What a stunning lineup of authors. Masters paying tribute to a master. What's not to like? A beautiful way of honoring the works of Shirley Jackson.

This anthology pays a compelling homage to Shirley Jackson, showcasing a diverse range of stories that highlight her influence on contemporary horror writers. While individual preferences always play a role in anthologies, there was a consistent level of quality throughout; no outright disappointments, with a substantial number of standout stories. Engaging in a group read with Spells, Space, and Screams added an extra layer of enjoyment to the experience. Laird Barron's "Tiptoe" stood out as a particularly well-crafted piece, gradually building tension and concluding with a truly mind-bending ending. Authors like Seanan McGuire, Benjamin Percy, Kelly Link, and Stephen Graham Jones delivered exceptional contributions, further enhancing the overall strength of the collection. In summary, a robust anthology that I would enthusiastically recommend.

I loved this collection, particularly Josh Malerman and Joyce Carol Oates’s stories. I have been wanting a collection of stories in the vein of Shirley Jackson’s writing style for some time and while some stories in this collection work better than others, the collection still succeeds as a whole. Recommended!!

"When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson" is a captivating anthology that pays homage to the legendary author, Shirley Jackson, while offering a fresh and imaginative take on her distinctive style of storytelling.

This collection gathers a diverse range of tales, each showcasing the profound influence that Shirley Jackson has had on contemporary writers. The stories deftly capture the essence of Jackson's signature blend of psychological tension, subtle horror, and dark humor.

This anthology tribute to Shirley Jackson is truly one for the ages. It’s one of my favorite books that Ellen Datlow has ever put together. The stories within are haunting, weird, and often darkly comic.

Laird Barron’s ‘Tiptoe’ is a rollicking cosmic terror that finds terror in parenthood. Cassandra Khaw’s story invokes ‘The Lottery’ through it’s small town terrors while M. Rickert’s story exhumes the type of protagonist that Shirley Jackson wrote so well.

A must read anthology.

3.5⭐⭐⭐



- the book honestly got me hooked from the first pages, until i wasnt .
it gotten to the point that it has to be combine with two scenes that i couldnt understand and nearly dnf.
Apparently , i tried to finish it and it was worth it the end .




+ thankyou netgalley for the opportunity .

❤️shaye.reads

I think I had way too many expectations for this book. I’m obsessed with Shirley Jackson’s writing and that might be what bit me in the you know what. Not every story in this anthology was bad but I feel the bad outweighed the good unfortunately. It had some solid stories by authors that I’ve loved before and I did find some new authors to read from but overall not the horror collection I was hoping for.

This book was ok. None of the stories were very memorable but they weren't bad. Maybe I was expecting to much with the Shirley Jackson reference.

The horror books of Shirley Jackson rely much more on the imagination of the reader rather than descriptions of blood soaked body parts, and in that respect I find this type of horror much more acceptable. “When things get dark” is a compilation of 18 stories by many well respected names and as in most collections of this type some are stronger than others. The beauty is that if a particular episode is not to your liking then very soon you will be moving forward to the next chapter and indeed the next guest author. I enjoyed all 18 stories but in particular story 1 Funeral Birds where Lenore returning from the funeral of Dolores finds that all did not go quite as planned. There is some sweet dark humour and one rather stunning nasty shock to be revealed. The 2nd story of note is “Quiet Dead Things” by Joyce Carol Oates, a rather chilling story of a child abandoned.The prose throughout is direct, clear and simple to understand making for really enjoyable reading, and worthy of a very solid 4 stars! Many thanks to the good people at netgalley for a gratis copy in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written.

Unfortunately I decided to DNF this collection. Whatever the authors of these stories see in Shirley Jackson’s works is different from what I see in them, and what drew me to Jackson’s gorgeous prose, dark plots, and insightful characterizations was not to be found in the first few stories in this collection (Carmen Maria Machado’s story being the one exception). I would still recommend this collection to other readers, particularly as a good summer read perhaps, but unfortunately my expectations were high due to the comparison to Jackson’s works promoted by the publisher and were thus a bit too disappointed to be able to enjoy the stories on their own merits.

Three stars.

I enjoyed this spooky read! It was exactly what I was expecting. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book for free

Thank you to Titan Books for providing me with an e-ARC of When Things Get Dark in exchange for an honest review!

I am very hit-or-miss when short story collections/anthologies; I tend to start them then sit them down and never return. However, When Things Get Dark made me want to come back. This is a brilliant collection. There were hits, and of course, a few that didn't really hold my attention. However, even those ones were well-written & are probably loved by hundreds of other readers. When Things Get Dark is a collection that I can easily recommend & think would make great reading material for spooky season!

WHEN THINGS GET DARK – ‘A collection of [eighteen] new and exclusive short stories inspired by, and in tribute to, Shirley Jackson, Jackson is a seminal writer of horror and mystery fiction, whose legacy resonates globally today.’

‘For this anthology, I did not want stories riffing on Jackson’s own. I did not want stories about her or her life. What I wanted was for the contributors to distill the essence of Jackson’s work into their work, to reflect her sensibility. To embrace the strange and the dark underneath placid exteriors. There’s a comfort in ritual and rules, even while those rules may constrict the self so much that those who must follow them can slip into madness.’ – Editor Ellen Datlow

The following are my favorites:

‘Funeral Birds’ – by M. Rickert – Creepy Good!

I love this line:

‘She always wanted to be a woman who appeared chic and vaguely kick-*ss in black when, in fact, she looked like a half-plucked crow.’

‘For Sale By Owner’ – by Elizabeth Hand – That Was Good!

‘In the Deep Woods; The Light is Different There’ – by Seanan McGuire

I LOVE this story, and the writing is *chef kiss* perfection! No spoilers, but here’s a snippet of McGuire’s writing, in particular, the last line made me laugh:

‘Surely the house comes with garbage service, one more question she should probably have asked before coming here, one more mystery to unravel. Most of life’s mysteries are boring ones, she’s found, barely worthy of the name. Maybe there was another word for those little, boring enigmas once, but it’s been lost. The English language undergoes constant simplification, words escaping and running home to their root languages with dire tales of their time held captive by the American tongue.’

‘Quiet Dead Things’ – Cassandra Khaw

‘Something Like Living Creatures’ – by John Langan

‘Money of the Dead’ – by Karen Heuler – Creepy Good!

I love the setup and tone in this snippet of the opening paragraph, and of course, the story:

‘Each floor had a slightly different odor, created—Stella on the fourth floor once told Laura—by the skin cells they each shed every day over the decades. She said that the cells stuck to the walls and produced an odd stippling effect after a fresh paint. There would be the smell of paint for a week, and then the old smells would creep back like spiders repairing their webs.’

‘Hag’ – by Benjamin Percy – LOVE!

‘“You can’t go already,” it said. “Not until we’ve played,”….’

[I]t’s in the winter—when the wind sharpened with ice, when the shadows lengthened, and the island was at its most desperate….’

‘Take Me, I Am Free’ – by Joyce Carol Oates –Oh, My! So Very Dark!

‘The mistake must have been, the child woke too soon from her afternoon nap.’

‘Really she knew better….’

‘A Trip to Paris’ – by Richard Kadrey – Whoa—Love This One!

‘How could she possibly have forgotten a date like that, she wondered. But she forgave herself because there had been so much to think about since her husband and children left…And in filling the silence, it felt as if she’d broken a dark spell that h surrounded her for the previous three hundred and sixty-five days. She took a long breath and twirled on the burner under the kettle. There was time for a cup of tea before she had to be at church.’

‘The Party’ – by Paul Tremblay

‘Refinery Road’ – by Stephen Graham Jones – In A Word—WOW! And, My Heart!

‘Special Meal’ – by Josh Malerman

‘Sooner or Later, Your Wife Will Drive Home’ – by Genevieve Valentine

‘Tiptoe’ – by Laird Barron – Creepy Good!

‘Skinder’s Veil’ – by Kelly Link – Bizarre, but in a good way. I look forward to a reread of this one!

Thank you, NetGalley and Titan Books, for providing me with an eBook of WHEN THINGS GET DARK at the request of an honest review.

Shirley Jackson has inspired a number of authors in a multitude of ways. Ellen Datlow has deliberately gathered 18 stories that tune into one Shirley Jackson vibe or another. "Special Meal" reminds me of "The Lottery" while "For Sale By Owner" just seems to inhabit a space infused with the milieu of Jackson's brand of domestic horror. Now "In the Deep Woods, The Light is Different," Tiptoe," and "Skinder's Veil" embrace her domestic horror infused with fantasy and fairy tales. There is enough choices in this volume to satisfy most readers who are looking for horror that chills rather than splatters.

Anthologies are tough because inevitably some stories will be stronger than others. That being said, this one has a LOT of strong stories that are definitely going to stick with me. I see myself buying a copy of this one so that I can go back and read my favorites for sure. I really liked the one about the older women camping in the abandoned house but also the story that seemed to have three woven into it all with variations on the name "Elizabeth". There's definitely a lot of creepy stuff in this one, and the more I sit and think about it, the more creepy bits I remember. I think this collection would make Shirley Jackson proud. And math is going to haunt me now. That is all.

Don't think I've ever requested anything so quickly as I did this collection of short horror stories inspired by Shirley Jackson (my queen) and it did NOT disappoint. With 18 short stories compiled by Ellen Datlow, this is an excellently creepy and unsettling anthology and an absolute must-have for horror fans.

I doubt I'll ever give an anthology five whole stars because there's always gonna be some styles n stories that don't work for you personally, but this was one of the best I've read yet.

My personal standouts are:

For Sale By Owner - Elizabeth Hand
A Hundred Miles and a Mile - Carmen Maria Machado
Skindler's Veil - Kelly Link
Sooner or Later, Your Wife Will Drive You Home - Genevieve Valentine

Don't think there was any that I actively disliked, and you can see the influence from Jackson throughout the anthology. A very good time.

Huge thanks to NetGalley, Titan Books, and the authors for the e-ARC. Available now and highly recommended!

TW: Cheating, cutting, suicide, blood, murder, divorce, alcoholism, drug abuse child death, animal death

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:A collection of new and exclusive short stories inspired by, and in tribute to, Shirley Jackson.Shirley Jackson is a seminal writer of horror and mystery fiction, whose legacy resonates globally today. Chilling, human, poignant and strange, her stories have inspired a generation of writers and readers.This anthology, edited by legendary horror editor Ellen Datlow, will bring together today’s leading horror writers to offer their own personal tribute to the work of Shirley Jackson.Featuring Joyce Carol Oates, Josh Malerman, Paul Tremblay, Richard Kadrey, Stephen Graham Jones, Elizabeth Hand, Cassandra Khaw, Karen Heuler, Benjamin Percy, John Langan, Laird Barron, M. Rickert, Seanan McGuire, and Genevieve Valentine.
Release Date: 09/21/21
Genre: Horror/thriller short stories
Pages: 382
Rating:

What I Liked:
• I love Shirley Jackson
• I love how I can hear Shirley Jackson inside the stories
• Some grear writers in this book

What I Didn't Like:
• Some of the authors missed the mark
• Some stories were only a few pages

Overall Thoughts: I am a huge fan of Shirley Jackson. This book is absolutely adorable. There are glasses all over that are a signature look for Shirley Jackson. The stories just flow and the writing for some of them is beautiful. There were definitely some stand out writers that charmed me and I will be reading more or some stuff from them.
1. Joyce Carol Oates
2. Elizabeth Hand
3. John Langan
4. Benjamin Percy
5. Josh Malerman

Paul Tremblay writes this interesting and engaging story only to leave you with this vague ending. Honestly, I have zero idea what he was trying to do here. And now I'll never know if the world is going to end tomorrow or why they were looking at her.

Genevieve Valentine.....uhhhh what? Where did this story even go?

Final Thoughts: Like any short story collection, there is always some hit or misses. I felt like for the most part I liked most of the stories. Some just went no where and I was like "okay.." I'm so happy I read this collection though because I found some authors I had never heard of before that I ended up loving and needing to read more from them.

The best part of When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson isn’t that it has Jackson’s name on it. That honor goes to the authors whose stories were selected by Ellen Datlow because they truly showcase Jackson’s inspiration. As an editor who has done much for short-form writing, the care with which Datlow has chosen these pieces is evident. Literature is a conversation, one that transverses time, and these stories add to the discourse. While all of these tales shine, and different readers will appreciate different stories, here are five favorites.

“Funeral Birds” by M. Rickert, “For Sale By Owner” by Elizabeth Hand, “A Hundred Miles and a Mile” by Carmen Maria Machado, “Skinder’s Veil” by Kelly Link,

Other favorites include “In the Deep Woods, the Light is Different There” by Seanan McGuire and “Refinery Road” by Stephen Graham Jones. If you’re new to Shirley Jackson or if you’ve read everything she published, this amalgamation of imaginations is well worth it.

Great collection of stories! Most kept my attention and are perfect for spooky season. I'll read again around Halloween

"When Things Get Dark" is an anthology of well written short stories all in tribute to the author Shirley Jackson. As with all anthologies there are some I love, others that entertain and some that don't really work. But this is a collection not to be missed!

I found at most two or three that could have been better but for the vast majority they were fantastic with some really notable mentions:
1. The Door in the Fence - Jeffrey Ford
2. Pear of Anguish - Gemma Files
3. Special Meal - Josh Malerman

If you enjoy your short stories with a touch of dark and deeply imaginative then this is a must read.