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Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women
Almond-eyed celestial, the filial daughter, the perfect wife. Quiet, submissive, demure. In Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women, Southeast Asian writers of horror both embrace and reject these traditional roles in a unique collection of stories which dissect their experiences of ‘otherness’, be it in the colour of their skin, the angle of their cheekbones, the things they dare to write, or the places they have made for themselves in the world.
Black Cranes is a dark and intimate exploration of what it is to be a perpetual outsider.
Featuring 14 stories by Nadia Bulkin, Grace Chan, Rin Chupeco, Elaine Cuyegkeng, Geneve Flynn, Gabriela Lee, Rena Mason, Lee Murray, Angela Yuriko Smith, and Christina Sng, and a foreword by Alma Katstu.
Black Cranes is a dark and intimate exploration of what it is to be a perpetual outsider.
Featuring 14 stories by Nadia Bulkin, Grace Chan, Rin Chupeco, Elaine Cuyegkeng, Geneve Flynn, Gabriela Lee, Rena Mason, Lee Murray, Angela Yuriko Smith, and Christina Sng, and a foreword by Alma Katstu.
228 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 26, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
June 14, 2023
3.5 Stars
I rarely read short stories these days so it takes a special one to grab my attention. I love the strong female Asian characters in so many of the stories. My favourite stories were Vanilla Rice (where a woman attempts to genetically alter the physical appearance of her unborn child) and Phoenix Claw (where a women brings her boyfriend to dinner at a Japanese restaurant to meet her family). The stories were unique but also worked cohesively as a collection. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys speculative story collections
I rarely read short stories these days so it takes a special one to grab my attention. I love the strong female Asian characters in so many of the stories. My favourite stories were Vanilla Rice (where a woman attempts to genetically alter the physical appearance of her unborn child) and Phoenix Claw (where a women brings her boyfriend to dinner at a Japanese restaurant to meet her family). The stories were unique but also worked cohesively as a collection. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys speculative story collections
December 10, 2020
As the title suggests, these stories are about Southeast Asian women breaking down societal and cultural expectations. I enjoyed the themes of parental pressure, love and loss, motherhood, and self-actualization/identity. The beauty of this collection is in the diversity of the voices and the individuality and uniqueness of each story coming together in one book.
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August 7, 2023
I've been meaning to read this anthology for ages, and I'm so glad that I finally did! There were so many incredible stories in here, both from new-to-me authors and authors whose works I had loved before. Each story in this collection touches on how hard it is to be a southeast Asian woman in a world so full of misogyny and racism, but the pieces range from speculative horror to dark fantasy to dystopian nightmares. I'm adding a breakdown of each story and the rating I gave it below, but if you need the TL;DR version, this is a fantastic, beautiful collection that I highly recommend!
→ The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter // Elaine Cuyegkeng ★★★★☆
What a way to start an anthology! This piece follows a woman whose job is to follow in her mother’s footsteps by creating and genetically altering people and animals, with or without their consent. There are a lot of metaphors here for expectations that are placed upon Asian women by society and sometimes their own families, and the lengths that a parent might go to for the “perfect” child.
→ Kapre: A Love Story // Rin Chupeco ★★★★★
This was absolutely lovely, yet so sad and full of yearning! Despite following a rather unsettling entity from Filipino folklore, this truly is a love story, and a beautifully wholesome one at that.
→ A Pet is for Life // Geneve Flynn ★★★★★
Hands down my favorite story in this collection. I went into this story about a lonely pet rescuer fully expecting it to go in one direction, and then it turned itself on its head and completely stunned me in the best way. The writing was beautiful, and I want an Abraham in my life.
→ Phoenix Claws // Lee Murray ★★★★☆
I could feel the tension and it was so easy to empathize with this main character as she dealt with watching her new significant other meet her family. I love the idea of how powerful a family’s superstitions can be, too. I only wish it hadn’t ended so abruptly!
→ Of Hunger and Fury // Grace Chan ★★★★☆
I’m going to be entirely honest and say I’m not fully sure what was happening here, but I enjoyed the ride nonetheless. We follow a woman who’s bringing her husband home to visit her mother and her ailing father, and she begins to have dreams about a local legend of a young girl who went missing.
→ Skin Dowdy // Angela Yuriko Smith ★★★★★
Oh, this one was so much fun and such an unsettling future to think about. It takes place in a near future setting where people get technology implants to change their appearances such as fiber optic filaments for hair, or contact lenses that allow them to display holographic images around themselves. I wasn’t rooting for anyone by the end of this one, but it was delightful.
→ Truth is Order and Order is Truth // Nadia Bulkin ★★★☆☆
This was the first of the more fantasy-heavy stories in the collection, and while I’ve really liked other stories by this author, this one didn’t quite hit for me, but I liked the bones of it. It picks up in the middle of the narrator’s journey as she leads her late parents’ kingdom to her mother’s homelands, and while I found it a bit long and meandering, I loved the reveal in the end.
→ Rites of Passage // Gabriela Lee ★★★☆☆
Sadly, this was another story that had potential, but I struggled with: in this case, because the story is split into three sections, and none of the protagonists have names, so I couldn’t tell if we were following three stories about the same young woman, or if this was a generation curse affecting multiple women (which is what I’m leaning towards). It was just a little speculative for my mood, but it definitely had some solid folklore elements I enjoyed.
→ The Ninth Tale // Rena Mason
I typically adore retellings of legends, especially ones surrounding deities or similar entities, but the writing style and I didn’t mesh at all here. I’m leaving the star rating off, though, because the writing style actually objectively matched the story very well, since a lot of old parables tend to be a bit hokey and over-the-top like this one, but it was a personal preference issue and that’s all.
→ Vanilla Rice // Angela Yuriko Smith ★★★★★
Imagine a world where pregnant women can buy microchips to alter their child’s DNA and then have it implanted immediately after birth, where they could have a baby that is born looking like its Asian mother and then tweak it to be a blond-haired, blue-eyed child. This story absolutely broke my heart, not only for the mother’s trauma and insecurity, but for her child’s loneliness, too. I loved it.
→ Fury // Christina Sng ★★☆☆☆
If this story was fleshed out into a 100-page novella or even a full novel, I would be first in line to read it, because I think it would have blown me away, but this zombie apocalypse tale was just too much for such a short span of pages. The action was non-stop, leaving little room for character development or backstory, and I just wanted so much more!
→ The Mark // Grace Chan ★★★★☆
This story follows a woman whose husband has suddenly become very unfamiliar to her, which is such a disturbing thought to me, as someone who has feared body-snatcher stories since I was a little kid! This one unsettled me in a big way, and I mostly loved it, but I knocked a star off for its use of a trope I hate (minor spoiler: ).
→ Frangipani Wishes // Lee Murray ★★★★☆
I really loved most of this story, but it lost me a little near the end! A young woman is kicked out for becoming pregnant out of wedlock and she has to find her way to a better life for herself and her child. It had me until the protagonist married, at which point I felt like her entire demeanor changed in an instant and I still don’t fully understand why. That said, the writing was gorgeous.
→ Little Worm // Geneve Flynn ★★★★★
This one was another favorite that I’m going to be thinking on for a while: a woman goes to visit her aging mother amidst fears that she may be developing dementia or some other health worries, and finds very bizarre behavior waiting for her there. I absolutely adored the ending of this story and would love to read more pieces about this particular lore.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.
✨ Representation: all authors and protagonists are southeast Asian, including Filipino, Malaysian, Indonesian, Chinese, Singaporean, and more forms of representation
✨ Content warnings for:
———
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→ The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter // Elaine Cuyegkeng ★★★★☆
What a way to start an anthology! This piece follows a woman whose job is to follow in her mother’s footsteps by creating and genetically altering people and animals, with or without their consent. There are a lot of metaphors here for expectations that are placed upon Asian women by society and sometimes their own families, and the lengths that a parent might go to for the “perfect” child.
→ Kapre: A Love Story // Rin Chupeco ★★★★★
This was absolutely lovely, yet so sad and full of yearning! Despite following a rather unsettling entity from Filipino folklore, this truly is a love story, and a beautifully wholesome one at that.
→ A Pet is for Life // Geneve Flynn ★★★★★
Hands down my favorite story in this collection. I went into this story about a lonely pet rescuer fully expecting it to go in one direction, and then it turned itself on its head and completely stunned me in the best way. The writing was beautiful, and I want an Abraham in my life.
→ Phoenix Claws // Lee Murray ★★★★☆
I could feel the tension and it was so easy to empathize with this main character as she dealt with watching her new significant other meet her family. I love the idea of how powerful a family’s superstitions can be, too. I only wish it hadn’t ended so abruptly!
→ Of Hunger and Fury // Grace Chan ★★★★☆
I’m going to be entirely honest and say I’m not fully sure what was happening here, but I enjoyed the ride nonetheless. We follow a woman who’s bringing her husband home to visit her mother and her ailing father, and she begins to have dreams about a local legend of a young girl who went missing.
→ Skin Dowdy // Angela Yuriko Smith ★★★★★
Oh, this one was so much fun and such an unsettling future to think about. It takes place in a near future setting where people get technology implants to change their appearances such as fiber optic filaments for hair, or contact lenses that allow them to display holographic images around themselves. I wasn’t rooting for anyone by the end of this one, but it was delightful.
→ Truth is Order and Order is Truth // Nadia Bulkin ★★★☆☆
This was the first of the more fantasy-heavy stories in the collection, and while I’ve really liked other stories by this author, this one didn’t quite hit for me, but I liked the bones of it. It picks up in the middle of the narrator’s journey as she leads her late parents’ kingdom to her mother’s homelands, and while I found it a bit long and meandering, I loved the reveal in the end.
→ Rites of Passage // Gabriela Lee ★★★☆☆
Sadly, this was another story that had potential, but I struggled with: in this case, because the story is split into three sections, and none of the protagonists have names, so I couldn’t tell if we were following three stories about the same young woman, or if this was a generation curse affecting multiple women (which is what I’m leaning towards). It was just a little speculative for my mood, but it definitely had some solid folklore elements I enjoyed.
→ The Ninth Tale // Rena Mason
I typically adore retellings of legends, especially ones surrounding deities or similar entities, but the writing style and I didn’t mesh at all here. I’m leaving the star rating off, though, because the writing style actually objectively matched the story very well, since a lot of old parables tend to be a bit hokey and over-the-top like this one, but it was a personal preference issue and that’s all.
→ Vanilla Rice // Angela Yuriko Smith ★★★★★
Imagine a world where pregnant women can buy microchips to alter their child’s DNA and then have it implanted immediately after birth, where they could have a baby that is born looking like its Asian mother and then tweak it to be a blond-haired, blue-eyed child. This story absolutely broke my heart, not only for the mother’s trauma and insecurity, but for her child’s loneliness, too. I loved it.
→ Fury // Christina Sng ★★☆☆☆
If this story was fleshed out into a 100-page novella or even a full novel, I would be first in line to read it, because I think it would have blown me away, but this zombie apocalypse tale was just too much for such a short span of pages. The action was non-stop, leaving little room for character development or backstory, and I just wanted so much more!
→ The Mark // Grace Chan ★★★★☆
This story follows a woman whose husband has suddenly become very unfamiliar to her, which is such a disturbing thought to me, as someone who has feared body-snatcher stories since I was a little kid! This one unsettled me in a big way, and I mostly loved it, but I knocked a star off for its use of a trope I hate (minor spoiler: ).
→ Frangipani Wishes // Lee Murray ★★★★☆
I really loved most of this story, but it lost me a little near the end! A young woman is kicked out for becoming pregnant out of wedlock and she has to find her way to a better life for herself and her child. It had me until the protagonist married, at which point I felt like her entire demeanor changed in an instant and I still don’t fully understand why. That said, the writing was gorgeous.
→ Little Worm // Geneve Flynn ★★★★★
This one was another favorite that I’m going to be thinking on for a while: a woman goes to visit her aging mother amidst fears that she may be developing dementia or some other health worries, and finds very bizarre behavior waiting for her there. I absolutely adored the ending of this story and would love to read more pieces about this particular lore.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.
✨ Representation: all authors and protagonists are southeast Asian, including Filipino, Malaysian, Indonesian, Chinese, Singaporean, and more forms of representation
✨ Content warnings for:
———
twitter | booktok | bookstagram | blog
March 25, 2023
Happy release day!
Thank you Netgalley and RDS publishing for a copy of Black Cranes to review for what I believe is a re-release on March 23rd.
I love the theme and roster of this anthology, and there is some excellent writing in it. The Southeastern Asia-specific settings and writers were a refreshing focus in a time where so much media sticks to east Asia alone. And Rin Chupeco, my favorite nonbinary author, is in here!
That said, I thought this anthology would be horror, and while there were horror elements, many of these stories tended to be higher on the sci-fi and speculative fiction end of the spectrum, not really my favorite. But there is nice variety if you like this sort of thing, some even a little dystopian.
My favorite was Rin Chupeco's Kapre: A Love Story. It was a monster romance that played out beautifully, featuring a lot of the Filipino monsters and lore that are present in Trese, one of my favorite horror graphic novel series! It was awesome to hear about tikbalang and aswang in other media.
In addition to the chilling stories, the fore- and afterwords in this anthology are also powerful pieces of writing, feminist essays on gender roles and fighting back against societal structure. There's something for everyone interested in darker feminist fiction in this anthology.
Thank you Netgalley and RDS publishing for a copy of Black Cranes to review for what I believe is a re-release on March 23rd.
I love the theme and roster of this anthology, and there is some excellent writing in it. The Southeastern Asia-specific settings and writers were a refreshing focus in a time where so much media sticks to east Asia alone. And Rin Chupeco, my favorite nonbinary author, is in here!
That said, I thought this anthology would be horror, and while there were horror elements, many of these stories tended to be higher on the sci-fi and speculative fiction end of the spectrum, not really my favorite. But there is nice variety if you like this sort of thing, some even a little dystopian.
My favorite was Rin Chupeco's Kapre: A Love Story. It was a monster romance that played out beautifully, featuring a lot of the Filipino monsters and lore that are present in Trese, one of my favorite horror graphic novel series! It was awesome to hear about tikbalang and aswang in other media.
In addition to the chilling stories, the fore- and afterwords in this anthology are also powerful pieces of writing, feminist essays on gender roles and fighting back against societal structure. There's something for everyone interested in darker feminist fiction in this anthology.
September 15, 2020
Considering my editor’s role at PseudoPod, one sure sign that a story has sunk its hooks in me is when I start making audio production notes while reading. When a series of stories does that, I know I’m reading a particularly special book. This anthology wrestles with the conflicts between the push and pull of expectations (of society, of parents, of spouses) against the need to establish an identity and sense of self. These stories subvert expectations and transform horror conventions in a lyrical way that is both timely and timeless. This book itself forces us to bring it in from the margins even as it struggles in quiet submissiveness, and so with the stories within. This book is a bloody-toothed smile hidden behind the hand of propriety and social expectations.
The unsettling, the uncomfortable, and the horrific are here in full force. "The Genetic Alchemist's Daughter" by Elaine Cuyegyeng is a delightfully layered story about identity, self-censorship, and erasure. The deft needlepoint worldbuilding is compounded with the subtle character turns. “Hunger and Fury” by Grace Chan explores the sacrifices made to integrate, and the cost exacted for those sacrifices. It inhabits the conflict between joy and pain nostalgia causes when our memories aren't happy ones. “Rites of Passage” by Gabriela Lee inhabits one of the most fucked up monsters exemplifying motherhood and nurturing that I have read. “The Mark” by Grace Chan immerses us in unsettling disassociation and loses us in the shadows of others. “Little Worm” by Geneve Flynn is a tense story about trying to live up to your family’s expectations. And the creepiness slowly ratchets at an unsettling inexorable pace. “Truth is Order and Order is Truth” by Nadia Bulkin does a very nice job establishing the society that Obed Marsh meets on his expeditions. This is one of the few reprints, and I remember this one fondly from the Sword and Mythos anthology.
There’s also plenty for the fan of dark fantasy. “A Pet is for Life” by Geneve Flynn delivers a wonderfully heartfelt story about rescue doggos. It wrestles with the prejudices we try to combat with the masks we wear. And there’s monsters. It’s great. “Phoenix Claws” by Lee Murray is about the challenges of balancing traditions with the desire to establish a unique identity. "Kapre: A Love Story" by Rin Chupeco is a sentimental dark faery tale from a perspective and pantheon we don't see often. “Frangipani Wishes” by Lee Murray shows that when standing in the shadows, the little ghosts that live between the cupboards and beneath the floorboards whisper your lack of consequence.
This is one of the best anthologies of 2020, and I can’t recommend enough that everyone consumes this.
The unsettling, the uncomfortable, and the horrific are here in full force. "The Genetic Alchemist's Daughter" by Elaine Cuyegyeng is a delightfully layered story about identity, self-censorship, and erasure. The deft needlepoint worldbuilding is compounded with the subtle character turns. “Hunger and Fury” by Grace Chan explores the sacrifices made to integrate, and the cost exacted for those sacrifices. It inhabits the conflict between joy and pain nostalgia causes when our memories aren't happy ones. “Rites of Passage” by Gabriela Lee inhabits one of the most fucked up monsters exemplifying motherhood and nurturing that I have read. “The Mark” by Grace Chan immerses us in unsettling disassociation and loses us in the shadows of others. “Little Worm” by Geneve Flynn is a tense story about trying to live up to your family’s expectations. And the creepiness slowly ratchets at an unsettling inexorable pace. “Truth is Order and Order is Truth” by Nadia Bulkin does a very nice job establishing the society that Obed Marsh meets on his expeditions. This is one of the few reprints, and I remember this one fondly from the Sword and Mythos anthology.
There’s also plenty for the fan of dark fantasy. “A Pet is for Life” by Geneve Flynn delivers a wonderfully heartfelt story about rescue doggos. It wrestles with the prejudices we try to combat with the masks we wear. And there’s monsters. It’s great. “Phoenix Claws” by Lee Murray is about the challenges of balancing traditions with the desire to establish a unique identity. "Kapre: A Love Story" by Rin Chupeco is a sentimental dark faery tale from a perspective and pantheon we don't see often. “Frangipani Wishes” by Lee Murray shows that when standing in the shadows, the little ghosts that live between the cupboards and beneath the floorboards whisper your lack of consequence.
This is one of the best anthologies of 2020, and I can’t recommend enough that everyone consumes this.
September 25, 2020
Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women was a first-rate, totally arresting ride. I loved every story to varying degrees, and Alma Katsu’s foreword was passionate and heartfelt. My absolute favorite story was the first one by Elaine Cuyegkeng. I was totally hooked and devoured this book after such an auspicious start. I had to do mini-reviews for each story because they are all so memorable and incredible.
The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter by Elaine Cuyegkeng: Stunning. There is so much sorrow present here. A terrifying tale detailing what it would be like if parents could genetically alter their (female) children at any age to be more ideal according to their ever-escalating standards, and have no one know that any ‘work’ was done on them. The wording is immaculate and hauntingly beautiful. The story is so flawlessly written that it almost reads like it, itself, was genetically altered until it was perfect.
Kapre: A Love Story by Rin Chupeco: A beguiling folkloric tale from Chinese Filipino author, Rin Chupeco, about a Kapre (a tree giant in Philippine folklore) who falls in love with a human girl and watches her grow up and grow old. Mystical and powerful.
A Pet is for Life by Geneve Flynn: A satisfying story about a girl who cares for animals and works at a shelter; a defender of those who cannot defend themselves. The story veers one way and ends in another way, unexpectedly.
Phoenix Claws by Lee Murray: Creeping horror type of story that pertains to familial and cultural traditions and how they impact our lives and relationship choices. I will not soon be forgetting the oddness of this haunting.
Of Hunger and Fury by Grace Chan: An unsettling tale of a hungry ghost.
Skin Dowdy by Angela Yuriko Smith: A lesson that humanity is always thirsting for more and is never satisfied. Very cool futuristic concepts presented in a very vivid way.
Truth is Order and Order is Truth by Nadia Bulkin: “Truth does not care for human dreams.” A Lovecraftian short story about blood lines, empires, and destiny. I love anything that draws from the universe of the Old Ones and this is no exception.
Rites of Passage by Gabriela Lee: A dark folkloric story about the Tiyanak of Philippine mythology, which affects women and continues its life cycle unendingly.
The Ninth Tale by Rena Mason: A quaint story about the Chinese mythological creature the huli jing (nine-tailed fox), and how she achieved her ninth tail. A nod is included to the tortures of Chinese women who had their feet bound to become ‘lotus feet’ for the pleasure of their men.
Vanilla Rice by Angela Yuriko Smith: A truly touching story about wanting to be more like a culture that is not your own and how trying to achieve that can tear you apart as a person and within your family.
Fury by Christina Sng: A girl raised in the military attempts to withstand a pandemic of angry, hungry, and fast zombies while searching for a cure on behalf of her father. This story is both bleak and hopeful at the same time and I enjoyed it. It read like a good futuristic (although maybe the future is now with our own current pandemic) zombie film.
The Mark by Grace Chan: Really a horrifying story enshrouded in mystery. I can describe it as having high… atmospheric pressure. The scarier parts are so brief that you’re almost shaky and feel wrong continuing with the ‘normal’ parts of the story that come on so fast. I liked this one a lot.
Frangipani Wishes by Lee Murray: A very powerful story. A sad and brief summary of a woman’s life, giving birth to and raising her child, and trying to do better for them both. Its summary is chilling in that it does not do justice to the intricacies of the main character’s life, which makes it hit even harder. The descriptions of the ghosts that haunt her are visceral and poignant. The loneliness is palpable.
Little Worm by Geneve Flynn: What a creepy and intense story! It seems like the terror is going to be the slow burn of mental decomposition, but it is something far more sinister. It is a kwee kia, which I’ve never heard of before now, and it is frightening. I also envision this being as a metaphor for the burdens that are passed down to us from our parents (especially in Asian cultures where the family unit is so important). They might be genetic health issues, mental illness, or in this case, something more supernatural.
I cannot recommend this book enough.
A huge thank you to Lee Murray for providing Horror Bound with an ARC of this anthology!
The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter by Elaine Cuyegkeng: Stunning. There is so much sorrow present here. A terrifying tale detailing what it would be like if parents could genetically alter their (female) children at any age to be more ideal according to their ever-escalating standards, and have no one know that any ‘work’ was done on them. The wording is immaculate and hauntingly beautiful. The story is so flawlessly written that it almost reads like it, itself, was genetically altered until it was perfect.
Kapre: A Love Story by Rin Chupeco: A beguiling folkloric tale from Chinese Filipino author, Rin Chupeco, about a Kapre (a tree giant in Philippine folklore) who falls in love with a human girl and watches her grow up and grow old. Mystical and powerful.
A Pet is for Life by Geneve Flynn: A satisfying story about a girl who cares for animals and works at a shelter; a defender of those who cannot defend themselves. The story veers one way and ends in another way, unexpectedly.
Phoenix Claws by Lee Murray: Creeping horror type of story that pertains to familial and cultural traditions and how they impact our lives and relationship choices. I will not soon be forgetting the oddness of this haunting.
Of Hunger and Fury by Grace Chan: An unsettling tale of a hungry ghost.
Skin Dowdy by Angela Yuriko Smith: A lesson that humanity is always thirsting for more and is never satisfied. Very cool futuristic concepts presented in a very vivid way.
Truth is Order and Order is Truth by Nadia Bulkin: “Truth does not care for human dreams.” A Lovecraftian short story about blood lines, empires, and destiny. I love anything that draws from the universe of the Old Ones and this is no exception.
Rites of Passage by Gabriela Lee: A dark folkloric story about the Tiyanak of Philippine mythology, which affects women and continues its life cycle unendingly.
The Ninth Tale by Rena Mason: A quaint story about the Chinese mythological creature the huli jing (nine-tailed fox), and how she achieved her ninth tail. A nod is included to the tortures of Chinese women who had their feet bound to become ‘lotus feet’ for the pleasure of their men.
Vanilla Rice by Angela Yuriko Smith: A truly touching story about wanting to be more like a culture that is not your own and how trying to achieve that can tear you apart as a person and within your family.
Fury by Christina Sng: A girl raised in the military attempts to withstand a pandemic of angry, hungry, and fast zombies while searching for a cure on behalf of her father. This story is both bleak and hopeful at the same time and I enjoyed it. It read like a good futuristic (although maybe the future is now with our own current pandemic) zombie film.
The Mark by Grace Chan: Really a horrifying story enshrouded in mystery. I can describe it as having high… atmospheric pressure. The scarier parts are so brief that you’re almost shaky and feel wrong continuing with the ‘normal’ parts of the story that come on so fast. I liked this one a lot.
Frangipani Wishes by Lee Murray: A very powerful story. A sad and brief summary of a woman’s life, giving birth to and raising her child, and trying to do better for them both. Its summary is chilling in that it does not do justice to the intricacies of the main character’s life, which makes it hit even harder. The descriptions of the ghosts that haunt her are visceral and poignant. The loneliness is palpable.
Little Worm by Geneve Flynn: What a creepy and intense story! It seems like the terror is going to be the slow burn of mental decomposition, but it is something far more sinister. It is a kwee kia, which I’ve never heard of before now, and it is frightening. I also envision this being as a metaphor for the burdens that are passed down to us from our parents (especially in Asian cultures where the family unit is so important). They might be genetic health issues, mental illness, or in this case, something more supernatural.
I cannot recommend this book enough.
A huge thank you to Lee Murray for providing Horror Bound with an ARC of this anthology!
May 6, 2023
Thank you to NetGalley and Raw Dog Screaming Press for an arc in exchange for a review!
I really enjoyed this short story collection. As someone who loves short stories, but also loves stories that deal with being a woman in society, this worked really well for me.
I loved the messaging, folklore, and subject matter a lot of these touched on.
I think my only issue was, I wanted more horror. A lot of these have horror elements involved, but I wouldn’t necessarily call them specifically horror.
I really enjoyed this short story collection. As someone who loves short stories, but also loves stories that deal with being a woman in society, this worked really well for me.
I loved the messaging, folklore, and subject matter a lot of these touched on.
I think my only issue was, I wanted more horror. A lot of these have horror elements involved, but I wouldn’t necessarily call them specifically horror.
August 9, 2024
Stars: 4 out of 5.
This collection of short stories seems better put together than the previous collection I read in this cycle - Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror. I think the decision not to add anything to the collection except an introduction and an afterword and let the stories speak for themselves was a good one.
And the stories themselves are good. Some I liked better than others, but all of them kept my attention and made me think about the messages they wanted to convey. I also know that I will check out some of the authors features in this anthology and see what other works they have.
All in all, it was a good collection of short stories that I read between other bigger novels as a palate cleanser and had fun doing so.
PS: I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This collection of short stories seems better put together than the previous collection I read in this cycle - Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror. I think the decision not to add anything to the collection except an introduction and an afterword and let the stories speak for themselves was a good one.
And the stories themselves are good. Some I liked better than others, but all of them kept my attention and made me think about the messages they wanted to convey. I also know that I will check out some of the authors features in this anthology and see what other works they have.
All in all, it was a good collection of short stories that I read between other bigger novels as a palate cleanser and had fun doing so.
PS: I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
September 20, 2020
Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women combines Asian women and horror in a dark and beautifully haunting way. I believe every group of people has their own "outsider" experiences and feelings... Asian women have had stereotypes of objectification, sexualization, depersonalization, submission, and more. This anthology explores all of those negative classifications and translates them into some brilliant stories. The anger and pain that Asian women carry, and have carried, finds itself in these pages. These stories are inspired by so many things: family, the future, folklore, food, legends, love, revenge, and so on. We see powerful Asian women in this book - and women I think the world should see more of, too! This is an anthology that will resonate with so many... and will need proper time to digest. It has a lot of important messages that need to be heard!
December 23, 2021
By and large, a very well-written and important anthology that features haunting stories about Asian and Asian diaspora women rejecting stifling traditional gender roles.
To anyone who's familiar with how I usually do my anthology reviews, I want to try something a little different this time around. Since there's already a phenomenal and very detailed review of this anthology (found here, check it out), I'll just give some very brief highlights and lowlights, when applicable, for each story and try to keep things brief for once.
The Genetic Alchemist's Daughter by Elaine Cuyegkeng.
Highlights:
- Themes of parental expectations taken to disturbing extremes.
- Beautifully crafted and executed story all around.
- Revenge bees 🐝
Lowlights
- Kind of wish more of a certain character's change of mind/heart was shown on page, even if the end result was satisfying as it is. 4.5 stars.
Kapre: A Love Story by Rin Chupeco
Highlights
-Deviance from what could have been a problematic trope (immortal love interest/someone he knew since she was a baby).
- Again, I'm so glad this didn't take a “romance” route.
-Lovely, imaginative writing.
Lowlights
- Purely a preference, but I'm not the biggest fan of fairy-tales, which this story basically was. 3 stars
A Pet is For Life by Geneve Flynn
Highlights
- Kuchisake-onna character.
- Interesting animal shelter setting for a couple of scenes.
- Creepy twist I did not see coming.
Lowlights
- A few too many mundane scenes that verged on boring. CW for mild animal abuse. 3.5 stars
Phoenix Claws by Lee Murray
Highlights
- Interesting themes and, um, unique ways of expressing them.
Lowlights
- The chicken feet (I'm vegan, y'all).
- I just didn't get a whole lot out of the story in general. 3 stars
Of Hunger and Fury by Grace Chan
Highlights
- Sharp, engaging writing.
- Story that makes you think deeply about what you've just read, as meanings subtly changed as the story progressed.
Lowlights
- At times, the writing and pacing felt choppy. 3.5 stars
Skin Dowdy by Angela Yuriko Smith
Highlights
- Cosmetechs!
- A very brief, yet effective story.
Lowlights
- None, really, everything worked quite well for the story (including the rotten MCs), though the story itself never reached amazing levels. 4 stars
Truth is Order and Order is Truth by Nadia Bulkin
Highlights
- Interesting philosophical musings.
- Vivid prose.
Lowlights
- Too much world-building for the length of the story; it got confusing very quickly.
- More skipping around in time than I personally care for, especially given that this is a short story.
- Never felt invested in the characters. 2.5 stars
Rites of Passage by Gabriela Lee
Highlights
- Twisty and engaging.
- Excellent use of future-tense.
- Genuinely disturbing at times.
- More themes that are weaved in very well and used to powerful effect.
- Unique setting in rural Philippines. 4.5 stars
The Ninth Tale by Rena Mason
Highlights
- Murderous, huli jing (nine-tailed fox spirit) protagonist.
- A more tightly-focused and character-driven folk tale-like story.
Lowlights
- I wasn't a fan of the ending section and was disappointed by a couple of things.
3 stars
Vanilla Rice by Angela Yuriko Smith
Highlights
- Short but impactful story.
- Themes of mixed-race identity.
Lowlights
- Perhaps because a similar concept was explored with more finesse in The Genetic Alchemist's Daughter, this story did feel a little clumsy in comparison.
3.5 stars
Fury by Christina Sng
Highlights
-Literally only Susan the cat.
Lowlights
-Pretty much everything else. Story was very shallow, the characters sounded strange, and then there were some odd pro-patriarchy vibes that I kept picking up on. Honestly, I'm surprised this story was included, since it didn't seem to fit with the spirit of this anthology. Also, this story was too long, though I personally wouldn't have wanted to read this as a novel or even novella unless some pretty hefty changes were made to address the problems I already mentioned. 2 stars
The Mark by Grace Chan
Highlights
- Quite a creepy story.
Lowlights
- No real resolution.
3 stars
Frangipani Wishes by Lee Murray
Highlights
- Nice if you like dreamy, abstract stories, which I did in this case.
- Lovely atmospheric writing.
Lowlights
- A personal writing pet-peeve of mine, but I am tired of reading about fingernails making half moons on character's palms.
3.5 stars
Little Worm by Geneve Flynn
Highlights
- Overall a compelling story, rich with meaning.
- The “monster” and what it meant in terms of thematic significance to the characters. 4.5 stars
To anyone who's familiar with how I usually do my anthology reviews, I want to try something a little different this time around. Since there's already a phenomenal and very detailed review of this anthology (found here, check it out), I'll just give some very brief highlights and lowlights, when applicable, for each story and try to keep things brief for once.
The Genetic Alchemist's Daughter by Elaine Cuyegkeng.
Highlights:
- Themes of parental expectations taken to disturbing extremes.
- Beautifully crafted and executed story all around.
- Revenge bees 🐝
Lowlights
- Kind of wish more of a certain character's change of mind/heart was shown on page, even if the end result was satisfying as it is. 4.5 stars.
Kapre: A Love Story by Rin Chupeco
Highlights
-Deviance from what could have been a problematic trope (immortal love interest/someone he knew since she was a baby).
- Again, I'm so glad this didn't take a “romance” route.
-Lovely, imaginative writing.
Lowlights
- Purely a preference, but I'm not the biggest fan of fairy-tales, which this story basically was. 3 stars
A Pet is For Life by Geneve Flynn
Highlights
- Kuchisake-onna character.
- Interesting animal shelter setting for a couple of scenes.
- Creepy twist I did not see coming.
Lowlights
- A few too many mundane scenes that verged on boring. CW for mild animal abuse. 3.5 stars
Phoenix Claws by Lee Murray
Highlights
- Interesting themes and, um, unique ways of expressing them.
Lowlights
- The chicken feet (I'm vegan, y'all).
- I just didn't get a whole lot out of the story in general. 3 stars
Of Hunger and Fury by Grace Chan
Highlights
- Sharp, engaging writing.
- Story that makes you think deeply about what you've just read, as meanings subtly changed as the story progressed.
Lowlights
- At times, the writing and pacing felt choppy. 3.5 stars
Skin Dowdy by Angela Yuriko Smith
Highlights
- Cosmetechs!
- A very brief, yet effective story.
Lowlights
- None, really, everything worked quite well for the story (including the rotten MCs), though the story itself never reached amazing levels. 4 stars
Truth is Order and Order is Truth by Nadia Bulkin
Highlights
- Interesting philosophical musings.
- Vivid prose.
Lowlights
- Too much world-building for the length of the story; it got confusing very quickly.
- More skipping around in time than I personally care for, especially given that this is a short story.
- Never felt invested in the characters. 2.5 stars
Rites of Passage by Gabriela Lee
Highlights
- Twisty and engaging.
- Excellent use of future-tense.
- Genuinely disturbing at times.
- More themes that are weaved in very well and used to powerful effect.
- Unique setting in rural Philippines. 4.5 stars
The Ninth Tale by Rena Mason
Highlights
- Murderous, huli jing (nine-tailed fox spirit) protagonist.
- A more tightly-focused and character-driven folk tale-like story.
Lowlights
- I wasn't a fan of the ending section and was disappointed by a couple of things.
3 stars
Vanilla Rice by Angela Yuriko Smith
Highlights
- Short but impactful story.
- Themes of mixed-race identity.
Lowlights
- Perhaps because a similar concept was explored with more finesse in The Genetic Alchemist's Daughter, this story did feel a little clumsy in comparison.
3.5 stars
Fury by Christina Sng
Highlights
-Literally only Susan the cat.
Lowlights
-Pretty much everything else. Story was very shallow, the characters sounded strange, and then there were some odd pro-patriarchy vibes that I kept picking up on. Honestly, I'm surprised this story was included, since it didn't seem to fit with the spirit of this anthology. Also, this story was too long, though I personally wouldn't have wanted to read this as a novel or even novella unless some pretty hefty changes were made to address the problems I already mentioned. 2 stars
The Mark by Grace Chan
Highlights
- Quite a creepy story.
Lowlights
- No real resolution.
3 stars
Frangipani Wishes by Lee Murray
Highlights
- Nice if you like dreamy, abstract stories, which I did in this case.
- Lovely atmospheric writing.
Lowlights
- A personal writing pet-peeve of mine, but I am tired of reading about fingernails making half moons on character's palms.
3.5 stars
Little Worm by Geneve Flynn
Highlights
- Overall a compelling story, rich with meaning.
- The “monster” and what it meant in terms of thematic significance to the characters. 4.5 stars
March 24, 2023
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.
Black Cranes is a short story anthology. All of the stories are Inspired by folklore and mythology from Asia and Australia.
As with any short story collection, some of the stories are better than others. If you are fan of horror, this is definitely a book to check out. So worth it.
Black Cranes is a short story anthology. All of the stories are Inspired by folklore and mythology from Asia and Australia.
As with any short story collection, some of the stories are better than others. If you are fan of horror, this is definitely a book to check out. So worth it.
February 18, 2023
*4.5 stars rounded up for Goodreads scoring system*
Thank you to NetGalley and RDS Publishing for my copy in exchange for my unbiased opinion.
"Black Cranes" is a short story collection that is filled with stories written by Southeast Asian writers from all over. These are stories upending the gendered traditions and strict role keeping in Asian families and in Asian cultures. Like most short story collections, there are some duds, but man are the duds in this collection still better than most things I've read.
As a Southeast Asian American, I feel like SO OFTEN, we get left out of stories (and at a larger scale, discussions about racism, sexism, etc. but that's for another time). It was so validating and empowering reading stories written by Southeast Asian women starring Southeast Asian women. I read this collection over a LONG period because unfortunately for me, grad school started back up so I cannot remember everything I wanted to say about this collection but there's everything from retellings of folk tales to zombies. I HATE zombie stories (mainly because I have a legit fear of zombies) because so often, I feel that zombie stories are just not that interesting or exciting. As a Filipina, I did enjoy that there were multiple Filipino-based stories. I have never felt so seen. They got at the weird Catholicism, elder honoring, and strictness down so perfectly.
Although I do list these standouts please, PLEASE check this book out, purchase it, preorder it. Please. It was so fun and I definitely plan on preordering a copy.
Some standout stories were "The Genetic Alchemist...", "Kapre: A Love Story", "Truth is Order and Order is Truth", "Rites of Passage", and "Vanilla Rice".
Thank you to NetGalley and RDS Publishing for my copy in exchange for my unbiased opinion.
"Black Cranes" is a short story collection that is filled with stories written by Southeast Asian writers from all over. These are stories upending the gendered traditions and strict role keeping in Asian families and in Asian cultures. Like most short story collections, there are some duds, but man are the duds in this collection still better than most things I've read.
As a Southeast Asian American, I feel like SO OFTEN, we get left out of stories (and at a larger scale, discussions about racism, sexism, etc. but that's for another time). It was so validating and empowering reading stories written by Southeast Asian women starring Southeast Asian women. I read this collection over a LONG period because unfortunately for me, grad school started back up so I cannot remember everything I wanted to say about this collection but there's everything from retellings of folk tales to zombies. I HATE zombie stories (mainly because I have a legit fear of zombies) because so often, I feel that zombie stories are just not that interesting or exciting. As a Filipina, I did enjoy that there were multiple Filipino-based stories. I have never felt so seen. They got at the weird Catholicism, elder honoring, and strictness down so perfectly.
Although I do list these standouts please, PLEASE check this book out, purchase it, preorder it. Please. It was so fun and I definitely plan on preordering a copy.
Some standout stories were "The Genetic Alchemist...", "Kapre: A Love Story", "Truth is Order and Order is Truth", "Rites of Passage", and "Vanilla Rice".
March 22, 2023
WOW! and SPEECHLESS are my immediate and continuing responses to this incredible Anthology containing 14 exceptional stories by 10 amazing Asian female horror authors! Beginning with a stunning introduction by Alma Katsu--an author I greatly admire-on through to the end, these authors peel back the veils solidified by millenia of ugly stereotyping and shortsighted bigotry, as well as Traditional Asian upbringing (which of course diverges according to individual nations and ethnicities) to reveal what is at the heart of the matter: Beneath the overlays, all are human. These authors are human, female, Asian, and they choose to express through far-ranging Speculative Fiction, including Horror and Futuristic Science Fiction. A reader will do poorly to miss out on this imagination-expanding, enlightening, Anthology.
September 13, 2020
In mythology around the world, from China, Japan, to Celtic and Native Americans, cranes have been associated with royalty, grace, and longevity, but most of all secrecy. They remind people to keep their own counsel, protect your family and find balance in your life. In the right circumstances, canes are symbols of success as they are seen as protective, wise and gracious, reminding us to choose our battles, privacy over aggression. An encounter with your own ‘black’ crane is a time to reflect inwardly, assess your good fortune especially when the world seems against you.
This collection of short stories by female Asian writers, Black Cranes – Tales of unquiet women, explores ideas of reflection, secrets, and the consequences of immortality. Beginning with a twisted story of perfection, The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter, which explores the extent of biological solutions to human imperfections are just a matter of who you know, not who you love. The unbidden connection of new love, along with its inevitable betrayal, is continued with Kapre: A Love Story from the cradle to the grave. While some love stories last from the cradle to the grave in Kapre: A Love Story, others last as long as the next new thing in Skin Dowdy.
Editors Lee Murray and Geneve Flynn strengthen this ambitions collection with two stories of their own. Playing with animal imagery Flynn’s A Pet is for Life, who needs protection and who has the power to protect is not who we expect. In Little worm, a young woman is compelled to care for on the haunted spirits of her mother’s regrets. Fans of Lee Murray will not be disappointed with two very different stories on offer. The first, Phoenix Claws, explores the clash of culture, where little lies and divided loyalty, comes at an impossible cost. The second, Frangipani is an epic story of betrayal leading a child spiralling through life into madness.
This collection pushes our boundaries and expectations of dark fiction.
This collection of short stories by female Asian writers, Black Cranes – Tales of unquiet women, explores ideas of reflection, secrets, and the consequences of immortality. Beginning with a twisted story of perfection, The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter, which explores the extent of biological solutions to human imperfections are just a matter of who you know, not who you love. The unbidden connection of new love, along with its inevitable betrayal, is continued with Kapre: A Love Story from the cradle to the grave. While some love stories last from the cradle to the grave in Kapre: A Love Story, others last as long as the next new thing in Skin Dowdy.
Editors Lee Murray and Geneve Flynn strengthen this ambitions collection with two stories of their own. Playing with animal imagery Flynn’s A Pet is for Life, who needs protection and who has the power to protect is not who we expect. In Little worm, a young woman is compelled to care for on the haunted spirits of her mother’s regrets. Fans of Lee Murray will not be disappointed with two very different stories on offer. The first, Phoenix Claws, explores the clash of culture, where little lies and divided loyalty, comes at an impossible cost. The second, Frangipani is an epic story of betrayal leading a child spiralling through life into madness.
This collection pushes our boundaries and expectations of dark fiction.
May 27, 2021
3.9/5
Black Cranes is a short story anthology written by Asian women and their gripping take on the stereotypes that they’ve seen their entire lives blended in with legends and myths and it didn’t disappoint. I didn’t read this book in one go. I took my time with each story and even though I clearly have favourites, each story left something stirring in me. I think this book is a take on horror literature at its best as every story punches you in the gut and makes you think, relate and dread. As an Asian woman myself, a lot of stuff in here was relatable, especially accepting and/or moving away from your culture and diaspora experiences. Would love to check out the writing of each author in this collection. All in all, this book was both a delightful and eerie read.
Black Cranes is a short story anthology written by Asian women and their gripping take on the stereotypes that they’ve seen their entire lives blended in with legends and myths and it didn’t disappoint. I didn’t read this book in one go. I took my time with each story and even though I clearly have favourites, each story left something stirring in me. I think this book is a take on horror literature at its best as every story punches you in the gut and makes you think, relate and dread. As an Asian woman myself, a lot of stuff in here was relatable, especially accepting and/or moving away from your culture and diaspora experiences. Would love to check out the writing of each author in this collection. All in all, this book was both a delightful and eerie read.
September 18, 2020
A collection of short stories, written by women from Southeast Asian backgrounds. I came across this book on a horror literature forum, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the writings cover a plethora of genres – including science fiction, fantasy, humor, mythology, folklore and legend, subtly merging with horror rather than an out-an-out spook fest. The team of contributors come from Japan, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and even Asian immigrants to the US and New Zealand, as an embrace as well as rejection of traditional concepts related to femininity and what it means to be a woman – in times gone by, present day, and in years to come. From spirit foxes taking human form, and ghost babies created from unfulfilled dreams and ambitions, to military women fighting for their place in a male-dominated post-apocalyptic world, and individuals cloned to fabricate the perfect person. There is humor in a spirit expressing discomfort in a human body due to the constrictive lotus feet, and a woman believing her husband is an alien due to an emotional distance after years of marriage; satire in the obsession over fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes, and the “perfect” attributes of grace, obedience and not speaking ones mind; the frustration of being perfect, but not perfect enough; horrors of betrayal, the warmth of a monster protecting a child, and peculiar tales featuring shelter animals, and monsters and motherhood. The genres and themes cover such a wide range, there is something here for everyone. The writing is sheer brilliance – quite commendable in an anthology where authors of equal credibility need to be sourced. A powerful collection that serves as a reflection of Asian societies – the role of societal expectations, familial obligations, the oppressiveness, submissiveness, and the need for self identity. The element of horror so smoothly weaves itself into the warp and weft of the lyrical and haunting prose, you don’t realize what you’re getting at until you get there. This is dark, reflective fiction at its best.
September 7, 2020
This book did not disappoint! A collection of short stories written by Asian women who artfully tell the tale of how the oppression of not only being a woman but an Asian woman have led them to a darkness that needs to be avenged.
September 2, 2020
As the excellent forward by Alma Katsu reminds us, there is a natural pairing of Asian women and horror and this collection doesn't disappoint. As with all anthologies, with various authors, some will stick more with you than others, and there is a great assortment here, from near fantasy to straight horror, with some sci fi elements as well.
A particular highlight for me was Phoenix Claws, a super horror that blends the taut seriousness of family acceptance and the cultural significance of food. It really keeps a great pace throughout and stood out in this stellar collection. This alone is worth the purchase.
At the other end, style wise, Fury wraps up a what starts as a fairly familiar zombie story with a great female protagonist into a great thought provoking ending. As she overcomes the odds, is the goal she is aiming for what she is expecting?
There's even a nod to the Cluthu mythos in Truth Is Order and Order Is Truth which is a great cosmic mythology based short, another highlight.
Kapre, a love story was almost like a fever dream in reading. Beautiful writing.
Finally, without wanting to mention every story, A PET IS FOR LIFE has a great twist at the end, which really I should have seen coming but I was too wrapped up in the story to notice. Just what I look for in a short.
I am fairly naive on the Asian culture, so was very keen to read something different, and I really enjoyed this collection. Would really recommend it.
I am grateful for the Editor who gave me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
A particular highlight for me was Phoenix Claws, a super horror that blends the taut seriousness of family acceptance and the cultural significance of food. It really keeps a great pace throughout and stood out in this stellar collection. This alone is worth the purchase.
At the other end, style wise, Fury wraps up a what starts as a fairly familiar zombie story with a great female protagonist into a great thought provoking ending. As she overcomes the odds, is the goal she is aiming for what she is expecting?
There's even a nod to the Cluthu mythos in Truth Is Order and Order Is Truth which is a great cosmic mythology based short, another highlight.
Kapre, a love story was almost like a fever dream in reading. Beautiful writing.
Finally, without wanting to mention every story, A PET IS FOR LIFE has a great twist at the end, which really I should have seen coming but I was too wrapped up in the story to notice. Just what I look for in a short.
I am fairly naive on the Asian culture, so was very keen to read something different, and I really enjoyed this collection. Would really recommend it.
I am grateful for the Editor who gave me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
March 23, 2023
Black Cranes
by Lee Murray, Geneve Flynn, Nadia Bulkin, Elaine Cuyegkeng, Rin Chupeco, Grace Chan, Angela Yuriko Smith, Gabriela Lee, Rena Mason, Christina Sng, Nancy Holder, Alma Katsu
ARC from NetGalley
Pub Day: 3/23/23
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I love horror stories, but I have only been consuming them since I met my husband 12 years ago. A lot of those stories have been by writers, directors, and game designers who are all men and mostly white men. In 2020 I realized I had never read a horror novel by a woman and set out to fix that. A few months ago as I was browsing through NetGalley I saw Black Cranes with the tagline, “stories of unquiet women.” I requested it immediately. This is a horror story collection by Asian women and it was so fun to read.
Giving compiled short story collections a single star rating is tough and there are too many for me to rate them individually in an IG post, so I’ll just briefly run down why I gave the book, as a whole, 5 stars.
Every story was well written. While I might find some stories more compelling than others, none of the writing itself was subpar. Each tale had a unique voice and interesting characters. A few of the stories ended too soon in my opinion, but that just means I need to seek out those author’s other works.
It was well compiled. The editors that put this collection together made really good decisions on which stories to pick and how to order them in the book. I never got whiplash from the ending of one story and the beginning of another and that is really important when trying to string together a bunch of different stories, with different styles and different points of view. I think it was masterfully done.
Finally there are so many different types of stories. There are tales of folk monsters set in the past. Tales of folk monsters set in the present. There are sci-fi tales of transhumanism gone wrong. There is even a zombie story and an addition to the Lovecraft mythos. There is something for everyone. I highly recommend this collection.
#BookReview #BlackCranes #Bookstagram #NetGalley #UnquietRevolution #WomenInHorror
by Lee Murray, Geneve Flynn, Nadia Bulkin, Elaine Cuyegkeng, Rin Chupeco, Grace Chan, Angela Yuriko Smith, Gabriela Lee, Rena Mason, Christina Sng, Nancy Holder, Alma Katsu
ARC from NetGalley
Pub Day: 3/23/23
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I love horror stories, but I have only been consuming them since I met my husband 12 years ago. A lot of those stories have been by writers, directors, and game designers who are all men and mostly white men. In 2020 I realized I had never read a horror novel by a woman and set out to fix that. A few months ago as I was browsing through NetGalley I saw Black Cranes with the tagline, “stories of unquiet women.” I requested it immediately. This is a horror story collection by Asian women and it was so fun to read.
Giving compiled short story collections a single star rating is tough and there are too many for me to rate them individually in an IG post, so I’ll just briefly run down why I gave the book, as a whole, 5 stars.
Every story was well written. While I might find some stories more compelling than others, none of the writing itself was subpar. Each tale had a unique voice and interesting characters. A few of the stories ended too soon in my opinion, but that just means I need to seek out those author’s other works.
It was well compiled. The editors that put this collection together made really good decisions on which stories to pick and how to order them in the book. I never got whiplash from the ending of one story and the beginning of another and that is really important when trying to string together a bunch of different stories, with different styles and different points of view. I think it was masterfully done.
Finally there are so many different types of stories. There are tales of folk monsters set in the past. Tales of folk monsters set in the present. There are sci-fi tales of transhumanism gone wrong. There is even a zombie story and an addition to the Lovecraft mythos. There is something for everyone. I highly recommend this collection.
#BookReview #BlackCranes #Bookstagram #NetGalley #UnquietRevolution #WomenInHorror
February 25, 2021
Powerful. As a half Korean woman, this collection resonated on a very personal level. These stories are often painful as they are about strength, they are just as much about cultural confusion-- confusion of loyalty and how to be loyal to family and self... as well as about clarity. About feeling hollow and how otherness plays a role in each aspect. It is also contains damn good horror stories that include monsters, lore and ghosts that are not often brought to English speaking audiences. I loved it and is it one of those works that will now occupy a very meaningful place on my shelf of books that left not just a mark but an influence.
Read
July 17, 2022As with most anthologies, some of these stories really worked for me, and some fell a bit flat. I did find some authors in here that I am incredibly interested in reading more from, and I would absolutely recommend this collection!
December 17, 2020
I read the first story in this anthology, “The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter” by Elaine Cuyegkeng, when it was reprinted on the horror site Pseudopod (here, you can read it for free there right now at this link: https://pseudopod.org/2020/11/13/pseu... ) And after reading Cuyegkeng’s story I immediately went and bought this book, so I could continue reading strange, sharp, wonderful stories of Asian horror, written by Asian writers and centering Asian women. Editors Lee Murray and Geneve Flynn have assembled a wonderful collection, dark and unsettling and fierce, that examines womanhood—and more specifically, the experience of womanhood as an Asian woman—from a variety of angles.
These stories encompass far-future science fiction, secondary-world fantasy, and stories set in worlds far closer to our own. There is absolutely creepy, spell-binding horror, but there’s some humor as well. Many stories draw from traditional myths and legends. The authors come from a variety of backgrounds—Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Filipino, and more—and this diversity is reflected in the variety of inspirations, settings, and characters. Many of the writers are also diaspora, living in the West, and diaspora themes of assimilation and cultural conflict are a common thread in several stories.
The most common threads, however, are rage and resentment. These are stories of women struggling in various ways with expectations and thwarted desires—expectations from parents, lovers, families; internalized expectations from themselves, and expectations from the world. While a few characters openly rebel, most contort and bury themselves alive trying to meet these expectations. But the resentment builds and eventually finds an outlet, to horrifying (and often cathartic) effect.
Elaine Cuyegeng’s story opens the book (as I’ve said), and it remains one of my favorites. “The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter” is a gorgeous, fairy-tale/sci-fi fantasy of genetic alchemy, of winged cats, singing bees, and prodigal children altered to fit their parents’ desires. In a future Manila, Leto has been bred to be her mother’s perfect daughter, a living advertisement of what her mother’s genetic alchemy can achieve. As her mother’s chief assistant, Leto herself creates and modifies specimens for clients. Sometimes that work entails modifying children who were born naturally, but who grew up to disappoint their parents. Sometimes that work means the destruction of memories and personalities. When Leto is assigned the task of thus modifying the three grown daughters of the Dowager, the powerful matriarch of a local dynasty, Leto finds her own memories and identity challenged. This is a stunning story, gorgeous and haunting. Its depiction of parents’ desire for control, for perfect and perfectly obedient, dutiful children (and their belief that they are owed this) hit me hard.
The relationship between mothers and daughters is at the heart of many of these stories. Daughters chafe in resentment at mothers’ expectations and demands, at the burdens of hope their mothers have placed upon them. But mothers, too, feel resentment; the relationship is also fraught on the other end, as mothers are overwhelmed by the demands of motherhood, both from their children and the world at large. The monstrous baby, the demon infant, is a recurring figure of myth across Southeast Asia. In Gabriela Lee’s stunning “Rites of Passage,” a vampiric baby of Filipino myth, the tiyanak, haunts generations of a village. There is a monstrous baby, taking advantage of human kindness; there is a monstrous mother in the jungle, and a debt to be paid. There is a dark, dark reminder that forced pregnancy and birth is perhaps the most horrific of all body horror. This story is layered and complex and incredibly unsettling. It also stands out to me, in all its gruesome darkness, as one of my favorites.
Geneve Flynn in her story, “Little Worm,” also makes use of a monstrous baby from her culture’s folklore: in this case, the kwee kia (which is also known as a toyol in Malaysia, and appears similar to the kuman thong of Thailand). The kwee kia is a dead fetus which is transformed by dark magic, and enslaved to its owner’s will to carry out deeds of mischief and darkness. When Theresa, the main character of Flynn’s story, returns home from Australia to Malaysia to care for her ailing mother, she finds her mother feeding a mysterious child, who may or may not be a kwee kia. This story has a poignant twist on the traditional legend of the kwee kia, however. It’s a story about a woman who has chosen an unusual method to deal with all the difficulties, frustrations, and thwarted dreams and hopes of her life. Like Gabriela Lee’s tale, it’s remarkably dark and creepy, and one of the strongest tales in the book.
Thwarted ambition and dreams is a recurring theme in this collection. “Frangipani Wishes” by Lee Murray is a particularly haunting and moving example of this. Told from the second-person point-of-view, it relates the tale of a woman who seems born to misfortune: her mother dies when she’s a child, and she’s then raised in her father’s house by her father’s other wives. She’s neglected and bullied by her step-mothers and half-sisters, and haunted by Hungry Ghosts. Her life is a series of misfortunes as she becomes pregnant by a faithless lover, and falls into dire poverty. There seems a chance at happiness when her daughter is born, and when she seizes ambition for her daughter’s sake. . . but this character is unable, in the end, to rise above the resentments and wounds of her life. In a sense, it’s a cautionary tale of a mother pouring too much of her hopes and dreams into her daughter, leaving nothing for herself; it’s the tale of a woman emptied by her struggles in life.
Grace Chan’s stories, “Of Hunger and Fury,” and “The Mark,” are also tales of women who have quietly emptied themselves, and who quietly seethe with resentment—in these stories, so quietly that the characters themselves don’t quite realize it. And although their lives are materially much better than the character’s in “Frangipani Wishes”—although they seem to have much more agency—Chan’s characters are no less angry. Grief over miscarriages—over lost motherhood—also haunts the character in Chan’s second story, “The Mark.” These are both stories that traffic in the surreal, in slowly unwinding horror that unpeels layers even as they build in tension.
But while currents of strangeness and darkness run throughout the book, there’s humor as well. One of my favorite pieces, “Phoenix Claws” by Lee Murray, masterfully twists humor with the bizarre in the tale of a Chinese-New Zealander woman introducing her white New Zealander boyfriend to her family over dim sum. Her family has a somewhat joking (or is it?) litmus-test for new boyfriends: whether or not they’ll try the chicken feet, or “phoenix claws,” at dim sum. When the narrator’s boyfriend flinches at the test, the narrator decides to cover for him. It’s a tale that made me laugh and smile at the loving descriptions of a typical dim sum restaurant and gathering. . .even as it makes a sharper point about how women will betray themselves, in seemingly small ways as well as large, for others.
There are other stories in this collection, too. Fairy-tale-like romance in Rin Chupeco’s “Kapre: A Love Story;” contemporary horror with unexpected twists in Geneve Flynn’s “A Pet for Life;” a fox-spirit tale in Rena Mason’s “The Ninth Tale,” and a pair of science-fiction stories, “Skin Dowdy” and “Vanilla Rice” by Angela Yuriko Smith, which offer short, sharp looks at the pressures that women face to conform to standards of beauty, and how far they’ll go to achieve that. Finally, there’s action-adventure in Nadia Bulkin’s wonderful “Truth is Order and Order is Truth,” a secondary-world fantasy tale of a Sea Queen reclaiming her throne, and in Christina Sng’s tale of a far-future zombie war, “Fury.”
There’s a little something for everyone in this collection. Most of all, there’s strangeness, fierceness, emotion, catharsis, and even some moments of wonder and beauty amid the darkness. This is a brilliant collection, one of the best books I’ve read this year—and one of the strongest anthologies I’ve ever seen. A must-read for horror fans.
These stories encompass far-future science fiction, secondary-world fantasy, and stories set in worlds far closer to our own. There is absolutely creepy, spell-binding horror, but there’s some humor as well. Many stories draw from traditional myths and legends. The authors come from a variety of backgrounds—Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Filipino, and more—and this diversity is reflected in the variety of inspirations, settings, and characters. Many of the writers are also diaspora, living in the West, and diaspora themes of assimilation and cultural conflict are a common thread in several stories.
The most common threads, however, are rage and resentment. These are stories of women struggling in various ways with expectations and thwarted desires—expectations from parents, lovers, families; internalized expectations from themselves, and expectations from the world. While a few characters openly rebel, most contort and bury themselves alive trying to meet these expectations. But the resentment builds and eventually finds an outlet, to horrifying (and often cathartic) effect.
Elaine Cuyegeng’s story opens the book (as I’ve said), and it remains one of my favorites. “The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter” is a gorgeous, fairy-tale/sci-fi fantasy of genetic alchemy, of winged cats, singing bees, and prodigal children altered to fit their parents’ desires. In a future Manila, Leto has been bred to be her mother’s perfect daughter, a living advertisement of what her mother’s genetic alchemy can achieve. As her mother’s chief assistant, Leto herself creates and modifies specimens for clients. Sometimes that work entails modifying children who were born naturally, but who grew up to disappoint their parents. Sometimes that work means the destruction of memories and personalities. When Leto is assigned the task of thus modifying the three grown daughters of the Dowager, the powerful matriarch of a local dynasty, Leto finds her own memories and identity challenged. This is a stunning story, gorgeous and haunting. Its depiction of parents’ desire for control, for perfect and perfectly obedient, dutiful children (and their belief that they are owed this) hit me hard.
The relationship between mothers and daughters is at the heart of many of these stories. Daughters chafe in resentment at mothers’ expectations and demands, at the burdens of hope their mothers have placed upon them. But mothers, too, feel resentment; the relationship is also fraught on the other end, as mothers are overwhelmed by the demands of motherhood, both from their children and the world at large. The monstrous baby, the demon infant, is a recurring figure of myth across Southeast Asia. In Gabriela Lee’s stunning “Rites of Passage,” a vampiric baby of Filipino myth, the tiyanak, haunts generations of a village. There is a monstrous baby, taking advantage of human kindness; there is a monstrous mother in the jungle, and a debt to be paid. There is a dark, dark reminder that forced pregnancy and birth is perhaps the most horrific of all body horror. This story is layered and complex and incredibly unsettling. It also stands out to me, in all its gruesome darkness, as one of my favorites.
Geneve Flynn in her story, “Little Worm,” also makes use of a monstrous baby from her culture’s folklore: in this case, the kwee kia (which is also known as a toyol in Malaysia, and appears similar to the kuman thong of Thailand). The kwee kia is a dead fetus which is transformed by dark magic, and enslaved to its owner’s will to carry out deeds of mischief and darkness. When Theresa, the main character of Flynn’s story, returns home from Australia to Malaysia to care for her ailing mother, she finds her mother feeding a mysterious child, who may or may not be a kwee kia. This story has a poignant twist on the traditional legend of the kwee kia, however. It’s a story about a woman who has chosen an unusual method to deal with all the difficulties, frustrations, and thwarted dreams and hopes of her life. Like Gabriela Lee’s tale, it’s remarkably dark and creepy, and one of the strongest tales in the book.
Thwarted ambition and dreams is a recurring theme in this collection. “Frangipani Wishes” by Lee Murray is a particularly haunting and moving example of this. Told from the second-person point-of-view, it relates the tale of a woman who seems born to misfortune: her mother dies when she’s a child, and she’s then raised in her father’s house by her father’s other wives. She’s neglected and bullied by her step-mothers and half-sisters, and haunted by Hungry Ghosts. Her life is a series of misfortunes as she becomes pregnant by a faithless lover, and falls into dire poverty. There seems a chance at happiness when her daughter is born, and when she seizes ambition for her daughter’s sake. . . but this character is unable, in the end, to rise above the resentments and wounds of her life. In a sense, it’s a cautionary tale of a mother pouring too much of her hopes and dreams into her daughter, leaving nothing for herself; it’s the tale of a woman emptied by her struggles in life.
Grace Chan’s stories, “Of Hunger and Fury,” and “The Mark,” are also tales of women who have quietly emptied themselves, and who quietly seethe with resentment—in these stories, so quietly that the characters themselves don’t quite realize it. And although their lives are materially much better than the character’s in “Frangipani Wishes”—although they seem to have much more agency—Chan’s characters are no less angry. Grief over miscarriages—over lost motherhood—also haunts the character in Chan’s second story, “The Mark.” These are both stories that traffic in the surreal, in slowly unwinding horror that unpeels layers even as they build in tension.
But while currents of strangeness and darkness run throughout the book, there’s humor as well. One of my favorite pieces, “Phoenix Claws” by Lee Murray, masterfully twists humor with the bizarre in the tale of a Chinese-New Zealander woman introducing her white New Zealander boyfriend to her family over dim sum. Her family has a somewhat joking (or is it?) litmus-test for new boyfriends: whether or not they’ll try the chicken feet, or “phoenix claws,” at dim sum. When the narrator’s boyfriend flinches at the test, the narrator decides to cover for him. It’s a tale that made me laugh and smile at the loving descriptions of a typical dim sum restaurant and gathering. . .even as it makes a sharper point about how women will betray themselves, in seemingly small ways as well as large, for others.
There are other stories in this collection, too. Fairy-tale-like romance in Rin Chupeco’s “Kapre: A Love Story;” contemporary horror with unexpected twists in Geneve Flynn’s “A Pet for Life;” a fox-spirit tale in Rena Mason’s “The Ninth Tale,” and a pair of science-fiction stories, “Skin Dowdy” and “Vanilla Rice” by Angela Yuriko Smith, which offer short, sharp looks at the pressures that women face to conform to standards of beauty, and how far they’ll go to achieve that. Finally, there’s action-adventure in Nadia Bulkin’s wonderful “Truth is Order and Order is Truth,” a secondary-world fantasy tale of a Sea Queen reclaiming her throne, and in Christina Sng’s tale of a far-future zombie war, “Fury.”
There’s a little something for everyone in this collection. Most of all, there’s strangeness, fierceness, emotion, catharsis, and even some moments of wonder and beauty amid the darkness. This is a brilliant collection, one of the best books I’ve read this year—and one of the strongest anthologies I’ve ever seen. A must-read for horror fans.
September 26, 2020
Alma Katsu's foreword at the beginning of this anthology is a gripping take on the stereotypes that Asian women have grappled with their entire lives, from the trope of being seen as subservient Geishas to the Dragon Lady, overtly sexualized, and the views of other problematic lenses. She speaks of depersonalization, of family expectations, waiting hand and foot on men in the family, the obligation to parents, but particularly expectations of daughters. This resonated deeply with me as my cultural background also contains many of the same expectations. In spite of all of this cultural weight, Katsu rightly points out that Asian women can be scientists, warrior princesses, fierce fighters, or vengeful spirits. "We can be many things. The only thing we can't be is defeated."
With this stunning introduction, we launch into one of the best horror anthologies of the year, and it sets an incredibly high benchmark. For horror fans who grumble that women "can't" write extreme horror or that women "can't" write scary stories, please shove this book into their faces because not only are the stories well-crafted, dark, and terrifying, they are unique, original, and follow unconventional storytelling patterns that are marvelous. These stories are exquisite and a testament to how many talented South Asian women are writing horror and dark fantasy--women with roots in Japan, China, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and more as well as the diasporas they're part of.
Rather than go through story by story and provide my gushing thoughts on how I adored so many of these stories, I want to encourage readers to discover the tales for themselves--to marvel at the unique mythologies, belief systems, and things that plague these characters. I do want to give a special mention -- having been a huge fan of Christina Sng's poetry for such a long time, it was a treat to see more of her long-form fiction, and her piece, "Fury," is impeccable. I do also want to call attention to "Phoenix Claws" by Lee Murray, which is my new favourite story by her. You have to discover for yourself why it's so unforgettable and horrific. I loved it, as well as her second piece, "Frangipani Wishes," which has a more sombre, tragic energy, and poetry mixed in. Definitely add this book to your TBR pile, because it will be one of the most memorable anthologies you'll read this year.
With this stunning introduction, we launch into one of the best horror anthologies of the year, and it sets an incredibly high benchmark. For horror fans who grumble that women "can't" write extreme horror or that women "can't" write scary stories, please shove this book into their faces because not only are the stories well-crafted, dark, and terrifying, they are unique, original, and follow unconventional storytelling patterns that are marvelous. These stories are exquisite and a testament to how many talented South Asian women are writing horror and dark fantasy--women with roots in Japan, China, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and more as well as the diasporas they're part of.
Rather than go through story by story and provide my gushing thoughts on how I adored so many of these stories, I want to encourage readers to discover the tales for themselves--to marvel at the unique mythologies, belief systems, and things that plague these characters. I do want to give a special mention -- having been a huge fan of Christina Sng's poetry for such a long time, it was a treat to see more of her long-form fiction, and her piece, "Fury," is impeccable. I do also want to call attention to "Phoenix Claws" by Lee Murray, which is my new favourite story by her. You have to discover for yourself why it's so unforgettable and horrific. I loved it, as well as her second piece, "Frangipani Wishes," which has a more sombre, tragic energy, and poetry mixed in. Definitely add this book to your TBR pile, because it will be one of the most memorable anthologies you'll read this year.
October 24, 2020
A fantastic compilation of short stories that are dark, compelling and somewhat creepy written by women that feature stories inspired or derived from cultural legends and mythology. It’s a keeper especially for those who, like me, adore powerful short stories that are inspired by various cultures. Each story was unique from one another so it’s hard to choose a favourite - I liked them all for various reasons and I purposely took my time reading this compilation to read each short story randomly over time rather than starting from the beginning. So exciting to read I am very happy to have this in my collection.
January 9, 2023
4.5
Una raccolta notevole; non solo il tema è affascinante e disturbante insieme, ma ho trovato molto ben scritti tutti i pezzi, con l'eccezione di Fury, che mi ha annoiato. Per il resto, l'angoscia di una femminilità mummificata in ruoli tradizionali (buona figlia, buona madre, buona moglie) che neanche l'emigrazione, il lavoro in un altro continente, lo studio universitario di generazioni riescono a lasciare indietro viene resa con efficacia.
Una vera sorpresa la maggior parte delle autrici, e francamente inquietanti le creature tradizionali (soprattutto filippine e malesi) che sono le guest star di molti racconti.
Una raccolta notevole; non solo il tema è affascinante e disturbante insieme, ma ho trovato molto ben scritti tutti i pezzi, con l'eccezione di Fury, che mi ha annoiato. Per il resto, l'angoscia di una femminilità mummificata in ruoli tradizionali (buona figlia, buona madre, buona moglie) che neanche l'emigrazione, il lavoro in un altro continente, lo studio universitario di generazioni riescono a lasciare indietro viene resa con efficacia.
Una vera sorpresa la maggior parte delle autrici, e francamente inquietanti le creature tradizionali (soprattutto filippine e malesi) che sono le guest star di molti racconti.
January 9, 2023
Una raccolta notevole; non solo il tema è affascinante e disturbante insieme, ma ho trovato molto ben scritti tutti i pezzi, con l'eccezione di Fury, che mi ha annoiato. Per il resto, l'angoscia di una femminilità mummificata in ruoli tradizionali (buona figlia, buona madre, buona moglie) che neanche l'emigrazione, il lavoro in un altro continente, lo studio universitario di generazioni riescono a lasciare indietro viene resa con efficacia.
Una vera sorpresa la maggior parte delle autrici, e francamente inquietanti le creature tradizionali (soprattutto filippine e malesi) che sono le guest star di molti racconti.
Una vera sorpresa la maggior parte delle autrici, e francamente inquietanti le creature tradizionali (soprattutto filippine e malesi) che sono le guest star di molti racconti.
November 2, 2020
The stories in this anthology are dark but they are also diverse, incorporating a plethora of themes and issues that Asian women in particular will relate to very much.
I know I did, especially with the very first one, The general alchemist's daughter, which so beautifully brings out the burden of expectations placed on women all their lives when it comes to how they behave, how they react and how they deal with life's various events. Change in the basic makeup of a woman is frowned upon and the story talks about what would happen if it were at all possible to modify human qualities that changed over time to what they were before and how they would affect the person who was being experimented on.
Skin Dowdy by Angela Yuriko Smith is another story that was so familiar, it's traces visible all around us in today's world. The importance given to physical perfection and the quest to look the best no matter the cost, is told through the lens of a modern techno vision that gives women all the sheen and gloss and colour they want but extracts a price that may be too heavy.
Vanilla Rice, also by Angela, is a telling account of the consequences of parents deciding on the basis of their own life experiences to tailor their children's lives, be it external looks or going deeper than that.
Kapre:a love story is about a monster who falls in love with a child he initially has his eye on and has a wonderful ending.
Phoenix Claws by Lee Murray addresses the issue of assimilation of people from a different culture into an Asian family, in a very humorous way.
Little worm is a very familiar tale of the conflict between the responsibilities of care towards aging parents and the desire to live life as they want on Asian daughters who find themselves in this role very frequently.
Each of the other stories takes us into one such world of culture, tradition, mythology, spirits and the like that is a part of the Asian way of life. And they together make this anthology a very good read.
I know I did, especially with the very first one, The general alchemist's daughter, which so beautifully brings out the burden of expectations placed on women all their lives when it comes to how they behave, how they react and how they deal with life's various events. Change in the basic makeup of a woman is frowned upon and the story talks about what would happen if it were at all possible to modify human qualities that changed over time to what they were before and how they would affect the person who was being experimented on.
Skin Dowdy by Angela Yuriko Smith is another story that was so familiar, it's traces visible all around us in today's world. The importance given to physical perfection and the quest to look the best no matter the cost, is told through the lens of a modern techno vision that gives women all the sheen and gloss and colour they want but extracts a price that may be too heavy.
Vanilla Rice, also by Angela, is a telling account of the consequences of parents deciding on the basis of their own life experiences to tailor their children's lives, be it external looks or going deeper than that.
Kapre:a love story is about a monster who falls in love with a child he initially has his eye on and has a wonderful ending.
Phoenix Claws by Lee Murray addresses the issue of assimilation of people from a different culture into an Asian family, in a very humorous way.
Little worm is a very familiar tale of the conflict between the responsibilities of care towards aging parents and the desire to live life as they want on Asian daughters who find themselves in this role very frequently.
Each of the other stories takes us into one such world of culture, tradition, mythology, spirits and the like that is a part of the Asian way of life. And they together make this anthology a very good read.
January 7, 2021
An unnerving, nuanced collection of more than a dozen beautifully crafted stories by Southeast Asian writers that dive deep into complex themes. The authors address— and challenge— a variety of topics at the intersection of identity, some of which are infrequently handled in horror. Many of the stories deal explicitly with tensions around social expectations on topics like beauty norms, femininity, motherhood, loyalty, duty, power, and more.
I loved far too many of these stories to describe them in detail, and in a collection of incredible standouts it’d be impossible to note favorites. Inside Black Cranes wait numerous gems like “Phoenix Claws” about that white boyfriend who never really fit in and the consequences of pretending everything is fine (Murray); children who fail to measure up in “The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter (Cuyegkeng ); the price of impossible, obsessive beauty norms in Angela Yuriko Smith’s stories “Vanilla Rice” and “Skin Dowdy”; and searing fables like “Kapre: A Love Story" about timeless loyalty (Chupeco) and “The Ninth Tale” of deception and duty (Mason).
The stories vary in style, content, and tone yet are seamlessly arranged by editors Murray and Flynn to appeal to fans of horror, fantasy, and weird tales. There is much to savor, re-read, and treasure in this accomplished collection of notable force. From fierce modern fables to acerbic insights, this is an anthology that captures the imagination and confronts assumptions while delivering some very serious chills.
I loved far too many of these stories to describe them in detail, and in a collection of incredible standouts it’d be impossible to note favorites. Inside Black Cranes wait numerous gems like “Phoenix Claws” about that white boyfriend who never really fit in and the consequences of pretending everything is fine (Murray); children who fail to measure up in “The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter (Cuyegkeng ); the price of impossible, obsessive beauty norms in Angela Yuriko Smith’s stories “Vanilla Rice” and “Skin Dowdy”; and searing fables like “Kapre: A Love Story" about timeless loyalty (Chupeco) and “The Ninth Tale” of deception and duty (Mason).
The stories vary in style, content, and tone yet are seamlessly arranged by editors Murray and Flynn to appeal to fans of horror, fantasy, and weird tales. There is much to savor, re-read, and treasure in this accomplished collection of notable force. From fierce modern fables to acerbic insights, this is an anthology that captures the imagination and confronts assumptions while delivering some very serious chills.
January 5, 2021
STAR Review in my January 2021 Horror Review column for Library Journal: https://www.libraryjournal.com/?revie...
Three Words That Describe This Book: stereotype smashing, immersive, inclusive
Draft Review:
As Alma Katsu, notes in the introduction, Asian women, despite being from vastly different cultures are stereotyped as a monolith: demure and subservient, either sexually fetishized or conversely seen as cold and domineering. But not here, not at all, as readers are presented with 14 stories that are as varied in tone and type as the women writing them. Tales of dangerous science fiction, bleak near future dystopias, reimagined folk tales, battle ready princesses, and just straight up furious horror. While the stories are individually entertaining, it is in the breadth of cultural experiences, storytelling styles, and originality of ideas as they pile on top of one and other where the preconceived notions of both the authors identities and of the limitations of the horror genre itself will be smashed to the delight of readers. Verdict: With the inclusion of biographies and photographs introducing each of the contributors at the back of this volume, readers will be able to fully appreciate the authors as humans, gain insight into their influences, and learn of their other works. Don’t be surprised if you get requests for more by these unquiet women.
Three Words That Describe This Book: stereotype smashing, immersive, inclusive
Draft Review:
As Alma Katsu, notes in the introduction, Asian women, despite being from vastly different cultures are stereotyped as a monolith: demure and subservient, either sexually fetishized or conversely seen as cold and domineering. But not here, not at all, as readers are presented with 14 stories that are as varied in tone and type as the women writing them. Tales of dangerous science fiction, bleak near future dystopias, reimagined folk tales, battle ready princesses, and just straight up furious horror. While the stories are individually entertaining, it is in the breadth of cultural experiences, storytelling styles, and originality of ideas as they pile on top of one and other where the preconceived notions of both the authors identities and of the limitations of the horror genre itself will be smashed to the delight of readers. Verdict: With the inclusion of biographies and photographs introducing each of the contributors at the back of this volume, readers will be able to fully appreciate the authors as humans, gain insight into their influences, and learn of their other works. Don’t be surprised if you get requests for more by these unquiet women.
March 10, 2023
A collection of stories by award winning authors with powerful social commentary on the struggles of not only being a woman, but of those experienced in Asian cultures. Each story transports you into another world placing you in the shoes of women who dare to fight, speak up, kill and step out of line. There is something in here for everyone. From folklore to a zombie apocalypse, the dark and disturbing imagery will surely give you nightmares.
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