is loosely based on because the story is SO different from the movie).
A couple of stories were creepy, unsettling, with ambiguous-ish endings, which sounds like the author's style.
I don't mind vague endings.
I'm one of those readers who do like to use their imaginations.
Daphne Du Maurier writes well with a distinctive style; at times she's too wordy but maybe that's the style back in the day.
I noticed nearly all of her main characters are male.
Its funny to see how 'queer' and 'gay' is used in the narrative back in ye olden times.
If only those authors knew how they're used in modern times! 😆
I've never read Rebecca (I know, shocking) but I've seen the movies. 😆
I didn't know Daphne du Maurier wrote short stories so I went into this with an open mind and without expectations.
Stephen King writes the foreword, which is short, sweet, and to the point.
With any short story collection, a few stand out but never all of them
I liked The Birds (also didn't know she wrote the short story Hitchcock's movie is loosely based on because the story is SO different from the movie).
A couple of stories were creepy, unsettling, with ambiguous-ish endings, which sounds like the author's style.
I don't mind vague endings.
I'm one of those readers who do like to use their imaginations.
Daphne Du Maurier writes well with a distinctive style; at times she's too wordy but maybe that's the style back in the day.
I noticed nearly all of her main characters are male.
Its funny to see how 'queer' and 'gay' is used in the narrative back in ye olden times.
If only those authors knew how they're used in modern times! 😆
November 13, 2025
This is a wonderful collection of stories by Daphne du Maurier. Most were new to me.
My favorite was still The Birds - while I love the film, this was impactful, apocalyptic, and so very dark.
New to me, but wonderful, was The Doll. That was so very creepy.
All the stories range from truly excellent to very good.
I will say that du Maurier did seem to love vague endings. I tend to like more concrete endings so some of the stories felt a little incomplete to me - more like vignettes than actual stories. Still very, very good though.
I enjoyed reading this and I now want to revisit some of the author's longer works.
* ARC via Publisher
My favorite was still The Birds - while I love the film, this was impactful, apocalyptic, and so very dark.
New to me, but wonderful, was The Doll. That was so very creepy.
All the stories range from truly excellent to very good.
I will say that du Maurier did seem to love vague endings. I tend to like more concrete endings so some of the stories felt a little incomplete to me - more like vignettes than actual stories. Still very, very good though.
I enjoyed reading this and I now want to revisit some of the author's longer works.
* ARC via Publisher
December 10, 2025
one banger after another...
November 29, 2025
DNF and don’t regret
September 29, 2025
After Midnight gathers a haunting collection of thirteen selected short stories from the "Godmother of Fear," Daphne du Maurier. I have been interested in du Maurier’s work for a while, and this 600-page-long delicacy couldn't have arrived sooner. With a foreword from the King of Horror, Stephen King, I could sense this would be an ideal start to her oeuvre and scope as an author, albeit regrettably too revealing (perhaps read the foreword after reading the stories if you mind spoilers, as King explicitly warns the reader he cares little for the idea of spoilers). In du Maurier's skilful hands, the everyday, mundane activities and holidays can morph into a haunting, atmospheric tale that will most certainly result in death. From an early age, she learned the craft of weaving folklore and urban life into horror, thriller, and romance. Her stories, always atmospheric and foreboding. Some of the tales share common themes or recurring characteristics that I found rewarding to notice. Overall, this is a great collection of short stories that showcases du Maurier's range, cementing her as one of the most influential writers of Gothic fiction in modern times.
List of short stories:
My thanks to the publisher, Little, Brown Book Group UK | Virago, for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
List of short stories:
The Blue Lenses
Don't Look Now
The Alibi
The Apple Tree
The Birds
Monte Verita
The Pool
The Doll
Ganymede
Leading Lady
Not After Midnight
Split Second
The Breakthrough
My thanks to the publisher, Little, Brown Book Group UK | Virago, for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
October 25, 2025
Deepest Darkest Daphne
A review of the Virago Editions Kindle eBook (September 30, 2025) introduced by Stephen King and collecting stories published in earlier collections (1937, 1952, 1959, 1971, 1980, 2004) and often written and published in magazines much earlier (from 1928 onwards).
I thoroughly enjoyed this collection due to the buildup of tension in the stories throughout, which often led to a final reveal or twist. Some stories echoed what I think of as H.P. Lovecraft style, in which the final sentence provides the greatest horror. Others seemed prescient of future climate, fantasy, horror or science fiction.
I'll admit that I had never read short stories by Daphne Du Maurier (1907-1989) previously, only associating her with the gothic novel Rebecca (1938). This recent 2025 release drew my attention and when I saw I could also include it in the current 2025 Long Books Challenge which I have ongoing with several GR friends, I snapped it up.
[3.9 average for the 13 stories, rounded up to a GR 4]
The following individual story ratings and synopses are hopefully free of spoilers. I've incorporated my usual Trivia and Links into each, rather than leave them for the end of the review.
1. The Blue Lenses **** Originally published in href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... Breaking Point (1959). After eye surgery a woman with blue lens implants has her bandages removed and her new vision of people is a horrible revelation, or is it an hallucination? Although the movie They Live (1988) dir. John Carpenter, was based on a different book entirely, I couldn't help but think of the various "They Live" memes in which special sunglasses reveal to the viewer the reptilian space-lords who are actually running the planet 🤣.
2. Don’t Look Now **** Originally published in Not After Midnight and Other Stories (1971). A couple travel to Venice in the aftermath of their daughter's death. The husband is irritated by the supposed visions of the psychic blind sister of the elderly Scottish twins who seem to be following them around the city. Adapted into the film Don't Look Now (1973) dir. Nicolas Roeg, starring Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland 🍁. See the trailer here.
3. The Alibi ***** Originally published in The Breaking Point (1959). Mr. Fenton is planning a murder. For his cover story he rents a room from his intended victims and plays at using it for his painting studio. The resulting paintings of the mother and child are surrealistic daubs. He seems to forget his original plan and instead becomes fixated on the idea that he is a great artist. A surprise twist brings everything crashing down.
4. The Apple Tree *** (originally published in The Apple Tree: A Short Novel and Several Long Stories (1952). A cranky newly widowed man starts to imagine that an old apple tree in his yard resembles his deceased wife whom he was glad to be rid of. The tree begins to haunt and torment him in various ways.
5. The Birds ***** Originally published in The Apple Tree: A Short Novel and Several Long Stories (1952). Apparently triggered by a cold climate wave, all birds begin attacking humans throughout the UK. A farmhand and his family are the main characters who try to survive. This is Du Maurier’s most famous story which was made into the 1963 film The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock which expanded the plot considerably. See the teaser trailer at YouTube here which includes an extensive intro by the film director.
Promotional poster for "The Birds" 1963 film adaptation. Image sourced from Wikipedia.
6. Monte Verità ***** Originally published in The Apple Tree: A Short Novel and Several Long Stories (1952). Two men both love the same woman. One marries her and they go mountain climbing on Monte Verità where she disappears and joins a mystical cult who live on the mountain. The husband pines for her and returns to the location every year. 26 years later, the other man arrives as well and a crisis occurs.
7. The Pool *** Originally published in The Breaking Point (1959)). A sister and brother spend the summer with their grandparents. The girl is mysteriously drawn towards a pond that is on the property where she has visions. She invents games for the boy in order to distract him and so that she can have privacy. She also secretly visits the pond at night. I read this one as being a metaphor for the passing of childhood / the beginning of puberty.
8. The Doll *** Most recently published in The Doll: Short Stories (Virago 2011), but written in 1928 and first collected in The editor regrets … (1937) along with stories from other authors which had been rejected or suppressed. This is considered to be one of Du Maurier's “lost stories.” A man obsesses over a woman musician violinist, until he discovers to his horror that she herself has a different obsession entirely.
9. Ganymede **** Originally published in The Breaking Point (1959). An older man on holiday in Venice imagines a young waiter as the Ganymede (cupbearer to the gods in Greek mythology) to his Zeus. He begins to groom him, but events take an unexpected course. At first I thought this was going the route of Thomas Mann's Death in Venice (1911) and perhaps it was inspired by that earlier work, but it turned out quite different.
10. Leading Lady *** Originally published in The Rendezvous and Other Stories (1980)). A stage actress is determined to select her own leading man for her next theatrical production. But first she has to figure out a way to get rid of the one chosen by the producer.
11. Not After Midnight **** Originally published in Not After Midnight and Other Stories (1971). A prep school teacher of classics goes on a painting vacation in Crete. He encounters an odd American couple who invite him to visit their chalet, but “not after midnight.” They gift him a mysterious rhyton which is related to the cult of Dionysus.
12. Split Second **** Originally published in The Rendezvous and Other Stories (1980). The widowed Mrs. Ellis goes out for a walk. She returns home and finds strangers living in her house and calls the police but she herself ends up being detained. Gradually, clues reveal that many years, if not decades, have passed since she left her home.
13. The Breakthrough **** A 1966 story, originally collected in Not After Midnight and Other Stories (1971). An electrical engineer is seconded to a secretive project that requires his special skills. Gradually the life-changing nature of the experiment is revealed but with an horrific revelation. I did a separate review of this one in its Penguin Modern edition, which includes links to its TV adaptations at Break on Through to the Other Side.
A review of the Virago Editions Kindle eBook (September 30, 2025) introduced by Stephen King and collecting stories published in earlier collections (1937, 1952, 1959, 1971, 1980, 2004) and often written and published in magazines much earlier (from 1928 onwards).
Suffice it to say that you are in the hands of a master storyteller. A diabolical one, at that. The line-by-line quality of du Maurier’s writing is astonishing, given how prolific she was: seventeen novels, six biographies, three plays and dozens of short stories. Those which follow are among her best. - from the Introduction by Stephen King.
I thoroughly enjoyed this collection due to the buildup of tension in the stories throughout, which often led to a final reveal or twist. Some stories echoed what I think of as H.P. Lovecraft style, in which the final sentence provides the greatest horror. Others seemed prescient of future climate, fantasy, horror or science fiction.
I'll admit that I had never read short stories by Daphne Du Maurier (1907-1989) previously, only associating her with the gothic novel Rebecca (1938). This recent 2025 release drew my attention and when I saw I could also include it in the current 2025 Long Books Challenge which I have ongoing with several GR friends, I snapped it up.
[3.9 average for the 13 stories, rounded up to a GR 4]
The following individual story ratings and synopses are hopefully free of spoilers. I've incorporated my usual Trivia and Links into each, rather than leave them for the end of the review.
1. The Blue Lenses **** Originally published in href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... Breaking Point (1959). After eye surgery a woman with blue lens implants has her bandages removed and her new vision of people is a horrible revelation, or is it an hallucination? Although the movie They Live (1988) dir. John Carpenter, was based on a different book entirely, I couldn't help but think of the various "They Live" memes in which special sunglasses reveal to the viewer the reptilian space-lords who are actually running the planet 🤣.
2. Don’t Look Now **** Originally published in Not After Midnight and Other Stories (1971). A couple travel to Venice in the aftermath of their daughter's death. The husband is irritated by the supposed visions of the psychic blind sister of the elderly Scottish twins who seem to be following them around the city. Adapted into the film Don't Look Now (1973) dir. Nicolas Roeg, starring Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland 🍁. See the trailer here.
3. The Alibi ***** Originally published in The Breaking Point (1959). Mr. Fenton is planning a murder. For his cover story he rents a room from his intended victims and plays at using it for his painting studio. The resulting paintings of the mother and child are surrealistic daubs. He seems to forget his original plan and instead becomes fixated on the idea that he is a great artist. A surprise twist brings everything crashing down.
4. The Apple Tree *** (originally published in The Apple Tree: A Short Novel and Several Long Stories (1952). A cranky newly widowed man starts to imagine that an old apple tree in his yard resembles his deceased wife whom he was glad to be rid of. The tree begins to haunt and torment him in various ways.
5. The Birds ***** Originally published in The Apple Tree: A Short Novel and Several Long Stories (1952). Apparently triggered by a cold climate wave, all birds begin attacking humans throughout the UK. A farmhand and his family are the main characters who try to survive. This is Du Maurier’s most famous story which was made into the 1963 film The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock which expanded the plot considerably. See the teaser trailer at YouTube here which includes an extensive intro by the film director.
Promotional poster for "The Birds" 1963 film adaptation. Image sourced from Wikipedia.
6. Monte Verità ***** Originally published in The Apple Tree: A Short Novel and Several Long Stories (1952). Two men both love the same woman. One marries her and they go mountain climbing on Monte Verità where she disappears and joins a mystical cult who live on the mountain. The husband pines for her and returns to the location every year. 26 years later, the other man arrives as well and a crisis occurs.
7. The Pool *** Originally published in The Breaking Point (1959)). A sister and brother spend the summer with their grandparents. The girl is mysteriously drawn towards a pond that is on the property where she has visions. She invents games for the boy in order to distract him and so that she can have privacy. She also secretly visits the pond at night. I read this one as being a metaphor for the passing of childhood / the beginning of puberty.
8. The Doll *** Most recently published in The Doll: Short Stories (Virago 2011), but written in 1928 and first collected in The editor regrets … (1937) along with stories from other authors which had been rejected or suppressed. This is considered to be one of Du Maurier's “lost stories.” A man obsesses over a woman musician violinist, until he discovers to his horror that she herself has a different obsession entirely.
9. Ganymede **** Originally published in The Breaking Point (1959). An older man on holiday in Venice imagines a young waiter as the Ganymede (cupbearer to the gods in Greek mythology) to his Zeus. He begins to groom him, but events take an unexpected course. At first I thought this was going the route of Thomas Mann's Death in Venice (1911) and perhaps it was inspired by that earlier work, but it turned out quite different.
10. Leading Lady *** Originally published in The Rendezvous and Other Stories (1980)). A stage actress is determined to select her own leading man for her next theatrical production. But first she has to figure out a way to get rid of the one chosen by the producer.
11. Not After Midnight **** Originally published in Not After Midnight and Other Stories (1971). A prep school teacher of classics goes on a painting vacation in Crete. He encounters an odd American couple who invite him to visit their chalet, but “not after midnight.” They gift him a mysterious rhyton which is related to the cult of Dionysus.
12. Split Second **** Originally published in The Rendezvous and Other Stories (1980). The widowed Mrs. Ellis goes out for a walk. She returns home and finds strangers living in her house and calls the police but she herself ends up being detained. Gradually, clues reveal that many years, if not decades, have passed since she left her home.
13. The Breakthrough **** A 1966 story, originally collected in Not After Midnight and Other Stories (1971). An electrical engineer is seconded to a secretive project that requires his special skills. Gradually the life-changing nature of the experiment is revealed but with an horrific revelation. I did a separate review of this one in its Penguin Modern edition, which includes links to its TV adaptations at Break on Through to the Other Side.
October 1, 2025
Thanks to Scribner for my early copy for review - this collection is out as of yesterday!
Featuring thirteen stories from Daphne du Maurier, AFTER MIDNIGHT is sure to satiate horror and mystery readers alike in some capacity!
I loved getting to read The Birds for the first time and discovering so many new to me works as well (The Breakthrough ended up being a major standout!) and I think this collection is really well-rounded!
Featuring thirteen stories from Daphne du Maurier, AFTER MIDNIGHT is sure to satiate horror and mystery readers alike in some capacity!
I loved getting to read The Birds for the first time and discovering so many new to me works as well (The Breakthrough ended up being a major standout!) and I think this collection is really well-rounded!
October 25, 2025
A woman has an eye lens transplant that radically alters her vision of the people around her. A couple touring in Venice encounter two elderly sisters, one of whom is blind but clairvoyant...with ominous messages for them. An actress cleverly manipulates her situation to obtain the leading man she wants for a dazzling new play. A woman goes for a walk in her neighborhood and returns to a whole different world. These stories -- and ten more (including the story that inspired Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds') -- are to be found in this collection by Daphne du Maurier. (My personal favorite? "The Apple Tree," in which a recent widower finds a problematic resemblance between a tree in his yard and his difficult wife.) -- Each story is a tour-de-force, showing the author's wide range and ability to draw believable characters and involving plotlines. Highly recommended!
July 28, 2025
Du Maurier was way ahead of her time. These stories are dark, twisted, and full of ambiguity; definitely not your typical horror. My favorites were The Blue Lenses, The Alibi, The Birds, and Monte Verità. A few others felt unfinished (I’m still confused about Not After Midnight), but the collection as a whole has a really eerie vibe.
Great for a fall or winter book club, especially if you like slow-burn, psychological horror over jump scares. Not perfect, but definitely memorable!
Thank you to Netgalley and Scribner for this arc
Great for a fall or winter book club, especially if you like slow-burn, psychological horror over jump scares. Not perfect, but definitely memorable!
Thank you to Netgalley and Scribner for this arc
September 30, 2025
Daphne du Maurier remains one of my favorite spooky period writers.
This collection of thirteen creeping stories was such a fun read. Made me feel like it was fall instead of this ol humid weather.
This collection of thirteen creeping stories was such a fun read. Made me feel like it was fall instead of this ol humid weather.
September 23, 2025
Rounded up to 4.5/5 Stars
Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
What a haunting collection! Daphne du Maurier's mastery of psychological suspense and atmospheric dread is on full display in these thirteen dark tales, expertly curated to showcase her range as a storyteller of the macabre.
Standout Stories:
"The Blue Lenses" makes for a brilliant opener - a seemingly simple premise that builds into something genuinely unsettling and thought-provoking about perception and reality.
"The Birds" is absolutely masterful. Du Maurier creates this sense of creeping, inevitable dread while focusing on one family's experience. The radio silence from London (and presumably the world) amplifies the horror - what's happening beyond this microcosm? The psychological tension is incredible.
"The Alibi" offers a fascinating dive into the meticulous mind of someone planning murder. Du Maurier's ability to make you invested in a character's dark calculations is unsettling in the best way.
"The Apple Tree" delivers a completely unique type of haunting that I didn't see coming - du Maurier's talent for the unexpected shines here.
What Makes This Collection Work:
- Atmospheric mastery - Each story creates its own sense of unease and dread
- Psychological depth - Du Maurier excels at getting inside characters' heads
- Variety within darkness - From supernatural horror to psychological thrillers, each story feels distinct
- Stephen King's introduction - Provides excellent context for du Maurier's influence on modern horror
- Perfect pacing - Stories build tension methodically without rushing to cheap scares
Reading Experience Note: This collection pairs beautifully with listening to the audiobook of Rebecca. Experiencing du Maurier's short, sharp psychological punches alongside her masterful, haunting novel creates an immersive dive into her dark genius - highly recommend this combination!
This collection showcases exactly why du Maurier's work has inspired countless films and authors. Her ability to blend the psychological with the supernatural, the mundane with the terrifying, remains unmatched.
Perfect for: Fans of classic horror, readers who appreciate atmospheric psychological suspense, or anyone wanting to understand du Maurier's influence on the genre beyond Rebecca.
A masterclass in dark storytelling that will haunt you long after reading. Great for fall reading!
Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
What a haunting collection! Daphne du Maurier's mastery of psychological suspense and atmospheric dread is on full display in these thirteen dark tales, expertly curated to showcase her range as a storyteller of the macabre.
Standout Stories:
"The Blue Lenses" makes for a brilliant opener - a seemingly simple premise that builds into something genuinely unsettling and thought-provoking about perception and reality.
"The Birds" is absolutely masterful. Du Maurier creates this sense of creeping, inevitable dread while focusing on one family's experience. The radio silence from London (and presumably the world) amplifies the horror - what's happening beyond this microcosm? The psychological tension is incredible.
"The Alibi" offers a fascinating dive into the meticulous mind of someone planning murder. Du Maurier's ability to make you invested in a character's dark calculations is unsettling in the best way.
"The Apple Tree" delivers a completely unique type of haunting that I didn't see coming - du Maurier's talent for the unexpected shines here.
What Makes This Collection Work:
- Atmospheric mastery - Each story creates its own sense of unease and dread
- Psychological depth - Du Maurier excels at getting inside characters' heads
- Variety within darkness - From supernatural horror to psychological thrillers, each story feels distinct
- Stephen King's introduction - Provides excellent context for du Maurier's influence on modern horror
- Perfect pacing - Stories build tension methodically without rushing to cheap scares
Reading Experience Note: This collection pairs beautifully with listening to the audiobook of Rebecca. Experiencing du Maurier's short, sharp psychological punches alongside her masterful, haunting novel creates an immersive dive into her dark genius - highly recommend this combination!
This collection showcases exactly why du Maurier's work has inspired countless films and authors. Her ability to blend the psychological with the supernatural, the mundane with the terrifying, remains unmatched.
Perfect for: Fans of classic horror, readers who appreciate atmospheric psychological suspense, or anyone wanting to understand du Maurier's influence on the genre beyond Rebecca.
A masterclass in dark storytelling that will haunt you long after reading. Great for fall reading!
January 5, 2026
This was a great book to start my reading for 2026! I have always loved the book "Rebecca" and wanted to read some of du Maurier's short stories for some time. This collection includes two stories which have been made into movies (The Birds and Don't Look Now"). All of the stories feature slow building dread, unusual themes and a penchant for writing that is different than anything else I have read. These stories are all in the thriller/horror/science fiction realm and many were downright creepy.
My favorite stories were "The Blue Lenses" which was about a woman who develops the ability to see people as they really are, "The Birds" which was more complex and even scarier than the movie and "Split Second" about a woman who goes for a walk and comes home to not recognizing anything. Even the stories that I didn't quite understand were interesting and layered. The last story in the book, "The Breakthrough" would be at home with modern science fiction as it deals with the ability of a computer to capture a person's personality and soul. I very much enjoyed this collection of stories and the wounded and sometimes evil characters they portray.
My favorite stories were "The Blue Lenses" which was about a woman who develops the ability to see people as they really are, "The Birds" which was more complex and even scarier than the movie and "Split Second" about a woman who goes for a walk and comes home to not recognizing anything. Even the stories that I didn't quite understand were interesting and layered. The last story in the book, "The Breakthrough" would be at home with modern science fiction as it deals with the ability of a computer to capture a person's personality and soul. I very much enjoyed this collection of stories and the wounded and sometimes evil characters they portray.
Read
December 9, 2025I did not finish this book, so I can’t rate or write a review of it.
But if I were to write a review, it would start by talking about how this type of horror is stupid because it’s all about magnifying social anxieties the reader already has, and that these stories are mostly stupid and bad because not only are we left with the question of “why at all?” we also begin to suspect we would not like the person who had these anxieties.
In short, if you’ve written a story that only has power if your reader has a pre-existing fear of little people or getting your period for the first time or Spaniards, you have written a real stinker.
Though I think her entries collected in this book are mostly garbage, you do have to admire the hutzpah of someone who would surely have read Edgar Allen Poe, produced this stuff, and then said “yeah that’ll do” as they sent the manuscript to their agent.
“The Birds” went hard though.
But if I were to write a review, it would start by talking about how this type of horror is stupid because it’s all about magnifying social anxieties the reader already has, and that these stories are mostly stupid and bad because not only are we left with the question of “why at all?” we also begin to suspect we would not like the person who had these anxieties.
In short, if you’ve written a story that only has power if your reader has a pre-existing fear of little people or getting your period for the first time or Spaniards, you have written a real stinker.
Though I think her entries collected in this book are mostly garbage, you do have to admire the hutzpah of someone who would surely have read Edgar Allen Poe, produced this stuff, and then said “yeah that’ll do” as they sent the manuscript to their agent.
“The Birds” went hard though.
October 25, 2025
Having grown up reading Roald Dahl, du Maurier's writing feels familiar and nostalgic. While some of the plots can feel cliched to a modern audience, and there are a few elements that have not aged well, the writing is consistently gripping. The twists are not too surprising, since the foreshadowing is well balanced, but the characters narrating their stories are always compelling.
Read
November 2, 2025there are a couple stories here that are a bit too reliant on Twilight Zone twists that are a bit too easy to guess (a downside to Du Maurier being so influential, adapted, and frequently-copied, including by, well, The Twilight Zone), but the best of these stories still have a ton of force to them. there aren’t many writers who would be suffering a downgrade when adapted by Alfred Hitchcock, but she’s one; as good as the film version of “The Birds” is, the original story is about as bleak, primal, and effective as horror stories come
December 30, 2025
An excellent collection of stories, all 5 stars except for two that I didn't care for. My favorites were The Alibi and Split Second, which were new to me, and The Blue Lenses, a long-time favorite.
October 2, 2025
My average rating from all the stories comes out to around 3.5, so rounding up!! As with any collection there are going to be some you love and some you dislike. I’m happy to report as a du Maurier fan that I mostly enjoyed all of these stories! Her writing is so distinct and has stood the test of time. I know some of these have been adapted into movies but also feel like some more modern media was also inspired by some of these as well.
I’ve been wanting to read some of her stories and this collection was a great way to do that without tracking them down individually.
I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The blue lenses - 4
Don’t look now - 3
The alibi - 3
The apple tree - 3
The birds - 5
Monte verita - 2
The pool - 3
The doll - 3
Ganymede - 4
Leading lady - 3
Not after midnight - 4
Split second - 5
The breakthrough - 4
I’ve been wanting to read some of her stories and this collection was a great way to do that without tracking them down individually.
I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The blue lenses - 4
Don’t look now - 3
The alibi - 3
The apple tree - 3
The birds - 5
Monte verita - 2
The pool - 3
The doll - 3
Ganymede - 4
Leading lady - 3
Not after midnight - 4
Split second - 5
The breakthrough - 4
June 4, 2025
I reread Rebecca earlier this year and absolutely loved it, so I was excited to snag After Midnight and get more acquainted with her short writing!
This collection of short stories absolutely floored me. The writing is timeless, and compelling. The plots are dark, unsettling, and completely unique. There wasn’t a single story that didn’t completely grip me, and the forward by Stephen King was a great way to tie the collection together. Maybe one of my favorite reads so far this year!
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC, I can’t wait to buy this when it comes out.
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