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catsluvcoffee's review against another edition
4.0
Black Dogs, Black Tales is a horror/dark speculative fiction anthology with quite a unique theme. There is only one rule—and one of the main reasons I agreed to review it—the dogs don't die. A horror compilation of great authors featuring dogs AND the dogs don't die? I'm in. Even better, Black Dogs, Black Tales is a charity anthology supporting the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand. In the case of this anthology, the black dog can also take on a different meaning—that of the trials of mental health. We can thank Winston Churchill for this turn of phrase who named the depression that followed him most of his life his "Black Dog".
While I believe that Churchill was a bit unfair to the canine species in his naming, I've always enjoyed the folklore of the Black Dog and can validate his reasoning. If you are unfamiliar with the lore, black dogs have a varied history of sightings in Britain and feature often in dark tales. Sir Author Conan Doyle’s The Hounds of Baskerville is one such tale with which you may be familiar. Often regarded as a portent of death, sightings of the black dog have been recorded all the way back to 1127. Though not always malevolent, some report the black dog acting as helpers to lost travelers or guardians from harm. Others like the more famous Black Shuck are said to have terrorized people or even been the reason for their demise. It's no surprise really given its vast history that it could be related to mental health concerns that "dog" us through life. Black Dog, Black Tales presents a diverse mixture of new and tried ways of envisioning the black dog as both frightful phantom and man's best friend.
My favorites of the bunch were the vigilante-themed "Shifting in the Black" by L.L. Asher and "Night Wolves" by Tabitha Wood. The former adopts shapeshifter form as a way of tracking down human predators and the latter allowing the dog to lead the way to the truth. "Redbone" by Justin Gulesarian was a fun read with a little Redbone Coonhound and rookie handler Jim called in to handle a missing person's case with a surprising ending. I also adored the eerie "The Dead Way" by J.C Hart, where a little girl knows there's more to a dead-end than it appears. Some of the stories were difficult to read like "Use a Shovel" by Galina Trefil and "Yellow Dog" by Alan Baxter but these too are a testament to the love and loyalty that dogs have. The stirring poetry of Dion Winton-Polak and Steve Dillon and the illustrations of Miranda Crites, Chloe Herczeg, Falco Verolen, and cover artist François Vaillan-court brought a nice break to the writing along the way.
This is a rich collection and one I'd recommend to horror and dog lovers alike. To one degree or another, they all center around a pooch, whether actual or supernatural, and it was exciting to see the diversity of writing given the meager guidelines given. One great thing about anthologies is you are almost always introduced to new-to-you authors to fall in love with and there are definitely new names that I will be searching out for future reads.
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While I believe that Churchill was a bit unfair to the canine species in his naming, I've always enjoyed the folklore of the Black Dog and can validate his reasoning. If you are unfamiliar with the lore, black dogs have a varied history of sightings in Britain and feature often in dark tales. Sir Author Conan Doyle’s The Hounds of Baskerville is one such tale with which you may be familiar. Often regarded as a portent of death, sightings of the black dog have been recorded all the way back to 1127. Though not always malevolent, some report the black dog acting as helpers to lost travelers or guardians from harm. Others like the more famous Black Shuck are said to have terrorized people or even been the reason for their demise. It's no surprise really given its vast history that it could be related to mental health concerns that "dog" us through life. Black Dog, Black Tales presents a diverse mixture of new and tried ways of envisioning the black dog as both frightful phantom and man's best friend.
My favorites of the bunch were the vigilante-themed "Shifting in the Black" by L.L. Asher and "Night Wolves" by Tabitha Wood. The former adopts shapeshifter form as a way of tracking down human predators and the latter allowing the dog to lead the way to the truth. "Redbone" by Justin Gulesarian was a fun read with a little Redbone Coonhound and rookie handler Jim called in to handle a missing person's case with a surprising ending. I also adored the eerie "The Dead Way" by J.C Hart, where a little girl knows there's more to a dead-end than it appears. Some of the stories were difficult to read like "Use a Shovel" by Galina Trefil and "Yellow Dog" by Alan Baxter but these too are a testament to the love and loyalty that dogs have. The stirring poetry of Dion Winton-Polak and Steve Dillon and the illustrations of Miranda Crites, Chloe Herczeg, Falco Verolen, and cover artist François Vaillan-court brought a nice break to the writing along the way.
This is a rich collection and one I'd recommend to horror and dog lovers alike. To one degree or another, they all center around a pooch, whether actual or supernatural, and it was exciting to see the diversity of writing given the meager guidelines given. One great thing about anthologies is you are almost always introduced to new-to-you authors to fall in love with and there are definitely new names that I will be searching out for future reads.
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errantdreams's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
The anthology Black Dogs, Black Tales – Where the Dogs Don’t Die: A Charity Anthology for the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand investigates the analogy of mental illness as a “black dog.” Sometimes the black dog is tangential; sometimes it’s the center of the story. The book also tries to provide a sort of safe space in which the dog doesn’t die, but if you really need to avoid any harm to dogs then don’t read “The Gaze Dogs of Nine Waterfall” by Kaaron Warren–there are some rather callous puppy deaths in that story. There are also some poems and pieces of art, but I don’t feel qualified to comment on those, so I won’t.
One of my favorite stories in this volume is the first: “Black Cloud Sunshine” by Dan Roberts. Young Liam is hanging out reading near the woods when lightning strikes and a wildfire starts. His dog, Ebony, is determined to see him safely home. L.L. Asher’s “Shifting in the Black” is a story in which I don’t entirely understand what’s going on (except that with the help of a giant dog, John rescues children in danger), but I also felt that I didn’t really need to understand in order to appreciate the story. That’s pretty rare. Tabatha Woods’s “Night Wolves” introduces a woman who lost her sister Emily not long ago, and the mysterious dog that accompanies her to the graveyard every day. E.E. King’s “The Honeymoon’s Over” is a really excellent story about a dog and a couple of hit-and-run accidents. I don’t want to give anything away so I won’t say more! Galina Trefil’s “Use a Shovel” is a difficult-to-read depiction of spousal abuse, but the ending is wonderful.
J.C. Hart’s “The Dead Way” sees a young girl begging her mother not to go down the dead end street where their dog disappeared to. Matthew R. Davis’s “Vision Thing” gives us shades of A Christmas Carol as a mysterious woman attempts to show a man how useless his life is on Halloween night. Melanie Harding-Shaw’s “Synaesthete” introduces us to a person who sees creatures behind people’s eyes. P.J. Blakey-Novis’s “Fossil Bluff” takes place in Antarctica, where researchers encounter a yeti-like monster. M.E. Proctor’s “Black and Tan” is a very bizarre story of a marriage going bad, and a wife who’s determined to adopt a dog her husband doesn’t want. Alan Baxter’s “Yellow Dog” is a tale of a homeless man who gives a dog a sandwich, and I enjoyed it.
Kaaron Warren’s “The Gaze Dogs of Nine Waterfall” is a story I mentioned above, that has a decent amount of animal death, including puppy death, in it regardless of the book’s sub-title. I really found the main character to be fascinating, however, and the bizarre world in which she lives is intriguing. It’s a bit bizarre and surreal and sad at the same time. Ian J. Middleton’s “Park Life” is a look at the more traditional black dog of mental illness, with a twist. John Linwood Grant’s “Grey Dog” is a Carnacki story with a grey dog who seems to be waiting for a man to die. Hari Navarro’s “I Am Become” was too confusing to me toward the end; it starts off great but just gets so odd after a certain point. I really have no idea what was going on at the end. Justin Guleserian’s “Redbone” is a surprising story about a police officer with a search-and-rescue dog who’s called in to search for the mayor’s missing wife. Octavia Cade’s “The Feather Wall” is a disease-apocalypse story centered on a ranger who’s stranded on an island alone with his dog, protecting endangered wildlife. This story meanders and never entirely seems to settle, but it was nice.
There are no stories here that particularly bothered me or annoyed me–all of them are solidly good. This is a delightful anthology, whose profits are going to an excellent cause. I definitely recommend it!
One of my favorite stories in this volume is the first: “Black Cloud Sunshine” by Dan Roberts. Young Liam is hanging out reading near the woods when lightning strikes and a wildfire starts. His dog, Ebony, is determined to see him safely home. L.L. Asher’s “Shifting in the Black” is a story in which I don’t entirely understand what’s going on (except that with the help of a giant dog, John rescues children in danger), but I also felt that I didn’t really need to understand in order to appreciate the story. That’s pretty rare. Tabatha Woods’s “Night Wolves” introduces a woman who lost her sister Emily not long ago, and the mysterious dog that accompanies her to the graveyard every day. E.E. King’s “The Honeymoon’s Over” is a really excellent story about a dog and a couple of hit-and-run accidents. I don’t want to give anything away so I won’t say more! Galina Trefil’s “Use a Shovel” is a difficult-to-read depiction of spousal abuse, but the ending is wonderful.
J.C. Hart’s “The Dead Way” sees a young girl begging her mother not to go down the dead end street where their dog disappeared to. Matthew R. Davis’s “Vision Thing” gives us shades of A Christmas Carol as a mysterious woman attempts to show a man how useless his life is on Halloween night. Melanie Harding-Shaw’s “Synaesthete” introduces us to a person who sees creatures behind people’s eyes. P.J. Blakey-Novis’s “Fossil Bluff” takes place in Antarctica, where researchers encounter a yeti-like monster. M.E. Proctor’s “Black and Tan” is a very bizarre story of a marriage going bad, and a wife who’s determined to adopt a dog her husband doesn’t want. Alan Baxter’s “Yellow Dog” is a tale of a homeless man who gives a dog a sandwich, and I enjoyed it.
Kaaron Warren’s “The Gaze Dogs of Nine Waterfall” is a story I mentioned above, that has a decent amount of animal death, including puppy death, in it regardless of the book’s sub-title. I really found the main character to be fascinating, however, and the bizarre world in which she lives is intriguing. It’s a bit bizarre and surreal and sad at the same time. Ian J. Middleton’s “Park Life” is a look at the more traditional black dog of mental illness, with a twist. John Linwood Grant’s “Grey Dog” is a Carnacki story with a grey dog who seems to be waiting for a man to die. Hari Navarro’s “I Am Become” was too confusing to me toward the end; it starts off great but just gets so odd after a certain point. I really have no idea what was going on at the end. Justin Guleserian’s “Redbone” is a surprising story about a police officer with a search-and-rescue dog who’s called in to search for the mayor’s missing wife. Octavia Cade’s “The Feather Wall” is a disease-apocalypse story centered on a ranger who’s stranded on an island alone with his dog, protecting endangered wildlife. This story meanders and never entirely seems to settle, but it was nice.
There are no stories here that particularly bothered me or annoyed me–all of them are solidly good. This is a delightful anthology, whose profits are going to an excellent cause. I definitely recommend it!
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