Book Review: Women of the Woods
By Elizabeth Suggs
Women of the Woods by Fabled Collective is a collection of dark fantasy and folk horror short stories, reminiscent of a contemporary style of Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Washington Irving.
I haven’t been so impressed by a collection of short stories in a while. If I could give this a 6/5, I would! Each story is polished and well-paced, with great character development and awesome stories.
We've got it all in this anthology—witches, shapeshifters, curses, darkness, and more. Also, birds. Lots of birds. I haven’t read many bird-centered stories, and these were interesting.
We start with “‘Neath the Old Tree” by Mary Rajotte, who sets the stage for the collection with her strong writing and heavy tone.
This story follows Elen, who is believed to be a witch in her town. Adding more stress to the situation, Elen is pregnant.
Another striking story “Gingerbread” came from the author Marshall Moore (who’s going to be in the Collective Fantasy: An Unsavory Anthology Nov. 2021!). This story is a twisted Hansel and Gretel tale. While it starts similarly to the original, this one goes into depth of Gretle’s psyche, her experience with the witch and her brother, and her journey. Very well-written. Great story. The ending is what nightmares are truly about.
We follow next with “Necromancing Over Coffee” by A. R. Cook, which is set in a world filled with new creatures and characters. Cook put a lot of time in the development of the story and the characters. I hope there’s more to this story! I want an entire book of this world. Also, I won’t spoil the last line, but it did make me laugh.
“The Rebirth of Joy” by Arwen Spicer centers around two characters: Constanza and Valeria, who everyone calls Joy. Joy, as her namesake implies, brings happiness to all those around her. She is the light of everyone’s life, and Constanza hides in the back. She’s a nobody, and for that she hates Joy. Rather than pursuing a life of happiness herself, she builds her anger up and she’s the worse for it. I especially liked that the ending was unexpected.
“Lighted Feather, Hollowed Bone” by Caitlin E. Jones is a good tale. This quote sums up the story: Sometimes we are born into this world, too fragile for the place we find. The imagery in this story is intense and particularly awesome, especially for what happens!
“Myrtha” by Victoria Audley has a hauntingly poetic way of writing. She writes somewhere between smooth and chaotic. This story focuses on one woman, but in reality, the tale is about all the women hurt and abandoned by their lovers.
“Saiya” by Katie Brittle is a cautionary tale about isolation, set during a pandemic. I’m not sure if Brittle wrote this story knowing 2020 was coming, but the tale feels very relevant. Be careful being alone!
“My Lady of War” by Whitney Zahar is set during wartime. Our main character, Jeremiah, also known as Shakespear, pines for his love, and wonders why he left her to fight in the first place. I really like the premise of this story, and the beginning started out really well, but I wasn’t a fan of the ending. It felt a little out of place for me.
M. Regan takes us into the world of death and magpies in the story “The Magpie.” One magpie infiltrates a home. Whether this bird is good or bad, it’s left for the reader to figure out. Regan has a very strong sense of language and story-building.
Constance in “The Winds of Old Hulter” by H. Parsons finds herself with a witch in the woods, under the eye of a dangerous storm. I liked Constance’s strong character. This was an enjoyable read.
“Alina’s Well” by Katie Coughran is about Alina who is trapped beside a well, with only Death to confide in. There is a chance to save her, but the price is too high.
“Roots” by Jennifer Cizl is a short, thought-provoking story. And very much a stream of consciousness. I fell into this abstract world.
“The Witch of Willow Wood” by Ashley Weave is where imitation has gone bad, or so it seems. This had a lot of twists and turns. And a witch.
I wasn’t a big fan of the final story “Of Fire and Ice” by Vanessa K. Eccles. This one was too sad for my taste. It was well-written, but I was hoping for more. We go through the character’s rage and her life, and for what? I was left unsatisfied.
As I mentioned, I really enjoyed this anthology, even my least favorite stories were enjoyable in their own way. If you’re looking for strong women, witches, and forests, then this is your book.
Here are my favorite quotes:
The season of plenty approaches, but outside Elen’s window, the fields lay barren. - “‘Neath the Old Tree”
She was older than anyone I had ever seen. Eyes milky-white with cataracts glared out from a mass of wrinkles and ugly brown warts. - “Gingerbread”
Throughout time, men have played with and discarded women with no more thought than a child has for a toy. Unlike a toy, however, a woman has a soul, and a soul does not die. - “Myrtha”
Men are taught to be brave but not to be wise enough to fear. The wilis’ numbers only grew, and Myrtha’s rage with them. - “Myrtha”
You are what you are. I am what I am. And together, we’ll be what we’ll be. - “The Magpie”
She had never expected to live this long. But then, neither had she expected to die so soon. - “The Magpie”
Forgetting that she’d promised herself she’d never fall for a man again, placing her arms around his neck, Alina pressed her lips and body to Roberts, giving herself to another type of prison. - “Alina’s Well”
The water promised adventure in its rapids and weightlessness in its calm. - “Roots”
Only when she was tethered tightly to the tree did they loosen their grips. - “The Witch of Willow Wood”
Elizabeth Suggs is the owner and founder of Editing Mee and co-owner of Collective Tales Publishing. When she’s not writing or editing, she loves to dive deep into books (the weirder, the better!), and she loves to take random long walks to unplanned destinations. Check out her recently released book Collective Darkness with eleven other authors. Buy your copy here: www.CollectiveDarkness.com