His Hideous Heart edited by Dahlia Adler is an anthology of thirteen classic Edgar Allan Poe tales as reimagined by top YA authors. Needless to say, Edgar Allan Poe is one of my all time favorites so I had incredibly high expectations for this collection with an all new audience in mind. I loved that these talented authors have created such unique takes on these classics, some of which are quite unexpected. It was so much fun to be surprised by where some of the stories were so cleverly taken while still being able to recognize them at their core. My favorites included The Fall of the Bank of Usher by Fran Wilde (The Fall of the House of Usher), The Glittering Death by Caleb Roehrig (The Pit and the Pendulum), It’s Carnival! by Tiffany D. Jackson (The Cask of Amontillado), A Drop of Stolen Ink by Emily Lloyd-Jones (The Purloined Letter), Changeling by Marieke Nijkamp (Hop-Frog), and The Oval Filter by Lamar Giles (The Oval Portrait). Of all of these retellings, I was the most excited to see what Fran Wilde made of The Fall of the House of Usher as it's been a long time favorite and luckily her short tops my list of all thirteen retellings. I can't say I was expecting a sci-fi hacker heist, but it totally worked for me. Also, out of all of the self-contained stories in this anthology, this is the one where I wouldn't mind a longer novella or even a full-length novel of Mad and Rik's exploits. Overall, if you enjoy Edgar Allan Poe as much as I do, this collection of some of his most well known tales retold is well worth picking up. Don't worry if you aren't familiar with the original stories featured here because they are actually included at the back of the book for your enjoyment. Now I feel like watching some of Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe adaptations featuring Vincent Price!

As a huge Poe fan I was so excited to get to read this book. It didn't disappoint. The retellings were original and all great. I loved how they had the original stories in this book as well. There are amazing author's included in this book so YA fans are sure to find an author they know mixed in. I'd recommend it to teens/people looking for a great October read.

I often find that anthologies are hit-or-miss for me. I either love all/most of the stories in them or feel just luke-warm about them. In this instance, however, I ended up enjoying most of the stories.

Thanks so much to Macmillan and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own.

As with my usual reviews of anthologies, I will give a review of each story, along with an individual rating and then some final thoughts at the end.

1. She Rode a Horse of Fire by Kendare Blake (inspired by “Metzengerstein”) 3.5/5 stars

Like most stories I’ve read by Poe, this one had the same sort of atmospheric, Gothic vibe. Freidrich Baron, the young master of the home is devastated after the fire that took the life of his latest fling, a young maid who happens to be the daughter of a prestigious family. He then meets a mysterious girl who seems to occupy all of his time and leads to his untimely death. I’m not really sure what the final message of this story is - although that’s another common theme with Poe and me!

2. It’s Carnival! by Tiffany D. Jackson (inspired by “The Cask of Amontillado”) 4/5 stars

I’m perhaps a bit more partial to this story having read the original before... and I’ve always loved a good revenge story. I’m a little murky on what Darrell did to be “Amontillado-ed”, it was sort of explained but I’m not sure I fully felt Cindy’s emotions that justified it. I would have loved to see this turned into a longer story with more details.

3. Night-Tide by Tessa Gratton (inspired by “Annabel Lee”) 5/5 stars

So far my favourite of the collection! This f/f retelling of Annabel Lee spins the tale on its head. While I don’t believe the original narrator of the poem is ever identified as male, there’s something about the voice, or perhaps the fact that Poe wrote it, that makes many readers assume the gender of the speaker. In this case, however, Annabel Lee’s lover is a young girl positively distraught over her death. I really enjoyed this one and I think the length suited the story perfectly!

4. The Glittering Death by Caleb Roehrig (inspired by “The Pit and the Pendulum”) 4/5 stars

Perhaps the most atmospheric of the stories so far, this one takes place in a more contemporary setting. The Judge, a serial killer on the loose, is after young girls who commit, in his view, any number of the Seven Deadly Sins. I’m not sure how closely this relates to the original story from Poe because it’s not one I’m familiar with but I did find it really interesting and another one that I would have appreciated a longer version of!

5. A Drop of Stolen Ink by Emily Lloyd-Jones (inspired by “The Purloined Letter”) 5/5 stars

Ok, maybe this one is my new favourite! A near-future retelling where your identity is embedded in the tattoo ink in your skin, sign me up! Top it off with stolen identities, spies, and a budding f/f romance? I’m sold! This one was one of the longer ones I’ve read so far in the collection and while things are more or less wrapped up, I’d love to see this one as a full length novel.

6. Happy Days, Sweetheart by Stephanie Kuehn (inspired by “The Tell-Tale Heart”) 4.5/5 stars

This was a fascinating and particularly topical story. I *think* I may have read the original, or at least heard a version of it because it seemed familiar, but I can’t quite be certain. I did really enjoy the story, it was definitely darker than any of the other retellings, but I think that added to the Poe-like nature. I think the length was perfect, I was drawn in right away and hooked until the very end. Definitely another favourite of the collection.

7. The Raven (Remix) by amanda lovelace (inspired by “The Raven”) 2/5 stars

I’m not sure if it’s because I’m not really familiar with the original (scandalous, I know) or if I’m just out of practice with reading poetry but this one didn’t really jive with me. I think fans of the original poem by Poe would probably find it more interesting and come up with more succinct thoughts, but I’m not sure I’m capable.

8. Changeling by Marieke Nijkamp (inspired by “Hop-Frog”) 4/5 stars

I remember reading Hop-Frog, but I’m not sure I entirely remember what it was about. This version deals with fae and what the 1800s referred to as “crippled children” who were left out for the fae to take. This is a tale of revenge but also acceptance and coming into your own in the face of cruelty and evil. In addition to the differently-abled components of this story, there were also hints of a f/f relationship between two of the characters.

9. The Oval Filter by Lamar Giles (inspired by “The Oval Portrait”) 3.5/5 stars

Another one where I’m not really familiar with the original story. This one is about the murder of Tariq’s sort-of girlfriend. In typical Poe style, it is spooky, atmospheric, and, at times, borderline claustrophobic. By the end of it, I was questioning what really happened, but in a good way? I know things ended somewhat abruptly because it would have been less Poe-like to give the reader all the answers but I think I need to think a bit more on this one to fully get it.

10. Red by Hillary Monahan (inspired by “The Masque of the Red Death”) 2/5 stars

Knowing the original story, I thought I would enjoy this one more. Unfortunately, I just didn’t connect with the story. I’m not entirely sure what was happening and I don’t think I really know ~what~ happened in the end. I think there were just too many things missing from the story for me to fully get it.

11. Lygia by Dahlia Adler (inspired by “Ligeia”) 4.5/5 stars

I have a vague memory of reading the original story, something about a girl who dies and is replaced by another... I don’t quite remember. This retelling was really well done, I’ve liked the previous work I’ve read from Adler, so I wasn’t particularly surprised. This was another f/f romance story (can I just say I’m loving the number of f/f romances in this collection!) and I really loved the Gothic themes mixing with the more modern day elements.

12. The Fall of the Bank of Usher by Fran Wilde (inspired by “The Fall of the House of Usher”) 3/5 stars

I don’t know if it’s just my general dislike for hacker stories but I wasn’t a huge fan of this one. I know I’ve read the original story but don’t really remember everything exactly. But I think I remember the Gothic home and the all-consuming nature of it. I think this retelling did capture that feeling, even if I didn’t love the direction it took.

13. The Murders in the Rue Apartelle, Boracay by Ron Chupeco (inspired by “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”) 3.5/5 stars

One of the more diverse stories, this one focuses on a transgender main character and an American-Filipino love interest. I’m not familiar with the original story but I did find this retelling a bit more Agatha Christie-esque than Poe inspired. While this wasn’t a particularly bad story by any stretch of the imagination, I didn’t find myself as invested in it as I did some of the others. Perhaps if I knew the original story, I would have enjoyed it more.

I would say that the stories closer to the beginning of the book were more interesting for me, and even though I didn't know all the originals, I was still able to enjoy them. The original Poe tales are included at the back of the book so you can read them after or before the reimagined ones.

Overall, a solid collection of new stories that capture the essence of Poe while giving them a modern twist!

What a wonderful collection of short stories! I particularly loved the contributions by Caleb Roehrig and Tiffany D. Jackson. All of the stories were wonderfully written and, while having each author’s specific voice, they all fit together perfectly which I think really highlights the efforts of the editor. Deliciously spooky and a perfect Halloween read!

His Hideous Heart is a collection of Edgar Allen Poe tales retold, as with any anthology some of the stories where a little lackluster but oververall this is a solid collection. This book also containes the original tales so the reader can compare and it also serves as a good introduction to anyone who may not be familliar with Poes work. I would recomend this book for any fan of Poe.

In general an anthology is a good way to explore a ganre you may not be familliar with or a way to discover new authors. I love anthologies so I would recomend them in general.

Edgar Allan Poe stories with a diverse, YA twist? Yes, please! So many of us first discover Poe during our teenage years that it seems perfectly fitting to reinterpret his stories in a young adult context. Editor Dahlia Adler does exactly this in her upcoming anthology His Hideous Heart, which gathers together thirteen celebrated YA authors to write modern tales inspired by some of Poe’s. I’ve been invited to participate in the official blog tour for His Hideous Heart, which comes out on September 10. See my thoughts on the book below, and be sure to check out the preorder link at the end of the post!

His Hideous Heart accomplishes the impressive feat of honoring Poe’s original works, while also bringing in some much-needed new perspectives. I absolutely adore old Edgar, but even I have to admit that he has a few shortcomings—one of the most prominent of which is that almost all of his tales are told from the limited perspective of straight, white men. His Hideous Heart takes these stories back to the margins, where horror thrives, by reimagining them from more marginalized perspectives. The vast majority of the tales here are told from the perspective of teenage girls, many of whom are queer or people of color. The protagonists are outcasts, orphans, servants, or simply kids, facing not just the horrors of a Poe-worthy plot, but also the horrors of moving through a world in which others are given power over them. Dahlia Adler sets the tone of the collection in a short introduction, in which she reminisces about her first encounters with Poe’s works and discusses how new perspectives can entirely change the story. What follows are twelve stories and a poem, each inspired by one of Poe’s works, both the obvious and the obscure. The book also includes the text of the original tales at the back, which you’ll definitely want to check out if you need a refresher. I found myself flipping back and forth to reread the original tales, either before or after reading the reimagined version, to catch all the nuanced details that these clever authors snuck in!

Some of my favorite stories in this collection were those that featured a femme fatale. Edgar Allan Poe liked to write from the perspective of slightly unhinged killers, to evoke horror through exploring inside the mind of a madman and a murderer. However, when you recast the protagonists as girls with some very real grievances, suddenly their acts of violence seem a little bit more understandable. The first story in this collection to truly knock me off my feet was “It’s Carnival!” by Tiffany D. Jackson, which reimagines “The Cask of Amontillado” set during the West Indian Day parade in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. I’m a little bit biased because I love seeing stories set in my own neighborhood, but I thought it was profoundly clever to have a young woman in an elaborate feathered costume lure away her neighborhood bully amidst the chaos of the parade with the promise of her father’s sorrel drink. Stephanie Kuehn has a similarly cut-throat protagonist in “Happy Days, Sweetheart,” her version of “The Tell-Tale Heart,” in which a high school senior devises a heartless plan to do away with her rival for class valedictorian. Kuehn creates an interesting commentary on gender when, instead of having her narrator insist “I am not mad,” her repeated phrase is “I didn’t cry.” For women, the opposite of being rational and respected is not madness, but merely emotion. Kuehn also makes a convincing argument that changing the gender of the story’s protagonist significantly changes its ending.

Another of Poe’s favorite themes, apart from ruthless killers, was love. Specifically, the love of a young man for a dead or dying woman. In His Hideous Heart, however, love exists among many different identities and orientations. What if you not only had to deal with the death of the girl you loved most in the world, but also with the stigma of homophobia adding guilt to your grief? Tessa Gratton explores this concept in “Night-Tide,” a lesbian retelling of “Annabel Lee” set in a seaside resort called Kingdom by the Sea. Dahlia Adler’s own story, “Lygia,” features a more toxic relationship. The narrator in this story deals with her grief by trying to make her new girlfriend more like her first one. And on prom night … she finally succeeds. Rin Chupeco gives us a happier love story in “The Murders in the Rue Apartelle, Boracay,” a story that takes the premise of “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” but sets it in a fantastical version of the Philippines populated by vampires, werewolves, and aswangs. Ogie Dupin is the brilliant half-French, half-Filipino son of an ambassador. The story’s narrator is a transgender Filipina girl who quickly falls for him. Together, they solve a mystery related to two dead Americans—but the story has a twist ending quite different from Poe’s original.

Lastly, some of the most imaginative tales in this piece were those that decided to play around with genre. There were two stories in particular that went further than merely modernizing the tales, instead placing the stories in futuristic sci-fi settings to give them a fun speculative spin. The first of these is “A Drop of Stolen Ink,” Emily Lloyd Jones’s take on Poe’s third mystery to feature the detective Dupin, “The Purloined Letter.” Set in a world where everyone’s identity is contained in a government-issued tattoo, this story has only a roughly similar plot to Poe’s original, but it emphasizes the same overarching theme: the thing you’re looking for may be hidden in plain sight. The protagonist is a teenage cyborg currently going by the name Augusta, who is given a secret mission to discover where a criminal has hidden a stolen identity tattoo. Fran Wilde’s “The Fall of the Bank of Usher” (an obvious riff on “The Fall of the House of Usher”) has a similarly cyberpunk vibe. The story features teenage hackers, Mad and Rik, who take on a challenge issued by a well-respected bank to test its security features. When they find themselves trapped inside, they realize that the only way to take down the bank’s defenses may just be to take down the bank itself.

And these are only half the stories in the collection! The others are equally inventive and insightful. Each story in the anthology manages to serve as both a critique and a celebration of Poe’s works. I recommend the collection anyone who either loves Edgar Allan Poe or YA literature. And if you, like me, are at the intersection of these two interests, you’ll want to bump this book to the top of your list! You’ll be able to find His Hideous Heart in stores beginning on September 10. You can also preorder it online from an independent bookstore and support The Gothic Library in the process by clicking on the IndieBound affiliate link below. Once you’ve read it, be sure to let me know what you think in the comments!

Dark, delicious, diverse, feminist, eerie, memorable, and twisted—welcome to the new generation of Edgar Allan Poe. It’s a lot of fun in here.

In <i>His Hideous Heart</i>, editor Dahlia Adler has compiled a truly impressive shortlist of some of Poe’s most famous tales, reimagined for a 2019 audience. I couldn’t believe how nuanced and imaginative these retellings were, and how eerily similar they felt to their original inspirations. Having the original Poe tales in the back of the collection was such a good call—I actually read each tale in tandem, from new reimagining to old inspiration to compare and contrast each entry.

To keep this review shorter than its original anthology, here are my quick thoughts and ratings on each of the 13 tales:

She Rode a Horse of Fire (Metzengerstein) by Kendare Blake
Rating: 5 stars
The perfect opener to this anthology, this historically-minded tale about a manor house experiencing the entrancement and death of its lord was the PERFECT amount of spooky.

It’s Carnival! (The Cask of Amontillado) by Tiffany D. Jackson
Rating: 4 stars
A tale twisted to a diverse feminist revenge story, this entry watches the narrator as she exacts a clinical end to the man who mocked her and her family for not being Jamacian enough with deadly results in modern-day New Orleans.

Night-Tide (Annabelle Lee) by Tessa Gratton
Rating 5 stars
Tied as my favorite, this prose retelling of the poem follows the summer seaside hypnotic reality of the narrator as she questions whether her illicit love for Annabelle Lee was the cause of Annabelle’s death in this historic New England tale perfect for fans of f/f star-crossed lovers.

The Glittering Death (The Pit and the Pendulum) by Caleb Roehrig
Rating: 4 stars
A modern tale of a serial killer who targets women, and the girl who finds herself a live captive in need of escape—extremely gritty, and another parable on modern-day feminism.

A Drop of Stolen Ink (The Purloined Letter) by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Rating: 4.5 stars
Edgar Allan Poe meets the future in a world where information is coded in biometric tattoos and one girl is sent to uncover a CEO’s treachery in the high-stakes world of the tattoo data black market.

Happy Days, Sweetheart (The Tell-Tale Heart) by Stephanie Kuehn
Rating: 5 stars
A high-achieving diverse female student always comes in second to the mediocrity of her white male competitor at their private school—so she decides to balance the scales of justice and eliminate him in this gruesome tale of cold revenge.

The Raven (Remix) by Amanda Lovelace
Rating: 3 stars
The poem The Raven, blacked out to create a new narrative, remained cool in concept by struggled to shine in between such impressive prose entries.

Changeling (Hop-Frog) by Marieke Nijkamp
Rating: 4 stars
Set in 1832, this tale of the Fae is reimagined as a vigilante group of former disabled and neglected abused children who receive a glorious second chance at a happy life or a vengeful one in a dark tale of one girl questing to retrieve those who deserve more than what the mortal world can give them by transporting them to the kingdom of the Fae and punishing their perpetrators.

The Oval Filter (The Oval Portrait) by Lamar Giles
Rating: 5 stars
A college football star’s dead girlfriend shows up in his Instagram feed trapped in an oval filter that appears to be suffocating her behind the screen—can Tariq solve the mystery behind her appearance before it drives him mad?

Red (The Masque of the Red Death) by Hillary Monahan
Rating: 2 stars
My least favorite in the collection, this tale should be read for the aesthetic and not for the narrative as it is essentially a color-coded picture show with a dark conclusion.

Lygia (Ligeia) by Dahlia Adler
Rating: 3.5 stars
A f/f tale of loss and mourning gone too far, the narrator mourns her dead girlfriend, Lygia, and tries to remake her presence in her new girlfriend with dark results.

The Fall of the Bank of Usher (The Fall of the House of Usher) by Fran Wilde
Rating: 5 stars
Tied as my favorite, this masterful blend of futuristic nanotech with old-school English manor joins the heist trope in this tale of (potentially) gender-fluid twins who take the job of hacking the unhackable Bank of Usher in an old manor house guarded by semi-sentient computerized mold. (I hear you saying “wtf”—just read it. It’s amazing.)

The Murders in Rue Apartelle, Boracay (The Murders in the Rue Morgue) by Rin Chupeco
Rating: 3 stars
Confusing and at times overly complicated given its length, this tale was a modern blend of magical realism in the Philippines told by the female narrator as she recounts the tale of her mysterious rich boyfriend who may or may not be too knowledgeable about a murder case.

His Hideous Heartcomes out on September 10, 2019.

His Hideous Heart is a very strong compilation of works that aim to modernize several original Edgar Allen Poe stories. Poe stories that get the modern treatment include "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Tell-tale Heart," and "The Raven." In addition to the modernized works, the original stories are published in the back of the edition for reference (I did not read these for this review.)

I'm not a huge short story person and fairly selective about young adult fiction, so I was pleasantly surprised that the majority of stories found in this collection are smart and compelling. Most of them really capture the tone of an Edgar Allen Poe story perfectly. Stand-out favorite stories include "It's Carnival" and "Night-Tide," but must of these are rated at least four stars if I were to rate them individually.

The least strong stories in the collection in my opinion were the last two, which is a shame because I always want to leave a short story collection on a high note. But even these are good and worth reading.

“Once upon a midnight dreary,
I received a review query,
About this very quaint and curious volume of Poe’s retold lore…”

First off, I have to start by saying I was incredibly tempted to write this entire review as a poem in the style of “The Raven” but, unfortunately (…or perhaps fortunately), I think that far exceeds my creative writing talents.

I know I am pointing out the obvious at this point, but this is a collection of thirteen YA authors’ contemporary retellings of some of Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous works. The authors have taken these chilling stories and reimagined them for a new generation of readers. These modernized versions are hauntingly unique yet still retain much of Poe’s signature tone and style while paying homage to the beloved originals. Thrills and chills, love, heartbreak, and revenge can all be found within these pages, forming a collection that further immortalizes these classic tales.

As a lover of all things dark and creepy, I immediately fell in love with Edgar Allan Poe’s work when we first studied him back in middle school. So when I heard about this collection, I absolutely had to give it a read—and I was not disappointed. As with any anthology with multiple authors, you’re going to have some hits and some misses. However, I found that the focus here on Poe retellings helped to unify the stories quite a lot more than other short story collections I have read. Each story possesses the vividly eerie, peculiar, longing, and vengeful qualities found in the originals and stays very faithful to Poe’s visions for them.

My favorite stories from the collection were:

Night-Tide by Tessa Gratton
Lygia by Dahlia Adler
The Oval Filter by Lamar Giles
A Drop of Stolen Ink by Emily Lloyd-Jones
The Glittering Death by Caleb Roehrig
The Fall of the Bank of Usher by Fran Wilde

Now, I’ll go into some specifics about each of the individual stories and my thoughts on them.

She Rode a Horse of Fire by Kendare Blake (3.5/5)
Inspired by “Metzengerstein”

In this story, we follow a girl who works in a mansion. The young master of the estate, Friedrich Baron, loses his most recent girlfriend in a fire on his property. It turns out that she was the daughter of another wealthy family who has a centuries-long feud with Friedrich’s. Then, out of nowhere one day, a young woman appears and Friedrich begins to spend all his time with her. And, somehow, this young woman has a striking resemblance to a figure in a mysterious tapestry found in the Baron estate. Though it was an interesting story, it just felt like it needed something more. I would have liked a little more clarity about who the characters are—particularly the main character—and what their relationships to each other were. The way the story is told, it makes it seem necessary to have a few more of those details. Other than that, it is a splendid update of the original story—very faithful to all the elements of the plot with a more modern twist to them!

It’s Carnival! by Tiffany D. Jackson (3/5)
Inspired by “The Cask of Amontillado”

In this story, a girl named Cindy plans to get her revenge on a man named Darrell using Brooklyn’s West Indian Day Carnival to cover her tracks. It is clear that Darrel has been harassing her and her family relentlessly for years, though not much detail is given. The Cask of Amontillado is one of my favorite Poe tales and I felt that this was a pretty accurate depiction of the general idea of the story. It unfolds in much the same way as the original and that holding back of details is similar to how Poe tells his version. I think my only real issue was that I couldn’t quite get into Jackson’s writing style. It just didn’t click with me and I felt like there was a little something missing, but overall, it is an accurate retelling.

Night-Tide by Tessa Gratton (5/5)
Inspired by “Annabel Lee”

Gratton transforms this classic poem into a short story about lost lovers. A young lady tells of a girl she loves who has tragically fallen ill and passed away. The narrator mourns her Annabel Lee, reminisces of better times, and feels anger at the intolerant whispers of the locals in this beach town. This was my favorite story in the whole collection—I absolutely adored it. It is both beautiful and utterly heartbreaking and is such a brilliant take on the original poem. Gratton did an amazing job of capturing those feelings of loss and longing that emanate from Poe’s writing. A wholly unique and imaginative retelling!

The Glittering Death by Caleb Roehrig (4.25/5)
Inspired by “The Pit and the Pendulum”

In this story, a young girl is captured by an infamous serial killer named “The Judge”. He is going to kill her because he believes she has committed many sins and he wants her to confess them before her time comes. While trapped in a cage in his basement, she realizes she will have to determine how to beat him at his own game if she wants to get out alive. This is just begging to be turned into a full-length psychological thriller novel! The one thing I felt it was lacking was a bit more backstory for the main character. There were a number of plot points, specifically about her relationships with a couple other characters, that were only vaguely touched on. The fact that these plot points were brought up in the first place made some more detail necessary in order to fully develop the story.

A Drop of Stolen Ink by Emily Lloyd-Jones (4.5/5)
Inspired by “The Purloined Letter”

In this story, society has reached a point where our entire identities are written in a tattoo on our bodies that can be scanned whenever our details are needed. This makes it nearly impossible for a person’s identity to be stolen. However, that very thing has happened, and it is up to our main character to find the missing tattoo. Classic mystery/thriller style plot meets futuristic tech? Sign me up! I absolutely loved this story—it was definitely my kind of thing. Once again, this is another story that I would absolutely love seeing turned into a full novel!

Happy Days, Sweetheart by Stephanie Kuehn (2/5)
Inspired by “The Tell-Tale Heart”

In this story, we follow a girl who is dealing with a lot of pressure from herself to be the best but is struggling with being a minority in her school. She continuously loses out to a rich, white boy who does not put the same effort into things as she does. As the end of senior year approaches, she will do anything to become valedictorian. The Tell-Tale Heart is another one of my favorite Poe stories. However, I ended up not really liking this retelling. I do think it was very accurate and featured many of the important plot elements from the original. And, while I definitely understand the message Kuehn is trying to convey, I feel that this particular story is just not the right one to use in order to do that. I wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about this one.

The Raven (Remix) by Amanda Lovelace (N/A)
Inspired by “The Raven”

This is a blackout poetry version of “The Raven” (one of my favorite poems of all time). Essentially, Lovelace takes the original poem and blacks out portions of the text in order to reveal a new poem that she has created from Poe’s words. Unfortunately, there was an error here with the digital ARC and nothing was blacked out, so I cannot give a rating or review on this one. However, I absolutely love Amanda Lovelace and her poetry is always so beautiful and creative. I am certain I will enjoy reading this when the collection officially releases.

Changeling by Marieke Nijkamp (4/5)
Inspired by “Hop-Frog”

In this story, the children in society who are deemed “crippled” are either being treated unfairly or just left to fend for themselves. There is a tale of the fae coming to gather these children and bring them to a better life that many of them are hopeful is true. We follow a character who was once found and taken in by the fae and who now does the same for others—while also aiding them if they wish to take revenge on those who have wronged them. This one felt like a dark fairytale and I loved that. It was definitely an interesting and unique take on the original story.

The Oval Filter by Lamar Giles (5/5)
Inspired by “The Oval Portrait”

This is the story of a guy named Tariq whose girlfriend has recently been murdered. Suddenly, she is haunting his Instagram feed, her constantly changing image in the oval profile picture helping lead Tariq to discover who has killed her. I had not read The Oval Portrait prior to this but I ended up absolutely loving both versions. Giles definitely captures the highly unsettling nature of the original work using our modern-day portraits—profile pictures. The changing image in the oval filter is described so vividly and the way it is used is truly creepy. Giles did a fantastic job of setting a clear and intense tone and atmosphere in a short amount of time.

Red by Hillary Monahan (2/5)
Inspired by “The Masque of the Red Death”

Despite being familiar with and having studied The Masque of the Red Death, I was honestly quite confused by this story. I couldn’t really figure out what was happening. We follow this mysterious girl with red hair and it is clear that she is some sort of otherworldly being out for revenge. But that’s about all I figured out. There are many references to names used within the original story, such as the bar the girl ends up at having the same name and distinct internal color scheme as the home where the guests are hiding from the plague in Poe’s version. The ending produces the same result as the original text. However, I could not figure out why anything was happening or anything about the girl and what exactly she is. I do have to give Monahan credit for making such a fascinatingly atmosphere setting, though.

Lygia by Dahlia Adler (5/5)
Inspired by “Ligeia”

In this story, our main character loses the girl she is deeply in love with to cancer. Then one day at school, she passes Lygia’s locker only to see a new girl who is somewhat reminiscent of Lygia—reminiscent enough that the narrator begins to do everything she can to make her the spitting image of Lygia. This is exactly the type of story that I love and I desperately wish this was a full-length novel. And that ending! I totally want to hear more of this story. I read the original “Ligeia” alongside this one as I had not read it before and felt that it was a very unique yet accurate retelling.

The Fall of the Bank of Usher by Fran Wilde (4/5)
Inspired by “The Fall of the House of Usher”

Here, we follow twins who, together, are the hacker phenom “Madrik”. They receive an email inviting them to a bank in need of their skills to test their new security system. Once the twins arrive, however, it is clear that something much more sinister is at play. The sci-fi/hacker story nerd in me was very pleased with this one. The only “complaint” I had was that I wish this had been longer. There were so many fascinating pieces of technology I wanted more details on, and I would have loved to hear more of the twins’ backstory. Nevertheless, I thought this was an absolutely brilliant modernization of the original tale. Taking the creepy and inexplicable things that ensnare the house in the original story and transforming them into things like biotech and robotics was so great!

The Murders in the Rue Apartelle, Boracay by Rin Chupeco (3/5)
Inspired by “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”

In this story, we follow a transgender girl as she falls in love with a man who takes her on a wild journey. She marvels at his attention to detail and remarkable powers of deduction. After spending days together exploring the area, they find out that a double murder has taken place and they are swept up into the investigation. This kind of had some Sherlock Holmes vibes, which I liked. It was an interesting story, but I never felt like I was all that invested in it or the characters. I think part of it was the writing style. I have read and enjoyed Rin Chupeco’s work in the past, but have also found her writing style a bit difficult to get in to. It was a very faithful retelling of the original, however, with a neat, fantastical twist!

Overall, I had a really great time reading this. I definitely very highly recommend giving this collection a go if you are a fan of Edgar Allan Poe or any of these wonderful YA authors!

His Hideous Heart is an anthology collection of 13 re-imagined tales inspired by works of Edgar Allan Poe. The book is split into two sections: The Tales Retold and The Original Tales. What I liked about the layout of this collection is that it’s easy for those of us who’ve read the originals to revisit them before or after reading the retold stories — and it’s also convenient for readers who’ve never been introduced to Poe before. When it comes to retellings in any form, catching on to the fact that a story was inspired by another can be a challenge, especially if the inspiration is rather loose. But that’s another reason why I love the layout of this collection: It’s clear as to which original story inspired a retelling, and I loved reading along, connecting the dots and yet, being surprised by all the new twists and turns.

In a perfect world, I’d love to review each and every retelling in this collection, because many of them were downright gorgeous and grotesque. However, my absolute favorites were:

1. It’s Carnival! by Tiffany D. Jackson
2. Lygia by Dahlia Adler (inspired by “Ligeia”)
3. Happy Days, Sweetheart by Stephanie Kuehn
4. The Glittering Death by Caleb Roehrig

What I loved the most was that the stories themselves aren’t confined to the horror genre, often weaving a mix of sci-fi, horror, suspense, and fantasy throughout the collection. It truly felt like I was reading the same stories….for the first time.

Anthologies are fun. Oftentimes they are a miss, some stories lacking the power of the others. Rarely do I find myself completely obsessed with a book of short stories. And retellings? They’re hard to do. This book managed to hold my interest from start to finish and by the end I discovered authors I had never known about before, but now would hopelessly and utterly read more of their work. That is the true sign of a good anthology.

We all are familiar with Edgar Allan Poe’s work but of course there are stories more well known than others. In His Hideous Heart we get a mix of the known and the unknown and the combination is delicious. It’s stark and so well written.

The authors and the characters are diverse in all factions. They tell you their story through their stories. There are a handful of narratives that are modernized as they mention Hayley Kiyoko, Iphones, and new slang. They work so very well because each author is fantastic in their own right and while you may think you know the ending, you never do.

Some of my favorites are:

The Oval Filter by Lamar Giles
It’s Carnival! by Tiffany D. Jackson
The Glittering Death by Caleb Roehrig
Happy Days, Sweetheart by Stephanie Kuehn

All of the stories are great however. You won’t be disappointed in any of the work. Whether its modernized, set in the past, or includes mythical creatures such as fae, eldritches, and monsters, they are all well written and leave you hungry for more.

And there is more.

Included in the book are the original tales by Edgar Allan Poe which are fun to read and cross reference. I really like how they included that because it’s two books in one! Now, I don’t have to hunt for my old collection of Poe.


The future is ours, these stories are ours. It’s creative and fun to delve into the mind of one of the greatest horror writers in history and make it our own. From betrayal, lost love, and murder His Hideous Heart takes the best out of this current array of talented authors and siphons it directly into our veins, brains, and heart. Multitudes upon dark multitudes. You absolutely love to see it.

. Please be sure to follow this blog tour on all its stops. And please remember that ravens have a long memory. Never cross them.

Thank you very much to the publisher for this opportunity as well as my ARC and physical copy of my book. All opinions are my own.

As an educator who introduces 8th graders to Poe every year, it is rarely a challenge to get them to appreciate the twisted themes and actions present in his work. This anthology allows them to see these ideas in a more contemporary light. Highlights include reimaginings of "The Cask of Amontillado", set amid a boisterous Caribbean parade in New York City; "The Tell-Tale Heart", which has some resonance with #MeToo; and "The Masque of the Red Death", which moves itself to an exclusive nightclub. Students will enjoy seeing these classic tales in a new life, and in a manner that appeals to their everyday lives. Enjoyment of these new stories are not necessarily contingent on having read the original work, but as with all anthologies, there are ups and downs.

Some of these stories are incredible! Even though I am familiar with the original Poe works, some of these still made me gasp out loud.

Others are a little lackluster.
But overal a solid collection.

I have a hard time getting horror into teen hands, but maybe I'll be able to persuade them on this one.

Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Content Warnings: Animal death, fire, ableist comments, blood, death (cancer), abuse of a child/teenager

Representation:

Rep: F/F (Night-Tide), disabled MC (Changeling), MOC/WOC MCs (The Oval Portrait), Portuguese LI (Lygia), trans girl MC & French-Filipino LI (The Murders in the Rue Apartelle, Boracay)



This list may not be 100% complete, but is compiled to the best of my knowledge.

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If you're looking for the perfect collection of stories to curl up with, to haunt you into the wee hours of the morning and beyond, look no further than this: His Hideous Heart, edited by Dahlia Adler and contributed to by many more names from across the literary world.

Taking inspiration from some of Edgar Allan Poe's most well known works, and from some possibly not so well known, each story or poem collected and reimagined therein is one sure to inspire chilling thoughts as you wonder about where the story will go, what will have changed, and just who you might be cheering for in the end.

Thank you to Cat from Flatiron Books for having me on the His Hideous Hearts blog tour. It's been a blast. :)


What I Enjoyed


The authors within His Hideous Heart took inspiration from a classic source and brought that into modern places. There were elements of desperation and terror and anger and the need for justice that many feel and need. Whether it's someone getting a privilege or an absolution they don't deserve, or another person tearing a character down because of their accent, their heritage...a fragment of a Poe story waits for them within.

The eeriness, the elements of the supernatural, the depths of depravity that humans themselves are capable of, all of these facets combine to weave an intense tapestry of stories.

I loved how I was able to find satisfaction in the crafting of these stories. I won't say that they're 100% faithful to the originals, as I haven't read all of the Poe versions, but let's say that the contributors to His Hideous Heart were able to find endings that twisted the themes of the stories, embodied the soul of them, and found wicked beauteous finales.

The diversity of the tales was also terrific, much improved over the originals. From the Philippines to Barbadian immigrants to trans girls and more, there was so much to find within these pages.

An exceptionally helpful facet of the book, if you've never read the original Poe tales before or if you need a refresher, if that His Hideous Heart includes the corresponding works at the back of this anthology. They're well worth a look because what would this collection be without Poe's classics?


What I Didn't Enjoy


While normally of fan of amanda lovelace, I wasn't entirely taken with her rendition of The Raven, here entitled The Raven (Remix). It didn't flow smoothly for me and made it difficult to take in amongst all the other stories.


To Sum It Up


This was one of my favorite anthologies in memory. How often can you say that you enjoyed almost every entry and cannot wait to go back for a reread? I look forward to the publication date of this book and the opportunity to secure the audiobook and experience these tales from a whole new perspective.

3.5 Stars

'His Hideous Heart' is an imaginative YA anthology of retellings from some of the most well known and loved stories of Edgar Allan Poe. I'm an incredibly huge fan of Poe (if you couldn't tell by my blog name!) so I was really excited when I heard about this book. I've read several of the various authors other works and loved them, so I was expecting this to be amazing. I wasn't sure how they would reimagine Poe's tales, but I was excited to find out.

One thing I immediately liked about the book was that it not only contained the retellings but also included the original works by Poe that had inspired the others. It's great for readers that are new to Poe as well as those already familiar with his works but would like a refresher on them and to help compare and/or contrast them with the new reimaginings. I have both a B.A. and an M.A. in English, so Poe is not only a favorite of mine but one I've studied academically.

Since this is an anthology, it's a bit unrealistic to expect to love every single story. And I have to admit that my feelings for these tales ranged from really liking them to being a bit upset because I felt the originals were too different to the new ones. I really wanted to love each and every one of these stories, but ultimately I had a mix of reactions and emotions. Some of the ones I really liked were "She Rode a Horse of Fire," "The Glittering Death," "A Drop of Stolen Ink," "Happy Days, Sweetheart," "Changeling," "The Oval Filter," and "Red." They elicited the same feelings as Poe's originals and were both well written and imaginative. I liked the new spin each author brought to the table and each were able to bring their stories to life with lots of vivid imagery and detailed descriptions. I found that the other stories were too far from Poe's originals that I couldn't connect with them and ended up disappointed.

Also, I felt like there was an overabundance of diverse characters, namely LGBTQ, which felt forced. Please don't get me wrong, I'm all about diverse characters of all kinds and I love to connect with them. But it felt like a lot of these stories were about girls in love - and as I mentioned, it just felt so forced. Like they were written on purpose with these aspects in mind and the tale was kind of secondary. I hope that makes sense. I felt that the characters' relationships overshadowed the main plot of the story (which happens with lots of books I encounter). And being a huge Poe fan, I guess I'm biased toward the actual gothic story and not so much the diversity of the characters and their love interests. Again, I want to reiterate that I'm all for diverse characters of all kinds, but in this specific case, some of them felt forced and ruined the story for me. This is only my personal opinion and definitely not something that other readers will be bothered by. I only want to be honest about how I felt about the stories. That being said, I absolutely loved the concept of the book - particularly because they were based on my favorite classic author and I'm really into retellings. I'd definitely recommend this book to Poe fans old and new, as well as readers who enjoy horror, paranormal, fantasy, science fiction, and romance.

His Hideous Heart is an excellent collection of 13 short stories inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's classic tales. Each story was written by a different YA author. Fans of Poe and those unfamiliar will both enjoy what this collection has to offer. Highly recommended to readers who enjoy a great YA short story collection.

His Hideous Heart is a collection of famous Edgar Allan Poe stories retold by 13 well known YA authors. Writers such as Rin Chupeco, Amanda Lovelace, and Marieke Nijkamp come together to weave new and exciting ways to tell some of our favorite thrilling tales. Out of all of the stories by favorite by far was Lamar Giles' reinterpretation of "The Oval Portrait." It was well written, has wonderful "edge of your seat" tension, and a twist at the end! Also a shoutout to one of my favorite authors Amanda Lovelace and her beautiful retelling of "The Raven." This is a great book to have in a YA collection to introduce young readers into classics!

Rarely do I approach reviews through the eyes of an educator. Part of why I started writing reviews was to have a space where I could discuss Young Adult books for enjoyment away from education. Even after leaving my career, I still try to steer clear of that lens when reviewing books.

However, I can’t ignore the enormous benefits to English classrooms when discussing His Hideous Heart, edited by Dahlia Adler (Q and A link from last week). With that in mind, through two of my favorite stories, I’m going to give what I found highly entertaining as a reader, and brilliantly beneficial as an educator without writing my own novel.

It was a fantastic structural and contextual addition to have the original works of Edgar Allan Poe in the second half of the book. For those who have some familiarity to, or are completely new to, Poe’s work, you have an easy guide to reference. For educators, this provides numerous variations and opportunities in which students can access both the original and reimagining of Poe’s work.

In the case of stories such as Night-Tide by Tessa Gratton, inspired by Poe’s poem, Annabel Lee, there is an additional opportunity for educators. Not only are there two version of the story, but the structural change of Poe’s poem to Gratton’s prose provides an excellent chance to discuss the impact of format on content.
On the flip side, readers will find Night-Tide one of the most inspired stories in His Hideous Heart. A soaring and heartbreaking tale of young love between Annabel and her girlfriend that was misunderstood and shamed.

Picking the summer after Annabel’s sickness and ultimate death, the narrator arrives with pulse quickening anticipation to see her love. Upon hearing the devastating news, we follow her as she longs for understanding and comfort in the stolen moments, whispered words and shared secrets from the past.

Poe has nothing on Tiffany Jackson. The Carnival is Jackson’s dark and twisty take on Poe’s gothic, vengeful The Cask of Amontillado. Fed up with Darrell’s bullying and filth laced words towards her family’s lineage, she mixes-up (quite literally) some revenge to shut him up.

The cacophony of sounds, the brilliance of colors and aromas of foods from the annual Carnival come to life throughout the story. It collides with the once cocky then slowly changing to palpable fear from in Darrel. While Cindy starts sticky sweet, pulling her prey in like a rattle snake and then going in for the kill.

Dahlia Adler set-out to make Poe’s work more accessible and relatable for today. Along with the authors involved, she accomplished that and much more. These stories are just two examples of what you will find throughout His Hideous Heart. Whether you are an educator or a reader (in the case of the former, I truly hope you are both), there is no shortage of highly charged, entertaining and masterful work being brought forth for all ages.

As with most anthologies, I love and hate them. It's rare to find an anthology where I love all of the stories and I'm not shocked that I didn't love all the stories in this one. I recommend reading all the original prose before diving in. I hadn't read some of his prose in a while, or ever, and I think not reading the original work first hurt my ability to love some of these.

His Hideous Heart is a dark and delicious twist on Edgar Allen Poe's gothic masterpieces. Some of these stories creeped me out so much I had to stop reading them before bed. I didn't love all of these stories but a lot of them got under my skin or were just delightfully dark. These all did Mr. Por's work justice and I loved seeing the different interpretations of his prose, especially those through a modern lens. I sincerely think this anthology would make Mr. Poe very happy.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Flatiron Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.*

I've only ever read a few of Edgar Allen Poe's works so I appreciated that the book include the original tales at the end. Overall, I enjoyed most of the stories while I found others hard to care about. For the ones that I was able to get into, I enjoyed thoroughly. It's interesting to see these tales written into a more modern setting, so I think this will be a great way to introduce younger generations to Poe's work. And I definitely think that Poe fans will find an appreciation for the re-tellings.