Tags:
Book: Doomed Romances: Strange Tales of Uncanny Love
Year: 2024
Editor: Joanne Ella Parsons
ISBN: 9780712355551
ISBN10: 0712355553
Synopsis: A prophecy threatens a volcanic upheaval for a star-crossed pair. A forbidden rite binds a dark arts dabbler to a phantom bride. A barstool chancer invites a devilish retribution on the dance floor.
Beckoning from this tome are twelve tales of dark romance and undying passions hailing from 1832 to 2022, marrying bewitching classics by Mary Shelley, Wilkie Collins and Angela Carter with twisting modern pieces by Nalo Hopkinson, Tracy Fahey and V. Castro - alongside the classic Gothic novella of sapphic vampire romance, Carmilla. Indulging in the strangest eddies of literary love, this new anthology bids you enter a doom-laden yet irresistibly seductive corner of the Weird.
This was a book that I got the chance to read as a critic’s copy thanks to Valerie from Independent Publishers Group. What caught my attention first was seeing that this featured a short story by Mary Shelley that I hadn’t read and having Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, a short that I’ve seen adapted to the screen many times but never read the source material. Knowing that this featured stories about love in different ways intrigued me.
Now if you know me, I’m not always the biggest fan of romance stories. That’s not to say that I’ll completely avoid them. If it is done well, I can get hooked into seeing where things go. These stories are able to do that. Not all are as effective as others, but we do get an interesting cross section here starting back in Victorian England and even having stories that are from more recent times. I do like seeing how these themes and concepts are used in a variety of tales. They’re still relevant today, which is interesting as well.
My plan here isn’t to break down each story, but I did want to bring up a few other concepts that were used to explore these ideas. Shelley’s story is the Invisible Girl. This still works today as this is more of an allegory about the lead character not having a say in her life. Le Fanu’s Carmilla explores sexuality with the titular character being a vampire that feasts on other women. Wilkie Collins has an interesting story here that involves mythology and what happens when you don’t follow what is told. There are also stories here about women, even if the time period it is set doesn’t permit, standing up for themselves. I was quite intrigued to see what each story would bring.
This is a collection of short stories that I’d recommend checking out. The theme of romance is something that I would say to not deter you. If anything, if you struggle to read older English stories, that was a bigger issue for me. For whatever reason, I enjoy them but it can be difficult to focus if the time doesn’t necessarily permit. These are all good stories, even if they aren’t necessarily to my taste. I love the commentary that you can pull from each one or just read them for entertainment. There could be one or two that are more in your face with what they’re conveying. I know that can deter people as well. Regardless, credit here to Joanne Ella Parsons for curating this collection, I couldn’t imagine reading as much as she did to compile this. Would recommend it.
My Rating: 7 out of 10