Angels of Darkness: Tales of Troubled and Troubling Women

by Marvin Kaye (Editor)

Contents

ix • Preface (Angels of Darkness: Tales of Troubled and Troubling Women) • (1995) • essay by Marvin Kaye
xi • Introduction (Angels of Darkness: Tales of Troubled and Troubling Women) • (1995) • essay by Paula Volsky
3 • The Last Kiss • non-genre • (1920) • short story by Maurice Level (trans. of Le baiser dans la nuit 1912)
8 • A Bride for the Devil • (1949) • short story by Stuart Palmer (1905-1968)
17 • The Unspeakable Betrothal • (1949) • short story by Robert Bloch
31 • Am I Insane? • (1903) • short story by Guy de Maupassant (trans. of Fou ? 1882)
34 • Game for Motel Room • (1963) • short story by Fritz Leiber
44 • Porphyria's Lover • (1836) • poem by Robert Browning
46 • The Peace That Crusheth Understanding • (1995) • short story by Julia L. Keefer
56 • Lovedeath • (1988) • short story by Marvin Kaye
61 • The Countess Kathleen O'Shea • (1888) • short story by Timothée Trimm (trans. of Les marchands d'ames 1865) [as by W. B. Yeats (in error)]
65 • Centaurus Changeling • (1954) • novelette by Marion Zimmer Bradley
108 • Snow • (1995) • short story by C. H. Sherman
115 • Lydia's Season • (1995) • short story by Patricia Mullen
124 • Spirits • novelette by Иван Тургенев? (trans. of Призраки? 1864) [as by Ivan Turgenev]
153 • The Mystery of Black Jean • (1923) • short story by Julian Kilman
163 • Lady Eleanore's Mantle • (1838) • short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne
178 • The Thing at Ghent • (1900) • short fiction by Honoré de Balzac?
180 • The Sisters • (1833) • poem by Alfred Tennyson [as by Alfred, Lord Tennyson]
182 • Malevendra's Pool • (1989) • short story by Darrell Schweitzer
199 • Sylvia • (1955) • short story by Ira Levin
211 • Amour Dure • (1887) • novelette by Vernon Lee
242 • The Were-Wolf • (1890) • novelette by Clemence Housman
277 • The River Styx Runs Upstream • (1982) • short story by Dan Simmons
293 • Passeur • (1897) • short story by Robert W. Chambers
298 • Putting the Devil Into Hell • non-genre • (1886) • short story by Giovanni Boccaccio (trans. of Novella decima: Alibech diviene romita, a cui Rustico monaco insegna rimettere il diavolo in inferno; poi, quindi tolta, diventa moglie di Neerbale. 1358)
303 • The Lady in the Tower • [Tower and the Hive] • (1959) • novelette by Anne McCaffrey
322 • The White Dog • (1915) • short story by Фёдор Сологуб? (trans. of Собака? 1908) [as by Feodor Sologub]
328 • The Visit • (1995) • short story by Carole Buggé
331 • The Friends of the Friends • (1896) • novelette by Henry James
355 • Past a Year and a Day • (1995) • poem by Annette Covino
357 • Ladies' Choice • (1995) • short story by Saralee Kaye
360 • The Night People • (1961) • short story by Edward D. Hoch
368 • Duet • (1995) • short story by Alexandra Elizabeth Honigsberg
387 • The Wooden Damsel • (1995) • short story by Toby Sanders
396 • Love Song from the Stars • (1989) • short story by Robert Sheckley
402 • Diesel Dream • (1991) • short story by Alan Dean Foster
413 • The Strange Voyage of Dr. Morbid • (1995) • short story by Jessica Amanda Salmonson (variant of The Strange Voyage of Doctor Morbid)
419 • Bone Wings • (1990) • poem by Jessica Amanda Salmonson
421 • The Gift • (1995) • short story by Susan C. Stone
425 • Vanishing • (1995) • short story by Hope Manville
435 • A Room with a Vie • (1980) • short story by Tanith Lee
450 • Babchi's Drawer • (1995) • short story by Gina M. Angelone
455 • Untitled • (1995) • short story by Morgan Llywelyn
466 • A Child's Game • (1995) • poem by Maryellen B. Wanderer
468 • The Wake of Reddy • (1995) • short story by Barbara Gallow
472 • The Other Mother • (1980) • novelette by Lisa Tuttle
494 • A Dozen Roses • (1995) • short story by Jean Paiva
507 • Propagation of the Faith • (1995) • short story by Joan Vander Putten
515 • Angelica • (1979) • short story by Jane Yolen
519 • Walking Aunt Daid • (1955) • short story by Zenna Henderson

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Anthologies, Short Stories

530 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Marvin Nathan Kaye was an American mystery, fantasy, science fiction, horror author, anthologist, and editor. He was also a magician and theater actor. Kaye was a World Fantasy Award winner and served as co-publisher and editor of Weird Tales Magazine.

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has one of the best short stories I can remember reading. There's a girl snowbound in her car and she's wringing a diary. Her updates slowly get more and more disjointed and she dies of starvation.
yay!

[Susan Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angels of Darkness is the collection of 48 tales which show the reader the darker side of women. From mildly disturbing to downright terrifying, this book has it all. The stories are separated into 4 different sections: Women in Danger, Dangerous Women, Women Troubled & Troubling and Distaff Darkness. Among the authors featured are Robert Browning, Hope Manville, Anne McCaffrey and Robert Bloch. Out of all of the writers, only Nathaniel Hawthorne was not new to me.

There are so many stories in this book worth mentioning, but then this review would go on and on and on. So, here are a few of the stellar entries:


The Last Kiss by Maurice Level -
This is the very first story in the book, & it sets an unusual tone. It's a chilling tale of love and the dangers its passions can create.


Game for Motel Room by Fritz Leiber -
This short entry is a wonderful sci-fi fantasy take on affairs of the heart and a woman scorned.


Centaurus Changeling by Marion Zimmer Bradley -
One of the longer stories, Centaurus Changeling has me wondering why I have never read Zimmer Bradley before! She's wonderful! The characters and setting are so fantastic, she has definitely won a fan in me. This is a tale of love and hate between women, and the sisterhood that exists in the unlikeliest of places.


Angelica by Jane Yolen -
This story was next to last in Angels of Darkness. This story is worth the price of the book. Only 3 1/2 pages long, it packs more punch than books 100 times it's size. I gasped in shock and despair as I finished. Then I flipped the pages back and re-read it aloud to my husband. The kicker is, the story is so short that I won't even give a tiny bit of it away. Just know that it must be read.


All told, there were good stories, OK stories and utterly phenomenal stories in this book. It took me an extraordinary amount of time to read (abt. 2 weeks) because it was so easy to just set down for a day or two between stories. The book ended up being well-worth the time. With tales ranging from a Chinese fairy tale to sadomasochistic erotica, it was fascinating to see the depths of darkness pushed on and emanating from the female characters. My rating: 3/5

[Kitty · Rating 1 out of 5]

Insufferable foreward gave way to an insufferable collection. There were 5 okay stories. I would hate to encounter Marvin Kaye in real life.

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd picked this up from a library book sale thirteen years ago and only recently got around to reading it. I wish I'd done it earlier. This collection of stories was far more entertaining than I'd originally suspected. Usually, there are far more inferior stories than ones that stand out. This one was quite the opposite; I enjoyed nearly every one. The true stand-outs in my mind were:

Game for Motel Room - a clever story of an extra-terrestrial/human tryst.

Snow - Chilling (pun intended)

The Were-wolf - beautifully written and one of the best werewolf stories I've read

The River Styx Runs Upstream - great take on zombies who really aren't zombies

The Visit - hilariously irreverent

Love Song From the Stars - a strong feminist story that left me with a smirk

Untitled - pretty sexually explicit and unique

The Other Mother - this one kept me from sleeping and prompted the rule that I can't read horror before bed anymore

Propagation of the Faith - hardcore child S&M (but okay to read)