When Things Get Dark

by Paul Tremblay, Joyce Carol Oates, Ellen Datlow, et al.

Book Overview

The Stoker Award-winning chilling anthology of 18 short stories in tribute to the genius of Shirley Jackson, collecting today's best horror writers.

Featuring Joyce Carol Oates, Josh Malerman, Paul Tremblay, Richard Kadrey, Stephen Graham Jones, Elizabeth Hand and more.

A collection of new and exclusive short stories inspired by, and in tribute to, Shirley Jackson.

Shirley Jackson is a seminal writer of horror and mystery...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1789097177
• ISBN13: 9781789097177
• Release Date: September 2022
• Publisher: Titan Books (UK)
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.2" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Great ode to Jackson

This story collection had some great tales. I didn't come across a story that I didn't like. Laird Barron's "Tiptoe" is one of the best short stories I've read in a long time. Would recommend to any Shirley Jackson fan.

Great Read! (Some small spoilers)

This Anthology is full of so many creepy and amazing stories. I love that some of them seem more realistic while others are full of paranormal, ghostly encounters. Allowing the horror aspect of the stories to come out in different ways shows how versatile the genre of speculative fiction can be. I just really started delving into the genre a few months ago when I opted to take a class on it, and am starting to love all of the different possibilities that can come from it. I used to be strictly a romance and comedy reader/writer and did not like anything supernatural or horror based. As I read more anthologies and stories in the genre, however, I can see how it goes far beyond just “being scary” and it is so much more than I ever could have imagined. I was a fan of pretty much every piece of work in this anthology. One of my favorite pieces, if not my favorite was Sonner or Later, Your Wife Will Drive Home by Genevieve Valentine. The plot arc of the piece was amazing. There never truly seemed to be a resolution with the characters. There would be growth for each new woman but would end on a cliffhanger. A climax without a true resolution. I absolutely loved it. At first, I did not think I would but it allows so much ambiguity that works so well here. The horror in this piece, in my opinion anyway, is the unknown. In today’s society, unfortunately, women face so much uncertainty and so many unknowns. This piece uses real-world issues to create horror within it. I think the use of characters also works well here. We don’t get to know much about each of the women because there are so many, but they are all just women ending up in unfortunate circumstances. I do not think developing them would really have added anything to the piece as the focus was on the unknown. It really doesn’t matter who a woman is, it matters that awful things can happen to them in situations like this. The choice of names for the women threw me off at first. I thought it was borderline falling into being confusing due to how similar a lot of the names were. After talking to peers about the story, however, we came to the conclusion that the names were similar for a purpose. All of the names came out of the last name of the story, Elizabeth. How I interpreted that is this experience is universal with women. This fear of the unknown. Every woman has faced it. It is part of a collective problem, not an individual one. Another favorite of the anthology was Money of the Dead by Karen Heuler. I think pairing these 2 pieces showcases the versatility within this anthology. One of the things that I have seen while getting into speculative fiction is the ability to give feelings or emotions a physical way to exist. This piece does that really well with the feeling of grief and regret. Laura clearly grieved her son, Brian, and she regretted everything going wrong. Alberto showed this regret as well with the friend who left him a note before their death. I love a good old scary child story and the dialogue and interactions between Laura and Brian work so well to create that feel. The repetition of “Mommy” creates such a creepy vibe that I loved. I also love the dialogue between Laura and Alberto. The reader can see the true effect that their regret is having on them and how it leads them to make such a rash decision to bring their loved ones back. It showed that he was not the Brian Laura truly wanted. I love the plot arc of this story as well. It shows how much regret can eat away at you and how, if you let it, it can destroy you. You can not have a do-over or fix mistakes, you have to move on from them to allow yourself to heal. If you allow regret to run your life you won’t be able to escape it and it will consume you. Overall I really enjoyed this anthology and the pieces within it were really good. I definitely recommend this book to anyone just getting into speculative fiction or anyone who enjoys the genre already.