The Bloody Chamber And Other Stories by Angela Carter | Horror Fiction Review

Hmmmm

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

Released January 1979, 162 pgs

Source: Bought with my own $

Goodreads | Amazon

For the 75th anniversary of her birth, a Deluxe Edition of the master of the literary supernatural’s most celebrated book—featuring a new introduction by Kelly Link

Angela Carter was a storytelling sorceress, the literary godmother of Neil Gaiman, David Mitchell, Audrey Niffenegger, J. K. Rowling, Kelly Link, and other contemporary masters of supernatural fiction. In her masterpiece, The Bloody Chamber—which includes the story that is the basis of Neil Jordan’s 1984 movie The Company of Wolves—she spins subversively dark and sensual versions of familiar fairy tales and legends like “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Bluebeard,” “Puss in Boots,” and “Beauty and the Beast,” giving them exhilarating new life in a style steeped in the romantic trappings of the gothic tradition.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

My 2 Cents for Free!

Eeek I don't know how to rate it. It's probably a 2 but one of the stories was a 4 and it was the longest so I'll go with a 3 for now.

I've been wanting to read this book for ages. I bought a used copy years ago, promptly buried it under other books and about a decade later forgot about it and bought a new reprint. I also somehow ended up with a copy from Audible. Ugh, why do I do this?

I should've loved this dark and haunting and beautifully written book but I also should've read it when I bought it the first time.

I did not love this dark and haunting and beautifully written book much at all. I don't know if it just hasn't aged well or if I've read too many dark and haunting and beautifully written fairytale retellings but I was mostly bored and annoyed. The first story, The Bloody Chamber, started things off right and it was the only one I enjoyed. It has a lovely gothic feel and the heroine, though a little annoying at times, was also nosy and headstrong and her mother? Well, her mother was amazing. 

The other stories were meh to bleh and I'm really sad about it. I went back and forth between the audio and the paperback when I found myself drifting away too easily from the audio. The problem for me was the constant focus on virginity and beauty and smart young ladies who often get stuck with idiot, brutish, or ridiculous men while so many of the older ladies are painted as ugly hags and crones. I get it. The ladies often take their sensuality into their own hands but so much of this just didn't live up to the feminism title people give it here in this year of 2024. I really should've read it a decade or so ago. 

I also have to say I despised Puss in Boots. Damn what an insufferable story. The cat is annoying and I love cats, they’re one of the best things on this planet but this cat as the narrator was insufferable and so was the nitwit who owns him. I guess this was supposed to be amusing but I'm too grouchy for it and thought it was ridiculous. What an idiot elaborate scheme these two concoct so the fool guy can have some sex with the beauty he’s fallen in insta-love with after seeing her once 🙃 He was “burning with the fever of love”. Satan save me. This fool was right up there with that other fool Erik from The Phantom of the Opera .  And don't even get me started on the cats having sexy time, ffs.  

Anyhow, I realize I am an outlier when it comes to this book but nothing anyone says will change my mind. My two paperbacks are headed straight for the Little Free Library.

Final Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

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