A Natural History of Hell

by Jeffrey Ford

Emily Dickinson takes a carriage ride with Death. A couple are invited over to a neighbor's daughter's exorcism. A country witch with a sea-captain's head in a glass globe intercedes on behalf of abused and abandoned children. In July of 1915, in Hardin County, Ohio, a boy sees ghosts. Explore contemporary natural history in a baker's dozen of exhilarating visions.

Contains:
-The Blameless
-Word Doll
-The Angel Seems
-Mount Chary Galore
-A Natural History of Autumn
-Blood Drive
-A Terror Rocket Ship to Hell
-The Fairy Enterprise
-The Last Triangle
-Spirits of Salt: A Tale of the Coral Heart The Thyme Fiend
-The Prelate's Commission

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Anthologies, Speculative Fiction, Collections

256 pages, Paperback

First published July 12, 2016

About the author

Jeffrey Ford is an American writer in the Fantastic genre tradition, although his works have spanned genres including Fantasy, Science Fiction and Mystery. His work is characterized by a sweeping imaginative power, humor, literary allusion, and a fascination with tales told within tales. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Binghamton, where he studied with the novelist John Gardner.

He lives in southern New Jersey and teaches writing and literature at Brookdale Community College in Monmouth County. He has also taught at the summer Clarion Workshop for science fiction and fantasy writers in Michigan. He has contributed stories, essays and interviews to various magazines and e-magazines including MSS, Puerto Del Sol, Northwest Review, Hayden's Ferry Review, Argosy, Event Horizon, Infinity Plus, Black Gate and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

He published his first story, "The Casket", in Gardner's literary magazine MSS in 1981 and his first full-length novel, Vanitas, in 1988.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent of collection of thirteen fantasy stories. The Blameless is a fine exorcism story on a near-Earth where such things are common, set in a kind of Spielberg neighborhood with a Shirley Jackson or Grady Hendrix flavor. Word Doll is more of a Manley Wade Wellman folk tale set in a rural Ohio museum of creepy dolls, for those who know that all dolls are kind of creepy. The Angel Seems is a sort of parable about village life and how it's changed by an angel's yearly visit. Mount Chary Galore is another Wellman-esque folk tale about macabre aspects of small-town life. A Natural History of Autumn, an award nominee and winner, is a sad and funny romance about the Japanese mafia. Blood Drive is a short and powerful and poignant look at guns in school and society. A Terror is a story about Emily Dickinson being dead; I remember reading an odd story by Barry N. Malzberg about the same thing, and another by Aldiss or Ballard or somebody like that... there should be an anthology. (Remember that Neil Gaiman taught us on Babylon 5 in the Day of the Dead episode that all of Dickinson's poems can be sung to the tune "The Yellow Rose of Texas." Coincidence? You be the judge.) Rocket Ship to Hell is a shaggy dog convention story (all good convention stories are of the shaggy dog variety), a meta-fiction approach that mentions Michael Swanwick, Tom Purdom, Chester Anderson, fishbowl space suit helmets and rockets with fins, etc. Almost too much fun to be legal. The Fairy Enterprise is a Victorian steampunk body horror tale with a magic curse, not a voyage of the Starship. The Last Triangle is an old-fashioned addiction and redemption crime story with curiously unlikable yet sympathetic characters. Spirits of Salt: A Tale of the Coral Heart was a little hard to follow; it's a literate swords & sorcery fantasy parable that seemed much longer than it was. The Thyme Fiend was a very good story set in rural Ohio in 1915. It's a very complex, dark tale that reminded me more than anything of Ray Bradbury at his darkest. I thought it was the best-written story in the book, very descriptive and evocative. The final story, The Prelate's Commission, is a straight-forward deal-with-the-devil story about an artist, and the nature of art and religion. It's a very thought-provoking collection, and the writing is very polished. I didn't love all of the stories but recognized that they're very good anyway. It's an excellent book that takes on big themes without making them sound trite.

[Catherine Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC copy in return for an honest review.

A NATURAL HISTORY OF HELL is a collection of thirteen stories, almost all of them previously published in magazines and anthologies but for the lead story "The Blameless." All thirteen are delightful, terrifying, thoughtful and incredibly well written. Jeffrey Ford's style is eloquent and accessible, literary and engaging. His stories have an engrossing, almost mythological feel to them, strengthened by well-placed descriptions, impeccable pacing and Ford's rare talent for delivering a satisfying ending.

Ford delivers thirteen tales that I read through to the last page with increased enthusiasm for the next and a desire to read more of his work in the upcoming year. The stories range from literary, science fiction, fantasy, horror and various mixtures of all four. Genre doesn't seem to matter much to Ford, as long as it serves the story he's trying to tell. His avoidance of tropes and skill in creating fresh, original, fiction should put this collection on everyone's summer reading list for July.

There isn't a single bad story in this whole book, from "The Blameless," about a world where exorcisms are as casual as a sweet sixteen, to "The Angel Seems," about a town under the dubious protection of a malevolent angel, to "The Thyme Fiend," a longer piece about a boy who sees the dead. Ford writes consistent, thought-provoking fiction that occasionally plucks on some very heavy, socially relevant notes.

A real stand-out for me is "Blood Drive" about a re-imagined America where the theocracy encourages High School students to carry guns. The gun becomes a rite of passage, meant to keep society "safe." It is one of the most socially relevant, emotionally gripping stories I've read in a long time. The morality is not heavy handed, the theme artfully handled, but it struck a chord with this reader, as I suspect it has and will for many others.

A NATURAL HISTORY OF HELL will be available through Small Beer Press on July 12th.

http://smallbeerpress.com/forthcoming...

[Peter Tillman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A must-read for Jeffrey Ford fans. So far, the standouts for me have been "A Natural History of Autumn" and "Word Doll", which are both online. I hated the two religious stories.

Here is Paul di Filippo's fine professional review. He likes it a lot. This is the review to read first:
http://locusmag.com/2016/07/paul-di-f...

My story notes:
"The Blameless" (2016). Exorcisms for teens! A new suburban rage. Unsold, likely a NYer reject, but pretty good. The Reverend Kan, the High Holy Blameless is a hoot. 3.5 stars.

"Word Doll" (2015). Online at http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fic... A really good Gothic Midwest sort-of horror story about, well, you should discover it for yourself. 4.5 stars, and this isn't my usual sort of thing. High marks. PdF says "mesmerizing and highly satisfactory." Ayup.

"The Angel Seems" (2012). Grotesque, surreal religious horror story with graphic blood and violence. Well-written, but I hated it, and will try to forget it. 1 star.

"Mount Chary Galore " (2014). Appalachian pastoral with a wonderful opening: Mrs. Oftshaw the liniment-maker and her hog Jundle, who sometimes smoked a fat cheroot. Descends into blood and terror, relieved a bit by young love. Still digesting this one. Not my usual thing, but well-done.

"A Natural History of Autumn" (2012, F&SF). Japanese rural horror-fantasy. Riku the businessman and Michi the hostess have an adventure. One of them survives. Atmospheric, creepy and excellent, 4.5 stars. Online at https://lithub.com/a-natural-history-... and you should read it.
Won the 2013 Shirley Jackson award for Best Short Fiction.

"Rocket Ship to Hell" (2013, Tor.com). A shaggy-rocket story from WorldCon. Good, but overlong. Online at https://www.tor.com/2013/07/20/rocket... 3.3 stars

"The Thyme Fiend" (2013, Tor.com). Dark fantasy novelette, online at https://www.tor.com/2015/03/11/the-th... DNF, bounced. But PdF (below) says "will enter the annals of essential, classic ghost stories."

"The Prelate's Commission" (2013). A grim medieval religious fantasy about a pact with Satan. I hated it. But here it is: https://subterraneanpress.com/magazin... 1 star for me. Certainly well-crafted. You have been warned.

Stories not mentioned weren't read; seemed horror-ish or otherwise unappealing. Now it's due back.

[Ben Loory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every story is great but my favorites are "Word Doll," "Rocket Ship to Hell," "The Last Triangle," and-- especially-- "The Prelate's Commission." Ford takes ideas that most writers would cling to and milk for three or four or five hundred pages and tosses them off left and right like they were nothing on his way to new worlds he seems to create out of thin air. If these stories weren't so god damn enjoyable they'd make me jealous as hell.

[Melora · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of short stories, united by the theme of wickedness and with varying degrees of the supernatural, is, like most collections, an uneven thing. Unfortunately, while many collections have a number of adequate stories and some gems, this one is heavily weighted towards the shoddy end of mediocre. There are a few pretty entertaining stories, several “meh,” and a couple that are really bad.

The copy I received through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer's program is marked as “Advance Uncorrected Proof,” and, unlike my previous experiences with such editions, this one really is uncorrected. Misspellings, wrong homophones, grammar and punctuation errors, the works. I am assuming that all this is corrected in the final published copy and tried not to allow these issues to affect my rating, but the clumsy, immature writing in one of the stories, “Blood Drive,” stood out as in need of significant editorial assistance.

A rundown of the stories:

The Blameless: Exorcisms join the Quinceanera and the Bar Mitzvah in the line-up of teenage rites of passage. A novel idea, but incredibly boring in execution.

Word Doll: A take on the harvest spirit/monster theme. A little slow, but not bad.

The Angel Seems: A spirit brings a community luck but (surprise) requires human sacrifices. Dull.

Mount Chary Galore: Particularly weird story of sordid family secrets and gruesome consequences. Fairly pointless.

A Natural History of Autumn: Evil Japanese demons and their wild shenanigans. Ho hum.

Blood Drive: Set In a state where high school seniors, and teachers, are required to attend school carrying firearms, readers will be shocked by the story's completely unexpected climax. Or not.

A Terror: A twist on Emily Dickinson's “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” this one starts out feeling terribly predictable, but then takes an interesting turn.

Rocket Ship to Hell: A science fiction writer meets an old guy in a bar who spins a truly “weird tale.” Interesting.

The Fairy Enterprise: A heartless industrialist determines to manufacture an unusual sort of product, but finds the process unexpectedly demanding. A clever idea, but bogs down in grubby details.

The Last Triangle: An addict is rescued by a little old lady. Adventures ensue. One of my favorites.

Spirits of Salt: A Tale of the Coral Heart: The “origin” tale of a warrior with a magical sword. Not awful, but a little disjointed and slow.

The Thyme Fiend: Thyme quiets nightmares for a boy who sees strange things. Quite good, though the end was not the surprise it might have been.

The Prelate's Commission: Cliches abound in this tale of a corrupt churchman who commissions a portrait of the devil, but it's still moderately entertaining.

So, “A Terror,” “The Last Triangle,” and “The Thyme Fiend” are all pretty good stories. The others... not so good. There are too many better collections out there for me to recommend this.

I received this book from LibraryThing through their Early Reviewers program with the understanding that the content of my review would not affect my likelihood of receiving books through the program in the future. Many thanks to Small Beer Press and LibraryThing!

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have two problems with this collection of stories by Jeffrey Ford. The first is that I simply don't like horror stories as a genre. I have never understood the appeal of horror literature; clearly a great many people disagree. Real life is frightening enough (particularly as I write this in 2020 and coronavirus stalks through the world, slaying tens of thousands). I was aware that some of these tales were intended to be horrifying, though, so I can hardly blame Jeffrey Ford for my reading them anyway.

The second problem is that not every story here is superb. Ford is, after all, the author of "The Honeyed Knot" and "The Empire of Ice Cream," so I know that he can write truly marvelous fantasy stories. Most of the stories here are fine, but they do not all have the shining excellence of the very best of Ford's work.

One of the stories I find really disappointing. "The Angel Seems" is a horror story, in which many terrible things happen to nice people (and other beings as well). Even if I thought this were better, I still wouldn't like it.

"Spirits of Salt: A Tale of the Coral Heart" is a good sword and sorcery type of story, better than most, I believe, but not outstanding. It begins well but then becomes more routine.

"Rocket Ship to Hell" is far from routine. This is one of the two stories in this collection that is not a fantasy. It is science fiction, and it is one of the many science fiction and fantasy stories that consists mostly of an extraordinary tale told by a guy in a bar. The narrator telling the story about the man telling a story says he is a science fiction author, whose name is never given. The man in the bar who tells the story is also a science fiction writer. The tale he tells is about his voyage with two other folks in a privately owned rocket ship. This is the one totally comic (aside from a death or two, that is) story in the book.

"The Blameless" does begin as a comic story but it becomes more serious. This tells of a time and place in which many young people undergo a new rite of passage, rather like a bar mitzvah or a first communion. They have an exorcism, removing demons from their bodies. This is the only story in the book which was not previously published elsewhere.

"Blood Drive" is another story about young people in a strange future or alternate present. The young woman narrating tells of her experience in high school, in which all the seniors and all the staff carry guns, and most are prepared to use them. This very violent tale has an ending that is, incredibly, almost sweet.

The other story here that borders on sweetness has the decidedly non-sweet title "The Terror." This is the story of the death of Emily Dickinson - or, rather, of a death of Emily Dickinson. The two central characters are Dickinson and Death, who kindly stops for her. Readers of Locus magazine voted for "The Terror" as the fifth best novelette published in this field during the year that it first appeared.

The protagonist in the story "The Fairy Enterprise" is an uncommonly callous rich man, who devises a scheme to open a fairy factory - not a factory run by fairies, but a place to manufacture fairies. This does not turn out to be a good plan.

The title character in "The Prelate's Commission" is another cruel and powerful man. He orders a young artist to locate the devil and paint his portrait, so that men and women will be "able to identify the demon, so that they know when he comes for them." This is also an unfortunate plan.

"Mount Chary Galore" is the name of a kind of linlment vended by a strange old woman who lived in a cabin in the woods with a large gray cigar-smoking hog. Both the woman and the hog have unusual abilities. The narrator tells of something that happened when he was a fourteen year old and he and two other children, the girl he liked and her peculiar brother, were hired by a minister to spy on the woman. This leads to a truly horrific incident.

Another old woman and a young male drug addict become friends in "The Last Triangle." A man from the woman's past re-enters her life. He knows things about magic, but she does also. This is a good story of magic, love, and friendship. It was nominated for an annual Shirley Jackson Award for best novelette in the field of horror and dark fantasy.

In the story "Word Doll," a writer named Jeff Ford notices a sign saying "Word Doll Museum" and decides to see what that might be. The elderly woman who answers the door tells Ford that he is the first person to visit the museum in some twenty years. She explains to him that the dolls were once given to farmers' children of six or seven as they began helping with work in the fields; they would "allow the child to escape into her imagination while her physical body stays on the task at hand." Then the old woman tells the writer about one occasion in which the plan went spectacularly awry.

Many of the stories that I have discussed thus far are quite good. The two remaining tales are, in my opinion, both excellent. They are both horror stories, but so good that it offsets my generally poor opinion of that genre.

"The Thyme Fiend" is a ghost story. A young boy is troubled by persistent night terrors. The only thing that seems to calm him is tea made from thyme. As the story goes on, the boy becomes increasingly dependent on thyme; he has become a "thyme fiend."

The boy spots a body at the bottom of an abandoned well. When the police bring up the skeletonized corpse, it is identified as being a young man who had disappeared three years earlier. The corpse begins to appear to the boy frequently, but only he can see it. Eventually the specter motions for the boy to follow and he does, accompanied by a girl who has befriended him

This leads to great danger and some non-supernatural horror. The boy now knows about more than one murder. The police chief fails to take this seriously at first, even when the boy accurately predicts another death.

This is a fine, atmospheric rural mystery as well as a ghost tale. The ending is especially satisfactory. This story was also nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award.

"A Natural History of Autumn" is genuinely scary. It is set in Japan, where a young man and woman meet, not as accidentally as it first appears. Surprise follows surprise, horror follows horror.
I don't want to discuss this in any more detail and risk spoiling things for readers. The only flaw is the occasional use of untranslated Japanese terms. (I found most of these on Google.) This story was nominated for a World Fantasy Award and won a Shirley Jackson Award.

The book as a whole won both the Shirley Jackson and the World Fantasy Awards for best collection of 2017.

[Reese Copeland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book of short stories. Some much better than others, but generally, held my attention well. Some of the stories were very creative and fun to listen to, some were very engaging and some seemed dry. All in all, a great book, with a little something for everyone with the theme being based on Hell and Hell-ish things.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic title, am I right folks? A Natural History of Hell is the first I've read of many works by authors I found out about at 2016's Readercon. Almost immediately, from the first story, I have found that this collection is what I'm looking for from horror, and more characteristics that I didn't even know I wanted in a story! It is at times humorous (subtle and obvious) but can also incite feelings of dread and at times even awe and wonderment.

A natural history is defined, according to Merriam-Webster, as " the study of natural objects especially in the field from an amateur or popular point of view". The characters that populate the multifaceted "Hell" are as varied as the stories themselves. Amongst the damned, and deitrus of humanity, we come across witches, sorcerers, faeries, Death, demons, Satan, ghosts and a donkey named, naturally, Hermes!

Another nice touch is that there are thirteen stories in this collection.

Spanning several genres, perhaps only unified by the ideas conjured by the evocative title, the stories in A Natural History of Hell succeed in being provocative, engaging and highly entertaining. This is a solid collection of short stories, and I'm glad I still have plenty of works by Jeffrey Ford to experience.

[Kdawg91 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful trip into a wild and weird collection of short stories. Mr. Ford grabs on to some of the weirdest and most varied ideas you could imagine and weaves wonderful snapshots into the multiverse.


If you are a fan of the things I review, go read this. You will not be disappointed.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ford's collection of stories generally themed around spiritual damnation and the afterlife is a fantastic journey into a vivid imagination. A Natural History of Hell is filled with stories ranging from hallucinatory Lewis Carroll-esque visions to supernatural adventures out of Ray Bradbury Theater, dark fairy tales that read like early Stephen King to philosophical explorations worthy of Haruki Murakami. No matter what you're expecting when you pick up this book, you'll find surprises inside as well as welcome returns to familiar landscapes. Pack your crucifix and a bundle of thyme as you explore A Natural History of Hell.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a literary world compartmentalised into genres and sub-genres, how would you categorise a book where supernatural is merely a cloak for exploration of human evil, its consequences, and the payback?
Perhaps fantasy would be the most overarching term for such literature.
So, is the book under discussion a fantasy? I don't know. But one thing I can say for sure.
It's fantastic.
Regrettably devoid of a preface which should have graced this book, we have the following stories therein:
1. The Blameless: In an amicable neighbourhood families are invited to witness an exorcism. What happens next? This story was sweet, sharp, smart, and an ideal opener.
2. Word Doll: Dolls are creepy. And when a doll is used to keep someone going on & on & on... Scary one, despite its cozy tone.
3. The Angel Seems: Bound to be burnt, in the Bible Belt and other places inclined towards inquisition-like stuff. This was the best story in the collection.
4. Mount Chary Galore: Magical, tragic, and absolutely brutal in its pithy depiction of guilt & punishment.
5. A Natural History of Autumn: Can horror stories be sublime in their beauty, pain, and remorseless nature? Yes, they can be. This one is a classic example.
6. Blood Drive: Encapsulated within a satire and dark comedy, this story is a very real, very disturbing look at the changing shape of United States of America.
7. A Terror: Did the enigmatic poet Emily Dickinson meet death once? What did she do? A riveting story, this one was unputdownable.
8. Rocket Ship to Hell: A Practical Joke? A loving 'take' on SF fandom? An enigma? Read it to find out.
9. The Fairy Enterprise: Another short, sharp tale of comeuppance.
10. The Last Triangle: A proper mystery, along with a journey towards redemption.
11. Spirits of Salt: A Tale of the Coral Heart: Another exceptional story that wears the disguise of sword & sorcery, but in reality is of a different league altogether.
12. The Thyme Fiend: The story was overlong and underwhelming. Got bored, frankly.
13. The Prelate's Commission: Another brilliant, cleverly constructed star that concluded the collection neatly.

I would be going for more books by Jeffrey Ford. That's confirmed.
Recommended, obviously.

[Lord Humungus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding collection of short stories. Lovely, poetic combinations of fantasy, horror and the weird, written with the assured style and deft hand of a storytelling master. My favorite piece, "A Natural History of Autumn", read like the screenplay for an amazing Asian cinema horror movie, absolutely superb.

Highly recommended.

[Laura Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book I've read so far this year. I loved the social commentary. I loved the creepy unease I felt even after the stories I liked less. Just phenomenal.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic collection of horror short stories by the master himself, Jeffrey Ford.

"The Blameless" - A middle-aged couple gets invited by neighbors that they kind of know to witness their daughter's exorcism. Exorcism has become a fashionable thing, almost like a sweet 16 party. It's a great story that seems, sadly and strangely, all too plausible.

"Word Doll" - A great story within a story. In this story, Jeffrey Ford is the main character and is a writer who stops by a mysterious farmhouse that advertises itself as a "Word Doll Museum." What follows is a fantastic horror story about dolls, revenge, and unintended consequences.

"The Angel Seems" - A winged figure visits a small village, says he's an angel and offers them protection if they give him one "helper" a year. Not to give anything away but his credentials as an angel become increasingly suspect and the poor helpers. The poor, poor helpers. This one has a great fairy tale vibe.

"Mount Chary Galore" - Another fairy tale story about an old witch who makes a special cream for anything that ails you. If you take it you just feel "better." A holy man sends some children to investigate how she makes it and it takes a decidedly bad turn for many involved. I really loved how this one also dealt with family, both blood relation and otherwise. I could have read a whole book about these characters.

"A Natural History of Autumn " - The only real misfire for me. Maybe it's because I'm not super into asian horror. The scares are fine in this one though. A man and a "hostess" go the the country for a weekend getaway but everything is not as it seems and everyone has their secrets.

"Blood Drive" - An insane, only slightly exaggerated version of America where we let all high school seniors carry guns in class, point them at each other, and occasionally get into large scale shootouts. It would be funny if it wasn't only so close to being true.

"A Terror" - Another slight misfire for me. All the elements were here but it was just trying to do too much. It was essentially three different stories: 1) Emily Dickenson dying and getting a "this was your life" experience. (Which worked), 2) Emily going undercover to figure out how a zombie kid was being kept alive (This somewhat worked), 3) Emily writing a poem to break the spell on said zombie kid (This didn't work at all). Again, it was fine but just tried to do too much.

"Rocket Ship to Hell" - The best in the bunch by a mile. An author at a sci-fi writers convention runs into a much older writer who gets drunk and tells him about the book he was never allowed to publish. You guessed it, 'Rocket Ship to Hell.' The writer claims he was recruited by mysterious rich old space enthusiasts to get launched into space along with an artist and a musician. This story is very Twilight Zone and I loved every second of it! So so sooooo good!

"The Fairy Enterprise" - An industrialist tries to monetize fairies. Do you think it ends well for him?

"The Last Triangle" - I enjoyed this one a lot. An old lady takes a junkie under her wing and then they both try to figure out what is happening with a mysterious symbol popping up all over town. Ford did a fantastic job of fleshing these characters out completely.

"Spirits of Salt: A Tale of the Coral Heart" - This was more of a classic fantasy tale. A warrior is obtains a magic sword made of coral that turns anyone it cuts into, you guessed it, coral. But when a dude made of, you guessed it, coral comes sniffing around for it, somebody is going to get it.

"The Thyme Fiend" - A wonderful story of a young boy who discovers a skeleton in a well. The skeleton has some unfinished business that it wants the boy to help with. This had a vibe like Ford's book "The Shadow Year" and was amazing.

"The Prelate's Commission" - This was another fairy tale type. Folks, don't make a deal with the Devil! It never turns out well. Even if you only want to paint his picture. Just don't do it! Trust me on this one.

This book made for some highly entertaining and highly spooky Halloween reading. A high recommend!

[Nick Gucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible collection by one of the best fabulists in the genre, often dark, sometimes hopeful but always intense, deep and moving, sometimes to tears. Fords ability to craft empathy in short stories is a remarkable feat, not to mention crafting original settings, ideas, and worlds. I know when i crack into a ford book or story that I will come out the other side with new perspectives and ideas. always.
Some of the stand out stories:
The Blameless: A world where exorcisms are as casual as a sweet sixteen
Word Doll: A take on the harvest spirit/monster theme
Blood Drive: A re-imagined America encourages both high school students and teachers carry firearms
A Terror: Emily Dickinson takes that famed carriage ride with Death.
The Thyme Fiend: A young in Ohio who sees strange things. The spirits of the dead come back to resolve some mysteries in the living world.
The Prelate's Commission: A story about trying to put a face on the devil and how the devil feels about such efforts.

[Nicholas Kaufmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it comes to short fiction, I place Jeffrey Ford up there with Kelly Link and Ray Bradbury. He's a master of the form, and unsurprisingly, A NATURAL HISTORY OF HELL does not contain a single dud. Each story features exquisitely crafted prose, an artist's eye for detail, and impeccable characterization, but two stories in particular really blew me away. "Mount Chary Galore," which displays an astonishing level of imagination and is so chock full of story that I can't believe it's only twenty pages long, and "Rocket Ship to Hell," which I can only describe as such a perfect storm of voice, story, and characterization that when I was finished reading it I took a few minutes to bask in its afterglow. Those who have read Ford before know what a great writer he is, but if you haven't and are looking for a good place to start this collection won't steer you wrong. Beautiful, powerful stories from start to finish.

[Irina · Rating 2 out of 5]

A couple of good stories amidst a sea of mediocrity. A mildly interesting idea cannot make up for the bland, clumsy writing style. And those ideas were not that great anyway. Maybe if he had managed the tension or twists better… alas, mediocre.

[Alice Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

A solid collection of strange and supernatural stories. My favorites were "Word Doll," "A Terror," and "The Thyme Fiend."

[Des Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

And so with time’s deep breath…
A substantive work that flows delightfully through the mind with all its forking Fordisms and desiccated salt-visions. Except the threads are not hemp but smoky swirls of inhaled thyme and cups of thyme tea to help assuage the demons. The work is about a 14 year old boy who needs such hits of thyme, and a bike, to broaden his horizons and defend his own sapling defences, and eventually a girl to hold his hand, as he and then both of them are faced with visitations from the retributory toothless dead between its sporadic farming farms in Hell. Spurned by the villagefolk (some guiltier than others, we suspect) for his seeming obsessive peculiarities, the boy persists along justice’s long journey, when he eventually sees, we hope, the light at the end of his erstwhile life’s dark tunnel. But whither or whence, such light? We all have that question to answer, triangulated, as we ever shall be, by Hell, Heaven and Hiraeth. Or so, sometimes with vivid frights, this major threaded yarn portends.

The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.

[Kevin James · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars, an eclectic and striking collection of stories which blend humor and horror rather well. While there may be a few duds, Ford is such a unique and interesting writer that it's hard to not be taken in by the charm of his work even when the story is not quite as good as you'd like. I'd highly recommend checking out The Prelate's Commission and Rocket Ship to Hell as the standout stories.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a couple of really strong stand-outs for me - the Emily Dickinson story for sure, and Mount Chary Galore. The rest were good, and I enjoyed reading this overall; I’m just not sure how much it’ll stay with me.

[Eric Orchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely brilliant collection of haunting stories.

[Jessie (Zombie_likes_cake) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once I realized I kept on adding Jeffrey Ford books to my to read list (I usually only list one book by an author there, the one I intend to pick up next) I knew I had to get cracking and break into his works rather sooner than later.
And I sure glad I finally did, this collection seemed to be a great introduction, too. I love his style and the inventiveness. As the title suggests there are some biblical themes in here, at least sort of, the devil, evil angels and death make appearances. There is more straight forward Horror, too, but it seems that there usually is fantastical angle to the tales, and while I generally prefer realistic Horror this is how I like more supernatural Horror to be done. Quite often these read like very dark (VERY DARK) fairy tales, there is just something about Ford's writing and often historical setting of these that bring that vibe which I, again, loved. Coming with that there sometimes is slight fantasy edge to it, which wasn't always up my alley but sometimes it worked really well. You can also find a bit of a Science Fiction influence to two of them, meaning there is a lot to discover here for genre readers.
Overall, call me impressed and eager to read a novel by Ford next!

My top 5:
5) The Fairy Enterprise
4) A Terror
3) The Angel Seems
2) The Thyme Fiend
1) Blood Drive

The one I didn't like (likely because it was mostly a fantasy story):
Spirits of the Salt: A Tale of the Coral Heart

[Jack Haringa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading a collection by Jeffrey Ford is like taking a master class in short fiction, and A Natural History of Hell is the author's most masterful yet. Not only do the stories range widely across popular genres, from noir to horror to high fantasy, but each exhibits expert understanding and control of the elements that breathe life into these forms. The reader becomes invested in the characters, absorbed in their internal and external mysteries, enveloped by their locales, and enthralled with the themes they explore. Ford's prose is as precise and nuanced as ever, and he bends his style to serve each tale differently. The casual everyday idiom and lightly profane voice perfectly fit the hilarious suburban satire "The Blameless," while a rural directness and earnestness in the narrative language help to shape both "Mount Chary Galore" and the Shirley Jackson Award-nominated "The Thyme Fiend." Most of the stories don't neatly fit into a single genre but instead straddle two or more categories confidently, and this provides part of their freshness. Every one is a treat, and the whole collection is an expansive and satisfying feast.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection really pulls myth and fairy take characters out of their stories and puts them into this world. The stories vary so much from fantasy to satire to SF to magic realism. I think what does set this apart from many retellings (which this is not, but uses the same themes) is that it keep the violence of the original stories. This was wonderful.

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jeffrey Ford es el mejor escritor estadounidense de relatos cortos de fantasía, todos estos relatos tienen una pizca de horror o weird. Los relatos tienen retazos de humor y cierto estilo gótico que los hace parecer de otra época.

[Tiffany N · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, but many of the stories were difficult to get through and just didn't fit with a "hell" theme. There are a few good stories, but I wouldn't want to read the entire book again for the few.

[Michaël Wertenberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title is misleading. There is very little, if any, horror and nothing particularly nasty or hellish in any of the stories.
I came to this work with expectations that were not met, and writing this review a six months after reading this book, I realize I hardly remember any of the stories.

[Alvaro Zinos-Amaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

My full review here (scroll down on page, past 1st review):

http://www.intergalacticmedicineshow....

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read a few stories and couldn't get into them. I thought this would be a horror book but it's not.