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A review by pogodragon
Into the London Fog: Eerie Tales from the Weird City by Violet Hunt, Elizabeth Dearnley, Claude McKay, Sam Selvon, Virginia Woolf, E. Nesbit, Arthur Machen, Marie Belloc Lowndes, Lettice Galbraith, Rhoda Broughton
2.0
I wanted to like this book. London. Atmosphere. Creepy. It superficially has all the elements I love.
But - I was mostly bored. The short stories were disappointing. Obviously, given that the writing was chosen from a specific period then the stories would be of that period, but in all of these cases it really showed, and not in a good way. A lot of set up ... set up ... set up followed by 'instant resolution'. Including in one case 'he died. This is a true story'.
The Virginia Woolf piece was my favourite, mainly because it was written the way I walk around London too. It was also the least 'creepy London' piece.
All in all this collection just fell flat on pretty much every level for me.
But - I was mostly bored. The short stories were disappointing. Obviously, given that the writing was chosen from a specific period then the stories would be of that period, but in all of these cases it really showed, and not in a good way. A lot of set up ... set up ... set up followed by 'instant resolution'. Including in one case 'he died. This is a true story'.
The Virginia Woolf piece was my favourite, mainly because it was written the way I walk around London too. It was also the least 'creepy London' piece.
All in all this collection just fell flat on pretty much every level for me.