Dark Tales from the Woods

by Daniel Morden

Further and further she went into the woods following the trail of blood... The forest is a strange place, at times a testing-ground, at times a place to hide. Mary goes there in pursuit of Caley whilst Tom strikes a cruel bargain with his starving brother. Anwen dreams of mysterious leaves whilst Jack must chop down all the trees in the wood - or lose his head. In Dark Tales from the Woods Daniel Morden draws on the stories of Abram Wood, the celebrated king of the gypsies who came to Wales in the beginning of the eighteenth century. Daniel has added his distinctive voice to the old gypsy tales, the thread of menace strong, rich and dark in this spine-tingling collection. Dark Tales from the Woods are the real thing, reminiscent of many of the grimmest Grimms' tales. Retold by the Welsh storyteller Daniel Morden from originals by the celebrated king of the Gypsies, Abram Wood, these fairytales draw on common stock but have their own unique cadence and charm...Gruesome, fantastical and hypnotic, Morden's stories show why the fairy world will never lose its power over our imaginations.' Amanda Craig, The Times

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Folklore

102 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2005

Reviews

[Mairi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Tales from the Woods is an aesthetically beautiful book - from the eerie illustrations scattered across the pages, to the stories those pages tell themselves. It's also quite short, something you might bring along on a camping trip to tell around the fireside. In fact, I read the whole thing in an afternoon.

According to the blurb, they're gypsy folk-tales. Some touch upon fantasy (dragons, giants) - others seem quite realistic, set in the Welsh countryside with rolling hills and unusual characters. If I had to pick a favourite of the short stories, it would be "The Squirrel & the Fox". A cautionary tale about being kind to one another, two brothers take separate paths at a crossroad. One takes the easier, the other the less certain. They meet again in a month, and one brother strikes a terrible, almost deadly bargain that threatens to pull them apart forever.

Overall, a clear 5* book! Not one of my favourites, but definitely one to place on the shelf facing outwards.

[Kate Forsyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daniel Morden is a wonderful Welsh storyteller - I heard him speak at the Sydney Writers Festival and loved his subtle, clever and humorous style. He has retold a number of old tales in book form, including Fearless, better known as the Grimm tale The 'Boy Who Went Forth to Learn what fear is'. Dark Tales of the Woods is a collection of retold tales from Abram Wood, called King of the Gypsies (I actually reference him in 'The Herb of Grace', Book 3 of the Chain of Charms - he is said to have introduced the fiddle into Wales) while Tree of Leaf and Flame draws upon the Mabinogi, the famous Welsh myth cycle. The tales themselves are simple but elegantly told. Some are funny, some are frightening, all are wonderful.

[Iris · Rating 2 out of 5]

p. 1 - 18 - The Squirrel and the Fox
Tale about 2 brothers and their luck and faith. Open end for the brother with the least luck.
Read it because of a play I go to with my pupils in high school.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw noted Welsh storyteller Daniel Morden perform at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN this year and was compelled to pick up his book. This is a fantastic collection, meticulously researched and beautifully told, with striking illustrations. It works well as a readaloud (if using with children, be aware that there are some gory bits rather like in the original Grimm tales) as well as for storytelling. Morden's experience as a performer comes through in the writing, which flows wonderfully.

[Adam Stevenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark Tales from the Woods has quite a fun pun in the title. Not only do many of the stories occur in woods, but Daniel Morden has adapted the stories from a book of tales told by a family called Wood. Abram Wood, chieftain of the first Welsh Romani and his family were adventurers, musicians and storytellers and many celebrate invention, trickiness and positivity.

Most of the stories feature a main character called Jack who is down on his luck but follows the instructions of a magical object or person and so become comfortable and successful. In the first, he his paired with a morose brother called Tom. This brother is so ungenerous that, in exchange for a bag of food, he gets Jack to give him not only a similar sized sack of gold, but his own eyes. This gruesome moment (and others) is wonderfully depicted by illustrator Brett Breckon. Luckily Jack hears the chat between a fox and squirrel which sets him on his path.

It’s interesting to see the influences of other stories on these. There’s one which has a firebird in it. Another begins as a take on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight before taking parts of The Swan Princess. There’s a Robber Bride story which involves elements of Ali Baba. As such, the stories feel like tales told by a family, a family who’ll happily take and integrate any element they can but subdue it with the fairy tale staples of 3’s, quests and magical items/people.

Morden tells this stories very well and smoothly. I particularly liked the couplets of places in The Green Man, where he’d rhyme animals, birds or places - usually with one Welsh place mentioned (i.e “Chile, Scilly and Caerphilly”). This is a really fun collection of stories and very enjoyable. Looks great too.

[Raquel Pilar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This a collection of the King of the gypsies's stories (Abram Wood).
I really enjoy the repetition of the tales and found funny that every male main character is called Jack!
I especially enjoyed the tale "the leaves that hung but never grew"! I see myself watching a movie based on it!

The squirrel and the fox - ⭐⭐
The leaves that hung but never grew - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The master thief - ⭐⭐⭐
The fiery dragon - ⭐⭐
The king of the Herrings - ⭐⭐⭐
Mary, the maid of the mill - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The green man - ⭐⭐⭐

[Kathy Duffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Welsh retelling with original nuances of some folk tales-- I especially liked the Leaves that Never Grow... I had never run across a Jack tale where he had a brother as he does in The Squirrel and the Fox. I will add this book to my folk tale collection and look for his other folk tale collection.

[Rachel Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have heard Daniel Morden tell The Leaves that Hung But Never Grew, was totally enchanted and I was very interested to read this book. The stories in this book generally don't pull punches, have classic folktale sensabilites, but don't go over the edge to gruesome...except for one. Go read it and find out which one.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daniel Morden is a captivating teller of tales -- and this book gives seven of his tales, drawn from traditional stories of the Wood family from Wales. He tells about his process of choosing and adapting, enlarging, and enhancing the stories -- and then you get to read the results of the process. I could hear Daniel's voice as I read. Beautiful book.

[Ivan Monckton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the ‘oral’ way they have been written, though some of the endings were a bit abrupt!

[Tamara Zann · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing style is a bit repetitive. I enjoyed the stories for the most part though. They don't remind me of any tales I have written before which says a lot.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

We stumbled upon this book and two more of its ‘siblings’. I couldn’t put it down. Amazing storytelling. I look forward to reading the others.

[kath Topley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book if you're looking for something short and interesting to read. Beautiful illustrations I really enjoyed this book, I got the feeling it was YA fiction but I thoroughly enjoyed every story.

[Twig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book a lot, i love the tales, i love the author, i love the art, it's just amazing and maybe one of my new favourite books.

[kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

i went to a book signing for this. daniel morden seemed pretty cool and i liked the book 👍🏻

[Queen Candy Toppenmarble · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading these tales.

[Miz Lizzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, powerful tales lusciously re-told by a superb Welsh storyteller. The Woods of the title are the Romany storytellers who traveled through Wales sharing these tales. The stories were transcribed and published and then fell out of print. Daniel Morden has breathed new life into them so that they are ready to fall off the tongue whether read or told. Some of the tales strike familiar echoes to variations in Appalachian and British tales. Dark and twisting like proper fairy tales, these are stories you will want to re-visit again and again. If you love (the original) Grimm fairy tales, you'll love these as well. Get a taste of Daniel Morden telling one of the tales here: https://www.storytellingcenter.net/ne....

[Daniel Foytik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! I have recently started reexamining traditional tales and stories and this was at the top of my list to procure on that quest.

It did not disappoint. I could listen to Daniel all day long as he tells stories in a compelling tone, a mastery of the use of silences, lows and highs, and of course, the fantastic Welsh accent. A true storyteller!

While you don't get the benefits of hearing Daniel speak while reading these, they are still fantastic tales that hold their own in written form. I love seeing the basic use of plot and character in a pure form like this.

Highly recommended!

[Elen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really fun and quick read. There were some really nice short stories in it (although I can't say I was a fan of some of the women Jack was marrying in the stories). If you fancy a few short fairytales, this is definitely the book to check out. I would say Mary, Maid of the Mill was definitely my favourite, but there weren't any that I disliked a huge amount. I'd definitely read more right now!

[Judith Paterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely collections of folk tales