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blatanville's review against another edition
4.0
Strange and unsettling, like Shirley Jackson, but with supernatural locales and scenes instead of Jackson's domestic terrors.
bryce_is_a_librarian's review against another edition
4.0
No one omits narrative information to greater effect than Aickman.
loribulb's review against another edition
4.0
I picked up this book after a friend of mine told me the short stories I wrote reminded her of Robert Aickman. I did not realize at the time what a compliment she had paid me.
The variety is what I enjoyed most about this collection. While some ran to the more the traditional formats of ghosts and graveyards (The Waiting Room) or zombies (Ringing the Changes- at least I *think* that was zombies) others I'm still trying to figure out (Choice of Weapons. I need to read it again, I think.)
My favorite by far, for the atmospheric sense of dread, as well as its independent female protagonist, was Bind Your Hair. It can be hard to read literature that was written at a different time, even just 50 years back, because the language and formatting can feel so foreign. I'll admit there were a few challenges in that regard to these stories, but it just took a little time to get in the right groove. The scares were not jumpy or "gotchas!" but rather carefully crafted ideas that seemed rooted, at times, in the psyches of the main characters as much as from any outside influences.
The stories are well constructed, tidy, and without any extraneous descriptions or fillers. That compact storytelling is part of what made them, at first, difficult stories to read. The flow is totally different from modern literature. I suspect that the few I had real trouble with (like that Choice of Weapons- honestly, wtf?) I'll understand more if I go back and reread. The text holds everything I'll need... I think I just wasn't as attentive as I needed to be.
The variety is what I enjoyed most about this collection. While some ran to the more the traditional formats of ghosts and graveyards (The Waiting Room) or zombies (Ringing the Changes- at least I *think* that was zombies) others I'm still trying to figure out (Choice of Weapons. I need to read it again, I think.)
My favorite by far, for the atmospheric sense of dread, as well as its independent female protagonist, was Bind Your Hair. It can be hard to read literature that was written at a different time, even just 50 years back, because the language and formatting can feel so foreign. I'll admit there were a few challenges in that regard to these stories, but it just took a little time to get in the right groove. The scares were not jumpy or "gotchas!" but rather carefully crafted ideas that seemed rooted, at times, in the psyches of the main characters as much as from any outside influences.
The stories are well constructed, tidy, and without any extraneous descriptions or fillers. That compact storytelling is part of what made them, at first, difficult stories to read. The flow is totally different from modern literature. I suspect that the few I had real trouble with (like that Choice of Weapons- honestly, wtf?) I'll understand more if I go back and reread. The text holds everything I'll need... I think I just wasn't as attentive as I needed to be.
a_monkey's review
3.0
Subtle enough to mistakenly seem ponderous, but expertly crafted and deeply, believably weird.
boyd94's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
bunnieslikediamonds's review against another edition
5.0
Hooray for Faber & Faber for re-releasing these Aickman collections! I'm not crazy about the covers of these newest editions, which are way too cutesy and do not reflect the seriously eerie content at all, but hey, if that's what it takes to lure new readers. I loved Cold Hand In mine, The Unsettled Dust and The Wine-dark Sea, which were all outstanding and worthy of many, many re-reads. Compared to these three volumes, Dark Entries, while undoubtedly a five-star read, wasn't quite as impressive, but only because there were fewer stories to wow me. It contains only six stories. The conventional ghost story "The Waiting Room" is the only weak one of the bunch. "The View" is intriguing, but requires a re-read as the shifting topography of its fictional island made me too dizzy to register the deeper implications of the story. "Bind Your Hair", which also appears in The Unsettled Dust, is marvellous and strange and strangely funny. Imagine the stress of visiting your boyfriend's tweedy relatives for the first time, escaping for a relaxing walk in the woods, only to get dragged into unpleasant primal rites by the neighbours. The events in "The School Friend" are also firmly grounded in everyday life, until suddenly they aren't. The vagueness of the supernatural elements only adds to the horror. "Choice of Weapons" and "Ringing the Changes" are beautifully unnerving and defy easy interpretation.
So yeah, Aickman is just terrific. But where is this Aickman revival I've been hearing about? These re-issues are a great start, but I want Aickman research, Aickman seminars and Aickman festivals! Go buy the books, for goodness' sake.
So yeah, Aickman is just terrific. But where is this Aickman revival I've been hearing about? These re-issues are a great start, but I want Aickman research, Aickman seminars and Aickman festivals! Go buy the books, for goodness' sake.
dkdomino's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
3.75
a great collection of stories
becka6131's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed these, but I kept running into the stumbling block of expecting something to happen like in a conventional horror story, where Aickman's stories are more like impressions or ideas, and the story is spent painting a very careful picture of that idea, and then it ends. Most of the stories in this volume left me flipping the page, going 'is that it?' It's not necessarily a bad thing, to be reminded that weird fiction and horror don't have to all be about the payoff, but they did all leave me with a lot of questions, and the desire to google the story title until I found someone who told me what happened next.