Tonight we’re going with a horror fairy tale: House of Salt and Sorrow by Erin A. Craig.
This book was a great mix of fantasy and horror, and that’s a genre we need more of!
(That’s a barely disguised request for fantasy horror suggestions in the comments. Just in case you missed it.)
It reads like a dark fairy tale, which I think is my new favorite kind of story.
I would suggest reading this while it’s stormy outside and you’re all alone in the house. That’s the kind of atmosphere this book needs.
House of Salt and Sorrow
by Erin A. Craig
Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls’ lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.
Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn’t sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with?
When Annaleigh’s involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it’s a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next.
I still need to read this one! Yikes, it’s been on my shelf waiting patiently for quite some time now.
The Starlit Wood is an anthology that might help you find more dark fairy tales. The short stories are not all super dark, but they trend that way, and they’re certainly not traditional fairy tales.
They don’t have to be SUPER dark, but I’m definitely more Grimm than Disney when it comes to my taste in fairy tales.
I’ll check it out!
They’re definitely more Grimm than Disney.
If you like her writing style, Seanan McGuire’s Indexing duo is a dark-ish fairy tale mash-up. It’s a lot of fun, though it’s about ALL fairy tales and not any specific one.
Never read anything by her, but I’ll take a look 😉
If you decide you like McGuire’s work, there’s a bonus in that she’s a very prolific author. (Though her style isn’t for everyone.)