Book picks similar to
The Last Selchie Child by Jane Yolen


poetry
fantasy
fairy-tales
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Russian Magic Tales from Pushkin to Platonov


Robert ChandlerAlexander Pushkin - 2012
    Some of the stories here were collected by folklorists during the last two centuries, while the others are reworkings of oral tales by four of the greatest writers in Russian literature: Nadezhda Teffi, Pavel Bazhov, Andrey Platonov, and Alexander Pushkin, author of Eugene Onegin, the classic Russian novel in verse. Among the many classic stories included here are the tales of Baba Yaga, Vasilisa the Beautiful, Father Frost, and the Frog Princess.

Grimm's Grimmest


Maria Tatar - 2005
    Newly reissued with a fresh cover, Grimm's Grimmest presents nineteen original, unsanitized, wholly unholy tales as they were first collected by the Brothers Grimm circa 1822all fiendishly illustrated. The tales harken back to a time when travelers risked roasting or worse, and bad manners yielded frightful consequences. An insightful introduction makes sense of the mayhem, shedding light on how the Grimm brothers went from macabre to mainstream in fairly short order. From the true horror of Aschenputtel (the original Cinderella story) to Rapunzel's dark secret, Grimm's Grimmest features the authentic stories born long ago in the land of the Black Forest, at a time when fairy tales never ended happily ever after.

Die You Doughnut Bastards


Cameron Pierce - 2012
    Burroughs on crack!" - Thomas F. Monteleone, New York Times bestselling authorThe bacon storm is rolling in. We hear the grease and sugar beat against the roof and windows. The doughnut people are attacking. We press close together, forgetting for a moment that we hate each other. In Die You Doughnut Bastards, amputees, lonely young people, and talking animals struggle for survival against the freakish whims of nature. A typewriter made of fetuses is the source of woe for an expecting couple. A girl with a glass jaw hides an otherworldly secret. A demonic loner goes to a birthday party in Hell. You'll encounter a killer in a marsupial mask, a prison for anorexics, haunted pancakes, and a songwriter with a cult following.Surreal prose poems give way to personal accounts of alienation and modern love. Vegetarian narwhals are sold at the supermarket. And in a city that might be your own, zombie doughnuts are rising up. Kill yourself before they kill you. Or just kill yourself.Featuring original illustrations in the style of Daniel Johnston, Die You Doughnut Bastards is the latest way to drown, brought to you by Wonderland Book Award-winning author Cameron Pierce.

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror


Mallory Ortberg - 2018
    Lavery comes a collection of darkly mischievous stories based on classic fairy tales. Adapted from his beloved "Children's Stories Made Horrific" series, The Merry Spinster takes up the trademark wit that endeared Lavery to readers of both The Toast and his best-selling debut Texts from Jane Eyre. The feature become among the most popular on the site, with each entry bringing in tens of thousands of views, as the stories proved a perfect vehicle for Lavery’s eye for deconstruction and destabilization. Sinister and inviting, familiar and alien all at the same time, The Merry Spinster updates traditional children's stories and fairy tales with elements of psychological horror, emotional clarity, and a keen sense of feminist mischief.Readers of The Toast will instantly recognize Lavery's boisterous good humor and uber-nerd swagger: those new to Lavery's oeuvre will delight in his unique spin on fiction, where something a bit mischievous and unsettling is always at work just beneath the surface.Unfalteringly faithful to its beloved source material, The Merry Spinster also illuminates the unsuspected, and frequently, alarming emotional complexities at play in the stories we tell ourselves, and each other, as we tuck ourselves in for the night.Bedtime will never be the same.The daughter cells --The thankless child --Fear not: an incident log --The six boy-coffins --The rabbit --The merry spinster --The wedding party --Some of us had been threatening our friend Mr.Toad --Cast your bread upon the waters --The frog's princess --Good fences make good neighbors

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings


Ellen OhAlyssa Wong - 2018
    These are the stuff of fairy tale, myth, and folklore that have drawn us in for centuries. Fifteen bestselling and acclaimed authors reimagine the folklore and mythology of East and South Asia in short stories that are by turns enchanting, heartbreaking, romantic, and passionate. Compiled by We Need Diverse Books’s Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman, the authors included in this exquisite collection are: Renee Ahdieh, Sona Charaipotra, Preeti Chhibber, Roshani Chokshi, Aliette de Bodard, Melissa de la Cruz, Julie Kagawa, Rahul Kanakia, Lori M. Lee, E. C. Myers, Cindy Pon, Aisha Saeed, Shveta Thakrar, and Alyssa Wong. A mountain loses her heart. Two sisters transform into birds to escape captivity. A young man learns the true meaning of sacrifice. A young woman takes up her mother’s mantle and leads the dead to their final resting place. From fantasy to science fiction to contemporary, from romance to tales of revenge, these stories will beguile readers from start to finish. For fans of Neil Gaiman’s Unnatural Creatures and Ameriie’s New York Times–bestselling Because You Love to Hate Me.

Judge Dredd: Year Two Omnibus


Michael Carroll - 2017
    Judge Joe Dredd’s been on the beat for a year. He’s made tough calls, tackled hardbitten perps, and seen the consequences of his choices come back to bite him. But he’s not done learning yet. Dredd’s second year on the sked will see him back out in the Cursed Earth, where right and wrong are questions that go beyond the easy answers of the Law; he’ll tackle an apparent serial killer—or more than one?—targeting journalists; and he’ll take his first real beat down, leaving him bent and broken with only his badge and his conviction to protect him… Including stories by Matt Smith, Michael Carroll and Cavan Scott, Judge Dredd: Year Two puts the city’s greatest lawman to the test.

A Twisted Fairy Tale Boxed Set, #1-3


Holly Hook - 2016
     Thread and Spool: Cursed with the ability to weave thread into gold, Brie has learned to trust no one. Her parents keep her around so they can gamble their money away and now her boyfriend's only staying because he's got a collection of game systems to grow. When Brie grabs the attention of Stilt, the new guy in town, it changes everything. Brie is a Legend—a character in a fairytale—and she belongs in a realm of magic called Fable. But when she crosses over to the new world with Stilt, she soon learns that the cruel ruler of the realm has taken an interest in her ability-and it could cost Brie her life. Stilt promises that he can help her escape, but in return, he asks for something that she might not be able to give. Can Brie put her trust in Stilt or will she die at the hands of greed? Wolves and Paths: Sometimes there's more to the fairy tales than you think... Red has only ever known a life under her oppressive grandmother's thumb and she's struggled all her life to break her fear of rebellion. But when her boyfriend, Tate, wants to take her to Disney World (forbidden by her grandmother) she can't help but break the rules. But maybe her grandmother was right to warn her against the place, because the park is a gateway to another dimension: Fable, where fairy tales are real and things go bump in the night. And now her grandmother has been taken captive by an evil magician named Alric. Red turns out to be the central character in a very scary story, a tale she will have no choice but to act out in order to save her grandmother. Worse, Alric is determined to rule Fable by making all the famous fairy tales fall—and Red is his first target. Red, along with Tate, must venture into almost certain death and learn to break the chains of her fear. But on her journey, Red will learn that even the most famous fairy tales are not always what they seem... Frogs and Princes: Candice hates being the rich girl in town and the fact that the most irritating guy in school, Shorty, has a huge crush on her. That, and she can hear frogs talking, something she's always had to hide. But when a frog begs her to save him from dissection, she steps in, starting a chain of events that land her and Shorty in Fable, a world where the fairy tales are real. It turns out she's a princess, and the frog she rescued is meant to be her prince. But he's far from a happily ever after. He's a huge jerk, and if she doesn't free him from his curse and agree to be his bride, her kingdom will turn dark and fall into the hands of the most powerful dark wizard in Fable. Candice must face her identity and make an impossible decision. It also turns out Shorty's got secrets of his own, secrets which might destroy them all. These are the first three books in what will be a seven-book young adult fairy tale retelling series. A new volume releases each month on the 15th. All seven books will be available by November 15, 2016. Books will include retellings of Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood, The Frog King, Rapunzel, Snow White and more.

The Beautiful Truth


Mark Anthony - 2016
    This is the poetry of good vibrations, higher callings, and unbridled passions; this is poetry with heart and soul, poetry with a purpose; This is poetry that lifts you up with the beautiful truth.

Shelf Life: Fantastic Stories Celebrating Bookstores


Greg KetterGerard Houarner - 2002
    Here are sixteen stories, fourteen original to this anthology, each of which includes a bookstore at its core. Science fiction, fantasy and horror. Authors included are David Bischoff, P.D. Cacek, Ramsey Campbell, Charles de Lint, Marianne de Pierres, Harlan Ellison, Rick Hautala, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Gerard Houarner, John J. Miller, A.R. Morlan, Lisa Morton, Melanie Tem, Patrick Weekes, Jack Williamson, Gene Wolfe. Introduction by Neil Gaiman. Cover art by John Picacio.

On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears


Stephen T. Asma - 2009
    Beginning at the time of Alexander the Great, the monsters come fast and furious--Behemoth and Leviathan, Gog and Magog, Satan and his demons, Grendel and Frankenstein, circus freaks and headless children, right up to the serial killers and terrorists of today and the post-human cyborgs oftomorrow. Monsters embody our deepest anxieties and vulnerabilities, Asma argues, but they also symbolize the mysterious and incoherent territory beyond the safe enclosures of rational thought. Exploring sources as diverse as philosophical treatises, scientific notebooks, and novels, Asma unravelstraditional monster stories for the clues they offer about the inner logic of an era's fears and fascinations. In doing so, he illuminates the many ways monsters have become repositories for those human qualities that must be repudiated, externalized, and defeated.

Bâtard


Jack London - 1902
    The opening paragraph gives us a hint where the story is heading by introducing the players, a dog ("Bâtard was a devil") and his owner ("Black Leclère was also a devil").Leclère was a hunter/trapper/adventurer in the Northwest at the time of the Alaskan gold rush. He kept Bâtard with the intent of either breaking his spirit or kill him trying. Bâtard could have run away at any time, but stayed through thick and thin because he was equally dedicated to killing Leclère.

Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale


Catherine Orenstein - 2002
    Beginning with its first publication as a cautionary tale on the perils of seduction, written in reaction to the licentiousness of the court of Louis XIV, Orenstein traces the many lives the tale has lived since then, from its appearance in modern advertisements for cosmetics and automobiles, the inspiration it brought to poets such as Anne Sexton, and its starring role in pornographic films. In Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked, Red appears as seductress, hapless victim, riot grrrrl, femme fatale, and even she-wolf, as Orenstein shows how through centuries of different guises, the story has served as a barometer of social and sexual mores pertaining to women. Full of fascinating history, generous wit, and intelligent analysis, Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked proves that the story of one young girl's trip through the woods continues to be one of our most compelling modern myths.

Odium 2.5: Origin Stories


Claire C. Riley - 2014
    But for some, the zombie apocalypse is only the beginning of a dark yet brave new life for them. For some, the apocalypse offers freedom from their tragic lives. For others it’s a chance to show that looks can be deceiving. And for others, it’s an opportunity ripe for the taking. The Bimbo, The Book Nerd, The Hero, & The Friends, everyone has their place. What really decides your fate in this new existence, nature, or nurture? Who people become when the world goes to hell is the true decider on someone’s humanity, and will ultimately decide your fate. Forever changed, these people have to learn to adapt to this dangerous and dark new world before they become one of the living dead themselves. Odium Origins 2.5 is a 50’000 word novella to accompany the full length novel Odium. The Dead Saga.

Bulfinch's Mythology


Thomas Bulfinch - 1855
            The stories are divided into three sections: The Age of Fable or Stories of Gods and Heroes (first published in 1855); The Age of Chivalry (1858), which contains King Arthur and His Knights, The Mabinogeon, and The Knights of English History; and Legends of Charlemagne or Romance of the Middle Ages (1863). For the Greek myths, Bulfinch drew on Ovid and Virgil, and for the sagas of the north, from Mallet's Northern Antiquities. He provides lively versions of the myths of Zeus and Hera, Venus and Adonis, Daphne and Apollo, and their cohorts on Mount Olympus; the love story of Pygmalion and Galatea; the legends of the Trojan War and the epic wanderings of Ulysses and Aeneas; the joys of Valhalla and the furies of Thor; and the tales of Beowulf and Robin Hood. The tales are eminently readable. As Bulfinch wrote, "Without a knowledge of mythology much of the elegant literature of our own language cannot be understood and appreciated. . . . Our book is an attempt to solve this problem, by telling the stories of mythology in such a manner as to make them a source of amusement."Thomas Bulfinch, in his day job, was a clerk in the Merchant's Bank of Boston, an undemanding position that afforded him ample leisure time in which to pursue his other interests. In addition to serving as secretary of the Boston Society of Natural History, he thoroughly researched the myths and legends and copiously cross-referenced them with literature and art. As such, the myths are an indispensable guide to the cultural values of the nineteenth century; however, it is the vigor of the stories themselves that returns generation after generation to Bulfinch.

A Fall of Stardust


Neil Gaiman - 2000
    Portfolio in envelope.