oddly's review against another edition
4.0
This is one for the gothic lit lovers.
With a blend of classic and contemporary short stories and poetry all centered around the theme of hauntings, there is a lot to love in the creaking old hallways, dusty bookshelves, and dark corners where sputtering candles don’t quite reach of this anthology.
Haunted house is just about my favorite sub-genre, so I knew I had to get this one when I saw the brilliant cover and some of the great writers featured in the collection. I was also really impressed with how many women horror authors were featured here.
But it isn’t just houses that can be haunted, it can be any and every place we inhabit, down to the very bodies we live in, the paths we take in life (and death), and even the other people we surround ourselves with. Hauntings are everywhere.
And this couldn’t be more evident than in the dark and stormy stylings of these stories. Taking up the mantle of the classic gothic style, I found that these stories and poems were often about relationships, love gone wrong and the haunted nature of human suffering.
Some stories build on classic tales, such as that perennial classic folktale “Bluebeard” or Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Some are set in modern times, some are period pieces, all are wholly original and will shock you with a cold breath of air.
I found the poetry to be a bit weak overall, but the few that worked really worked. The inclusion of this different format of writing was a nice touch, especially in between the stories.
My favorite pieces were:
“The Shadows on the Wall” by Mary Wilkins Freeman, a true gothic work I'd never read before.
"Bloodbuzz of Ravens" by Sara Tantlinger, an evocative and darkly brilliant poem.
“The Call of the House of Usher” by Annie Neugebauer, a nice homage to Poe in style and substance.
“Miss Emmeline’s Mirror” by Catherine Cavendish, it'll make you think twice about mirrors!
Overall, I really enjoyed this collection. If you like gothic works, this is a good way to get a broad scope of modern and classic pieces, and perhaps find a few new authors to love.
With a blend of classic and contemporary short stories and poetry all centered around the theme of hauntings, there is a lot to love in the creaking old hallways, dusty bookshelves, and dark corners where sputtering candles don’t quite reach of this anthology.
Haunted house is just about my favorite sub-genre, so I knew I had to get this one when I saw the brilliant cover and some of the great writers featured in the collection. I was also really impressed with how many women horror authors were featured here.
But it isn’t just houses that can be haunted, it can be any and every place we inhabit, down to the very bodies we live in, the paths we take in life (and death), and even the other people we surround ourselves with. Hauntings are everywhere.
And this couldn’t be more evident than in the dark and stormy stylings of these stories. Taking up the mantle of the classic gothic style, I found that these stories and poems were often about relationships, love gone wrong and the haunted nature of human suffering.
Some stories build on classic tales, such as that perennial classic folktale “Bluebeard” or Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Some are set in modern times, some are period pieces, all are wholly original and will shock you with a cold breath of air.
I found the poetry to be a bit weak overall, but the few that worked really worked. The inclusion of this different format of writing was a nice touch, especially in between the stories.
My favorite pieces were:
“The Shadows on the Wall” by Mary Wilkins Freeman, a true gothic work I'd never read before.
"Bloodbuzz of Ravens" by Sara Tantlinger, an evocative and darkly brilliant poem.
“The Call of the House of Usher” by Annie Neugebauer, a nice homage to Poe in style and substance.
“Miss Emmeline’s Mirror” by Catherine Cavendish, it'll make you think twice about mirrors!
Overall, I really enjoyed this collection. If you like gothic works, this is a good way to get a broad scope of modern and classic pieces, and perhaps find a few new authors to love.
exorcismofemilyreed's review against another edition
4.0
"I am most certainly haunted." - JT Seate
Haunted Are These Houses is an anthology of 32 gothic poems & short stories edited by Eddie Generous & Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi. I had read some of these authors before, but a lot of them were new to me. I was introduced to writers I would love to check out more from, such as Moira Gillen, Catherine Cavendish, Erika Hogan, and more. I was very happy to see so many women horror writers in this book, and it was very refreshing.
This book is a blend of current and classic stories and poems, and I struggled through some of the older ones. I've avoided a lot of classic authors since college, so it was jarring at times to have them mixed on with the newer stories at times. This is my personal problem, though, and not a fault of the book.
My top 5 stories and poems were Our Room of Walking Coffins by Stephanie Wytovich, The Brothers by Erin MacNair, In the Darkened Hours by Bruce Boston, The Call of the House of Usher by Annie Neugebauer, and Inheritance by Christina Sng. Annie Neugebauer was the only one of these writers I had read before, and I'm always happy to find new horror writers. I didn't care for some of the other stories in the anthology, and it ended up being hit or miss for me.
Overall, I enjoyed this anthology, and
Haunted Are These Houses is a good survey of gothic literature. If this is something you're interested in exploring, this anthology is a great place to start.
Haunted Are These Houses is an anthology of 32 gothic poems & short stories edited by Eddie Generous & Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi. I had read some of these authors before, but a lot of them were new to me. I was introduced to writers I would love to check out more from, such as Moira Gillen, Catherine Cavendish, Erika Hogan, and more. I was very happy to see so many women horror writers in this book, and it was very refreshing.
This book is a blend of current and classic stories and poems, and I struggled through some of the older ones. I've avoided a lot of classic authors since college, so it was jarring at times to have them mixed on with the newer stories at times. This is my personal problem, though, and not a fault of the book.
My top 5 stories and poems were Our Room of Walking Coffins by Stephanie Wytovich, The Brothers by Erin MacNair, In the Darkened Hours by Bruce Boston, The Call of the House of Usher by Annie Neugebauer, and Inheritance by Christina Sng. Annie Neugebauer was the only one of these writers I had read before, and I'm always happy to find new horror writers. I didn't care for some of the other stories in the anthology, and it ended up being hit or miss for me.
Overall, I enjoyed this anthology, and
Haunted Are These Houses is a good survey of gothic literature. If this is something you're interested in exploring, this anthology is a great place to start.
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