I recently enjoyed the audiobook Monster She Wrote, about women authors of weird fiction over the years, and was delighted to come across this softcover of one of their recommended titles in this Little Free Library in Hampton NH while dropping off some books of my own. It includes the story that inspired the film Company of Wolves.

It's quite an enjoyable read, with some stories getting very dark indeed but with elements of hope here and there.

The title story riffs on the "Bluebeard" concept, with some nice changes: for one thing, the cavalry-to-the-rescue scene features an excellent choice of cavalry, and I also loved the piano-tuner character as a nice contrast to the brutality of the heroine's husband.

"The Courtship of Mr. Lyon" is a riff on "Beauty and the Beast", with a somewhat more selfish Beauty - though things do work out for the couple in the end.

"The Tiger's Bride" is a kind of alternate take on the same basic plot, only here the heroine has been sold to the tiger - an actual tiger, yet - and the two have a much harder time getting to some form of connection.

"Puss-in-boots": this one's a delightful, rollicking take on the traditional story of Puss, and while it does feature a cat who can talk - and who can wear a human's boots and yet still leap about like a cat, much more impressive - the story unfolds in somewhat more realistic style than the fairy tale. Puss - who has a great confederate in the female tabby who lives with the love-interest - finds ways to befuddle the young woman's grumpy and possessive husband for the sake of his master, and eventually - well, let's just say that the story ends well for ALMOST everybody!

"The Lady of the House of Love" has the lone remaining vampire languishing in a remote village when a soldier happens by - cue a tender but doomed romance.

And of course "The Company of Wolves," in which many aspects of the "Red Riding Hood" tale are examined, rearranged, and subverted.

And there's more!

[There's a TV Tropes page on the book, with some entertaining tidbits.]

I'm adding this book to the Otherworldly bookbox, which will be on its way to its next stop shortly. Hope it travels safely, and that people enjoy the selection!

*** Released for the 2021 Great Backyard Bird Count challenge (see www.birdcount.org to join the count), for the penguin logo on the cover. ***

*** Released for the 2021 Heads Shoulders Knees Toes challenge. ***

I picked this book out of emmejo's Otherworldly Bookbox (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Horror). This looks like a great book. It looks like it may be in the same style of storytelling as John Connolly's The Book of Lost Things (a fav of mine). Thanks for sharing!