As a standalone, this book would work for someone who likes deliciously dark fairy tales. Melissa Albert's imagination is a frightening, dazzling place, and I was consistently impressed by the dreadful atmosphere and surprising conclusions of many of these stories.

But having read The Hazel Wood and The Night Country, I found I didn't want to keep reading this collection. Too much of a good thing? I love that the stories provide a backdrop for the two novels, but I think part of the horror and the fascination is being fed these fairy tales in bits and pieces, never getting to see the whole. Fair disclosure, though - I tend to dislike the "extra" books that get published after a series is complete. I like leaving a thing when it's done.

A good pick for the mega-fan, but not something I'll be purchasing for my collection.

Tales from the Hinterland is the previously fictitious book at the heart of Albert's The Hazel Wood and The Night Country, both of which I enjoyed. She has now published the full stories that her characters sprang from, and they are a mixture of folksy fairy tales - all extremely dark and some quite gruesome. At times I felt some wandered off on too many tangents, and the purpose of the story felt obscured. Others were much more impactful and were good at delivering goosebumps. For someone who loved the characters in The Hazel Wood and The Night Country, there was immense satisfaction in reading the origin stories of Alice Three Times and Twice Killed Katherine. If you love dark fairy tales, you'll love these. You do not need to read the other books to appreciate these - but you should!

Melissa Albert's Tales from the Hinterland publishes in January,(US) but an early review copy meant that I got to enjoy these twelve tales during spooky month. If you have read The Night Country and The Hazel Wood, these stories will be quite meaningful as they relate to more than one character. If you haven't read her other books, this works fine as a standalone.
If you are looking for fairy tales where everyone lives happily ever after, you have chosen the wrong book. I was amazed time and time again at the author's imagination. The Grimm brothers can't hold a candle to these creepy, weird, and evil tales. I read each one between other October reads and thought they were perfectly delicious little breaks that provided plenty of “what” moments. If I had to choose a favorite, it would be The Clockwork Bride which was full of toys that come to life and a toymaker who gets what he deserves in the end. Honestly, it is pretty unusual for me to like every short story in any collection, but there wasn't one that I didn't enjoy.

Every Hinterland fan needs this book. The truth is we fans have been craving the opportunity to read these stories since The Hazel Wood! Now we can! I am just going to also say, here are just some awesome fairy tales on their own. Even you haven't read the other books you could pick this one up and enjoy. But beware, it will only make you want to read more from Albert!

What an amazingly DELICIOUS collection of dark fairy tales! This book was everything I hoped and more, and I loved every moment of it. While it can be read as a supporting backbone for the Hinterland books by Melissa Albert, it absolutely stands on its own as an awesome Grimm's-like collection of fairy tales, complete with beheadings, skin removal, underworld gods, and the ever present element of Death, as suitor, prince of the underworld, and world wanderer. I also felt some Russian folklore elements and nods to Baba Yaga and Koschei ("the Deathless"), which I adored. There's an overarching message of "be careful what you wish for," as well as a gorgeously brutal imaginary world where the Moon is a grandmother, bears can remove their skins to become maidens, and toymakers can create their own kind of kingdom of followers of clockwork. So many gems, I would tell lovers of fairy tale re-tellings, lovers of dark fairy tales and folktales, and lovers of the Hinterland, to for sure snap this beauty up.

Stories:
"The Door That Wasn't There"
"Hansa the Traveler"
"The Clockwork Bride"
"Jenny and the Night Women"
"The Skinned Maiden"
"Alice-Three-Times"
"The House Under the Stairwell"
"Ilsa Waits"
The Sea Cellar"
"The Mother and the Dagger"
"Twice-Killed Katherine"
"Death and the Woodwife"

this was a really good read, the characters were great and I had a good time reading this book. It had what I wanted from dark fairy tales.

Fans of Melissa Albert's novels will especially enjoy this book of stories! Perfect for October, these stories feature dark, twisted, macabre stories (some already known from her novels). Albert' s writing is perfect, and sets a dark mood with some real fun stories.

I do NOT read horror books. I do NOT particularly enjoy them-I scare far too easily. That being said, after years of reader's advisory I do know how to spot a good creepy story that teens will love. And I do think this is one of them. Teens that like their books with major hit of the macabre will gobble this up. However, i do think this one is better read in pieces rather than as a whole-the overwhelming dark endings get a bit repetitive and predictable as you continue to read them through. But one off reads during October would be kind of perfect.

For Libraries: If you have fans of Albert's Hinterland series then buy this.

Tales from the Hinterland is the companion collection of fairy tales from the Hazel Wood series. The collection was perfect. The tone of the tales was just as dark, twisted, and unique as the original series. I could not put the book down and read several of the tales twice. Tales included ones in the first two books, like Alice Three Times, but also some new tales, like the Skinned Maiden (my favorite) that were only mentioned. Melissa Albert gives the Brothers Grimm a run for their money, and probably wins!

The magic in the stories of Tales from the Hinterland is spectacular. Reading this book was like opening a door to a new world. Each tale was so original and amazing I didn’t want the book to end. Melissa Albert is such an imaginative author. I can’t wait to see what other worlds she can create in the future

It should be no surprise that some of the tales mentioned in Alberts novels are gathered into a collection that will make the hair on your neck stand at attention. She's created something that would make the Grimm brothers smile at the similarity to their own stories but with her own unique twists and turns. These are not retellings but stories of the horrors and tribulations directly from the morbid hallways of her own imagination. Though not out yet, the publisher promises to enhance this collection with a visual presentation that will make it one of your prized possessions. A definite recommend for someone all ready in love with her novels or if you just want to see what its all about.

Tales from the Hinterland by Melissa Albert is a collection of chilling short stories about the various people and places of Hinterland. It's akin to the Twlight Zone. These stories are peculiar.

There are tales of siblings who stab each other in the back, a toymaker who is a victim of vengeance by his own creations, a girl with the Moon as her mother, Death and how to escape him, and many more odd anecdotes with a lesson learned.

Hinterland comes alive as you travel around meeting new places and faces. The characters are quite interesting. The eerie tales of terror are simply captivating. I was so drawn into the last story that I hadn't even realized that I finished the book.

I'm off to read the rest of the author's books!

If you have read The Hazel Wood or The Night Country, you might be familiar with some of these tales. Finally, here they are, in their entirety, some that have never seen the light of day.
You might wonder how the family relations of the Tides run, or where a door leads that is drawn in blood. How an old wives’ tale is exactly that. Whatever happened to Twice-Killed Katherine to make her so… prickly (oh yes, we finally get that tale in its fullness!). You will find all that and much more.
In this collection of companion tales to the Hazel Wood duology, Albert weaves such dark and sinister stories that it might make you wonder what she dreams at night. Her magic runs beyond mere wordplay, though descriptions that describe people as “taut as greenwood” and “she might have been a soap bubble” will leave no doubt about her word mastery. It is the stories that will grab you – these stories twist and turn like that ubiquitous path through the dark, dark wood, taking the reader to places that are simply stunning.
Dark, yes, but stunning nonetheless. Albert is at her best here. None of these tales sound like anything you might be familiar with. They are full of blood and death and the sea and the wood and small villages and knives and enchanters and old oaks. Their lessons are hard-won, and their characters will stay with you. A masterful accompaniment to the Hazel Wood series.

While I was unimpressed with this book, I think many (maybe even most?) folks will love it. The stories are eerie and compelling and there's a solid fairy tale quality to the pacing and tone that makes it easy to accept the various worlds and tales described. However I was quickly put off by the constant focus on the macabre and gothic. It didn't take very long to realize all of the stories, no matter what the content, effectively ended with a dramatic flourish of AND THEN SHE DIED! For me, this quickly became boring and I struggled to invest much in latter stories because the ending was already predetermined. Read as individual tales (say during Halloween or around a campfire in the woods) these stories would be great. Read together in a single book, one after another, their impact was significantly diluted.

A superb collection by Melissa Albert, with fantastic prose and gorgeous illustrations! Each tale is hauntingly beautiful and leaves readers breathless with anticipation for the next one. A door created with a dying maiden's blood. Where will it lead you? A young star girl in search of her mother. The author of The Hazel Wood series has written these and other stories both delightful and chilling, the perfect winter read!

Not having read Melissa Albert's other books probably puts me at a big loss because I had no idea what to expect. What I found was a collection of rather unsettling tales similar in tone to the original tales of the Grimm Brothers. Tales that are not quite horror but definitely have a melancholy of consequences following the actions of the characters. The stories are interesting but I feel knowing more about the author's works would have been enlightening.

The atmosphere created by this collection of short stories is mesmerizing, sinister, and elegant all at the same time. Albert takes human weaknesses and creates intricate tales from those foibles of whole cloth. I’m not sure whether to shelve it in literary fiction or horror, but she certainly gives the Brothers Grimm a run for their money.

4.5 stars

~ The Door That Wasn't There ~ "The voice she heard was so thin and rustling, she could almost believe it was leaves against the window."

There once was a rich merchant who had a wife and two daughters. When his wife died, he found another. But the new wife was not pleased to be a mother and she locks the daughters in the house. One of them finds a way out...and the other...well...let's just say that the other won't be traveling any time soon.

~ Hansa the Traveler ~ "There was a girl who spoke to the moon. That isn't enough to make a tale, but to her the moon spoke back."

Hansa has been forbidden from looking out the window at night for if the moon touches here...something awful would happen. At least that's what her father and paternal grandmother has told her. But...she's a curious kid. And one day, she finds a way out.

~ The Clockwork Bride ~ "The toymaker arrived in town on the back of rumors so vicious they cut the tongue."

Eleanor and her brother were fascinated by the brilliant clockwork toys but the fascination soon turns sinister...ultimately extracting a terrible, terrible price that no one was prepared to pay.

~ Jenny and the Night Women ~ "In the course of time she bore a child, a pink and white and beautiful child, with a core of hidden decay."

Jenny was the much-wanted child of two otherwise childless parents. But her hidden, rotten core begins flaring up the older she gets. After one particularly bad tantrum, she finds a rumor - a legend - that will allow her to punish her parents. The Night Women.

~ The Skinned Maiden ~ "They reached up and peeled the fur from their necks, from their faces and shoulders and limbs..."

A young maiden within a bearskin catches the eye of a prince. Upon some pretty poor advice, he finds a way to capture her - but not her heart. The skinned maiden does not forgive, nor does she forget.

~ Alice-Three-Times ~ "When Alice was born her eyes were black from end to end, and the midwife didn't stay long enough to wash her."

The queen gives birth to this...child. This creature. This thing. And all she can think of is a way to get rid of Alice. Unfortunately for her, Alice proves very, very difficult to get rid of.

~ The House Under the Stairwell ~ "On a knife-bright day at the edge of an overgrown garden, three sisters pricked their fingers on a briar and let their blood fall to the earth."

The sisters wish for their husbands to be revealed but one of them...let's just say that she got far more than she bargained for.

~ Ilsa Waits ~ "In a village where a plague called the dream sickness slipped from house to house, a man lay dying."

The youngest of her siblings, Ilsa watched as one-by-one her family slips into death's clutches. But death? Death was never prepared for Ilsa.

~ The Sea Cellar ~ "At the edge of a great wood, on the shore of an inland sea, is a house where daughters go to die."

Two sisters. One is gambled away to the house and one is pronounced "safe"...but the safe sister knew right away that there was no point unless she could be reunited with her sibling. And so she goes. To the house. To disappear.

~ The Mother and the Dagger ~ "Wherever you live, there are rules you must go by."

A queen, desperate for a child. A king determined not to be fooled. A horrible fate alone, in the woods...luring in life.

~ Twice-Killed Katherine ~ "She was called Katherine, and grew up in solitude."

The hated daughter of the sorcerer finds her own powers...and he is ready to take advantage of it. But Katherine...she is clever and ruthless and above all, she won't be tricked again.

~ Death and the Woodwife ~ "Beware the hallow-eyed man who make their living on the road, beware the riddles and the pretty things they sell."

The woodwife suffers death but no more.

~ Overall Thoughts ~

Ohhh man. I've been literally waiting all year for this gorgeous book to come out.

I loved The Hazel Wood and the Night Country and I've been waiting for this companion novel.

I loved the scary-fairy aspect of this story - the stories were so creepy and well-written. I really wish this book had illustrations. I think that would have just brought up to perfection.

Free ARC from NetGalley thank you.

If you liked Melissa's books The Hazel Wood and The Night Country this book is a must read because we get 12 short stories on some of the well known characters.
Tales from the Hinterland is a dark, atmospheric book and I'm so glad I read it in October to set the reading mood for the month.
Out of the 3 I liked The Hazel Wood the most but this one is still a great little read.

Stories lie at the heart of The Hazelwood duology. After all, much of the story in The Hazelwood and The Night Country revolved around Alice, an ex-story trying to figure out her life. Tales From The Hinterland is a collection of short, fairy tale like stories from that universe. Some of them I don’t recall having read before and others are recognizable because they were already featured in the duology or because of their characters—who should be relatively familiar by now. Some of those stories deeply impacted the events of the duology (such as the story Alice-Three-Times). Many of the stories in this collection follow the trend of darker fairy tales full of magic and hidden dangers. The writing was atmospheric and engrossing. The setting was vivid in its detail, and the endings were often reflective of the cautionary and somewhat morose tone to the stories. Be careful what you wish for never had a truer meaning than in some of these stories.

As with all story collections, I had my favorites out of the bunch. I liked all of them, but some of the standouts were Death and the Woodwife, Hansa the Traveler, and The House Under the Stairwell to name a few. All I can say is that these were truly stories fit for Hinterland.

If you liked the duology, then you’ll likely enjoy Tales From The Hinterland.

Disclaimer: This copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Flatiron Books) via NetGalley for this review, thank you!