Book Review: "Out of the Past" ed. by Aaron Worth

I wanted to read more British Library Tales of the Weird and so, I downloaded tons of them that I had not read yet. The problem is that when I finish them, I'm not sure that I will have to wait for the next one or, whether it will already be out. I'm not going to lie to you though - I was thinking about this book perhaps two or three days before writing the review. One of the reasons was because I waited quite a while for this book and now, I have mixed opinions about it. Is it because I over-hyped it in my head or was it because the selection os stories are pretty standard and only a few really stand out? Let's take a look...

The story that stood out for me was The Witch-Finder by Frederick Cowles. This is a story about a man who prosecutes witches left, right and centre. He is a horrid human being with a penchant for being an absolute pain every time he speaks. The story starts off a bit weird because this is the character that is given to us and he is instantly unlikeable. However, as the story moves on, he becomes trapped by witches. The witches then get their retribution by speaking of the tortures witches endure under this man whilst giving the same ones back to him. If you think that it ends there, there is a small almost 'epilogue' paragraph which will leave a huge smile on your face. It really was the best thing about this book and I absolutely loved it. A fine example of 'good for her' fiction.

Another story I thought was quite clever was entitled Pride by Marjorie Bowen and it is set in Paris in 1520. The Queen of France becomes infatuated with a penniless man and this makes the Queen's previous man angry. However, this is not the only thing that he discovers about their weird relationship. As the story moves on, it is clear to him that the two lovers practice necromantic rituals and so, he hatches a plan to try to humiliate her in the act before her local peasantry. But she has made up her mind when it comes to what she would rather have. The question here is about pride being a sin - and whether it could ever be seen as a necessary evil.

Another one is called The Pink Columbine by Frederick Cowles again. I actually really liked this one because it reads like a satire rather than an all-out horror story. The writer makes a clever joke about the red ribbons tied around the necks of the aristocracy marking out where the guillotine should cut off their heads. Jacques Poisson has been elected as the commissioner and has a personal gripe with the Marquise for calling him a dog and striking him with a whip. He is ready at this party though, to arrest her and her new husband as traitors to the country. But there are many more things that he has not considered that obviously point us in the direction of the end of the story. The weird ending...

The Black Reaper is also a pretty good story but I do think that when the author began to include their own I found them to be inferior to the ones I had already mentioned. Again, unfortunately, the ones I have gone through in this article really are the stars of the show and besides these, I couldn't find myself getting engulfed by the fictions. Maybe if you were to read it, you'd feel differently. I know many people who have read this book have enjoyed Come, Follow! by Sheila Hodgson. But if I wanted to read that kind of story, I would simply read some MR James.

All in all, this was an average anthology for me, but I'm pretty sure I over-hyped what it was going to be in my own head. I think I expected there to be more than there was and, by the end I was a little underwhelmed. Here is a trick: try not to think too much about a book you want to read because sometimes you can disappoint yourself and it will probably be no fault of the book itself.