Jeff’s Reviews > Irish Gothic: Tales of Celtic Horror > Status Update

"The Spawn of Arget Bethir" 3/5 - the last story is Kelly's prequel to his novel Undertaker's Moon. It's the best writing in the collection.

Kelly got me by holding the werewolf story until the end. This book has not been as appropriate for the holiday as I hoped, but after investing that much time, I might as well try the last one.

"A Fine Wake for Nana Ferree": 1/5 - an interesting idea, not worth further analysis.

"Postcard from Kilkenny": 1/5 - true bollocks if I do say so myself. If not for the vocabulary, I'd guess this was written by a teenager.

It's hard not to be taken out of the gothic mood a bit with phrases like "the Irish equivalent of Scooby Doo's Velma."

"Diabhal's Timepiece": 3/5 - another absurdly short adventure into the realm of myth, this time general biblical mythology, not particularly Irish. The dialogue was very decent and there were interesting scenes, none of them given enough time to surpass a sort of RL Stine treatment of the subject matter.

"The Wee Village": 3/5 - not a lot to like or dislike here. Your basic, bare-bones myth with an abrupt twist toward the end that is unexpected more because of the story's brevity than its originality.

"Flanagan's Bride": 3/5 - a competently told, if pedestrian, reimagining of the banshee myth, seemingly blended a bit with a siren. A very simple story with a beleaguered protagonist with whom the reader doesn't have enough time with to form an attachment, fallen under the influence of a banshee. His tormentors are then faced with the defensive fury of the supernatural force.