A Wish is a Terrible Thing

I finished the anthology of twenty folktales collected and reimagined in 'Cursed: A Wish is a Terrible Thing' (2020), edited by Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane, published by Titan Books. 

There're plenty of steady authors within the collection who lent solid content to these little tales of horror. They reimagine fairy tales, and rewrite them in the best way they know. Some are fairly fun, tbh. I enjoyed a number of them. 

Catriona Ward's 'At That Age' was eerie creepy with forever-young enchanted children who would lure others in, and the idea of the Fountain of Youth, Hester, the eternal being being replenished from the blood of children who are twins. Then I realized that Hester is perhaps a spin on Hester Prynne of 17th century Salem in Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'. That Hester was accused of murder and perceived as a witch. This Hester is an eternal being who eats children who are twins. 

When the editors put Neil Gaiman so prominently on the front cover, I wondered what it was. Ahhh. It's 'Troll Bridge' by Neil Gaiman. This was written and published as a short graphic novel in 1993. All of us must have read it.

Jane Yolen features rather prominently — she has two short poems bookending the collection, titled 'Castle Cursed' and 'Castle Waking'. She has a short story 'Little Red' co-authored with writer and folk rock musician Adam Stemple. Little Red stays at a hospital, presumably, for mentally ill children. Little Red has been cutting her forearms. She also has a nemesis adult in this hospital who physically abuses her, Mr L. Then I realized, this is Little Red Riding Hood! But what we don't know is, whether the horror is going on in her head or she physically manifests into a wolf. What we do know is, she kills her Grandma in this story, and kills Mr L. 

I wake, not surprised to be tied down again. Seven points this time, maybe more. I can't even move my head. 

"Jesis, Red, you killed him this time." It is Alby, drifting into view above me.

"Go away, Abby. You aren't even real."

She nods without speaking and fades away. I go to sleep. I don't dream.

The true horror isn't supernatural. It's human. I found it in 'New Wine' by Angela Slatter, a writer based in Brisbane, Australia. Eighteen year-old Alek Howard and his tutor Valerie Wynne shares an easy relationship. His mother apparently left the family when Alek was a young boy. Valerie also doubles up as Alek's guardian and housekeeper since his father Reid Howard travels so much and misses all birthdays and special occasions. 

Valerie lost her daughter Lily when one day, she disappeared without a trace, and later on, her husband took to drinking and also skipped town with their joint bank account. Reid offered her a job and a home with the Howards to care for Alek.

Alek has a penchant for girls and he has a continuous string of girlfriends and such. I blinked when he said "Sometimes his father was one of the reasons Alek didn't stick with a girl, but he'd never told Valerie that because how pathetic was it? Having your dad steal your girlfriends?" This was mirrored in a secret letter sent by Valerie's ex lover who had died — a CCTV image capture of Reid Howard's car, and the angle got him as a driver, and his passenger was her lost daughter Lily, the date stamp was on the day that Lily went missing. Ahhhh. The twist is coming.

The house has a basement where old and expensive bottles of wine was stored and locked behind a digital keypad and a passcode. Valerie finally tried to break the passcode to go in. The passcode is Lily's date of disappearance. The basement isn't filled with wine bottles. It was filled pedestals and glass walls of various types of women's shoes, some speckled with dried blood. This was a room full of trophies of a serial killer. She found Lily's prom shoes soaked in blood patches. Alek's mother Laura was also killed and her shoes were in this room too. Reid Howard is a rich silver fox, and a killer, thriving on pain and sadism.

As far as Mercy's Brook is concerned, Obadiah Tully died a hero, saving Valerie and Alek from Reid Howard's psychotic episode, before his own untimely demise. No bodies have been found in the grounds of the estate, and the Mayor is happy with that since he considers a graveyard of girls right be bad for the town's morale and future economic prospects. Least said, soonest mended and all that, he says to Valerie and Alek, meaning, Keep your mouths shut and no one looks at your actions too closely. The hastily appointed new Sheriff keeps telling Valerie that they might never find anything more than the shoe collection.