Anna From Gustine > Recent Status Updates

2 stars. The Pocket-Hunter's Story by Mary Austin (1909) A pocket-hunter is someone who looks for pockets of rich ore within poorer ore. In this story, the pocket-hunter tells a story of four miners and a supernatural event in the American desert. I didn't care for this. The writing is fine but the story was convoluted with too many unnecessary characters. The rape of a native woman is implied.

3 stars. The Third Drug by E.Bland (Edith Nesbit)-1908. A man falls into the clutches of a mad scientist trying to create the perfect human. It was a serviceable effort at an unoriginal plot.

5 stars. The Dream-Baby by Olivia Howard Dunbar (1904). Two retired schoolteachers become obsessed with a baby in a dream. This is the most original tale so far in this collection. It was just the right length and I had no idea where it was going. Towards the end, I feared a horrific resolution but it turned out to be bittersweet and far more satisfying instead.

4 stars. In the Closed Room by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1904) A little girl feels as though she is not of this world. This is a creepy story that mostly worked but it was too long. It is divided into two unnecessary parts and I think it would have worked better if it had been one shorter and more concise piece.

1 star. The Banshee's Halloween by Herminie Templeton Kavanagh (1903). An Irishman has an eventful Halloween night with a banshee. Ok, I assume this story was included for comedy relief. Interesting plot but the Irish stereotypes were bad. The whole story was written phonetically to impart a heavy Irish accent. Pretty distracting. Plus the main character beats a poor donkey for scaring him in a graveyard. Ugh.

4 stars. The Wind in the Rose-Bush by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (1903). A woman decides to bring her dead sister's daughter to live with her, but the daughter is missing. First story with a female protagonist and a female antagonist. I was impressed with the cat-and-mouse tension between the two women. The shivering rose bush was eerie. This was almost a five star except for the unsatisfactory ending.

4.5 stars. Transmigration by Dora Sigerson Shorter (1900.) A cruel man trades souls with a kind man. This is described as a harrowing story and I agree. It's pretty brutal and reminds me of both The Picture of Dorian Gray and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It was an effective story which disturbed me but I had to take a half point off. I hate abrupt endings!

4.5 stars. The Were-Wolf by Clemence Houseman (1896). A werewolf in the guise of a beautiful woman comes between two brothers. This is longer than a typical short story. I took a point off because I've read this plot before but I had to add a 0.5 because it has some tense and creepy scenes. Plus it surprised me with the bloody violence and unexpected body count. Huzzah!

3 stars. The Lady with the Carnations by Marie Corelli (1896). A man views a painting of a lady with carnations, after which her manifestation begins following him. It was a nicely written story with effective atmosphere. The plot was unremarkable though.

I discovered that there are only 183 pages because the rest are footnotes. YAY!!!

2.5 stars. The Giant Wistaria by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1891). A merry group of English people rent a house with a tragic past. This story started off strong with an unmarried mother in colonial America suffering harsh treatment from her family. Fast forward to the 1800s and a haunting in the house. Ended too abruptly and I'm not quite sure what happened to the young woman. So much potential lost.

5 stars. "In A Far-Off World" by Olive Schreiner (1890). A man and a woman live in a world in of a far-off star. This story is only three pages long but it almost had me in tears. Short but impactful.