I've read some fine horror short story anthologies lately and When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson is one of them. Anthologies are often all over the place, with both good and only okay stories, but every piece in Dark was entertaining.
We always have our favorites and I'm no exception. My second favorite was "Hag" by Benjamin Percy, although I didn't quite understand why the townspeople dressed up as seagulls. I mean, I can see myself dressing up as a seagull, in fact, I'd like to dress as a seagull, but the townspeople really didn't have to flit around as gulls in order to chunk visitors over a cliff. (I don't chunk anyone over cliffs when I'm dressed as a seagull. I have other reasons.) I did enjoy the story. My absolute favorite was Kelly Link's Skinder's Veil because I want to housesit that yellow home in Vermont. It was like a really cool dream with the most remarkable characters coming and going. A bear who tells stories! I always wanted a friendly bear whose ears I could tweak and it wouldn't eat me. Well, in Link's story I was able to live out my dreams. Ellen Datlow was the editor and she's known far and wide as a icon in the horror world. She picked some dandies for When Things Get Dark. They are all good and you don't have to dress up like a seagull to read them, unless you want to. Thanks to Netgalley and Titan for allowing me to read an advance reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.
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