Once Upon an Apocalypse: 23 Twisted Fairy Tales Paperback – September 16, 2014

Things that go bump in the night are the stuff of fairy tales to begin with. Add in the horror of zombies and it's a natural - or unnatural - combination. This is an interesting assortment of stories, some familiar some not and all quite gory. Zombie story lovers will enjoy.

Do the words Cthulhu, shoggoth, or R'lyeh mean anything to you? Have you read the works of August Derleth or Brian Lumley? When you hear Lovecraft, do you shudder inwardly, or think it's something out of a romantic spy novel?Are you familiar with the Brothers Grimm? Do the names "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Cinderella" remind you of your childhood? After growing up, did you come to realize that these bedtime stories were all pretty scary and could induce nightmares in innocent children?It has been quite some time since I dipped my toes into Lovecraft's mythos. However, once you have read the original tales, it doesn't take much to bring back the horrors captured therein. On the other hand, fairy tales have become the fodder of several TV shows, so they are pretty much front and center for all of us.TWICE UPON AN APOCALYPSE is a creative mashup of fairy tales and mythos. In it you will find 23 stories, by a variety of authors, that are both familiar and strange (the stories and/or the writers). With titles like "The Pied Piper of Providence," "Beanstalk," and "Follow the Yellow Glyph Road," it doesn't take much imagination to see the inspiration for these particular stories.The editors, Scott T. Goudsward and Rachel Kenley, have assembled a smorgasbord of fantasy and horror to keep you up late for several nights. This is not an anthology you will buzz through in one fast reading. There is just too much meat on the bone for that. The serious student of H. P. Lovecraft will feel right at home and will dissect each tale for its faithfulness to the mythos. The reader of fantasy and horror that hasn't read Lovecraft might just be tempted to see what the mythos fuss is all about. In either case, add this to your library and ponder the truth of Elder Gods, Great Ones and Great Old Ones.I take my reading very seriously, so I read everything to the very end. I would recommend that you more than glance at the biographies of the authors at the end of the book. Many of them have websites where you will find links to more works that will make your skin crawl.

Think of all of your favorite fairy tales. Ok, now leave behind your pre-conceptions and add a zombie apocalypse. That’s what this anthology is.I’ll start off by saying that I really enjoy reading dark and reimagined fairytales.In my bookish youth I was constantly searching out books like Gregory Maguire’s Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Wicked, and Mirror Mirror.I also thrived on disturbingly bizarre things like The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs and The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. I could go on and on just about that obsession of mine, but then I’d be getting reeeaaally off topic…So, long story short, I found this collection of incredibly dark and adult stories to be right up my twisted alley.On the whole, it is a very well put together collection. Each of the stories approach the zombie lore uniquely and told the stories in very surprising ways. And, thankfully, none of them felt like the sadly mashed together mess that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was. (Never read that book, btw. If you want classics with an undead twist read this instead).Some stories were stronger than others, but the majority of the tales grabbed me and made quite the impression. So much so that I’m tempted to gush over each one individually, but I’ll just pick my top 4 to mention.1) Mary had a Little Limb by Wendy DabrowskiThis Mary had a Little Lamb re-telling was incredibly gross, equally disturbing, and had me laughing like a maniac the whole time. Immortal Alexander kept looking up from editing and asking, “what happened now?”2) Wednesday’s Goats by Justin ShortThis story is based on the Three Billy Goats Gruff. In this world humanity has been reduced to shambling, biting piles of undead flesh and the only creatures left alive on the planet are goats and birds. This story totally surprised me. It started off pretty close to the original telling and then when headlong into Walking Dead survival territory. I freaking loved the humor and tone of this one. For example, the goats were named Linen, Aluminium, and Cardboard. LOL! I can totally imagine goats naming themselves like that. After their favorite food, perhaps?3) Alice’s Undead Adventures by Amber KellerAlice in Wonderland lends itself incredibly well to a zombie apocalypse already, but Keller’s explanation of the contagion using Wonderland logic is so much fun. I also tagged a bunch of quotes from this story in particular because I loved the language of it so much. You should see my copy right now, it looks like a parade with all of it’s colored sticky-tabs hanging outside of it’s pages.4) Steadfast in the Face of Zombies by Trisha J. WooldridgeOn the opposite end of the emotional spectrum came this retelling of The Steadfast Tin Soldier. This story is told through letters written between two lovers separated by war and a quickly spreading zombie contagion. It is written with an atmospheric nod to the Vietnam war. Peter, our brave soldier with the bum leg, joins the fight overseas to try and protect the US from the zombie outbreak, while his beloved ballerina, Suzanne, remains stateside. She is not a passive creature either and they both end up in dire straights throughout the course of the story leading to the beautifully tragic ending.Seriously, just thinking about this story is making me cry.It paralleled the Tin Soldier story beautifully, yet did so in a way that made you forget you were reading a re-telling of it.Buy it, read it, love it, repeat.This is a fantastic book that everyone who loves horror, or zombies, or twisted fairy tales is going to love.

As Jonathan Maberry notes in his introduction, the original body of work we refer to as fairy tales “were actually pretty damn scary.” This book takes the simple concept of the fairy tale, most of which didn’t have happy endings until the Big Mouse got his mitts on them, and makes the endings even unhappier by adding zombies. Suddenly the Little Red Hen is a survivalist, the Billy Goats Gruff prefer trolls to the alternative, and the Pied Piper has bigger infestation issues than rats. Imagine the Brothers Grimm were writing fairy tales in a post-apocalypse world and you’ll have an idea of the theme of Once upon an Apocalypse.If you’re inclined to believe that the zombie craze has pretty much flooded the market, this will be a refreshing reimagining of the genre. This anthology contains 23 stories that are a mash-up of zombies and fairy tales. Some of the writers approach the material more seriously than others but even the most serious piece has its tongue firmly in its cheek. Let’s face it, a military foray against the undead can’t be entirely straight-faced when the narrator is the Gingerbread Man. Just don’t plan of reading these tales to junior at bedtime unless you enjoy those 3 AM terrors.The companion book, a mash up of fairy tales and the Lovecraftian mythos has been delayed by the publisher. This is a pity. Based on this volume, the second one promises to be just as wryly gruesome as the first.

Very pleased with item.

I haven’t read the entire book but so far, so good. The cover art is pretty scary LOL.Great writing. Love it.