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helhas3letters's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
This collection of short stories is tied together by eeriness. The horror that Jackson writes here often comes from mistrust, secrecy, paranoia, and things seeming ever so slightly out of place. Dark Tales draws on one of the scariest ideas of all: how we, as humans, can never really know each other.
Jackson here has a great penchant for revealing the true meaning of a story, or a twist of events, in the last few paragraphs, sometimes even the last line. It makes for a great race to the end to see how she's going to pull back the curtain and uncover what's truly going on.
Overall enjoyed this book, although I felt that some of the stories - especially a chunk in the early-middle section - were a bit too ambiguous in their endings and meanings. For a couple of them I found myself searching online for explanations! But the ones that I did enjoy were brilliant, and I'm excited to read more of Shirley Jackson's work.
My favourite stories were The Possibility of Evil; Louisa, Please Come Home; Paranoia; and All She Said Was Yes. More detailed thoughts on the individual stories below:
1. The Possibility of Evil - A woman, whom everyone in the town knows, harbours a secret. Expertly told and a brilliant opener to the collection.
2. Louisa, Please Come Home - A young girl runs away from home to begin a new life. Delightfully spooky. The ending reminded me of The Twilight Zone.
3. Paranoia - Our main character is trying to get home for his wife's birthday, but he is being stalked by a man in a light hat. Wonderfully creepy. Just genius. Again, the twist ending sealed this one as a winner.
4. The Honeymoon of Mrs Smith - Describes a newly married couple on their honeymoon and the reactions of the people around them. I didn't understand - until reading about it online - what Jackson was trying to get across to the reader here. (And thankfully I don't appear to be the only one!)
5. The Story We Used to Tell - There's a picture on the wall that's quite unusual. Stands out because it was written, unlike the other stories, in first person, and has a paranormal element. I think the wording of ending sequence of events could have been clearer.
6. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice - A timid, lonely teacher meets the little girl from downstairs. An odd story, definitely unsettling, but I'm not sure I grasped the point. Too much unexplained for me.
7. Jack the Ripper - A man finds a young girl passed out in the street. I don't think I understood the meaning of this one, especially the ending.
8. The Beautiful Stranger - A woman's husband comes home after a business trip. Another very Twilight Zone-style story. A solidly enjoyable read.
9. All She Said Was Yes - The next-door-neighbours suffer a tragedy, and our main character takes their daughter in. Adored the way this was written and its use of dramatic irony. Jackson shows a great talent of putting us in the brain of the main character but still making their fatal flaws obvious.
10. What a Thought - An exploration of intrusive thoughts and relationships. Possibly the shortest of the bunch, but still great, and, I thought, quite humorous.
11. The Bus - A woman's bus journey goes very wrong. Ohhhhh so creepy, and really shows Jackson's fascination with strangers, trust, and concealed motives. This might have been the story that unsettled me the most, because I felt so awful for the main character! Probably the most 'horror' of all of them.
12. Family Treasures - A university student finds that she's only interesting to her housemates when she suffers a bereavement. Less creepy than the other stories, but a good thread of tension running throughout.
13. A Visit - A young girl goes to visit her school friend in her otherworldly mansion. Possibly the longest story, and divided into three parts. I liked the journey of this one and the vivid descriptions of the setting. The house almost seemed to be its own character. I cottoned on to the twist fairly early on and still enjoyed seeing how it played out - but am still not entirely certain of the details of the situation and what the story is supposed to mean.
14. The Good Wife - A tale of marriage and confinement, with a superb ending.
15. The Man in the Woods - A man, who has been walking for days through the woods, comes across a cabin. Easy to read, but I needed to clarify the ending afterwards.
16. Home - A couple move into a new old house. The only story that actually involvesghosts !
17. The Summer People - A couple decide to stay later at their Summer house than usual. The ending of this story snuck up on me! Not sure what to make of this one as I enjoyed it, but I don't know if I fully understand what the ending implies.
Jackson here has a great penchant for revealing the true meaning of a story, or a twist of events, in the last few paragraphs, sometimes even the last line. It makes for a great race to the end to see how she's going to pull back the curtain and uncover what's truly going on.
Overall enjoyed this book, although I felt that some of the stories - especially a chunk in the early-middle section - were a bit too ambiguous in their endings and meanings. For a couple of them I found myself searching online for explanations! But the ones that I did enjoy were brilliant, and I'm excited to read more of Shirley Jackson's work.
My favourite stories were The Possibility of Evil; Louisa, Please Come Home; Paranoia; and All She Said Was Yes. More detailed thoughts on the individual stories below:
1. The Possibility of Evil - A woman, whom everyone in the town knows, harbours a secret. Expertly told and a brilliant opener to the collection.
2. Louisa, Please Come Home - A young girl runs away from home to begin a new life. Delightfully spooky. The ending reminded me of The Twilight Zone.
3. Paranoia - Our main character is trying to get home for his wife's birthday, but he is being stalked by a man in a light hat. Wonderfully creepy. Just genius. Again, the twist ending sealed this one as a winner.
4. The Honeymoon of Mrs Smith - Describes a newly married couple on their honeymoon and the reactions of the people around them. I didn't understand - until reading about it online - what Jackson was trying to get across to the reader here. (And thankfully I don't appear to be the only one!)
5. The Story We Used to Tell - There's a picture on the wall that's quite unusual. Stands out because it was written, unlike the other stories, in first person, and has a paranormal element. I think the wording of ending sequence of events could have been clearer.
6. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice - A timid, lonely teacher meets the little girl from downstairs. An odd story, definitely unsettling, but I'm not sure I grasped the point. Too much unexplained for me.
7. Jack the Ripper - A man finds a young girl passed out in the street. I don't think I understood the meaning of this one, especially the ending.
8. The Beautiful Stranger - A woman's husband comes home after a business trip. Another very Twilight Zone-style story. A solidly enjoyable read.
9. All She Said Was Yes - The next-door-neighbours suffer a tragedy, and our main character takes their daughter in. Adored the way this was written and its use of dramatic irony. Jackson shows a great talent of putting us in the brain of the main character but still making their fatal flaws obvious.
10. What a Thought - An exploration of intrusive thoughts and relationships. Possibly the shortest of the bunch, but still great, and, I thought, quite humorous.
11. The Bus - A woman's bus journey goes very wrong. Ohhhhh so creepy, and really shows Jackson's fascination with strangers, trust, and concealed motives. This might have been the story that unsettled me the most, because I felt so awful for the main character! Probably the most 'horror' of all of them.
12. Family Treasures - A university student finds that she's only interesting to her housemates when she suffers a bereavement. Less creepy than the other stories, but a good thread of tension running throughout.
13. A Visit - A young girl goes to visit her school friend in her otherworldly mansion. Possibly the longest story, and divided into three parts. I liked the journey of this one and the vivid descriptions of the setting. The house almost seemed to be its own character. I cottoned on to the twist fairly early on and still enjoyed seeing how it played out - but am still not entirely certain of the details of the situation and what the story is supposed to mean.
14. The Good Wife - A tale of marriage and confinement, with a superb ending.
15. The Man in the Woods - A man, who has been walking for days through the woods, comes across a cabin. Easy to read, but I needed to clarify the ending afterwards.
16. Home - A couple move into a new old house. The only story that actually involves
17. The Summer People - A couple decide to stay later at their Summer house than usual. The ending of this story snuck up on me! Not sure what to make of this one as I enjoyed it, but I don't know if I fully understand what the ending implies.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Stalking, and Violence
Minor: Addiction, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Murder
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Murder
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Car accident, Child death, and Violence
xwritingstoriesx's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
4.75 stars! Shirley Jackson was far ahead of her time. Her short story collections never cease to amaze me. My favourites within this collection include All She Said Was Yes, Paranoia, The Good Wife and The Summer People. If you like gothic or suspenseful horror, you'll definitely enjoy this collection of stories.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Murder, and Stalking
sunn_bleach's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Selection of Jackson’s finest medium, the short story. Some feel unfinished but this is like crate digging for horror - the discovery is itself a reward.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Violence
toffishay's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Stalking, Murder, and Emotional abuse
sadiedumplingreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson
Spoilers included in review
Spoilers included in review
This was one of the first short story collections I have read in its entirety, and it absolutely blew me away. Shirley Jackson doesn’t reply on cheap horror tropes or give the reader anything on a silver platter; her writing makes you think, which is perhaps what makes it so scary. When it is up to you to consider what is going to happen next to the characters, their fate’s can seem more perilous than what could be written on a page.
Shirley Jackson’s work champions women and complex female characters throughout in a way that may seem subtle now, but was progressive for her time. For this reason my favourite story was “Family Treasures”, as the protagonist is both endearingly shy but deeply flawed, and gets away with the actions she takes, not to justify them, but to show how things like this can remain mysteries in everyday life.
Her focus on the domestic sphere is compelling. By creating quaint, provincial, atmospheres that slowly become destroyed, liked in “The Possibility of Evil” and “The Summer People”, she evokes a real sense of terror. This is because rifts in everyday lives and routines are often more scary than the supernatural as they are grounded in reality. For this reason, “The Man in the Woods” was my least favourite story as although domestic, it veered from the sense of normalcy in the other stories.
Overall, I loved the “Dark Tales” and will definitely read more Jackson. It only loses a quarter a star as by virtue of being a short story collection I enjoyed some more than others.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse
Minor: Car accident
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