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Coppice & Brake
A night guard brings an offering to the eternal denizens of a notorious prison.
In a young girl's room, the shiny people keep watch in the night.
A proud father beams as his son takes the stage for the performance of a lifetime.
The stories in this anthology are the glimpses of the dark places between the forest and a dream. They are the shadows seeking the last notes of a dying violin. They invite the reader into a world where a condemned man faces his fate over and over and over again. Coppice & Brake is an anthology of dark fiction, featuring tales from the borderlands of horror, speculative fiction, and the nightmare fears that linger even after you turn on the lights.
In a young girl's room, the shiny people keep watch in the night.
A proud father beams as his son takes the stage for the performance of a lifetime.
The stories in this anthology are the glimpses of the dark places between the forest and a dream. They are the shadows seeking the last notes of a dying violin. They invite the reader into a world where a condemned man faces his fate over and over and over again. Coppice & Brake is an anthology of dark fiction, featuring tales from the borderlands of horror, speculative fiction, and the nightmare fears that linger even after you turn on the lights.
266 pages, Paperback
First published March 21, 2020
4 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Rachel A. Brune
33 books100 followersRachel A. Brune graduated from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts in May 2000, and was immediately plunged into the low-stakes world of entry-level executive assistant-ship. Her unexpected journey out of that world and into the military is chronicled in her self-published book Echoes and Premonitions.
Rachel served five years as a combat journalist, including two tours in Iraq, and a brief stint as a columnist for her hometown newspaper. After her second tour, she attended graduate school at the University at Albany in NY, where she earned her MA in Political Communication, and her commission as a second lieutenant in the military police corps.
Although her day job has taken in her in many strange, often twisted directions, Rachel continues to write and publish short fiction. She released her first novel, Soft Target, in early 2013. In addition to writing for the online military interest zine "Task & Purpose," she blogs her thoughts about reading and the writing life at The Infamous Scribbler. You can also follow her on Twitter, where she goes by the handle @rachelabrune.
Rachel served five years as a combat journalist, including two tours in Iraq, and a brief stint as a columnist for her hometown newspaper. After her second tour, she attended graduate school at the University at Albany in NY, where she earned her MA in Political Communication, and her commission as a second lieutenant in the military police corps.
Although her day job has taken in her in many strange, often twisted directions, Rachel continues to write and publish short fiction. She released her first novel, Soft Target, in early 2013. In addition to writing for the online military interest zine "Task & Purpose," she blogs her thoughts about reading and the writing life at The Infamous Scribbler. You can also follow her on Twitter, where she goes by the handle @rachelabrune.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 25, 2020
Even as much as anthologies of short fiction by different authors tend to be mixed bags, I find that horror fiction or dark fiction collections overwhelmingly dissappoint. Despite being a big horror fan, I count myself lucky if I can enjoy as much as a third of the offerings with most collected horror volumes.
Coppice & Brake shattered my expectations.
It wouldn't be fair to review my own story, but considering everything else in the anthology? Holy Hecate. Jinkies. This is the Good Shit (TM).
I can honestly say that, out of all the offerings, there are only two stories in this entire collection that I consider bad, and almost all of them were at the very least fun or satisfying to read. Satisfying is important, because out of all genres, horror short fiction is the one that tends most often to leave me staring at the page going "Wait, what?" Almost every story here provided either a sense of concrete, narrative closure or solid emotional resonance.
"Dog's Blood Trail" starts off the anthology with solid wumph, short and snappy enough not to over-extend its grotesque fabulist premise. I have to admire a story that starts with a dead baby and then gets worse.
Having established just how gorey and brutal it can be, so that threat is in the background, the anthology quickly takes a step back into an honest-to-goodness fairy tale, characterized by stylization and reticence. "Raff and the Scissor Finger" is everything you could want from a deep dark woods tale about an encounter with the Fair Folk, grim and eerie yet tasteful enough to not offend delicate sensibilities. This was when I really determined I was in for a good time.
Terracotta Daughter impresses me more by its second person framing device, and has enough hypnotic skill to prevent that from being distracting or obtrusive after the first few paragraphs. We have no shortage of stories glorifying hard men making hard choices in positions of power, so it's a nice change of pace to focus on a traditionalist woman making her case for morally grey things she does in the name of motherhood. (As a totally minor aside, I really loved the moment of "you know your job, let me do mine" professionalism between two characters who, in all other areas, have zero respect or consideration for each other.) It's a great story about serious things that go on behind the scenes while "important" people play at being powerful.
"The Homeless Special" is really fun. The premise of a pizza delivery to a random bridge in the middle of nowhere is a good hook, but what kept me reading was Andrew Jensen's introspective and deeply sympathetic protagonist struggling with moral complexities of a harsh world and trying to keep his head above water. The ending was comprehensible enough, but left me a little confused as to a certain character's reasons for sharing so much information given the stakes.
"The Play Date" is one of those stories that leaves you feeling horrible, and I mean that as praise. The altered reality premise about the power to create and unmake living things is intriguing enough, and the struggle between the compassionate character and the damaged, hurting, hurtful one keeps you on the edge of your seat. Oh man though, the twist ending really rendered a concept I have found so offensive in beautiful clarity.
"Catch of the Day" is a delightful little sushi-sized bite of flash fiction. It starts with a character encountering floating dead fish, again. What more do you need to know? I also found its brevity and its tone very good for the flow of the anthology after the length and heaviness of the preceding stories. Rachel A. Brune doesn't just know how to pick stories, she knows how to arrange them like flowers.
"Trumpet Voluntary" really didn't work for me. It was long enough to wear out the welcome of its rather thin premise, and it didn't have enough in the way of style or memorable voice to buoy up the narrative. The concept also doesn't have much novelty for me, although YMMV.
"The Red Shoes" is a solid perspective-flip on an old gruesome fairy tale. I appreciated the sense of the witch's ennui but I can't find that much else to say about it.
"The Rat Room" is one of those stories that just left me scratching my head. Maybe some important symbolism went over my head, but I didn't really get the connections, jive with the motivation, or feel the thrust of it. I was left unsure of the point of the story. If that makes me an unenlightened pleb or a Confused Matthew-esque basic bitch, then so be it.
"Keys Without Locks" had me engaged from the title and totally delivered on the weirdness and fabulism it promised. It also helped reassure me that this anthology was still full of things I would enjoy and hadn't run out of gas.
"White-Tail Lies" stands out not just because of its difference in tone, but the size of the stakes contrast with the mortal peril that drives most of the anthology. Again it comes in at just the right place. I also enjoyed the symbolism and representation it provides.
"The Anomaly" ads to the category of "stories exactly as good as their title suggests they would be." It's rich with the unexplained, with dread, and with atmosphere. Enjoy it with a gently swishing glass of port wine or a steaming cup of tea.
"In the Forests of the Night" has a sharp hook and somewhat disorienting framing device, but does a good job pulling you through that. It feels like it would be just as much at home in a literary superhero anthology or an upscale scifi or fantasy collection. The politics are pointed and the meditation on empathy and alienation is effective.
Now, after so much very serious, very philosophical, very thematic and nuanced and literary endeavors, "A Woman Unbecoming" is just plain fun. I'm talking tales-from-the-crypt level of vicious poetic justice, satisfying revenge, and fist-punching ghoulish delight. It's still ideologically evolved enough to not be empty calories, but it is sloppy and juicy and oh so delightful. Maybe if high-brow literary horror is filet of swordfish while unthinking pulp horror is fast food burgers, this story would be the Impossible Burger or Beyond Burger with pineapple and teriyaki sauce at a mid-range chain restaurant.
"Like a Cat" takes a character without any apparent sympathetic traits and makes you sympathize with him when faced with sheer institutional cruelty and self-righteous sadism.
"The Yogurt Swimmer", well, what's not to like about a mysterious little monster showing up in a container of yogurt? Also nice to see some more LGBTQ stuff.
"Tones of Memories" reads like something Kafka would produce if he had effective antidepressants.
"Ghost Story" isn't my favorite in the anthology, but it works. I'm embarrassed by how long it took me to figure out the double meaning in the title.
"Shiny People" reminded me that there really aren't enough stories about Father-Daughter relationships. The earthy but devoted protagonist is very relatable and compelling, and the extremely grounded setting reads like something the author knows well. I had my heart in my throat halfway through the story, and all these concrete elements make the supernatural element stand out allt he more.
"Eccentric on the Grandest of Scales" is far from the first story I've read about somebody cursed with precognition, but it does manage to serve up the old concept in a fresh way. It helps that it makes me think about the odder customers every barista seems to have encountered at least once, like the woman who ordered a nintuple espresso with an energy shot and paid entirely with gold coins. Come for the quirky butch lady, stay for an investigation on the nature of fate and free will with a surprising resolution.
"All the Dead Girls Singing" is a poetic investigation of the post-mortum lionization of victims, the narrowness of gender roles, and a bit of unnatural happiness.
"Swing a Dead Cat", I'm sorry to say, is the one story I didn't finish. The extent of it that I read was well-written, but after repeatedly forcing myself to return to it I realized that I just don't care for the cloning premise.
Please buy this book. It's an abnormally good dark fiction collection and there are several stories that, in and of themselves, are worth the $15 for a paperback copy.
Coppice & Brake shattered my expectations.
It wouldn't be fair to review my own story, but considering everything else in the anthology? Holy Hecate. Jinkies. This is the Good Shit (TM).
I can honestly say that, out of all the offerings, there are only two stories in this entire collection that I consider bad, and almost all of them were at the very least fun or satisfying to read. Satisfying is important, because out of all genres, horror short fiction is the one that tends most often to leave me staring at the page going "Wait, what?" Almost every story here provided either a sense of concrete, narrative closure or solid emotional resonance.
"Dog's Blood Trail" starts off the anthology with solid wumph, short and snappy enough not to over-extend its grotesque fabulist premise. I have to admire a story that starts with a dead baby and then gets worse.
Having established just how gorey and brutal it can be, so that threat is in the background, the anthology quickly takes a step back into an honest-to-goodness fairy tale, characterized by stylization and reticence. "Raff and the Scissor Finger" is everything you could want from a deep dark woods tale about an encounter with the Fair Folk, grim and eerie yet tasteful enough to not offend delicate sensibilities. This was when I really determined I was in for a good time.
Terracotta Daughter impresses me more by its second person framing device, and has enough hypnotic skill to prevent that from being distracting or obtrusive after the first few paragraphs. We have no shortage of stories glorifying hard men making hard choices in positions of power, so it's a nice change of pace to focus on a traditionalist woman making her case for morally grey things she does in the name of motherhood. (As a totally minor aside, I really loved the moment of "you know your job, let me do mine" professionalism between two characters who, in all other areas, have zero respect or consideration for each other.) It's a great story about serious things that go on behind the scenes while "important" people play at being powerful.
"The Homeless Special" is really fun. The premise of a pizza delivery to a random bridge in the middle of nowhere is a good hook, but what kept me reading was Andrew Jensen's introspective and deeply sympathetic protagonist struggling with moral complexities of a harsh world and trying to keep his head above water. The ending was comprehensible enough, but left me a little confused as to a certain character's reasons for sharing so much information given the stakes.
"The Play Date" is one of those stories that leaves you feeling horrible, and I mean that as praise. The altered reality premise about the power to create and unmake living things is intriguing enough, and the struggle between the compassionate character and the damaged, hurting, hurtful one keeps you on the edge of your seat. Oh man though, the twist ending really rendered a concept I have found so offensive in beautiful clarity.
"Catch of the Day" is a delightful little sushi-sized bite of flash fiction. It starts with a character encountering floating dead fish, again. What more do you need to know? I also found its brevity and its tone very good for the flow of the anthology after the length and heaviness of the preceding stories. Rachel A. Brune doesn't just know how to pick stories, she knows how to arrange them like flowers.
"Trumpet Voluntary" really didn't work for me. It was long enough to wear out the welcome of its rather thin premise, and it didn't have enough in the way of style or memorable voice to buoy up the narrative. The concept also doesn't have much novelty for me, although YMMV.
"The Red Shoes" is a solid perspective-flip on an old gruesome fairy tale. I appreciated the sense of the witch's ennui but I can't find that much else to say about it.
"The Rat Room" is one of those stories that just left me scratching my head. Maybe some important symbolism went over my head, but I didn't really get the connections, jive with the motivation, or feel the thrust of it. I was left unsure of the point of the story. If that makes me an unenlightened pleb or a Confused Matthew-esque basic bitch, then so be it.
"Keys Without Locks" had me engaged from the title and totally delivered on the weirdness and fabulism it promised. It also helped reassure me that this anthology was still full of things I would enjoy and hadn't run out of gas.
"White-Tail Lies" stands out not just because of its difference in tone, but the size of the stakes contrast with the mortal peril that drives most of the anthology. Again it comes in at just the right place. I also enjoyed the symbolism and representation it provides.
"The Anomaly" ads to the category of "stories exactly as good as their title suggests they would be." It's rich with the unexplained, with dread, and with atmosphere. Enjoy it with a gently swishing glass of port wine or a steaming cup of tea.
"In the Forests of the Night" has a sharp hook and somewhat disorienting framing device, but does a good job pulling you through that. It feels like it would be just as much at home in a literary superhero anthology or an upscale scifi or fantasy collection. The politics are pointed and the meditation on empathy and alienation is effective.
Now, after so much very serious, very philosophical, very thematic and nuanced and literary endeavors, "A Woman Unbecoming" is just plain fun. I'm talking tales-from-the-crypt level of vicious poetic justice, satisfying revenge, and fist-punching ghoulish delight. It's still ideologically evolved enough to not be empty calories, but it is sloppy and juicy and oh so delightful. Maybe if high-brow literary horror is filet of swordfish while unthinking pulp horror is fast food burgers, this story would be the Impossible Burger or Beyond Burger with pineapple and teriyaki sauce at a mid-range chain restaurant.
"Like a Cat" takes a character without any apparent sympathetic traits and makes you sympathize with him when faced with sheer institutional cruelty and self-righteous sadism.
"The Yogurt Swimmer", well, what's not to like about a mysterious little monster showing up in a container of yogurt? Also nice to see some more LGBTQ stuff.
"Tones of Memories" reads like something Kafka would produce if he had effective antidepressants.
"Ghost Story" isn't my favorite in the anthology, but it works. I'm embarrassed by how long it took me to figure out the double meaning in the title.
"Shiny People" reminded me that there really aren't enough stories about Father-Daughter relationships. The earthy but devoted protagonist is very relatable and compelling, and the extremely grounded setting reads like something the author knows well. I had my heart in my throat halfway through the story, and all these concrete elements make the supernatural element stand out allt he more.
"Eccentric on the Grandest of Scales" is far from the first story I've read about somebody cursed with precognition, but it does manage to serve up the old concept in a fresh way. It helps that it makes me think about the odder customers every barista seems to have encountered at least once, like the woman who ordered a nintuple espresso with an energy shot and paid entirely with gold coins. Come for the quirky butch lady, stay for an investigation on the nature of fate and free will with a surprising resolution.
"All the Dead Girls Singing" is a poetic investigation of the post-mortum lionization of victims, the narrowness of gender roles, and a bit of unnatural happiness.
"Swing a Dead Cat", I'm sorry to say, is the one story I didn't finish. The extent of it that I read was well-written, but after repeatedly forcing myself to return to it I realized that I just don't care for the cloning premise.
Please buy this book. It's an abnormally good dark fiction collection and there are several stories that, in and of themselves, are worth the $15 for a paperback copy.
May 28, 2020
Full disclaimer, as one of the contributing authors I am biased in my review. However, I will attempt to rate it objectively and I exclude my own story from any of the praise I’m about to deliver.
Billed as a collection of dark fantasy stories from the borderland of horror and nightmares, Coppice & Brake packs a strong assortment of fiction, where the horror hits the same way as an old Grimm Fairy Tale would: it’s not the main point, but it’s there. Rachel Brune has done a wonderful job in assembling the collection both in the quality of the stories and in their progression.
Selecting three top stories is a challenge as nearly every tale kept me entertained and many evoked a deep emotional reaction, but for the sake of the review, my favorites start with WHITE TAIL LIES by Friedrich Sarah E. Thompson, a surprisingly sweet story that blurred the line between dark fantasy and magical realism. It manages to evoke a truth about human interactions and connections using fantastical elements, and it completely charmed me. Next, THE YOGURT SWIMMER by Richard Leis, a bizarre tale that taps into every lover’s insecurity and twists it into terror. I deeply appreciated the way Leis made the main characters actions seem monstrous, while keeping him completely sympathetic and relatable. And finally, DOG’S BLOOD TRAIL by Gabrielle Bleu, not only the kickoff story of the collection, but perhaps the most horrific story of the bunch. This is a disturbing and surreal exploration of grief that takes a surprising turn toward a fairy-tale at the end.
It would have been easy to select a half dozen more favorites and still feel like I left some out. My general caveat with anthologies is that not all stories are going to be for all tastes, but Coppice & Brake managed to never let me down.
Billed as a collection of dark fantasy stories from the borderland of horror and nightmares, Coppice & Brake packs a strong assortment of fiction, where the horror hits the same way as an old Grimm Fairy Tale would: it’s not the main point, but it’s there. Rachel Brune has done a wonderful job in assembling the collection both in the quality of the stories and in their progression.
Selecting three top stories is a challenge as nearly every tale kept me entertained and many evoked a deep emotional reaction, but for the sake of the review, my favorites start with WHITE TAIL LIES by Friedrich Sarah E. Thompson, a surprisingly sweet story that blurred the line between dark fantasy and magical realism. It manages to evoke a truth about human interactions and connections using fantastical elements, and it completely charmed me. Next, THE YOGURT SWIMMER by Richard Leis, a bizarre tale that taps into every lover’s insecurity and twists it into terror. I deeply appreciated the way Leis made the main characters actions seem monstrous, while keeping him completely sympathetic and relatable. And finally, DOG’S BLOOD TRAIL by Gabrielle Bleu, not only the kickoff story of the collection, but perhaps the most horrific story of the bunch. This is a disturbing and surreal exploration of grief that takes a surprising turn toward a fairy-tale at the end.
It would have been easy to select a half dozen more favorites and still feel like I left some out. My general caveat with anthologies is that not all stories are going to be for all tastes, but Coppice & Brake managed to never let me down.
August 6, 2020
One of my short stories is included in the dark fiction anthology Coppice & Brake, but my review here is about the other stories and one of the most exciting and enjoyable reading experiences I’ve had this year. I’m enthusiastic because in a year of great anthologies, Coppice & Brake from Crone Girls Press and Editor Rachel A. Brune is an absolute favorite. I love every single story, which I cannot say about most anthologies.
“Dog’s Blood Trail” by Gabrielle Bleu and “Swing a Dead Cat” by Shannon Scott bookend the anthology with levels of horror and violence I was not prepared for, and I mean only praise by saying so. These were surprising, shocking stories, one of them very serious, the other very funny.
Editor Rachel A. Brune’s arrangement of the other stories in between these two sent me on a journey over a variegated terrain of narratives super dark, heartbreaking, grotesque, fast-paced, slow-paced, beautiful, heartwarming, and life-affirming. The diversity of characters, including LGBT characters, made me so happy, made me feel welcome, let me see the world through other perspectives. “Cold Dread and Hot Slices” by Spencer Koelle, “Eccentric on the Grandest of Scales” by Voss Foster, and “All the Dead Girls, Singing” by Avra Margariti are just a few of several examples of LGBT representation where neither identity nor story are neglected. “Terracotta Daughter” by JZ Ting challenged me with a complex protagonist, “Trumpet Voluntary” by Edmund Schluessel with the horrifying apathy of it’s protagonist, and “In the Forests of the Night” by Joanna Michal Hoyt with the central relationship so profoundly affected at the end by the events of the story.
Various genres are represented in these dark pages, including the fairy tales of “Raff and the Scissor-Finger” by R.K. Duncan and “The Red Shoes” brilliantly retold by Holly Lyn Walrath; the ghost stories of “Tones of Memories” by Julie Novakova and “Ghost Story” by Jeff Dosser; the fabulism of “Keys Without Locks” by C. Patrick Neagle and the aforementioned “Swing a Dead Cat” by Shannon Scott; the dark science fiction of “Like a Cat” by Brian K. Lowe and the aforementioned “Trumpet Voluntary” by Edmund Schluessel; and the outright horror of “The Rat Room” by Rebecca Dale, “The Homeless Special” by Andrew Jensen, and “The Play Date” by James Van Pelt, which, like many of these stories, is cross-genre and genre bending, including elements of fantasy, science fiction, and various subgenres.
“White-Tail Lies” by Friedrich Sarah E. Thompson reminds me favorable of stories written by Alyssa Wong, one of my favorite authors, but is unique and beautiful and affirming all on its own. So many stories in this anthology were life-affirming, including “The Anomaly” by David J. Thirteen, or satisfyingly triumphant even when especially dark, like “A Woman Unbecoming” by CM Harris. “Shiny People” by Elizabeth Donald is a great story with a chilling final sentence I cannot get out of my head. Most of the pieces are short stories, but one of the flash fiction pieces, “Catch of the Day” by Karter Mycroft, is a favorite among favorites.
Coppice & Brake is the second anthology from Crone Girls Press. I just ordered the first and I’m looking forward to many more.
“Dog’s Blood Trail” by Gabrielle Bleu and “Swing a Dead Cat” by Shannon Scott bookend the anthology with levels of horror and violence I was not prepared for, and I mean only praise by saying so. These were surprising, shocking stories, one of them very serious, the other very funny.
Editor Rachel A. Brune’s arrangement of the other stories in between these two sent me on a journey over a variegated terrain of narratives super dark, heartbreaking, grotesque, fast-paced, slow-paced, beautiful, heartwarming, and life-affirming. The diversity of characters, including LGBT characters, made me so happy, made me feel welcome, let me see the world through other perspectives. “Cold Dread and Hot Slices” by Spencer Koelle, “Eccentric on the Grandest of Scales” by Voss Foster, and “All the Dead Girls, Singing” by Avra Margariti are just a few of several examples of LGBT representation where neither identity nor story are neglected. “Terracotta Daughter” by JZ Ting challenged me with a complex protagonist, “Trumpet Voluntary” by Edmund Schluessel with the horrifying apathy of it’s protagonist, and “In the Forests of the Night” by Joanna Michal Hoyt with the central relationship so profoundly affected at the end by the events of the story.
Various genres are represented in these dark pages, including the fairy tales of “Raff and the Scissor-Finger” by R.K. Duncan and “The Red Shoes” brilliantly retold by Holly Lyn Walrath; the ghost stories of “Tones of Memories” by Julie Novakova and “Ghost Story” by Jeff Dosser; the fabulism of “Keys Without Locks” by C. Patrick Neagle and the aforementioned “Swing a Dead Cat” by Shannon Scott; the dark science fiction of “Like a Cat” by Brian K. Lowe and the aforementioned “Trumpet Voluntary” by Edmund Schluessel; and the outright horror of “The Rat Room” by Rebecca Dale, “The Homeless Special” by Andrew Jensen, and “The Play Date” by James Van Pelt, which, like many of these stories, is cross-genre and genre bending, including elements of fantasy, science fiction, and various subgenres.
“White-Tail Lies” by Friedrich Sarah E. Thompson reminds me favorable of stories written by Alyssa Wong, one of my favorite authors, but is unique and beautiful and affirming all on its own. So many stories in this anthology were life-affirming, including “The Anomaly” by David J. Thirteen, or satisfyingly triumphant even when especially dark, like “A Woman Unbecoming” by CM Harris. “Shiny People” by Elizabeth Donald is a great story with a chilling final sentence I cannot get out of my head. Most of the pieces are short stories, but one of the flash fiction pieces, “Catch of the Day” by Karter Mycroft, is a favorite among favorites.
Coppice & Brake is the second anthology from Crone Girls Press. I just ordered the first and I’m looking forward to many more.
May 24, 2020
Considering I wrote one of the 23 stories featured in this anthology, I really wanted to like it when I finally got the chance to see what kind of fiction I was being featured among. But even with high hopes, I was still really blown away by this anthology. Normally with an anthology, I'll count myself as satisfied if half of the stories seem okay to me - Coppice & Brake, however, only had two out of 23 stories not quite click for me. Any one of the remaining stories could be one of my favourite horror pieces of 2020. 'Cold Dread and Hot Slices' and 'The Yogurt Swimmer' were absolute knockouts that keep creeping back into my thoughts and sending shivers down my spine at completely random times.
If you'd like to give the anthology a go but are concerned about potentially upsetting content, I've compiled a list of content warnings for each story in the collection! I've done my best to keep the warnings contextless to avoid spoilers, so if you care more about spoilers than warnings you probably shouldn't check out the list before you read, and if you want any warnings that aren't listed or a more robust explanation of a certain topic, feel free to ask me!
Here's the list:
If you'd like to give the anthology a go but are concerned about potentially upsetting content, I've compiled a list of content warnings for each story in the collection! I've done my best to keep the warnings contextless to avoid spoilers, so if you care more about spoilers than warnings you probably shouldn't check out the list before you read, and if you want any warnings that aren't listed or a more robust explanation of a certain topic, feel free to ask me!
Here's the list:
April 21, 2020
Coppice & Brake is a dark fiction anthology filled with grief, loneliness, vengeance, and dread. It features dark fairy tales and works of gruesome body horror alongside ruminations on the cruelty of patriarchy and capitalism. It examines fate and family and shows us what it’s like to live as an outcast. Above all else, it focuses on the terror of the periphery, shining a light on people who live in the shadows and bringing into focus the things that we usually only see out of the corners of our eyes.
As with any anthology, some stories will resonate with a reader more than others. With 23 stories to choose from, you’re sure to have your own favorites. I’d like to highlight a few of mine, though I have plenty of praise for most of the stories in this engrossing collection.
I have a deep love for fairy tales, and there are three in this anthology that struck a chord with me. “Raff and the Scissor-Finger” by R. K. Duncan eerily conveys the importance of knowing your lore and being careful with your words when dealing with faeries. “Terracotta Daughter” by J. Z. Ting is a suspenseful, feminist tale of magic presented within a subtle framing device that tells readers so much by not telling us much at all. “The Red Shoes” by Holly Lyn Walrath is an intriguing retelling of a classic story that makes the reader sympathize with the wicked witch of the woods. Like most good fairy tales, all three stories are dark and mournfully ironic.
My absolute favorite entry was “White-Tail Lies” by Friedrich Sarah E. Thompson. This unique, arresting piece is a breathtaking metaphor for the closeted queer experience. Although “White-Tail Lies” was my favorite, C. M. Harris’s “A Woman Unbecoming” was probably the most cathartic story in the collection. I took copious notes on most of these stories, but my first comment on this one simply said: “YES.” This story is pure rage, a primal shout against misogyny and toxic masculinity.
Two of my favorite stories have become even more relatable since I started reading the collection a few weeks ago, dealing as they do with the trauma of living in an economy that sees so many workers as disposable. “Cold Dread and Hot Slices” by Spencer Koelle, a Lovecraftian story of minimum wage food service, gave me flashbacks to countless jobs where I just tried to survive every shift. Though I can’t possibly understand the protagonist’s struggles as she navigates the world as a trans woman, I had a visceral connection to one of the ideas I believe is symbolized by the shapeshifting pink blob that torments her at her job. The monster ebbs and flows; she can’t always see it, but she knows it’s always there, waiting to attack her in a vulnerable moment. This amorphous, omnipresent menace is (among other things) a profound metaphor for suicidal ideation. You never know when it’s coming; you only know that it is coming.
The second of these increasingly relatable stories is the gleefully weird “Swing a Dead Cat” by Shannon Scott. It closes out the anthology, and I see why editor Rachel A. Brune chose it for the job. With tongue-in-cheek critiques of academia (particularly low teacher pay), grim humor, a campy but incisive sci-fi premise, and a killer final line, it’s a perfect way to end this collection of darkly satisfying tales.
As you can see by the variety of stories I chose as my favorites, Coppice & Brake has a story for everyone. With meditations on guilt, loss, fear, and destiny, this is a strong anthology of timely existential horror.
As with any anthology, some stories will resonate with a reader more than others. With 23 stories to choose from, you’re sure to have your own favorites. I’d like to highlight a few of mine, though I have plenty of praise for most of the stories in this engrossing collection.
I have a deep love for fairy tales, and there are three in this anthology that struck a chord with me. “Raff and the Scissor-Finger” by R. K. Duncan eerily conveys the importance of knowing your lore and being careful with your words when dealing with faeries. “Terracotta Daughter” by J. Z. Ting is a suspenseful, feminist tale of magic presented within a subtle framing device that tells readers so much by not telling us much at all. “The Red Shoes” by Holly Lyn Walrath is an intriguing retelling of a classic story that makes the reader sympathize with the wicked witch of the woods. Like most good fairy tales, all three stories are dark and mournfully ironic.
My absolute favorite entry was “White-Tail Lies” by Friedrich Sarah E. Thompson. This unique, arresting piece is a breathtaking metaphor for the closeted queer experience. Although “White-Tail Lies” was my favorite, C. M. Harris’s “A Woman Unbecoming” was probably the most cathartic story in the collection. I took copious notes on most of these stories, but my first comment on this one simply said: “YES.” This story is pure rage, a primal shout against misogyny and toxic masculinity.
Two of my favorite stories have become even more relatable since I started reading the collection a few weeks ago, dealing as they do with the trauma of living in an economy that sees so many workers as disposable. “Cold Dread and Hot Slices” by Spencer Koelle, a Lovecraftian story of minimum wage food service, gave me flashbacks to countless jobs where I just tried to survive every shift. Though I can’t possibly understand the protagonist’s struggles as she navigates the world as a trans woman, I had a visceral connection to one of the ideas I believe is symbolized by the shapeshifting pink blob that torments her at her job. The monster ebbs and flows; she can’t always see it, but she knows it’s always there, waiting to attack her in a vulnerable moment. This amorphous, omnipresent menace is (among other things) a profound metaphor for suicidal ideation. You never know when it’s coming; you only know that it is coming.
The second of these increasingly relatable stories is the gleefully weird “Swing a Dead Cat” by Shannon Scott. It closes out the anthology, and I see why editor Rachel A. Brune chose it for the job. With tongue-in-cheek critiques of academia (particularly low teacher pay), grim humor, a campy but incisive sci-fi premise, and a killer final line, it’s a perfect way to end this collection of darkly satisfying tales.
As you can see by the variety of stories I chose as my favorites, Coppice & Brake has a story for everyone. With meditations on guilt, loss, fear, and destiny, this is a strong anthology of timely existential horror.
June 21, 2020
This anthology of the Weird wanders dark corridors including fantasy and bizarro/slipstream. “A Woman Unbecoming” by CM Harris is a fun revenge story that focuses on the wretchedness of MAMILs (Middle-Aged Man In Lycra.) I rather enjoyed how the final line tied it all up in a bow. “Like a Cat” by Brian K. Lowe is a fascinating view on corporal punishment. “All the Dead Girls Singing” is such a goth love story. “White Tail Lies” by Friedrich Sarah E. Thompson is probably the best of the bunch with a slipstream exploration of the truth.
May 11, 2020
When I pick up anthologies, I usually have a good sense of the type of stories I’ll encounter, but that was not the case with Coppice & Brake, much to my absolute delight. These tales are almost beyond imagination, directly tapping into that place where nightmares are born. From grizzly body horror to dark science fiction, this collection runs the full gamut of superb speculative fiction.
The very first story, “Dog’s Blood Trail” by Gabrielle Bleu, was a fantastic step into what Coppice & Brake holds in store. Weird and horrific, this story was part Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” and part John Carpenter’s version of “The Thing.” After reading Bleu’s story, I knew I had stumbled upon a unique and wonderful anthology.
Some of the other entries include a Slenderman type creature, magical abilities to make and unmake living things, an obsession with keys, and a lakeside serenade by ghosts of murdered girls. The entire collection stays away from subjects you normally expect from dark fiction, and even those that tread closer to the familiar take unexpected twists.
One of the stories I enjoyed most, “The Red Shoes” by Holly Lyn Walrath, is a perfect example of unexpected twists. Walrath gives us a story of a lonely old witch in a deserted forest. You would expect that when the witch finds a lost girl (“A lovely redheaded thing curled in the litter of the forest floor like a fairy in bracken”), she would immediately make a meal of her, as the witch had done with so many other helpless children through the years. Yet she doesn’t. Obsessed with the past when trolls, werewolves, and other sorcerers called the woods home, the old woman casts a spell on a pair of red shoes for the girl. But magic rarely brings us the things we most desire, especially not without a hefty price. This was a beautifully written story with sharp images, and it reminded me of being a child, listening to Grimms’ Fairy Tales for the first time.
Another standout for me was “White Tail Lies” by Friedrich Sarah E. Thompson, which starts: “The first lie I ever told came crawling out of my mouth when I was four. With its hairy legs tickling my throat and jabbing against my cheeks…” Completely horrifying and intriguing, to say the least. As someone suffering from arachnophobia this story really got under my skin! But aside from the creepy crawlies, this story is really about being an outsider and trying to find your place in the world. And even with all the spiders, I enjoyed this story so much I read it more than once.
“The Anomaly” by David J. Thirteen also grabbed my attention. Having read some of Thirteen’s other work I knew I’d be in for a treat, and this one did not disappoint. In this tale, Oswald’s grandson brings home a scrapped metal calendar which has a mirrored backside. But there’s a splotch in the mirror, an anomaly, which begins to grow every night after Oswald’s encounters with something evil. These nightly visits are like terrifying experiences of sleep paralysis and leave Oswald a little weaker every day. As well as providing a creature that left me wanting to sleep with the lights on, the story also delves into complexities in family relationships as the roll of caretaker shifts between generations. It reminded me of the poem “Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas, but set in a horror story, which is a great combination in my opinion.
My favourite in the collection was “The Rat Room” by Rebecca Dale. A young artist moves to Sydney to attend art school, but beneath the building’s flats is a room, a room of rats. While the unfolding plot is compelling, with manic episodes of creating, infection induced fever dreams, and an artist’s failure to launch, what I absolutely loved was the use of language to tell this story. In fact, every time I tried to find a snippet to include in this review, I ended up reading the entire story again. Simply a fantastic read.
Most of the time when I review anthologies, I only focus on the individual stories, but this collection deserves a special shout out to editor Rachel A. Brune, who arranged the entries like a maestro conducting a world class symphony. While each story was distinct, the order in which they appeared helped build the overall reading experience by modulating the tone and tension, making this nearly impossible to put down.
I highly recommend Coppice & Brake for anyone who wants to tread in dark, unfamiliar nightmares.
*This review first appeared on Kendall Reviews.*
The very first story, “Dog’s Blood Trail” by Gabrielle Bleu, was a fantastic step into what Coppice & Brake holds in store. Weird and horrific, this story was part Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” and part John Carpenter’s version of “The Thing.” After reading Bleu’s story, I knew I had stumbled upon a unique and wonderful anthology.
Some of the other entries include a Slenderman type creature, magical abilities to make and unmake living things, an obsession with keys, and a lakeside serenade by ghosts of murdered girls. The entire collection stays away from subjects you normally expect from dark fiction, and even those that tread closer to the familiar take unexpected twists.
One of the stories I enjoyed most, “The Red Shoes” by Holly Lyn Walrath, is a perfect example of unexpected twists. Walrath gives us a story of a lonely old witch in a deserted forest. You would expect that when the witch finds a lost girl (“A lovely redheaded thing curled in the litter of the forest floor like a fairy in bracken”), she would immediately make a meal of her, as the witch had done with so many other helpless children through the years. Yet she doesn’t. Obsessed with the past when trolls, werewolves, and other sorcerers called the woods home, the old woman casts a spell on a pair of red shoes for the girl. But magic rarely brings us the things we most desire, especially not without a hefty price. This was a beautifully written story with sharp images, and it reminded me of being a child, listening to Grimms’ Fairy Tales for the first time.
Another standout for me was “White Tail Lies” by Friedrich Sarah E. Thompson, which starts: “The first lie I ever told came crawling out of my mouth when I was four. With its hairy legs tickling my throat and jabbing against my cheeks…” Completely horrifying and intriguing, to say the least. As someone suffering from arachnophobia this story really got under my skin! But aside from the creepy crawlies, this story is really about being an outsider and trying to find your place in the world. And even with all the spiders, I enjoyed this story so much I read it more than once.
“The Anomaly” by David J. Thirteen also grabbed my attention. Having read some of Thirteen’s other work I knew I’d be in for a treat, and this one did not disappoint. In this tale, Oswald’s grandson brings home a scrapped metal calendar which has a mirrored backside. But there’s a splotch in the mirror, an anomaly, which begins to grow every night after Oswald’s encounters with something evil. These nightly visits are like terrifying experiences of sleep paralysis and leave Oswald a little weaker every day. As well as providing a creature that left me wanting to sleep with the lights on, the story also delves into complexities in family relationships as the roll of caretaker shifts between generations. It reminded me of the poem “Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas, but set in a horror story, which is a great combination in my opinion.
My favourite in the collection was “The Rat Room” by Rebecca Dale. A young artist moves to Sydney to attend art school, but beneath the building’s flats is a room, a room of rats. While the unfolding plot is compelling, with manic episodes of creating, infection induced fever dreams, and an artist’s failure to launch, what I absolutely loved was the use of language to tell this story. In fact, every time I tried to find a snippet to include in this review, I ended up reading the entire story again. Simply a fantastic read.
Most of the time when I review anthologies, I only focus on the individual stories, but this collection deserves a special shout out to editor Rachel A. Brune, who arranged the entries like a maestro conducting a world class symphony. While each story was distinct, the order in which they appeared helped build the overall reading experience by modulating the tone and tension, making this nearly impossible to put down.
I highly recommend Coppice & Brake for anyone who wants to tread in dark, unfamiliar nightmares.
*This review first appeared on Kendall Reviews.*
December 26, 2020
Favourites include The Rat Room, White Tail Lies and All the Dead Girls, Singing.
February 5, 2023
I love anthologies. They are like sampler platters of literature--giving you a taste of work by a variety of authors. Coppice & Brake collects a variety of dark fiction, and I enjoyed all of the stories quite a bit. The settings range from the ordinary world with extraordinary things happening in it to futures and alternatives where the rules are completely different. I especially enjoyed "The Play Date" by James Van Pelt, "A Woman Unbecoming" by C.M Harris, and "Swing a Dead Cat" by Shannon Scott
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