This is such a perfect book for the spooky season! I loved the variety & authors in this, as it’s a compilation of scary stories, it was very fun to read, I definitely recommend it.

Thank you to the author, Titan Books and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This anthology paying tribute to Shirley Jackson is a great collection of short stories by Ellen Datlow. I liked her idea of featuring works inspired by the essence of Jackson's work: looking at the dark and evil hidden below the surface of placid small-town life. As in all collections, there were some stories that really resonated with me and others that did not. I enjoyed discovering some new voices, and would recommend this book for those that enjoy a feeling of unease and dread, rather than full-out horror.

This is absolutely, without a doubt, a must read for spooky season, not just for horror/thriller fans, but for all readers.

All 18 stories are inspired by the inimitable Shirley Jackson, and the contributing authors do a great job of creating atmospheric and unsettling stories.

I’m not always a fan of short story anthologies, but this is sheer perfection.

Five star read, and thank you SO much to NetGalley and the publishers for a digital ARC. My gushing opinions are my own.

#spookyseason #horror #unsettling #mustread #fivestarread

I’m a big fan of Ellen Datlow’s anthologies and Shirley Jackson’s writing, so I was very excited for this anthology of literary horror stories inspired by Jackson. I loved When Things Get Dark. Absolutely one of the best anthology of horror shorts I’ve read in a long time.

There’s a wonderful variety of writing styles, topics, and themes, and the quality of the writing is some of the best I’ve seen in an anthology. The wide ranging protagonists stood out for me, and I was particularly charmed by the stories involving older women, who I don’t see as horror story protagonists often enough.

My favourite stories were:

For Sale by Owner by Elizabeth Hand. This was a favourite, a quiet, creepy, warm story about a house in the middle of nowhere, and three female friends in their 60s.

A Hundred Miles and a Mile by Carmen Maria Machado. I hadn’t encountered Machado before — wow, this was a mesmerizing story, short and sharp and gorgeous.

The Party by Paul Trembley. Tremblay writes tension so well. This story of an end of the world themed party creeped me out in a wonderful way.

Pear of Anguish by Gemma Files. This is one I thought I hated in the first few pages, but by the end it had utterly won me over. Love Files’ way with language and her full embrace of the depth and darkness of preteen girls.

Special Meal by Josh Malerman. I love math and this story was unexpected and terrifying

Tiptoe by Laird Barron. The creepiest story in the bunch for me. Many of the stories in this anthology had wonderful dread, but Tiptoe is the one that I wish I hadn’t read in the dark at midnight.

Other favourites were tales by Stephen Graham Jones, Joyce Carol Oates, Karen Heuler, and Benjamin Percy. And even the stories that didn't resonate as much with me thematically were a pleasure to read. I'll be thinking about this anthology for a long time.

Perfect for the upcoming holidays when people dont always have time for a full read. Discovered a few new authors that I'll be looking for.

This is, hands-down, my favorite anthology I've ever read. Stories inspired by Shirley Jackson? How could it not be good?

The collection features some big names in the horror community - think Josh Malerman, Paul Tremblay, Stephen Graham Jones, and more. Eighteen stories are packed full of Jackson's trademark psychological horror. People held down by societal rules, horrors only half glimpsed in the corner of your vision, and characters pushed to their limits of grief, despair, and panic fill the pages of this book.

There were a couple of stories which fell completely flat for me, but the others were all excellent. Notable entries include:

Absolutely the most beautiful prose in the whole collection is written by Seanan McGuire's 'In the Deep Woods: The Light is Different There.

Richard Kadrey's 'A Trip to Paris' takes Jackson's poison out of the sugar bowl and puts it in a shaker of garlic salt.

'Special Meal' by Josh Malerman perfectly captures the feeling of surreal horror that Jackson displayed in The Lottery.

'Skinder's Veil' by Kelly Link is a weird fun little tale of mythical proportions.

My favorite story, though, the one I thought most brilliantly clever, is Carmen Maria Machado's 'A Hundred Miles and a Mile', which reaches in to 'The Haunting of Hill House', picks up the little girl who wanted her cup of stars, grows her into an adult woman, and centers a story around her.

All Hail Shirley Jackson. No one will ever write quite like her... but these writers gave it an amazingly good try, and the result is an excellent, excellent book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a free e-book ARC of When Things Get Dark, in exchange for an honest review.

For me, this short story collection was a 5-star read. I greatly enjoyed reading these stories inspired by Shirley Jackson. I appreciated how many of the authors took from the ordinary in our everyday lives to build up to something horrific. Many of them captured the idea of psychological suspense really well. I found myself caught up in the reality of the character experiences and, to me, that’s a wonderful sign for horror and suspense. There are some big names here and they did not disappoint!

While the book would be great at any time of year, I think it’s a timely release for the Halloween “spooky season” right now.

I adore Shirley Jackson. I adore Ellen Datlow. So for me, this anthology was a match made in heaven.
Talk about high expectations. . . But When Things Get Dark delivered. Oh, boy, I'll definitely revisit a few of these stories in the near future, and I've already reread a few of them.
All of these stories capture the spirit of Jackson perfectly—without mimicking her style.
My favorites:
Elizabeth Hand: For Sale by Owner
Benjamin Percy: Hag (definitely the creepiest story in the collection!)
Richard Kadrey: A Trip to Paris
Stephen Graham Jones: Refinery Road (creepy, nostalgic, sad and wholesome at the same time—though I'm maybe a bit biased, SGJ is one of my favorite writers)
Laird Barron: Tiptoe (okay, maybe this is the creepiest one?)
Kelly Link: Skinder's Veil (wow, man. just wow. Link is amazing)

But honestly, I liked every story.
I'll definitely get the hardcover.

This book is an anthology of horror stories inspired by Shirley Jackson's writing and written by the best horror writers of the day.
It includes many greats like Joyce Carol Oates, Josh Malerman, Paul Tremblay, Richard Kadrey, Stephen Graham Jones, Elizabeth Hand, and more.
Shirley Jackson's stories were always out of the ordinary, chilling, and yet touching in so many ways. These writers here try to emulate or evoke these themes.
I'll be honest I enjoyed some of them immensely, but sadly they were only a couple or so. Hag and A Trip to Paris were some of the ones I enjoyed.
Stories that leave readers to do a lot of thinking and guessing are not to my particular liking. I better relate to clinical writing and stories that leave no questions unanswered. So I did not enjoy this collection as much as I expected to.
But a short story collection always refreshes me and pumps me up to read more, and this book did that for me. I rate it 3 out of 5 stars.

Shirley Jackson is famous for her unique style of horror. Subverting the every day with unusual and creepy elements, Jackson’s work keeps the reader off-balance throughout; the only certainty was that nothing was as it truly seemed. We Have Always Lived in a Castle is one of my all-time favourite stories. When I heard about this new collection of stories by prominent horror authors written in tribute to Shirley Jackson, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.
The first story, Funeral Birds by M. Rickert, about the secrets we keep haunting us, was a great start. Lenore, the central character’s attention to detail in preparing for a funeral and her attitude towards the event are sinister, hinting at what is to come without giving anything away. However, the following story, For Sale By Owner, does not add to the set-up. Instead, we have what felt like quite a long short story about a woman who enjoys looking around empty houses. When the weirdness happens, it is too quick and too late in the story to have any real impact.
Quiet Dead Things by Cassandra Khaw explores small-town prejudices and the impact of isolated communities on mental health and relationships. What elevated this story above the others for me is that Khaw starts with a sinister event and keeps up a creepy pace throughout, and she never explains what happens. We’re left to wonder whether everything was caused by the residents’ prejudices or something supernatural.
Money for the Dead by Karen Heuler doesn’t hide the otherworldly element of this story but instead explores the difference between our memory and reality. Are things ever as wonderful as we remember them to be? Are our memories of our children sugar-coated with age? If we could have them back, should we? The use of older characters to move this story forward was an excellent choice as the decisions they make are so much more poignant with the experience of age on their side.
From the whole collection, the two stand out stories that really invoked the atmosphere and experience of reading Shirley Jackson for me are Take Me, I Am Free by Joyce Carol Oats and Tiptoe by Laird Barron.
Take Me, I Am Free is possibly the shortest story in the collection. Told from a child’s point of view, it is immediately sinister as their home is not the same environment it should be. The fear is real as the blame faced at home is undeserved, and the child does not have the vocabulary to explain what is happening to a trustworthy adult. Her survival is genuinely uncertain.
Tiptoe is a similar story, exploring childhood and its impact on our adult life. What makes Tiptoe so chilling is Barron’s consistent description of the father in the story. It grows steadily; the signs are there but revealed so subtly that the ending is a shock. In In the Deep Woods; The Light is Different There by Seanan McGuire, we were given so many possible options for the threat element that the story doesn’t feel cohesive when we reach the ending; however, Barron ties everything together and taps into a fear most of us can relate to.
As with any short story collection, even ones with editors as renowned as Ellen Datlow, there were bound to be stories that didn’t work for me as well as others. But those that I did enjoy really delivered in creepiness and quality. But then, maybe the fault is with me. This is not a collection of stories based on Shirley Jackson’s style but a tribute to her legacy in the horror genre.

When Things Get Dark is a wonderful collection of short stories and tribute to Shirley Jackson. I was very intrigued by this since Jackson is one of my all-time fave horror writers,I have enjoyed collections edited by Ellen Datlow in the past, and it features an all-star cast of the best horror writers around right now. I found these stories to all be pretty eerie and strange. While some were a miss for me, I think my favorite stories to be the ones by Seanan McGuire and Carmen Maria Machado.

These short stories are the perfect read for fall and I definitely recommend them for lovers of Shirley Jackson's work. I think they all did a great job.

This is the perfect story collection for around Halloween time! (Or any time you want a dose of horror).

I loved that this 18 story collection has a diverse group of horror writers and the stories are inspired by the QUEEN Shirley Jackson!

I loved the stories The Party, For Sale by Owner, Special Meal, and Money of the Dead.

All the stories have something fun to offer and I loved the eerie and unsettling vibes this collection provided.

I believe Shirley Jackson would be happy to see such talent inspired by her work!

This anthology of short stories inspired by Shirley Jackson is for all fans of horror, especially because many of the biggest names of the genre can be found within it's pages. Personal favorites Seanan McGuire, Paul Tremblay, Josh Malerman and Stephen Graham Jones among them.

Overall this was a pretty solid anthology, and I rated most of the stories between 3 and 4 stars, but there were some standouts-

The Door in The Fence by Jeffrey Ford : A widow drinks from a well and transforms. A lot of these short stories left me wanting more, but this story wrapped up really nicely and felt like it all came together.

The Party by Paul Tremblay : A party for the end of the world (or is it?). Such a great premise, I just wished I could know whether it really was the end of the world or not!

Special Meal by Josh Malerman : Knowing math is strictly forbidden, so when the authorities come knocking, will Amy's family tell them her secret? Another great idea for a story that I would definitely read if it became a full length novel. This one felt a little more dystopian than horror to me.

Money of the Dead by Karen Heuler: Four neighbors discover a way to bring loved ones back from the dead. But the dead aren't quite who they used to be. This was a perfectly chilling story, creepy kid and all.

I really enjoyed this anthology. I was able to read some short fiction by authors I already love, and was introduced to authors of the genre that I had never read before. I would definitely recommend this to fans of Shirley Jackson or any contemporary horror fans.

When Things Get Dark is an excellent collection of stories inspired by, and in tribute to, the genius of Shirley Jackson. Edited by Ellen Datlow, this anthology evokes the same atmospheres of Jackson's works, offering the chance to a modern reader to discover not only the queen of classic horror, but also eighteen new horror writers.

When I saw this book available on Netgalley, I knew I had to have it. I love Shirley Jackson because her novels often take place inside large estates or outskirts of towns (which already seem haunted), within dysfunctional families, inside the minds of unhappy and tormented women. Heartbreaking sometimes, often terrifying, always beautifully written, her novels are a must-read for all horror lovers.

And this anthology is a must-read too! These are the authors featured: Joyce Carol Oates, Josh Malerman, Carmen Maria Machado, Paul Tremblay, Richard Kadrey, Stephen Graham Jones, Elizabeth Hand, Kelly Link, Cassandra Khaw, Karen Heuler, Benjamin Percy, John Langan, Laird Barron, Jeffrey Ford, M. Rickert, Seanan McGuire, Gemma Files, and Genevieve Valentine.

Like any other collection of stories, I didn't connect with all of them (some were just too short, others didn't deliver that "something" and were easily forgettable), but there were some I absolutely loved. My favorites were:
- In the Deep Woods; The Light is Different There, by Seanan McGuire
- Quiet Dead things, by Cassandra Khan
- Money of the Dead, by Karen Heuler
- A Trip to Paris, by Richard Kadrey
- Pear of Anguish, by Gemma Files
- Special Meal, by Josh Malerman
- Skindler’s Veil, by Kelly Link

If you love Shirley Jackson, or you enjoy a good horror story, I'd definitely recommend to pick up When Things Get Dark.
5 stars.

* I'd like to thank Ellen Datlow, Titan Books and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
#WhenThingsGetDark #NetGalley

It's hard to imagine a more certain success than an Ellen Datlow horror anthology. That might be a high expectation, but When Things Get Dark fully lives up to it.

There isn't a single filler story in this book. While I think some are more successful than others at conveying a sense of tribute to and inspiration by Shirley Jackson, all of them are killer stories in their own right. Particular highlights for me included Richard Kadrey's gleefully nasty little domestic murder, Cassandra Khaw's gruesome remote village revenge, Laird Barron's horrifyingly murky collage of memory and family mystery, and Kelly Link's majestically eerie fable of graduate school, housesitting, and the beyond. That isn't to say that any of the others left me cold, though; this might be the most consistently excellent anthology I've read in years.

I'd recommend this book to anyone and everyone interested in a trying a sampler of many of the finest, most interesting writers in contemporary horror (I mean, on top of the authors whose stories were personal favourites, a book that also contains Carmen Maria Machado, Stephen Graham Jones, Paul Tremblay, Gemma Files, and all the rest is just an amazing snapshot of a phenomenal era for terrifying and truly excellent horror writing), as well as to those who are already fans of any of the authors in the book (or of Datlow herself).

I received a free e-ARC of this title from Titan Books via NetGalley in exchange for my review.

I'm sure I've written this before, but it's still true. I'll check out any anthology edited by Ellen Datlow that ends with a new story by Laird Barron or Brian Hodge. And considering the Shirley Jackson Awards are what started me down the road to discovering new spooky authors like Barron in the first place, picking up this anthology of original fiction inspired by Jackson was a no-brainer.

Barron actually contributes the penultimate story and the concluding tale is from Kelly Link, but that one-two punch is worth the price of admission alone. The book starts out creepy too, although after finishing Elizabeth Hand's contribution, "For Sale By Owner," several of the subsequent inclusions feel slight. Things pick up again midway through with two authors who were new to me. "Money Of The Dead" by Karen Heuler made me need to turn a light on, followed Benjamin Percy's "Hag," which is like a fun folk horror movie in itself.

In When Things Get Dark, Datlow has collected an excellent, accessible primer of modern horror and dark fantasy with many jumping off points for newbies and experienced readers alike. I can't think of another anthology that is this universally recommendable, nor can I wait to start recommending it.

I went into this short story collection slightly nervous and not really knowing what to expect. I love short stories and I love Shirley Jackson (especially her short stories!), but could a group of modern authors really do justice to her legacy? The answer is a resounding yes. ‘When Things Get Dark’ is a fantastic collection and editor Ellen Datlow has done a brilliant job of pulling together stories that really do evoke Jackson’s work without just being slavish cover versions of her hits.
There are eighteen stories contained within and whilst I didn’t love every single one (a couple are let down by weak endings), the vast majority are very good or excellent. They range from a few pages to almost novella length and cover a variety of themes and styles. As you’d expect, female protagonists and slightly creepy small towns abound, but the tales are sufficiently different from each other that the book never feels same.
You’ll doubtless recognise at least a few of the authors on the contents page, and the big names like Joyce Carol Oates, Josh Malerman and Stephen Graham Jones all deliver. In fact Oates’ story of casual but chilling child abuse and Malerman’s disorienting dystopian tale of a world where maths is banned were two of my favourites.
I’d also call out the first story ‘Funeral Birds’ by M Rickert and the final two, ‘Tiptoe’ by Laird Barron and ‘Skinder’s Veil’ by Kelly Link. All three felt like classic Jackson to me. Beautifully crafted slices of mystery where there is a very real menace lurking just out of sight. They’ve all lingered with me since I finished them in a way that is both unsettling and deeply satisfying.
If you’re a Jackson fan, or even if you aren’t, ‘When Things Get Dark’ is definitely worth picking up. Short stories don’t get the attention they used to nowadays, this collection acts as a reminder that when they’re done well they can be every bit as rich and memorable as a novel.

Shirley Jackson is one of my favorite female horror authors and she was such an influence on the horror genre as a whole. I saw this collection and immediately knew that I wanted to read it because 1) I love Shirley Jackson, as previously stated, and 2) I figured I would find some great authors housed in this collection. Plus, I just really love short horror fiction.
This collection did not disappoint. the caliber of talent housed in this collection is excellent, and as usual, there were some stories that I didn't connect with quite as much, but as a whole I can say that there isn't a bad story in the book. Definitely a book to pick up as the days are getting shorter and the autumn evenings start rolling in. Very happy to have had the opportunity to read this and I will be putting this in the hands of several friends when it publishes!

Ellen Datlow is to be congratulated in putting together this excellent collection of short stories from a talented group of contributing writers, all drawing on inspiration from the great author, Shirley Jackson. The writers take what Jackson said 'use fear, to take it and comprehend it and make it work', surprising me with how well they achieved this across the board in the following 18 stories edited by Datlow:

Funeral Birds – M Rickert
For Sale by Owner – Elizabeth Hand
In the Deep Woods; The Light is Different There - Seanan McGuire
A Hundred Miles and a Mile – Carmen Maria Machado
Quiet Dead things – Cassandra Khan
Something Like Living Creatures – John Langan
Money of the Dead – Karen Heuler
Hag – Benjamin Percy
Take Me, I am Free – Joyce Carol Oates
A Trip to Paris – Richard Kadrey
The Party – Paul Trembley
Refinery Road – Stephen Graham Jones
The Door in the Fence – Jeffrey Ford
Pear of Anguish – Gemma Files
Special Meal – Josh Malerman
Sooner or Later, Your Wife Will Drive You Home – Genevieve Valentine
Tiptoe – Laird Barron
Skindler’s Veil – Kelly Link

All the tales can be clearly seen to be influenced by Jackson, they are well written, of varying lengths, with some that I wished had been longer, some end abruptly, expertly raising the unsettling factor, disturbing, unexpected, yet subtle and nuanced as opposed to utilising blood and gore that can typify the horror genre. To give you a taste of some of the stories, Lenore attends a funeral that ends with her seeing a ghost, 3 older women have a sleepover in an empty house in the woods, and Millie Ellis has spent a lifetime of being caged, she has recently divorced her violent and abusive husband, she takes up residence in a family lake house, only to spend a night in a wardrobe. A woman is seen to have a strange conversation with a child in a department store, the town of Cedarville flourishes, whilst simmering with the sins of its residents below the surface, as death begins to run rampant, body parts arrive on the Maine coast, with an investigative reporter comes to write a story, a woman fails to tell her partner that the theme of a party they are going to is the end of the world and you really do not want to eat Roxanne's beef stew.

This collection of dark fiction is being published at the perfect time as our days are getting shorter, as we welcome Autumn and begin to look forward to Winter, the traditional time for horror, ghosts, the supernatural, evil, and other unsettling fiction. It is probable that not every story will hit its mark for every reader, but for me, almost all of them did for me. A wonderful selection to savour. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

While many of us may not have read too much Shirley Jackson, the recent Netflix series' of The Haunting of Hill House and Bly Manor respectively, may have peaked your interest.

I have to admit I wasn't a massive fan of the Hill House book, but really enjoyed the series, so was cautiously optimistic when reviewing this book. Luckily, I had nothing to worry about given the variation of stories, which are quite frankly mainly excellent.

Standout stories include opener Funeral Birds that focuses on a woman's grief but turns into something much more sinister.

Elizabeth Hand's For Sale By Owner is one story you will read in one sitting, given its compelling subject matter and intentional ambivalence to darker elements. This is the story of a group of housewives who like to hang out in abandoned homes for sleepovers, but they get more than they bargained for one night.

Quiet Dead Things from Cassandra Khaw tells the tale of a corrupt town covering up dark secrets, which plays with the idea of an unreliable narrator. Khaw does an excellent job and continually escalating the plot as we find out more, making it a compelling read.

Joyce Carol Oates' Take Me, I Am Free takes a closer look at reluctant parentage, with potentially darker themes that may or may not be in the mother's head.

The prolific Paul Tremblay contributes The Party which looks at a lesbian couple with a wide age gap that encounter trouble at a work party. Tremblay really packs in plenty of story to the short pages, and has vibes of Brian Yuzna's Society.

Another notable mention is Josh Malerman's Special Meal which really toys with the reader as a child and her parents play an unnerving game of cat and mouse at the dinner table.

Datlow saves the best story until last though with Kelly Link's Skinder's Veil which tells the story of a young student tasked with a looking after a mysterious property by his girlfriend. This story drips with dread and Link conjures up some really unnverving imagery that really jumps off the page.

When Things Get Dark basically has something for everyone, and is jam-packed with excellent stories, perfect for the cold and windy nights to come.