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badseedgirl's review
3.0
The Rivals of Dracula: Stories from the Golden Age of Gothic Horror edited by Nick Rennison and published in 2016 by Oldcastle Books suffers from one of the problems many anthologies have and two quite unique problems. But in spite of that I still enjoyed this book overall.
There were 15 stories in this anthology. The strongest ones for me was the first story, “Aylmer Vance and the Vampire” by Alice and Claude Askew, and “The Story of Baelbrow” by E and H Heron (Kate and Hesketh Prichard). The rest of the stories were varied from enjoyable to forgettable. The exception to this would have to be “The Sumach” by Ulric Daubeny, because who wouldn’t like a story about a vampire plant! (Little shop of Horrors)
Maybe it was the writing of the time, but these stories had a tendency to end rather abruptly. I found this to be quite jarring at times. I feel this may be a result of the age they were written in. It could also be because many were for penny dreadful publications. The second problem for me was that almost every story was written in the same form, that being 2 men sitting across from each other one man telling another man the story. Sometimes the reader is the other man, but still it got to be a tad monotonous after a time.
I, as a reader very much enjoyed the 1-page blurb about each author, most of who I was unfamiliar with before this anthology. Overall I enjoyed this book and was introduced to some interesting “new” authors.
The reviewer wishes to thank Trafalgar Square Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this anthology.
There were 15 stories in this anthology. The strongest ones for me was the first story, “Aylmer Vance and the Vampire” by Alice and Claude Askew, and “The Story of Baelbrow” by E and H Heron (Kate and Hesketh Prichard). The rest of the stories were varied from enjoyable to forgettable. The exception to this would have to be “The Sumach” by Ulric Daubeny, because who wouldn’t like a story about a vampire plant! (Little shop of Horrors)
Maybe it was the writing of the time, but these stories had a tendency to end rather abruptly. I found this to be quite jarring at times. I feel this may be a result of the age they were written in. It could also be because many were for penny dreadful publications. The second problem for me was that almost every story was written in the same form, that being 2 men sitting across from each other one man telling another man the story. Sometimes the reader is the other man, but still it got to be a tad monotonous after a time.
I, as a reader very much enjoyed the 1-page blurb about each author, most of who I was unfamiliar with before this anthology. Overall I enjoyed this book and was introduced to some interesting “new” authors.
The reviewer wishes to thank Trafalgar Square Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this anthology.
wellwortharead's review
3.0
15 short stories, some of which stand the test of time, others of which I can't really say that I cared for.
If you are a fan of horror from a more innocent time, if you recall with fondness watching the old Boris Karloff movies on late night TV these stories may be for you.
I did enjoy "The Sumach" about a mysterious illness and a creepy old tree. "The Vampire of Croglin Grange was also pretty good.
I received a complimentary copy for review.
If you are a fan of horror from a more innocent time, if you recall with fondness watching the old Boris Karloff movies on late night TV these stories may be for you.
I did enjoy "The Sumach" about a mysterious illness and a creepy old tree. "The Vampire of Croglin Grange was also pretty good.
I received a complimentary copy for review.
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