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Murder Mayhem Short Stories
Following the great success of 2015's Gothic & Fantasy deluxe edition short story compilations this latest in the series is packed with hard-boiled detectives, monsters, psychopaths and a high body count. Tales of death and destruction from classic authors are cast with previously unpublished stories by exciting contemporary hardcore crime writers.
Classic authors Ambrose Bierce, Steen Steensen Blicher, G.K. Chesterton, Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, Dick Donovan, Arthur Conan Doyle, William Hope Hodgson, E.T.A. Hoffman, Robert E. Howard, W.W. Jacobs, Franz Kafka, Rudyard Kipling, H.P. Lovecraft, Edith Nesbit, Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur B. Reeve, Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker, Ethel Lina White, Oscar Wilde.
Classic authors Ambrose Bierce, Steen Steensen Blicher, G.K. Chesterton, Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, Dick Donovan, Arthur Conan Doyle, William Hope Hodgson, E.T.A. Hoffman, Robert E. Howard, W.W. Jacobs, Franz Kafka, Rudyard Kipling, H.P. Lovecraft, Edith Nesbit, Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur B. Reeve, Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker, Ethel Lina White, Oscar Wilde.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published August 17, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 15, 2024
This . . . behemoth was bequeathed to me by my daughter a couple of Christmases ago. After staring at its metallic cover for far too long, I finally took the plunge and began reading it eight months ago. I'm a slow reader, and I did a lot of other reading at the same time, so it's no surprise that it took me this long to get through this beast.
I was tempted to use the word "Leviathan" instead of "behemoth" above, but I co-edited Leviathan 3, so that would be confusing to say the least. After editing Leviathan 3, we had several reviewers who lazily defaulted to the age old "wisdom" that short fiction anthologies are, by their very nature, "uneven". I'll argue to my dying day that Lev 3 was anything but uneven. We loved these stories and were excited for each one of them to see publication, else they wouldn't have been included in the collection (and it wouldn't have won a World Fantasy Award, I believe).
Alas, sometimes the pundits are right. It's a rare thing when I find a short fiction anthology that doesn't have at least one disappointing story in it. Sacrum Regnum I and Sacrum Regnum II jump to mind as anthologies that are near perfect. But such gems are rare.
Murder Mayhem Short Stories is not one of those gems. But it's not terrible, either. It is, in reality, quite uneven. It does show that many stories that are considered "classics" are classics for a reason. Even after many years and many readings, they still shine. There were a few offerings here by "classic" authors that didn't appeal to me, but there are some amazing stories here, as well. On the contemporary front, however, I have to say that the level of literary worth was much, much lower, on average, than those of the "classics". It should go without saying, but I'm saying it anyway.
Here are my notes about each story. I'm sure I'll slay some sacred cows here, and some will consider my opinions dross. Those are the dangers of reviewing such an eclectic bunch of stories (although they all do center, more or less, around the theme of murder). So here are my notes (possibly slightly modified since I've had time to meditate on them and the stories):
The first story, "The Wendigo Goes Home," by Sara Dobie Bauer was, well, "meh". It's a fine story, but nothing all that original, if I'm being honest. Dialogue was fine, but characterization might have been a little stronger if the story had a little breathing room.
I think that "The Death of Halpin Fraser" is the first Ambrose Bierce story I've ever read. Though the dialogue is dated and a bit stilted, this was a solid story of madness and murder. For some reason I'm reminded of True Detective season one, though the cosmic horror here is only implied. It's a good little spooky outing, and I'd like to read more Bierce, which is a good thing because the next tale is also his.
Bierce's "The Moonlit Road" may be one of the most depressing short stories I have ever read. The clever use of a transcription from a medium gives us the ghost's perspective of events (after those of the innocent son and guilty husband are presented). The ghost's recounting is the most tragic of all. Bierce successfully subverts our expectations in an emotionally-impactful way.
Take Shakespeare's"Comedy of Errors," remove all the funny bits and replace then with tragedy, but keep all the elements of mistaken identity, and you essentially get Steen Steensen Blicher's "The Rector of Veilbye," though not half as clever as The Bard.
Michael Cebula's "Funeral" is very clearly not my kind of story. Revenge stories are not my thing, especially when the revenge is precipitated by child abuse. Just no.
At first, I thought the narrator of "Into the Blue" suffered a debilitating kind of synasthesia, but in time I figured out that Carolyn Charron was using colors for great thematic effect. A good story, only slightly too-much "on the nose," but not enough to throw the story off.
G.K. Chesterton's "Dr. Hyde, Detective, and the White Pillars Murder" might be one of the more enjoyable pieces of detective fiction I've read because it unashamedly mocks the very tropes of detective fiction in the actual dialogue between characters. The key here is subversion, and Chesterton is a master of it, flipping "the detective story" inside out, exposing all of its weaknesses; makeing a great story of it.
Wilkie Collin's "The Traveller's Story of a Terribly Strange Bed" might win the prize for weirdest title, but the story is exactly what it says it is "on the tin," so to speak. It's a little corny, but clever.
"Who Killed Zebedee?", another Wilkie Collins story, was . . . not terribly thrilling. It's a middling tale of murder with a not-very-suprising culprit.
Dickens being Dickens in his story "The Trial for Murder" slowly builds what becomes a sustained narrative about justice from the grave. The dead have much more influence than we might think on the proceedings of this life. The building dread sustains for a long time under Dicken's adept hand, but the twist of the pen at the end takes this story to the next level.
Dick Donovan, in "The Problem of Dead Wood Hall," proved decisively that an indecisive outcome is sometimes more interesting than a case that is neatly tied-up with an evidentiary ribbon. To quote Deep Purple "It's not the kill, it's the thrill of the chase". Satisfaction might be demanded, but the lack of full deliverance is a sort of deliverance itself.
James Dorr's "Mr. Happy Head" is a surreal tale of suffering, cruelty, and possession. The prose is intentionally simple and thus impactful. This is a disturbing tale that will have you reading between the lines to know exactly what horrific things are happening or have happened (it's difficult to tell which). Time and space and memory and acts slip and slide over each other, often greased by blood.
While easily predictable, th plot of Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Brazilian Cat" was satisfying. Yes, there distant rings of the Holme's stories, but that has to do with Doyle's writing style instead of anything that can be directly or indirectly associated with Sherlock. Besides, the crime scene was far too messy for the great detective to stoop to investigate this open and shut case.
Tim Foley's "Nineteen Sixty-Five Ford Falcon" is as creepy for its sales-pitchy narrator as for the story itself. An intriguing story, but not a very satisfying read.
"Mama Said" was far too simple with a telegraphed ending that did not surprise or satisfy at all. I appreciate the effort Steven Thor Gunnin put into getting inside the narrator's head, but I found it all so hackneyed. A forgettable story, sorry.
I'm still trying to figure out why Kate Heartfield's "Six Aspects of Cath Baduma" is included in this book. It's a fine high-fantasy story. Yes, it's gory and grim, but it just doesn't fit in anywhere here. Maybe the editors wanted to show "breadth" in the stories, but this is way out in left field. Still a decent story.
William Hope Hodgson's tale "The House Among the Laurels" is a short story about his famous detective Carnacki. It is an outstanding tale that keeps one on the edge of one's seat. I love this sort of "Occult Detective" narrative, complete with pentagrams, candles, and ghost-hunting equipment. I would gladly read a book full of these tales.
Another Hodgson story, "The Thing Invisible" sees Carnacki blindly searching in the dark for a ghost in a chapel and exercising his mind by way of . . . engineering?
At the beginning, I expected David M. Hoenig's "Freedom is Not Free" to turn into a Blade Runner pastiche. But Hoenig's plot twists took this in a different enough direction that it wasn't just a cyber-noir copycat. I really enjoyed this piece and it deserves to be considered on its own merits, which are high in my eyes. By the way, if you've even wonderd what the pineal gland is for . . . well, you'll see.
ETA Hoffman's "Mademoiselle de Scuderi" is, essentially, a disney princess story of a poor girl and her wrongly-accused lover escape the clutches of a well-meaning, but ruthless judge, by appeal to the king through Mademoiselle de Scuderi. It's complicated. And well written, if a little over-wrought and even more archaic than Hoffman's other stories (those I've read, at least). Still a good mystery.
Liam Hogan's "How to Build a Mass Murderer" is clever. It's got an interesting twist or two, but it didn't strike me as anything spectacular. Color me jaded.
Is Robert E. Howard's "Pigeons from Hell" a Conan story? It has a panther! And walking dead! And lots of gore! And . . . pigeons? No, it doesn't pass the Conan test, but it is a fantastic and horrific pulp read. There were some nice twists that balked at predictability. And he takes some not-so-subtle pot-shots at Lovecraft, which was funny (to me).
"The Two-Out-of-Three-Rule," by Patrick J. Hurley is a reminder that if something seems too good to be true, it is. I have to admit I hooked into this story about a bunch of roleplaying nerds pretty quickly. It was a good tale, solidly told, with some defiance of expectations. It wasn't a vampire story, which I thought at first. It's worse than that.
I could see the ending of "The Well" from ten miles away, but that still didn't spoil W.W. Jacobs' handling of a well-told tale (pun intended) that read like something straight out of a pulp-horror comic.
At first, while reading Franz Kafka's "In the Penal Colony," I thought "this may be the most boring, tedious Kafka story I've ever read". Thankfully, about 3/4ths of the way through, things got really, really interesting and increasingly horrific. The staid and true bureacracy as mental/emotional torture gave way to physical body horror, which suited me just fine.
I really enjoyed "Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings" by Michelle Ann King. It's a tale about time, persistence, and the patience of an angel. No, wait, the patience of a demon. I really enjoyed this snappy little story.
As colonial and condescending as ever, Rudyard Kipling delivers a simple tale in "The Return of Imray". A classic case of Orientalism, but still a good read.
"Shared Loss" by Gerri Leen just wasn't my kind of story. "Slight" is the word I'll use for it. Not my cup of tea.
I've read a lot of Lovecraft, including the present story, "The Hound". I know what's coming. And I know and am annoyed by how Lovecraft contradicts himself in the same text. But there's just something about his writing that "rings," that isn't apparent on the page. The writing no longer amazes me as it did when I was young, but it still "rings".
I have a soft (and invisible and squishy) spot for Lovecraft's "From Beyond". Bizarre as it is, and despite the mad ravings of Tillinghast (nice name, by the way), Lovecraft shows more restraint here than in other stories, and I think the story is stronger because of it.
K.A. Mielke's "Drive Safe" is just short of predictable. It's an okay story, but is kind of buried in the immensity of this collection. Maybe this book is too big for it's britches?
Edith Nesbit's "In the Dark" is chilling, a somber tale. Nesbit sets the tale up wonderfully with the opening paragraph (too long to share in this update). It's an entrancing riddle that unfolds in such a way that one is still left puzzled at the end. An aickmanesque story of the highest calendar, and I can't give any praise greater than that.
The other day, my son asked "dad, what's the word for when someone walls another person up to kill them? 'Immurementing'?"
My answer, which he knew I was going to say: "Amontilladoing". We both had a good laugh at Fortunato's expense. Of course, Poe's story, a classic, gets five stars (and a lot of bricks).
Arthu B. Reeve's "The Azure Ring" combines all the disciplines of chemistry, ethnography, capitalism, law, and detective work into one fabulously boring story.
Daydream? Ghost story? Liminal magic realism? It doesn't matter. "Recreation with the Paralytics" is a numinous tale, in any case. It will lull you into its own sacral reality, chestnuts, wheelchairs, and all.
As I began to catch the cadence of Alexandra Camille Renwick's "Redux" I thought "okay, I can tell where this is going". And I could. Clearly. Thing is, it was a tight story, so there's that.
A suicidal skin walker? Yep, that's what we have in Fred Senes's "The First Seven Deaths of Mildred Orly". Not bad. Not great.
Robert Louis Stevenson's archaic gait in "Markheim" is clunky, to say the least. This I a tale that shows its age, as well. But the internal psychology profile of a murderer is well-realized and enough to make the reader squirm in the seat a bit.
Bram Stoker feeds the fuel for Edward Gorey in later years with his harrowing, yet somehow hilarious (to me, at least) "The Dualitists". I cringed, then laughed out loud. Am I a bad person for finding such a shock of egregious violence outrageously funny? Probably. I'll save you a seat in Hell.
Contrary to the excellent story preceding it in this collection, I just could not get into Stoker's "The Burial of the Rats". It probably "just me," but I never felt fully engaged with the story.
"Mister Ted" by Donald Jacob Uivlugt uses a tried and trite trope: the evil toy that commits murder. It's an old tale, gone thin by this time in western cultural history. But Uivlugt does a nice job of exploring the evolution of the protagonist's not-nice psychology.
Ethel Lina White's "Cheese" is a high watermark of neo-noir (in attitude, if not in the trappings). From beginning to end, it is sharp and powerful, twisting expectations and pulling the reader into its trap. It's a brilliant piece of fiction. Five stars. One of the best stories in this collection.
Sardonic, with a touch of grim humor, "Corpses Removed, No Questions Asked," by Dean H. Wild just didn't do it for me. Just not my thing.
Etiquette, murder, and the upending of propriety. What else would one expect from Oscar Wilde. Unsuccessful murder is the (dis)order of the day in "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime: A Study of Duty". As usual, Wilde mocks the stubbornness of the aristocracy in this grim comedy of manners that makes its point without being too blatant.
I'll admit that I rolled my eyes ten paragraphs in to "Fragments of Me". I thought "trite" and "hackneyed", which might be true. But Nemma Wollenfang does such an excellent job of tying out the emotional impact of Multiple Personality Disorder, that I ended the story truly impressed.
Tallying up everything, I count ten stories I put at "5 stars". That's a good bunch. I also have four "1 stars". You can probably see where this is heading: The average was, as you no-doubt guessed, 3 stars. I will say that the high points were high points. But the notion of short story anthologies being, on average . . . well, average, holds in this case.
I was tempted to use the word "Leviathan" instead of "behemoth" above, but I co-edited Leviathan 3, so that would be confusing to say the least. After editing Leviathan 3, we had several reviewers who lazily defaulted to the age old "wisdom" that short fiction anthologies are, by their very nature, "uneven". I'll argue to my dying day that Lev 3 was anything but uneven. We loved these stories and were excited for each one of them to see publication, else they wouldn't have been included in the collection (and it wouldn't have won a World Fantasy Award, I believe).
Alas, sometimes the pundits are right. It's a rare thing when I find a short fiction anthology that doesn't have at least one disappointing story in it. Sacrum Regnum I and Sacrum Regnum II jump to mind as anthologies that are near perfect. But such gems are rare.
Murder Mayhem Short Stories is not one of those gems. But it's not terrible, either. It is, in reality, quite uneven. It does show that many stories that are considered "classics" are classics for a reason. Even after many years and many readings, they still shine. There were a few offerings here by "classic" authors that didn't appeal to me, but there are some amazing stories here, as well. On the contemporary front, however, I have to say that the level of literary worth was much, much lower, on average, than those of the "classics". It should go without saying, but I'm saying it anyway.
Here are my notes about each story. I'm sure I'll slay some sacred cows here, and some will consider my opinions dross. Those are the dangers of reviewing such an eclectic bunch of stories (although they all do center, more or less, around the theme of murder). So here are my notes (possibly slightly modified since I've had time to meditate on them and the stories):
The first story, "The Wendigo Goes Home," by Sara Dobie Bauer was, well, "meh". It's a fine story, but nothing all that original, if I'm being honest. Dialogue was fine, but characterization might have been a little stronger if the story had a little breathing room.
I think that "The Death of Halpin Fraser" is the first Ambrose Bierce story I've ever read. Though the dialogue is dated and a bit stilted, this was a solid story of madness and murder. For some reason I'm reminded of True Detective season one, though the cosmic horror here is only implied. It's a good little spooky outing, and I'd like to read more Bierce, which is a good thing because the next tale is also his.
Bierce's "The Moonlit Road" may be one of the most depressing short stories I have ever read. The clever use of a transcription from a medium gives us the ghost's perspective of events (after those of the innocent son and guilty husband are presented). The ghost's recounting is the most tragic of all. Bierce successfully subverts our expectations in an emotionally-impactful way.
Take Shakespeare's"Comedy of Errors," remove all the funny bits and replace then with tragedy, but keep all the elements of mistaken identity, and you essentially get Steen Steensen Blicher's "The Rector of Veilbye," though not half as clever as The Bard.
Michael Cebula's "Funeral" is very clearly not my kind of story. Revenge stories are not my thing, especially when the revenge is precipitated by child abuse. Just no.
At first, I thought the narrator of "Into the Blue" suffered a debilitating kind of synasthesia, but in time I figured out that Carolyn Charron was using colors for great thematic effect. A good story, only slightly too-much "on the nose," but not enough to throw the story off.
G.K. Chesterton's "Dr. Hyde, Detective, and the White Pillars Murder" might be one of the more enjoyable pieces of detective fiction I've read because it unashamedly mocks the very tropes of detective fiction in the actual dialogue between characters. The key here is subversion, and Chesterton is a master of it, flipping "the detective story" inside out, exposing all of its weaknesses; makeing a great story of it.
Wilkie Collin's "The Traveller's Story of a Terribly Strange Bed" might win the prize for weirdest title, but the story is exactly what it says it is "on the tin," so to speak. It's a little corny, but clever.
"Who Killed Zebedee?", another Wilkie Collins story, was . . . not terribly thrilling. It's a middling tale of murder with a not-very-suprising culprit.
Dickens being Dickens in his story "The Trial for Murder" slowly builds what becomes a sustained narrative about justice from the grave. The dead have much more influence than we might think on the proceedings of this life. The building dread sustains for a long time under Dicken's adept hand, but the twist of the pen at the end takes this story to the next level.
Dick Donovan, in "The Problem of Dead Wood Hall," proved decisively that an indecisive outcome is sometimes more interesting than a case that is neatly tied-up with an evidentiary ribbon. To quote Deep Purple "It's not the kill, it's the thrill of the chase". Satisfaction might be demanded, but the lack of full deliverance is a sort of deliverance itself.
James Dorr's "Mr. Happy Head" is a surreal tale of suffering, cruelty, and possession. The prose is intentionally simple and thus impactful. This is a disturbing tale that will have you reading between the lines to know exactly what horrific things are happening or have happened (it's difficult to tell which). Time and space and memory and acts slip and slide over each other, often greased by blood.
While easily predictable, th plot of Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Brazilian Cat" was satisfying. Yes, there distant rings of the Holme's stories, but that has to do with Doyle's writing style instead of anything that can be directly or indirectly associated with Sherlock. Besides, the crime scene was far too messy for the great detective to stoop to investigate this open and shut case.
Tim Foley's "Nineteen Sixty-Five Ford Falcon" is as creepy for its sales-pitchy narrator as for the story itself. An intriguing story, but not a very satisfying read.
"Mama Said" was far too simple with a telegraphed ending that did not surprise or satisfy at all. I appreciate the effort Steven Thor Gunnin put into getting inside the narrator's head, but I found it all so hackneyed. A forgettable story, sorry.
I'm still trying to figure out why Kate Heartfield's "Six Aspects of Cath Baduma" is included in this book. It's a fine high-fantasy story. Yes, it's gory and grim, but it just doesn't fit in anywhere here. Maybe the editors wanted to show "breadth" in the stories, but this is way out in left field. Still a decent story.
William Hope Hodgson's tale "The House Among the Laurels" is a short story about his famous detective Carnacki. It is an outstanding tale that keeps one on the edge of one's seat. I love this sort of "Occult Detective" narrative, complete with pentagrams, candles, and ghost-hunting equipment. I would gladly read a book full of these tales.
Another Hodgson story, "The Thing Invisible" sees Carnacki blindly searching in the dark for a ghost in a chapel and exercising his mind by way of . . . engineering?
At the beginning, I expected David M. Hoenig's "Freedom is Not Free" to turn into a Blade Runner pastiche. But Hoenig's plot twists took this in a different enough direction that it wasn't just a cyber-noir copycat. I really enjoyed this piece and it deserves to be considered on its own merits, which are high in my eyes. By the way, if you've even wonderd what the pineal gland is for . . . well, you'll see.
ETA Hoffman's "Mademoiselle de Scuderi" is, essentially, a disney princess story of a poor girl and her wrongly-accused lover escape the clutches of a well-meaning, but ruthless judge, by appeal to the king through Mademoiselle de Scuderi. It's complicated. And well written, if a little over-wrought and even more archaic than Hoffman's other stories (those I've read, at least). Still a good mystery.
Liam Hogan's "How to Build a Mass Murderer" is clever. It's got an interesting twist or two, but it didn't strike me as anything spectacular. Color me jaded.
Is Robert E. Howard's "Pigeons from Hell" a Conan story? It has a panther! And walking dead! And lots of gore! And . . . pigeons? No, it doesn't pass the Conan test, but it is a fantastic and horrific pulp read. There were some nice twists that balked at predictability. And he takes some not-so-subtle pot-shots at Lovecraft, which was funny (to me).
"The Two-Out-of-Three-Rule," by Patrick J. Hurley is a reminder that if something seems too good to be true, it is. I have to admit I hooked into this story about a bunch of roleplaying nerds pretty quickly. It was a good tale, solidly told, with some defiance of expectations. It wasn't a vampire story, which I thought at first. It's worse than that.
I could see the ending of "The Well" from ten miles away, but that still didn't spoil W.W. Jacobs' handling of a well-told tale (pun intended) that read like something straight out of a pulp-horror comic.
At first, while reading Franz Kafka's "In the Penal Colony," I thought "this may be the most boring, tedious Kafka story I've ever read". Thankfully, about 3/4ths of the way through, things got really, really interesting and increasingly horrific. The staid and true bureacracy as mental/emotional torture gave way to physical body horror, which suited me just fine.
I really enjoyed "Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings" by Michelle Ann King. It's a tale about time, persistence, and the patience of an angel. No, wait, the patience of a demon. I really enjoyed this snappy little story.
As colonial and condescending as ever, Rudyard Kipling delivers a simple tale in "The Return of Imray". A classic case of Orientalism, but still a good read.
"Shared Loss" by Gerri Leen just wasn't my kind of story. "Slight" is the word I'll use for it. Not my cup of tea.
I've read a lot of Lovecraft, including the present story, "The Hound". I know what's coming. And I know and am annoyed by how Lovecraft contradicts himself in the same text. But there's just something about his writing that "rings," that isn't apparent on the page. The writing no longer amazes me as it did when I was young, but it still "rings".
I have a soft (and invisible and squishy) spot for Lovecraft's "From Beyond". Bizarre as it is, and despite the mad ravings of Tillinghast (nice name, by the way), Lovecraft shows more restraint here than in other stories, and I think the story is stronger because of it.
K.A. Mielke's "Drive Safe" is just short of predictable. It's an okay story, but is kind of buried in the immensity of this collection. Maybe this book is too big for it's britches?
Edith Nesbit's "In the Dark" is chilling, a somber tale. Nesbit sets the tale up wonderfully with the opening paragraph (too long to share in this update). It's an entrancing riddle that unfolds in such a way that one is still left puzzled at the end. An aickmanesque story of the highest calendar, and I can't give any praise greater than that.
The other day, my son asked "dad, what's the word for when someone walls another person up to kill them? 'Immurementing'?"
My answer, which he knew I was going to say: "Amontilladoing". We both had a good laugh at Fortunato's expense. Of course, Poe's story, a classic, gets five stars (and a lot of bricks).
Arthu B. Reeve's "The Azure Ring" combines all the disciplines of chemistry, ethnography, capitalism, law, and detective work into one fabulously boring story.
Daydream? Ghost story? Liminal magic realism? It doesn't matter. "Recreation with the Paralytics" is a numinous tale, in any case. It will lull you into its own sacral reality, chestnuts, wheelchairs, and all.
As I began to catch the cadence of Alexandra Camille Renwick's "Redux" I thought "okay, I can tell where this is going". And I could. Clearly. Thing is, it was a tight story, so there's that.
A suicidal skin walker? Yep, that's what we have in Fred Senes's "The First Seven Deaths of Mildred Orly". Not bad. Not great.
Robert Louis Stevenson's archaic gait in "Markheim" is clunky, to say the least. This I a tale that shows its age, as well. But the internal psychology profile of a murderer is well-realized and enough to make the reader squirm in the seat a bit.
Bram Stoker feeds the fuel for Edward Gorey in later years with his harrowing, yet somehow hilarious (to me, at least) "The Dualitists". I cringed, then laughed out loud. Am I a bad person for finding such a shock of egregious violence outrageously funny? Probably. I'll save you a seat in Hell.
Contrary to the excellent story preceding it in this collection, I just could not get into Stoker's "The Burial of the Rats". It probably "just me," but I never felt fully engaged with the story.
"Mister Ted" by Donald Jacob Uivlugt uses a tried and trite trope: the evil toy that commits murder. It's an old tale, gone thin by this time in western cultural history. But Uivlugt does a nice job of exploring the evolution of the protagonist's not-nice psychology.
Ethel Lina White's "Cheese" is a high watermark of neo-noir (in attitude, if not in the trappings). From beginning to end, it is sharp and powerful, twisting expectations and pulling the reader into its trap. It's a brilliant piece of fiction. Five stars. One of the best stories in this collection.
Sardonic, with a touch of grim humor, "Corpses Removed, No Questions Asked," by Dean H. Wild just didn't do it for me. Just not my thing.
Etiquette, murder, and the upending of propriety. What else would one expect from Oscar Wilde. Unsuccessful murder is the (dis)order of the day in "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime: A Study of Duty". As usual, Wilde mocks the stubbornness of the aristocracy in this grim comedy of manners that makes its point without being too blatant.
I'll admit that I rolled my eyes ten paragraphs in to "Fragments of Me". I thought "trite" and "hackneyed", which might be true. But Nemma Wollenfang does such an excellent job of tying out the emotional impact of Multiple Personality Disorder, that I ended the story truly impressed.
Tallying up everything, I count ten stories I put at "5 stars". That's a good bunch. I also have four "1 stars". You can probably see where this is heading: The average was, as you no-doubt guessed, 3 stars. I will say that the high points were high points. But the notion of short story anthologies being, on average . . . well, average, holds in this case.
September 9, 2017
I very much enjoyed this collection of stories which were a blend of old and new. I enjoyed far more of them then I disliked and they were were perfect for quick reading before bed. I'm not much for short stories but I'm going to have to change my tune for these Gothic Fantasy collections. I would recommend picking up one of these if you have the chance ( there's so many variations like horror, ghost stories, crime, etc.) and their covers are beautiful.
January 10, 2023
I love the art and look of this series so I've picked them up as I see them at Half Price Books and this is the second one I've read. I was caught off guard by some of the stories continuing online as I read Bodies in the Library last year and wasn't a fan. Now that I know this is something the series does I decided to look ahead of time so I could mark any stories that weren't complete in this book. To my pleasant surprise, all of these stories appear to be self-contained and I shouldn't have to go to their website at all.
There are 9 original stories and 36 previously published, the earliest from 1819.
My top 3 stories were Drive Safe, Redux, and The First Seven Deaths of Mildred Orly.
The Wendigo Goes Home
It's morbid to say but when the character referenced not having "young meat" in awhile since medical advancements have taken away the diseases of the early 1900's, I knew this was written pre-pandemic (which it was - 2016).
The story was short and to the point with an unexpected ending.
The Death of Halpin Frayser
I could tell it was an older story (1891) because it was very wordy and exclamation points followed all the surprises. Because of the wordiness it felt very dense for a short story and even though it was explained, I didn't fully get what the mystery even was let alone how it was solved.
The Moonlit Road
Before reading: Uh oh, this story is by the same author that wrote the last one. Will I like this one more?
After reading: Nope. Still very wordy and while this one was clearer for me, I still wasn't interested.
The Rector of Veilbye
That took a minute to settle into because there were a lot of characters for a short story but once the crime occurred I was invested and did not expect the ending.
Funeral
I love the line, "I don't think he always cared what he said as long as he was the one saying it..."
That story gripped me from beginning to end.
Into the Blue
That was a really good length because I didn't want to spend any more time in the narrator's head and running commentary of jumbled thoughts.
Dr. Hyde, Detective, and the White Pillars Murder
The clues were all laid out in front of the reader and, like the novice detective, I missed them as well. The nature of the short story meant more things were 'told' than 'shown' but all in all it wasn't bad. I would read more of Brandon and Weir working together.
The Traveller's Story of a Terribly Strange Bed
When it began with a 'Prologue' I could tell it was going to be on the longer end of a short story. The pages passed very quickly once the traveller's story began and it was excellent but the prologue explaining how the narrator came to be listening to the story was too wordy and unnecessary.
Who Killed Zebedee?
This story and the one previous were both by Wilkie Collins, an author during the mid-to-late 1800's. I also remember reading him in Bodies in the Library so I may look him up and see if he has any other writings.
I really liked this story. Although the concern about virtue would be less, this scenario about a woman scorned could've played out today as well.
The Trial for Murder
The story wasn't bad but it was clear where it was going very early on so I was waiting for everyone to catch up and the ending to be revealed.
The Problem of Dead Wood Hall
That was really long, both for a short story and for the plot. It took a long time to get where it was going and the payoff wasn't worth it.
Mr. Happy Head
It was very unsettling inside the narrator's head. Very creepy.
The Brazilian Cat
Excellent story from start to finish. It was nice to read a story by Arthur Conan Doyle that didn't have Sherlock Holmes in it.
Nineteen Sixty-Five Ford Falcon
A great story as long as you ignore the coincidences that move the story along.
"Mama Said"
This story had a good start but just as I was finding its rhythm it ended really abruptly. It was too short.
Six Aspects of Cath Baduma
It was an interesting story but didn't really fit this theme of murder mysteries. Good premise for more stories though.
The House Among the Laurels
Writing out dialogue in a Scottish accent is hard to follow and I really had to focus. For example, one sentence was, "Thin, he an' this with him, shtarted in an' mhurdered thim wan an' all as they slep."
The story was fine. I don't know why all the dogs had to die but I'm glad there was a full explanation of the haunting at the end.
The Thing Invisible
There wasn't a payoff with the story. The writing was good but it took so much time building up only to sum things up in a few paragraphs (and even if the ending had been longer I didn't like it anyway).
I didn't know the same author wrote this and the previous story until after I'd read both. I would not have guessed because they had two completely different styles and settings.
Freedom is Not Free
That was a great story. Although some stretching was done to get all the pertinent info to the police, the twist and ending was unexpected and excellent.
Mademoiselle de Scuderi
There are so many characters and since they're French each character has 4 or 5 parts to their name which also makes them all sound similar. Plus it's 38 pages of small print and I was lost by page 3. No thank you. I really struggled to finish this one.
How to Build a Mass-Murderer
That was an excellent story. I didn't know where it was going and I do wonder if there will be a genetic component to predicting serial killers in the future.
I loved the line, "My parents used childbirth as an alternative to marriage counseling..." to describe an unhappy marriage producing many children.
Pigeons from Hell
I didn't notice right away because I was very invested in the story but my husband was watching a show and the spooky music accompanying it really added to my experience. It was a good length with an unexpected ending.
The Two-Out-Of Three Rule
The bones of the story were good but I couldn't suspend my disbelief that nobody would either notice what was going on with Kyle or be suspicious enough after the fact to not stay in contact with Elaina.
The Well
It was pretty predictable based on the title and the structure but it was still a good story.
In the Penal Colony
This was very clearly a Kafka story. The last page or so seemed out of place (basically, once they switched locations) but all in all it was visceral and kept my attention.
Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings
This story wasn't bad but I didn't see the point of it. It felt like it ended just as things were getting started.
The Return of Imray
I feel like I've read that one before (and it's very possible since it's an old one by Rudyard Kipling). It was fine but the confession happening unprompted and immediately is an easy out for the story.
Less than Katherine
Even though it was clear from the beginning what was going on it was still creepy.
Shared Losses
That was the perfect length with no extra filler. At first I thought the clerk was the person the narrator was referring to but then I was able to get reoriented and it was a shock.
The Hound
As I was reading I was wondering how the character was able to narrate everything when I assumed he was going to die; having this be a final letter before he gives in to the madness was a good solution.
From Beyond
This had the classic "The End...Or Is It?" final sentence. There was a lot going on for a short story but it was fine.
Drive Safe
That was gripping. My favorite so far.
In the Dark
It ended with a whimper instead of a bang but the story itself was good.
The Cask of Amontillado
If I haven't read this story before I've definitely heard of it. It was a good story but by jumping right in there was no suggestion of his motivation to do such a drastic thing.
The Azure Ring
The title gave away the method but not the person. It was an interesting story.
Redux
Another top for me. That story was unlike anything I've read before. The main character caught on in appropriate increments and she died the perfect number of times (what a weird thing to say) before flipping the script and ending the story.
The First Seven Deaths of Mildred Orly
Incredibly creepy but also sad. Another top contender.
Markheim
This was confusing. I understood the basic plot but all the extra dialogue and fighting turned out to be completely unnecessary when he immediately confessed.
The Dualitists
I didn't like that one at all. It was gruesome just to be gruesome and I don't mind if the culprits escape through some sort of cleverness but this was unjust and ridiculous.
The Burial of the Rats
This story was by the same author as the previous one and I feel similarly about it. With nothing happening at the end, it seemed unnecessary. While the story was happening I was interested and it had good action but wrapping it up the way he did made it all for nothing.
Mister Ted
Quick and creepy. I've seen that concept in movies but I'm not sure I've read it in story form before. Telling it from the toy's point of view instead of the human's added a different element as well.
Cheese
I was so worried throughout the story and even though I'm not sure why the criminal acted the way he did, I'm really glad it was a happy ending.
Corpses Removed, No Questions Asked
I was along for the ride on the first and second removals but the third and fourth were too much. I either wanted something different to happen or for the story to end sooner.
Following the removal people could be a fun idea for a longer book though.
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime: A Study of Duty
It definitely didn't go the direction I expected. It was a little long but kept my interest.
Fragments of Me
I really liked that one.
Find all my reviews at: https://readingatrandom.blogspot.com
There are 9 original stories and 36 previously published, the earliest from 1819.
My top 3 stories were Drive Safe, Redux, and The First Seven Deaths of Mildred Orly.
The Wendigo Goes Home
It's morbid to say but when the character referenced not having "young meat" in awhile since medical advancements have taken away the diseases of the early 1900's, I knew this was written pre-pandemic (which it was - 2016).
The story was short and to the point with an unexpected ending.
The Death of Halpin Frayser
I could tell it was an older story (1891) because it was very wordy and exclamation points followed all the surprises. Because of the wordiness it felt very dense for a short story and even though it was explained, I didn't fully get what the mystery even was let alone how it was solved.
The Moonlit Road
Before reading: Uh oh, this story is by the same author that wrote the last one. Will I like this one more?
After reading: Nope. Still very wordy and while this one was clearer for me, I still wasn't interested.
The Rector of Veilbye
That took a minute to settle into because there were a lot of characters for a short story but once the crime occurred I was invested and did not expect the ending.
Funeral
I love the line, "I don't think he always cared what he said as long as he was the one saying it..."
That story gripped me from beginning to end.
Into the Blue
That was a really good length because I didn't want to spend any more time in the narrator's head and running commentary of jumbled thoughts.
Dr. Hyde, Detective, and the White Pillars Murder
The clues were all laid out in front of the reader and, like the novice detective, I missed them as well. The nature of the short story meant more things were 'told' than 'shown' but all in all it wasn't bad. I would read more of Brandon and Weir working together.
The Traveller's Story of a Terribly Strange Bed
When it began with a 'Prologue' I could tell it was going to be on the longer end of a short story. The pages passed very quickly once the traveller's story began and it was excellent but the prologue explaining how the narrator came to be listening to the story was too wordy and unnecessary.
Who Killed Zebedee?
This story and the one previous were both by Wilkie Collins, an author during the mid-to-late 1800's. I also remember reading him in Bodies in the Library so I may look him up and see if he has any other writings.
I really liked this story. Although the concern about virtue would be less, this scenario about a woman scorned could've played out today as well.
The Trial for Murder
The story wasn't bad but it was clear where it was going very early on so I was waiting for everyone to catch up and the ending to be revealed.
The Problem of Dead Wood Hall
That was really long, both for a short story and for the plot. It took a long time to get where it was going and the payoff wasn't worth it.
Mr. Happy Head
It was very unsettling inside the narrator's head. Very creepy.
The Brazilian Cat
Excellent story from start to finish. It was nice to read a story by Arthur Conan Doyle that didn't have Sherlock Holmes in it.
Nineteen Sixty-Five Ford Falcon
A great story as long as you ignore the coincidences that move the story along.
"Mama Said"
This story had a good start but just as I was finding its rhythm it ended really abruptly. It was too short.
Six Aspects of Cath Baduma
It was an interesting story but didn't really fit this theme of murder mysteries. Good premise for more stories though.
The House Among the Laurels
Writing out dialogue in a Scottish accent is hard to follow and I really had to focus. For example, one sentence was, "Thin, he an' this with him, shtarted in an' mhurdered thim wan an' all as they slep."
The story was fine. I don't know why all the dogs had to die but I'm glad there was a full explanation of the haunting at the end.
The Thing Invisible
There wasn't a payoff with the story. The writing was good but it took so much time building up only to sum things up in a few paragraphs (and even if the ending had been longer I didn't like it anyway).
I didn't know the same author wrote this and the previous story until after I'd read both. I would not have guessed because they had two completely different styles and settings.
Freedom is Not Free
That was a great story. Although some stretching was done to get all the pertinent info to the police, the twist and ending was unexpected and excellent.
Mademoiselle de Scuderi
There are so many characters and since they're French each character has 4 or 5 parts to their name which also makes them all sound similar. Plus it's 38 pages of small print and I was lost by page 3. No thank you. I really struggled to finish this one.
How to Build a Mass-Murderer
That was an excellent story. I didn't know where it was going and I do wonder if there will be a genetic component to predicting serial killers in the future.
I loved the line, "My parents used childbirth as an alternative to marriage counseling..." to describe an unhappy marriage producing many children.
Pigeons from Hell
I didn't notice right away because I was very invested in the story but my husband was watching a show and the spooky music accompanying it really added to my experience. It was a good length with an unexpected ending.
The Two-Out-Of Three Rule
The bones of the story were good but I couldn't suspend my disbelief that nobody would either notice what was going on with Kyle or be suspicious enough after the fact to not stay in contact with Elaina.
The Well
It was pretty predictable based on the title and the structure but it was still a good story.
In the Penal Colony
This was very clearly a Kafka story. The last page or so seemed out of place (basically, once they switched locations) but all in all it was visceral and kept my attention.
Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings
This story wasn't bad but I didn't see the point of it. It felt like it ended just as things were getting started.
The Return of Imray
I feel like I've read that one before (and it's very possible since it's an old one by Rudyard Kipling). It was fine but the confession happening unprompted and immediately is an easy out for the story.
Less than Katherine
Even though it was clear from the beginning what was going on it was still creepy.
Shared Losses
That was the perfect length with no extra filler. At first I thought the clerk was the person the narrator was referring to but then I was able to get reoriented and it was a shock.
The Hound
As I was reading I was wondering how the character was able to narrate everything when I assumed he was going to die; having this be a final letter before he gives in to the madness was a good solution.
From Beyond
This had the classic "The End...Or Is It?" final sentence. There was a lot going on for a short story but it was fine.
Drive Safe
That was gripping. My favorite so far.
In the Dark
It ended with a whimper instead of a bang but the story itself was good.
The Cask of Amontillado
If I haven't read this story before I've definitely heard of it. It was a good story but by jumping right in there was no suggestion of his motivation to do such a drastic thing.
The Azure Ring
The title gave away the method but not the person. It was an interesting story.
Redux
Another top for me. That story was unlike anything I've read before. The main character caught on in appropriate increments and she died the perfect number of times (what a weird thing to say) before flipping the script and ending the story.
The First Seven Deaths of Mildred Orly
Incredibly creepy but also sad. Another top contender.
Markheim
This was confusing. I understood the basic plot but all the extra dialogue and fighting turned out to be completely unnecessary when he immediately confessed.
The Dualitists
I didn't like that one at all. It was gruesome just to be gruesome and I don't mind if the culprits escape through some sort of cleverness but this was unjust and ridiculous.
The Burial of the Rats
This story was by the same author as the previous one and I feel similarly about it. With nothing happening at the end, it seemed unnecessary. While the story was happening I was interested and it had good action but wrapping it up the way he did made it all for nothing.
Mister Ted
Quick and creepy. I've seen that concept in movies but I'm not sure I've read it in story form before. Telling it from the toy's point of view instead of the human's added a different element as well.
Cheese
I was so worried throughout the story and even though I'm not sure why the criminal acted the way he did, I'm really glad it was a happy ending.
Corpses Removed, No Questions Asked
I was along for the ride on the first and second removals but the third and fourth were too much. I either wanted something different to happen or for the story to end sooner.
Following the removal people could be a fun idea for a longer book though.
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime: A Study of Duty
It definitely didn't go the direction I expected. It was a little long but kept my interest.
Fragments of Me
I really liked that one.
Find all my reviews at: https://readingatrandom.blogspot.com
November 29, 2020
Somehow it is simply not fair to combine stories by most of the authors in this volume with tales like Oscar Wilde's "Lord Arthur Saville's Crime" and Edgar Allen Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," both of which rate 11 out of 10 stars; none of them can come close to the masters of storytelling. Still, there's something here to please everyone.
May 6, 2020
My sister bought a copy and I've kept it in my currently reading as I slowly read all the stories but its annoying me so I'm just gonna add it to read and update this review every time I read another story
Freedom Is Not Free: 3/5, the start was a bit confusing as we're just thrown into the world, but overall I found it very unique and interesting!
Freedom Is Not Free: 3/5, the start was a bit confusing as we're just thrown into the world, but overall I found it very unique and interesting!
December 8, 2019
Haven't finished all the stories yet. But for now, I'll say 3 words:
Pigeons from Hell.
More review to come.
Pigeons from Hell.
More review to come.
December 13, 2023
***1/2
This is sort of an odd collection, in that it brings together classic titans of the horror and detective fiction genres (Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert Louis Stevenson) and new, sometimes virtually unknown, writers. It's a large book, nearly 500 pages of small type, with about forty stories, some leaning more toward detective/crime and others decidedly horror.
It almost seems unfair to the new authors to have their stories stacked up against the likes of Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde, but I'd imagine it's also a bit of a complement. The collection doesn't necessarily "flow"--the stories are presented in alphabetical order, by author's last name--but it's a good batch of tales just the same. I didn't read "Gothic Murder Mayhem" quickly, but spread it out over three months, reading stories here and there, to compliment my other reading, and found that to be a perfectly enjoyable way to approach this collection.
This is sort of an odd collection, in that it brings together classic titans of the horror and detective fiction genres (Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert Louis Stevenson) and new, sometimes virtually unknown, writers. It's a large book, nearly 500 pages of small type, with about forty stories, some leaning more toward detective/crime and others decidedly horror.
It almost seems unfair to the new authors to have their stories stacked up against the likes of Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde, but I'd imagine it's also a bit of a complement. The collection doesn't necessarily "flow"--the stories are presented in alphabetical order, by author's last name--but it's a good batch of tales just the same. I didn't read "Gothic Murder Mayhem" quickly, but spread it out over three months, reading stories here and there, to compliment my other reading, and found that to be a perfectly enjoyable way to approach this collection.
June 28, 2023
I would say about half of these stories were super interesting and gripping while the other half took a lot more effort for me to read. The first 125ish pages were some of the harder stories to get past so I ended up breaking to read a different book. When I came back I was able to make it through the middle which was a mix of interesting and non-interesting stories. It seems most of the best were saved for last because the last 150ish pages I soared through!
July 28, 2023
It's a mixed bag. Some stories were really interesting but some were just meh.
April 23, 2025
I found it hard to get into the book, but I found some of the individual stories interesting.
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