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roulleau's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
lakserk's review against another edition
4.0
Another Faber Aickman collection, this one is comprised of stories covering a great length of his career (1 from We Are for the Dark, 2 from Powers of Darkness, 3 from Sub Rosa, 1 from Tales of Love and Death, and 1 from Intrusions: Strange Tales). As with the Unsettled Dust, the quality fluctuates; occasionally I found myself frustrated since some parts are lengthy (though by no means loquacious – almost each Aickman sentence is a delight on its own, but there are segments that do not enhance the whole). On to the stories:
The Wine-Dark Sea: An Engishman finds himself in a small Greek island, hosted by three strange women. Excellent start, marvelous mythological atmosphere, and the weird in just the right proportions. 5/5
The Trains: Two women hiking the english countryside find themselves in an isolated country house, near train tracks. The first part (up to the arrival to the house) could have been shorter but then the story picks up and becomes spectrally dark. 4/5
Your Tiny Hand is Frozen: A man finds himself craving for a mysterious woman’s phone calls. Amazing story, really eerie and full of technological anxiety, it could well be the book’s highlight. 5/5
Growing Boys: A woman is getting more and more distanced from her twin sons who have an unusual constitution. The core plot point is one of the weirdest I’ve read; it’s also written very efficiently and despite its length the story flows quite nicely. 4/5
The Fetch: A spectral woman haunting a family. This could well have been a great story but ended up being extremely self-distracted. Most of its content could have been omitted since they have only a very passing relation to the story itself. 2/5
Inner Room: A girl gets a strange dollhouse. A masterpiece, an excellent tale, almost fairy-tale-esque and really disturbing, it antagonizes with Your Tiny Hand is Frozen for the top place. 5/5
Never Visit Venice: A man dreams for years of going to Venice and finally decides to visit. A story of highs and lows, I think it would have been much better with a bit of trimming on its first part. Still very nice and a very macabre, almost apocalyptic ending. 3.5/5
Into the Wood: A woman visits a forest resort inhabited by people with insomnia. Once more, a great idea with a less than stellar execution. This is perhaps the one Aickman story that I’d really really love to have been a bit less subtle – I’d like to learn more about what happens in the woods (and less about how the woman feels). 3/5
The Wine-Dark Sea: An Engishman finds himself in a small Greek island, hosted by three strange women. Excellent start, marvelous mythological atmosphere, and the weird in just the right proportions. 5/5
The Trains: Two women hiking the english countryside find themselves in an isolated country house, near train tracks. The first part (up to the arrival to the house) could have been shorter but then the story picks up and becomes spectrally dark. 4/5
Your Tiny Hand is Frozen: A man finds himself craving for a mysterious woman’s phone calls. Amazing story, really eerie and full of technological anxiety, it could well be the book’s highlight. 5/5
Growing Boys: A woman is getting more and more distanced from her twin sons who have an unusual constitution. The core plot point is one of the weirdest I’ve read; it’s also written very efficiently and despite its length the story flows quite nicely. 4/5
The Fetch: A spectral woman haunting a family. This could well have been a great story but ended up being extremely self-distracted. Most of its content could have been omitted since they have only a very passing relation to the story itself. 2/5
Inner Room: A girl gets a strange dollhouse. A masterpiece, an excellent tale, almost fairy-tale-esque and really disturbing, it antagonizes with Your Tiny Hand is Frozen for the top place. 5/5
Never Visit Venice: A man dreams for years of going to Venice and finally decides to visit. A story of highs and lows, I think it would have been much better with a bit of trimming on its first part. Still very nice and a very macabre, almost apocalyptic ending. 3.5/5
Into the Wood: A woman visits a forest resort inhabited by people with insomnia. Once more, a great idea with a less than stellar execution. This is perhaps the one Aickman story that I’d really really love to have been a bit less subtle – I’d like to learn more about what happens in the woods (and less about how the woman feels). 3/5
joannaautumn's review against another edition
5.0
I'm starting to think that the Serbian horror edition from this particular book publisher is actually choosen well.
I am very picky with the horror genre, and I tend to feel indifferent with reading short stories;I was sure that this can't be the second short story horror book that I gave 5 stars in 2019- but alas, it was.
And the Serbian edition is beautiful.
The thing with these stories is that they don't have a definitive ending, it leaves more than one possibile ending and that actually makes them memorable. Nothing stays longer in the memory than the things we can't explain.
They are unsettling. And definitely not for everyone. I guess you have to pick it up and see if you like this writing style, 5/5.
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Brilliant! RTC.
I am very picky with the horror genre, and I tend to feel indifferent with reading short stories;I was sure that this can't be the second short story horror book that I gave 5 stars in 2019- but alas, it was.
And the Serbian edition is beautiful.
The thing with these stories is that they don't have a definitive ending, it leaves more than one possibile ending and that actually makes them memorable. Nothing stays longer in the memory than the things we can't explain.
They are unsettling. And definitely not for everyone. I guess you have to pick it up and see if you like this writing style, 5/5.
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Brilliant! RTC.
steller0707's review against another edition
3.0
Aickman was a master of horror stories - not blood, gore and vampire horror, but unsettling horror, like Poe. This is a collection of fairly lengthy suspenseful stories, most of which are quite lengthy. The beginnings of the stories are quite detailed; we get to know the characters very well. Sometimes the plot is outlined, sometimes it is not apparent and the characters drift into situations. Oftentimes the endings are ambiguous, or simply puzzling. I thought the title story, The Wine-Dark Sea, was the best, with the Inner Room a close second.
dllman05's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
smalefowles's review against another edition
4.0
I don't think I've ever read such a tremendously British book as this, but its moodiness is really quite effective. It was never quite scary, and sometimes it's frustrating, but there were moments of real unworldliness. Stories that raised a nagging question inside.
That's really something.
A recurring theme involves people leaving the city for some sort of countryside, and finding some alternate truth. The first and last stories made it seem a male experience, but a couple of stories between were more universal.
I feel unsatisfied by almost all of the stories, but it's still a four-star book because it had a real impact, and made me ask myself real questions.
That's really something.
A recurring theme involves people leaving the city for some sort of countryside, and finding some alternate truth. The first and last stories made it seem a male experience, but a couple of stories between were more universal.
I feel unsatisfied by almost all of the stories, but it's still a four-star book because it had a real impact, and made me ask myself real questions.
torchlab's review against another edition
4.0
These stories are creepy in a very slow-build, dawning-horror type of way. The language often feels like extremely well-done closeup magic: it’s so elegant and dazzling that you barely notice what it hides. My favorites in here were the title story, “Growing Boys,” “The Inner Room,” and “Never Visit Venice.”
bunnieslikediamonds's review against another edition
5.0
Another wonderful collection of Aickman's inimitable, surreal tales. It really doesn't get any better than this. The title story is fairly straight-forward but oddly enchanting with its mythical creatures. The Trains, with all its possible interpretations, may be the best ghost story I've ever read. While Your Tiny Hand Is Frozen is an eerie and pessimistic examination of isolation, Into The Wood contains some measure of hope and release from the constraints of the modern society. I've loved each and every story I've ever read by him, and am amazed at the variety and originality of his work. I keep waiting for the Aickman revival that is long overdue. Now that I've read Faber Finds' three Aickman collections, I find it difficult to get hold of his other stories. To think there are gems out there I haven't yet read!
mrgalahad's review against another edition
5.0
Robert Aickman is a way too an underrated classic horror writer, or how he would call it an author of "Strange Stories". He was a conservationist and his writings used many themes of classic modernist writers like Pound or Hemingway. I was astonished that there wasn't much information about him or discussion about his short stories in general, as they are high brow horror literature, something which isn't often combined.
The Wine-Dark Sea is my favorite collection of his works so far. It entails eight short stories, all having deeper narratives between the lines. "Your tiny hand is frozen" is an outcry against modernity, which also could be used today, when talking about addiction to the internet or the idea of needing to be available all the time, but it also fits into older settings. Many of his stories have a classic modernist feeling, being told from the point of view, of people feeling like they don't fit into the current social structure. "The place of war is now taken into society by motoring (427 Aickman)", in almost all of his stories you could feel his disaffection of the industrialization of the world. I felt like some ideas went over my head, as I didn't get what the titular story "The Wine-Dark Sea" represented, or I am pretty sure that I came to a different conclusion than intended by Aickman, for example in "The Inner Room", which was magnificent. It also should be added that his prose, is one of the best I have read, bringing settings from abandoned Gothic mansions to Venice alive in brimming colors.
Aickman was one of the best in the Horror genre, and it's sad that his work isn't even well known by many Horror fans.
The Wine-Dark Sea is my favorite collection of his works so far. It entails eight short stories, all having deeper narratives between the lines. "Your tiny hand is frozen" is an outcry against modernity, which also could be used today, when talking about addiction to the internet or the idea of needing to be available all the time, but it also fits into older settings. Many of his stories have a classic modernist feeling, being told from the point of view, of people feeling like they don't fit into the current social structure. "The place of war is now taken into society by motoring (427 Aickman)", in almost all of his stories you could feel his disaffection of the industrialization of the world. I felt like some ideas went over my head, as I didn't get what the titular story "The Wine-Dark Sea" represented, or I am pretty sure that I came to a different conclusion than intended by Aickman, for example in "The Inner Room", which was magnificent. It also should be added that his prose, is one of the best I have read, bringing settings from abandoned Gothic mansions to Venice alive in brimming colors.
Aickman was one of the best in the Horror genre, and it's sad that his work isn't even well known by many Horror fans.