When Things Get Dark by Joyce Carol Oates, Josh Malerman, Carmen Maria Machado, Paul Tremblay, Stephen Graham Jones, Karen Heuler, Elizabeth Hand, Benjamin Percy, John Langan, M. Rickert, Richard Kadrey, Seana McGuire, Genevieve Valentine, Jeffery Ford, Ellen Datlow
Published by Titan Books
Age Group: Adult
Format: Anthologies and Short Story Collections
Genres and Categories: Horror Thriller, Supernatural
My Rating:
Published on: 28th September 2021
Pages: 352
Buy this Book! Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Blackwells / Forbidden Planet / Bookshop.org US / Bookshop.org UK / Waterstones / BookBeat Audio
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The Stoker Award-winning chilling anthology of 18 short stories in tribute to the genius of Shirley Jackson, collecting today’s best horror writers.


Featuring Joyce Carol Oates, Josh Malerman, Paul Tremblay, Richard Kadrey, Stephen Graham Jones, Elizabeth Hand and more.

A collection of new and exclusive short stories inspired by, and in tribute to, Shirley Jackson.

Shirley Jackson is a seminal writer of horror and mystery fiction, whose legacy resonates globally today. Chilling, human, poignant and strange, her stories have inspired a generation of writers and readers.

This anthology, edited by legendary horror editor Ellen Datlow, will bring together today’s leading horror writers to offer their own personal tribute to the work of Shirley Jackson.

This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

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I picked the ARC for When Things Get Dark up because I had heard the name Shirley Jackson multiple times this year. I’m not familiar with her work, which might come as a shock to some of you, especially if you’re a big horror fan. I tend to dip in and out of the horror genre, I flirt with it on occasion and read very specific horror subgenres. My main one is urban fantasy, my more specific ones are horror short stories, ghost stories and Victorian horror. In all that mix, I missed Shirley Jackson completely. As a British reader, it’s not unusual for me to find that what’s popular or well known to American readers is completely unknown to me.

Either way, you may be wondering why on earth I wanted to read When Things Get Dark, since I have never read anything by Shirley Jackson. Well, that’s because this isn’t by Jackson, it’s inspired by her. It’s also an anthology edited by the amazing Ellen Datlow, whose anthologies I’ve read to date have always been brilliant. There are also several authors in this anthology whose work I’m already familiar with. On top of that, horror anthologies are something I love. Inspired by a famous horror author or not, I was going to enjoy something in this anthology, no matter what.  Adding all of those up, it seemed like a good idea to me.

So, how did I get on? I found out that while I may not have had a name for Jackson’s particular brand of horror, I was already well familiar with it. It’s the type of horror that slithers into your mind and under your skin, that makes you ask things because the story doesn’t actually supply the answers. Was that house really haunted? Or was it cursed? How many people had died there? Do you want to know….?  Are you sure?

The stories in When Things Get Dark range in content; some are typical ghostly hauntings or pure horror, while others focus on the psychological nature of human nature and how horrific people can be. Some of the stories are a mixture of the two. The common theme running throughout them all is the urban setting. These are about everyday people living their lives. There’s nothing supernatural about them, nothing extraordinary about them or their lives until these events happen. It emphasises the terrifying thought that this could happen to anyone, that these people could be anyone. Mrs Jones across the road could be harbouring a deep dark secret, and you’d never know… this is definitely not the type of anthology for people who suffer from paranoia.

Thanks for reading my review for When Things Get Dark!

Are you familiar with Shirley Jackson’s work? Does an anthology inspired by her work interest you? Let me know in the comments <3

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