Once Upon Another Time: Fresh Tales from the Far Side of Fantasy

by J. Moody, Mariam Naeem, A.A. Rubin

Fourteen writers from around the globe bring their imaginations to
these pages. Their stories are alien, magical, dangerous, demonic, and
deep. Each will transport you to a different reality. The writers hope
that within this anthology, each reader will find new stories to enjoy
and new writers to believe in.

The Three Capitalist Pigs by A. A. Rubin
Amidst a changing Faerie, The Big Bad Wolf fights to save The Enchanted
Forest.

Within Deep Green by Mariam Naeem
Beware a beautiful woman, soldier.

Hansel and Gretel Were Here by J. Moody
To make peace with the past, a salty Gretel returns to the cabin where she
lost her brother. The cabin welcomes her back.

The Fairytale of Solana's Real Books by RC Hopgood
No one comes to Solana’s bookstore anymore. No one.

The Calming of Luttrell by Jack Holder
A child king already has enough on his royal platter when a ghost arrives
with an ancient grudge.

International Incident, Part 1 by Adam Knight
Sending a team to rescue him could start a war. Instead they sent an electric
cowboy.

Fulcra: Siren's ReMix by Cix & Vic Zander
A pair of universe hopping specialists who investigate cosmic phenomena
find themselves on a mundane rescue mission. They quickly find out the many
reasons why.

Curse of the Beast by C. J. R. Isely
The beast has returned to the viage, but the man who knew how to stop it
is dead.

The Deliverer by J. Moody
When the water runs out, the Leovers and the Deliverers remain. We do
what it takes to survive.

Veiled Reflections: A Retelling of Eros and Psyche by Melissa
Rose Rogers
An unambitious prince faces temptation when a lone Elf Lady appears
ahead of a storm.

The Shortcut by Eric Mosher
Graves aren’t the only thing you’ stumble over in the graveyard tonight.

Kasie's Magical Night by Trixie Pereira
If the shoe fits: a Cinderella story that matters.

A Paladin’s Oath by James David
His mettle having already been tested, a young knight stands before a grizzled holy warrior.

Redcap by Dewi Hargreaves
Where did the People Below disappear to?

International Incident, Part 2 by Adam Knight
Sending a team to rescue him could start a war. Instead they sent an electric
cowboy.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories

180 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 11, 2022

About the author

J. Moody is an educator by day, a writer by night, and an adventurer in every moment between. She’s the author of The SEPA Project, its sequel, Quántóu Rising, and the final book in the trilogy, A Rue's Revenge. Her short fiction “To Be a Woman” won the Best Horror Award in Ooligan Press Magazine. She has two short stories published in the anthology Once Upon Another Time: Fresh Tales From the Far Side of Fantasy and two dystopian stories published in When All That's Left Are Stories. She lives with her family in Portland, Oregon.

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I downloaded this collection, because I really like fractured fairy tales. Although not all the stories are based on well-known originals, most of them are interesting, and some even startling, due to the variety of plots, settings, characters and narrative voices. This book is broadly classified as fantasy, but the genre ranges from satire to horror to science fiction to thriller to post-apocalyptic. So there is a nice variety and many readers should find something that appeals to them.

Stand-out stories for me were : A.A. Rubin's "The Three Capitalist Pigs", a satire reminiscent of James Finn Garner but taken a bit further; Mariam Naeem's "Within Deep Green", a romance gone wrong, based on the legend of La belle dame sans merci and the Keats poem of the same name; Adam Knight's "International Incident" (in 2 parts), an edge-of-the-seat political thriller; and Melissa Rose Rogers' "Veiled Reflections", an unsettling adaptation of the legend of Eros and Psyche.

[M.G. Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of fairy tale retellings, some familiar but most not. Settings are from the past, the modern day, and even the future.

A lot of imagination went into this fascinating collection and it's well worth picking up.

Support indie authors. Who knows, maybe you'll find a gem here and will want to check out their other work.

[Ellie Lieberman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An overall amazing collection of stories from a variety of authors. So many imaginative, unique, and fun twists on fairy tales, spanning a few different genres. Highly recommend!

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed the short stories. A great book to read with different characters and different topics. Let you see how and what the author writes about.

[Amy M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty God for a freebie.

Not bad. I enjoyed this book. Several different gendres represented. Good for a quick read before bed. Get ya some!

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining fantasy listening 🎶🔰

Fifteen will written adventure thriller short stories by fifteen different authors all with interesting characters, story lines, and conclusions. I would recommend this novella to anyone looking for a quick fun entertaining fantasy. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do because of eye damage and health issues. 2022

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of fantasy and science fiction that takes you to mysterious places with with creatures lurking, people caught up in intrigue and desperation.
A fun read, thanks to all the authors!

[J. Moody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I am a featured author, I want to say how much I love this collection. This is my first time dabbling in horror and fantasy, and it was such a pleasure to find such diverse stories from these authors. There's action, visceral horror, LGBTQ affirming fantasy, kings, ghost, dryads, and classic fairy tales turned on their heads. It was a fun read! Special shoutout goes to RC Hopgood and his story, The Fairytale of Solana’s Real Books. Yikes! That story was delightfully creepy.

[Maya · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only two stories I liked were The Fairytale of Solana's Real Books by RC Hopgood and Hansel and Gretel Were Here by J. Moody. I feel like even 2 stars is too much for this collection, but those two stories were really enjoyable

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have had this book waiting to be read for some time now and finally was able to read it... I SHOULD HAVE READ IT SOONER. It's a collection of stories from some great authors. The stories are captivating and intriguing. A great book to enjoy, well written, and entertaining.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great tales, some odd ones

This collection has some really good tales, some really odd ones, and what I think are a few downright stinkers.

[Cherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

really awesome stories

Well written and very good stories you won’t want to put down. Definitely worth picking up and reading don’t miss out on this one.