Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson

4 reviews

javafenn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted 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

3.0

I’d say half these short stories were excellent, spooky, and/or left me wanting more in all the right ways. The other half just left me confused or unsatisfied with how it ended. Some of the endings were so confusing that getting clarification online didn’t help because others were confused too. Still a great listen and the narraters were awesome! Just maybe not THE best Shirley Jackson.
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xwritingstoriesx's review against another edition

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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.
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toffishay's review against another edition

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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

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sadiedumplingreads's review against another edition

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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

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. 
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