Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsTerrific Anthology
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2021
When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson is an all-original anthology of 18 stories that editor Ellen Datlow felt invoked the spirit of the great writer, Shirley Jackson. I love Ms. Jackson’s work (especially “We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” which I re-read every few years) and I have huge respect for Ms. Datlow’s skills as an editor, so this collection was a must-read for me. I’m not sure that I picked up on the Jackson mystique in some of these stories, while others felt like she might have written them herself. Ranging from small slices of life that carry a punch (M. Rickert’s “Funeral Birds,” about a home health aide who likes to attend the funerals of her clients; “Take Me, I Am Free,” by Joyce Carol Oates who is, I think a true heir of Ms. Jackson; Richard Kadrey’s “A Trip to Paris,” where a widow is not what she seems) to supernatural-ish horror (“For Sale By Owner,” by Elizabeth Hand, which features three aging women; Karen Heuler’s “Money of the Dead,” which details how neighbours get what they ask for; Laird Barron’s “Tiptoe,” depicting a boy’s childhood with a predatory father) and beyond, there’s something for everyone here. My favourites include Genevieve Valentine’s “Sooner Or Later, Your Wife Will Drive Home,” comprising brief but vivid snapshots of the dangers to women of driving alone; “In the Deep Woods: The Light Is Different There,” by Seanan McGuire, which seems straightforward enough but which ends up being absolutely magical; and Kelly Link’s “Skinder’s Veil,” describing what it’s like to house-sit for Death. If you don’t know Shirley Jackson’s work, these stories might give you a way into her world, and if you do know it, you will probably be as enchanted with this volume as I am; recommended!
