Prompt – A book written by a trans or non-binary author.
Medium – Book
About the Book – Daniel Mallory Ortberg re-imagines a series of classical ‘bedtime stories’ as dark and slightly creepy tales. The stories include psychological horror, emotional upset and feminist additions to create new plots and twists to some of the most familiar tales, such as ‘Cinderella’ (where the main character is haunted by a weird ‘godmother’), ‘Wind in the Willows’ (where Ratty and Mole gaslight Mr Toad) and ‘The Little Mermaid’ (where the little mermaid does not quite understand what humans need to live). Weird in places, but funny and sinister, some of the stories come to quite satisfactory endings, whilst others leave you hanging on the edge of a precipice.
My Rating – 8/10. This book was one I was a little leery of when I first picked it out to read – the reviews on the back of it using words such as ‘dark’, ‘dreadful’, and I’m sure I saw ‘horrifying’ somewhere, made me wonder if it would be a bit much for me – I have a particularly low tolerance for horror. But actually, I really enjoyed the stories. They were creepy without being ‘jump-scary’ and had enough darkness to make them interesting rather than haunting. Bearing in mind I got through it in 24 hours, I think that probably tells you as much as you need to know about how gripping and enjoyable I found the book.
I found the stories varying in the degree to which I could readily understand them – I think some of them were a little high-brow for me! I really enjoyed the feminist take on the Grimm’s ‘Six Swans’ and ‘The Twelve Brothers’, which was a fantastic story that I really enjoyed reading. Others that I enjoyed were the very creepy ‘Little Mermaid’ re-imagining and the slightly bloody ‘Johnny Croy and his Mermaid Bride’ re-write, all of which I found to be gripping. A couple of them were just a bit… strange, and I found the ones which involved emotional manipulation and gaslighting quite difficult to read. However, all in all I enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it if you want a slightly scary read.
Would I read it again? I’m definitely keeping my copy, yes! I liked the ‘short story’ nature and could see myself picking it up for just one or two of the stories.
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