Book Review: "Fear in the Blood" ed. by Mike Ashley

Full Title = Fear in the Blood: Tales from the Dark Lineages of the Weird edited by Mike Ashley

We are most definitely coming up to that time of year again where reading ghost stories and tales of the weird is not actually considered that weird at all. I am so excited it is unreal and for the start of this journey, I bought myself a copy of a new Tales of the Weird collection called Fear in the Blood. This book deals with horror stories written in families with some having families as the central theme. However, as we explore these families of writers, we also see how they incorporated some of the horrors of their own time into their works. It's not just about family - it's about so much more (and far more frightening).

The first story is called Krantz's Narrative and I'm not going to lie, this one is actually quite frightening. It's about a family who were once fairly well off until one day, the father discovers the mother having an affair and kills her and the lover. Ultimately, he runs away with the children and they live in a snowy cottage somewhere, surrounded by wolves and thus, become involved with someone who has a dark secret. This man is called the 'spirit hunter' and with him he brings his daughter.

Told from the perspective of the only surviving child to his friend some years later, this story gives us insight into one of the first monsters of its kind. Not just any monster: a werewolf. It is just completely immersive and possibly my favourite story from the anthology.

Another story I liked was called The Haunted Nursery and even though it was like a lot of haunted nursery stories, I think it had the atmosphere completely nailed down. About two people who are newly married and move into a new house, this tells the story of a tragedy that once befell a couple who lived there with their small child and what happened afterwards. It is a beautifully haunting story that does not really have one of those horrific endings - just slightly ambiguous and left open. I very much enjoyed reading it.

The next story I enjoyed was called To Reach the Sea by Monica Dickens. In this eerie narrative, a simple object—a wig—takes center stage. At first glance, it seems mundane, but as the story unfolds, the wig begins to exert a strange, almost supernatural influence on the people around it. Dickens creates an unsettling atmosphere, where the lines between reality and the weird blur. The sea, often a symbol of the unknown and unconscious, looms in the background, adding to the tension as the protagonist's connection with the wig becomes more dangerous. It is really quite a gothic masterpiece if you like something that does not seem like what it actually is. A chilling tale.

The last story I will discuss is called The Secret Ones by Mary Danby. This unsettling tale employs a distinctive narrative style that immediately disorients the reader. The plot revolves around a group of people whose secret identities and intentions are slowly revealed in an increasingly disturbing manner. Danby's ability to build an atmosphere of creeping dread is masterful, leaving readers with the impression that they’ve only scratched the surface of this chilling story. It plays with themes of hidden societies and dark truths lurking beneath the surface of normal life.

Each story explores how familial ties—whether through blood or inheritance—can bind individuals to their ancestors' secrets, curses, or unresolved conflicts. The anthology includes descendants of well-known authors like Charles Dickens and Nathaniel Hawthorne, whose descendants contribute their own takes on the weird and supernatural, continuing their literary lineages in a dark and intriguing fashion​. Each one explores the idea that even though we might think we are safe, there is always some danger lurking even within our own families.

This is your perfect Halloween read in which there are eighteen stories, each of them equally great and chilling, each of them with their own gothic tune playing beneath. It truly was fun to read and I hope that you, too, this holiday season, take the time to read it.