Snow White, Blood Red

Snow White, Blood Red is a compilation of adult versions of fairy tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. The stories are written by acclaimed writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror, and include such names as Charles de Lint, Neil Gaiman, and Jane Yolen.

I must say, as a lover of anything relating to fairy tales, this book was an absolute dream to read. The stories range in length anywhere from 2 to 30 pages, and are separated by title pages including a short description of the author and an introduction to the story. The stories each involve fairy tales, some famous and some very obscure, in very different ways. Some, like Like a Red, Red Rose by Susan Wade, are written very much like the fairy tales we were read as children, in that somewhat distant, dreamy tone, while others reapply the same story to a more modern or even futuristic setting, such as Tanith Lee's Snow-Drop. In a few stories, like Grahan Wilson's The Frog Prince and Charles de Lint's The Moon is Drowning While I Sleep use the fairy tale portions in dream sequences, more strongly identifying them as subliminal and archetypal stories.

I will admit that some of these stories were a little difficult to get through, and there were a few that I found to be very disappointing to the point of regrettable. Despite these few lemons, the majority of the stories were wonderfully written and deliciously dark. My favorites by far were The Moon Is Drowning While I Sleep by Charles de Lint, The Changelings by Melanie Tem, Troll Bridge by Neil Gaiman, A Sound, Like Angels Singing by Leonard Rysdyk, Puss by Esther M. Friesner, and The Snow Queen by Patricia A. McKillip.

Overall this was a wonderful addition to my library, and will be revisited quite often.

Writing: 8
Immersablility: 7
Re-Readability: 10