Fairytales of the Macabre

Fairytale Collections #1

by Olivie Blake

Once upon a time, a young woman takes redemption into her own hands; a man’s precarious fate is twisted; a lover plots a bloody vengeance; a castle born from night fulfills a lifelong destiny. In Fairytales of the Macabre, Olivie Blake brings you four stories of romantic noir, each one an improbable foray into dark comedy, seductive horror, and above all, the inescapable temptation of love.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Romance, Horror, Adult, Fiction, Gothic

147 pages, Paperback

First published October 29, 2017

About the author

Olivie Blake is the pseudonym of Alexene Farol Follmuth, a lover and writer of stories, many of which involve the fantastic, the paranormal, or the supernatural, but not always. More often, her works revolve around what it means to be human (or not), and the endlessly interesting complexities of life and love.
​
Olivie has penned several indie SFF projects, including the webtoon Clara and the Devil with illustrator Little Chmura and the viral Atlas series. As Follmuth, her young adult rom-com My Mechanical Romance releases May 2022.

Olivie lives in Los Angeles with her husband and new baby, where she is generally tolerated by her rescue pit bull.

Reviews

[Maditales · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 stars

wow wow wow. the concept, the stories, the writing, the magic I AM IN LOVE.
These short stories have alot to do with obsession, love and possession which makes such interesting stories and I wish there was a full book for each of these.

Pins and Needles has a super interesting and shocking ending that really makes you think about the story again. Obsession as well as competition is so big in that story and the magic undertone makes it slightly gory and creepy, especially since you do not really know that the ending now means, because of the magic.
The animation games is 100000000% my favorite out of this book. it is the longest as well as more based on a happily ever after, as Olivie said and I agree. This is a very interesting concept on that love also is and how close love, hate, revenge, obsession and competition are. The weird sense of humour that both character have during this entire story as well as how lighthearted they treated all the gruesome and scary things they did, is very very different than everything I have ever read. The ending made me happy and I was wondering what would happen right after getting hooked on the first scene.
Fates and Consequences is not a romance story but a power game. Deception and everything going on in here is pretty good especially the betrayal as well as overall the "well I guess that sucks for you" theme and the "well you would have done it" theme.
Sensual tales for carnal pleasures was the most magical and I saw the entire theme of the three wishes in here. The different riddles, all the secrets and the resisting to get what you always wanted so you don't get the consequences that you never know, is very good. The urge to wish for things is very realistic and the ending was very good.

[clara · Rating 5 out of 5]

i have nothing else to say except i had fun reading every single short story in this anthology!! i’m beginning to understand olivie’s writing style and the choices she makes more and more with each book i read by her. she is slowing becoming one of my favorite authors!! idk what i’ll do when i go through her backlist😣💔

[jagodasbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

these fairytales will haunt me, it was twisted and gruesome and strange and beautiful, olivie blake ate with this one

[taylor ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5
i adored the first two stories and i mildly enjoyed the last two so im meeting in the middle. I'm so excited to read the next two collections ahhh

[✮demi✮ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love stories about cruel and cunning girls in love

(my fav in this collection was definitely Pins and Needles)

[ari 🪷 · Rating 3 out of 5]

all the short stories rated over 3:

• pins & needles- 2
• the animation games- 3
• fates and consequences- 1.2
• sensual tales for carnal pleasures- 1.5

special thanks to tasnia my love my bae <33

[jheel · Rating 5 out of 5]

i will never get tired of reading olivie blake! she's slowly becoming my favourite author and i guess she deserves that spot.

fairytales of the macabre consists of four short stories which tell different tales of magic, desire, love, betrayal, and vengeance. here are my ratings for all the stories separately:

• pins and needles — 3.5/5 stars. that twist at the end was everything!
• the animation games — 5/5 stars. peak olivie blake literature. i cannot express in words what that story did to my heart. pure beauty!!
• fates and consequences — 3/5. it was kind of predictable i guess??
• sensual tales for carnal pleasure — 4/5. it was beautifully sad but i loved it.

anyway, i am giving this 4.5 stars mostly because a) i absolutely loved the animation games that i wished it had its own separate book so i could read about all the rounds of bran and rhosyn where they kill each other in different ways while falling in love, and b) it's an olivie blake book ofcourse it's ought to be a masterpiece!!

[rayhanah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I NEED THE OTHER BOOKS NOW BUT I CANT FIND THEM ANYWHEREEEEE SOMEONE HELP

[Nea Poulain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excepto el primer cuento, todos los demás me gustaron bastante. Está interesante la propuesta.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark, twisted, clever short stories with some romance mixed in. I love the way Olivie writes and I can’t wait to read more of her older work.

[Sofia Samu · Rating 5 out of 5]

All four Fairytales were great, loved them!
•Pins and Needles has the twist
•Fates and Consequences has the wit
•Sensual Tales for Carnal Pleasures has the
theme
•The Animation Games has MY HEART!!! Love is a murder competition, as Olivie Blake says, and it lasts for decades. Yes, it was my favorite story and the couple made its way in my "Top Ships" list 😍.

[Christine (myfictionaldays) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 I adore this woman with my whole heart

[nico · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished it when max verstappen went from p17 to p2 in 33 laps lmaoo

[maddie's reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

[Jinghay (these.blank.pages) · Rating 4 out of 5]

My rating for each story:
— Pins and Needles: 3/5
— The Animation Games: 4/5
— Fates and Consequences: 2.5/5
— Sensual tales for Carnal Pleasures: 3.5/5

Such weird stories (in the best way)! My favourite by far was 'The Animation Games' but 'Sensual Tales' and 'Pins and Needles' were close 2nd and 3rds. I loved waiting for each of the plot-twists, and could have easily read full novels of these short stories!
It felt like I was reading small snippets/ideas that would later be used in 'The Atlas Six' (although the stories aren't related ofc), and it's so cool to see how her writing has evolved over time. If you enjoy books with flowery writing and plot twists then you'll enjoy this one!
Olivie Blake is so talented~

-
Overall rating: 3.5 or 4/5 stars

[marilynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

i will always devour everything this woman writes

[Ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

not bad but you can tell that this is one of her earliest works the only story i cared about was the animation games

[Fatima Irfan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️

[Sarah Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Olivie Blake is an incredible writer. 3 short stories… but so powerful and entertaining and beautiful

[Aya · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was beautiful

[arsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

ok WOW that was so fucking good!! i found the stories so interesting and shocking. my favourite out of all them has to be Pins and Needles or The Animation Games. amazing book.

[bel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tales get better as you go further into the book, my favorites where “Fates and Consequences” and “Sensual Tales for Carnal Desires”, i’m a sucker for good plotwists and good existential contemplation hehe

[freya · Rating 4 out of 5]

these were so weird i loved them

[Leonie]

This one goes straight to the list of books I can’t give a rating to. It was so strange but I kind of liked it…?

[Mads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was sooo interesting, i’ve never read short stories before, but i liked this!! The Animation Games was my favorite out of all of them and honestly why it got 4 stars! It kinda reminded me of Will and Elizabeth from pirates of the Caribbean if they died and haunted each other lol. Pins and Needles and Sensual Tales for Carnal Pleasures were both fun and kinda cute. Fates and Consequences was mid tbh but thats okay. The Animation Games really reminded me of One for My Enemy just cause of the themes vengeance after death and love surpassing death.

[alexi · Rating 4 out of 5]

pins and needles — ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
the animation games — ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆.5
fates and consequences — ☆
sensual tales for carnal pleasures — ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

overall 3.5 but i’m gonna put it down as a 4 star rating. we love you olivie blake.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pins and Needles: 3/5
I loved the banter/hate between the characters. I found myself laughing, and the twist at the end was nice. I wish it was longer though!

The Animation Games: 4/5
Oh, this one was the best! It mixes love, hate, murder, revenge, obsession... It was delightfully twisted.

Fates and Consequences: 2/5
Hades was funny and I enjoyed this version of Hell. However, the lack of closure made it kinda pointless. There was a lesson in it but I didn't care that much.

Sensual Tales for Carnal Pleasures: 2/5
The magic was cool but it didn't blow my mind.

[Carson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fairytales of the Macabre is a weird and enchanting collection of short stories. Olivie combines elements of romance and dark humor, with stunning prose. Her stories always stick with me, safe to say I will be rereading this & I can't wait to start the next collection

[11th_book · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely collection of short stories about women un-aliving men, revenge, love & lust. That was fun and I’m intrigued to read more by Olivie Blake than just The Atlas Six.

(on my tbr from 2022 to 2026.)

[ivy · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 rounded up for beautiful writing just didn’t love the stories. 5 stars for the the first story - Pins and Needles.