The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror

I received a copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this collection, because I do love horror and I think JCO does horror in the truest sense of the word. She induces loathing, repulsion and horror in her readers and doesn’t use supernatural monsters to do so. The demons and monsters in this collection are all human, but perhaps more frightening for being so. The situations she describes are situations that any of might stubble upon or find ourselves in. What woman hasn’t been yelled at on the street? What minority group member hasn’t been the target of a puffed up little man looking to prove something to themselves, to their friends, to their angry puffed up little fathers who show more themselves had all their empathy and compassion beaten out of them? What bullied, tormented child hasn’t dreamed of finding people who understand them? What neglected, jealous wife hasn’t dreamed of her husband falling back in love with her again?
If there is a theme in this collection, it is the stories that we tell ourselves so we can live with what we’ve done, and the stories we tell others so we can maintain the fiction of who we really are. JCO revels in the chasms that exists between these stories and reality. That’s where you find the most cruelty, deception and desperation; the driving forces for the protagonists in these stories.
The standout stories were Equatorial and Mystery, Inc.
Equatorial was told from the perspective of the third wife of a dashing academic on a luxury cruise to explore the Galapagos Islands. The wife has become convinced that her husband’s pattern of taking a younger mistress while still married and then discarding the older wife to wed the mistress is about to repeat itself. Her fears become immersed in and indistinguishable from the prehistoric environment of the Galapagos, with the Darwinian kill-or-be-killed tone of life in this harsh land throwing her predicament into sharp relief. The writing was absolutely masterful; as we only ever see situations through the wife’s eyes, we can never be quite sure of the truth of the matter. The husbands’ obvious gaslighting and emotional abuse has made our narrator doubt herself and so we too doubt her and our own interpretation of events. The setting was so unique, I would read a novel length book about these characters.
Mystery, Inc. was just a fantastically entertaining story about rival mystery book sellers, told in the style of a mystery itself, complete with poisoned chocolates and disguises. The narrator thinks himself devilishly clever, yet is unable to see the plainly telegraphed plot developments being told through Neuhaus’s story. While many of the stories in this collection have unresolved or ambiguous endings, the ending of this story was delicious and so satisfying.
If you love short stories, gorgeous writing and horror that actually says something about humanity and the human psyche, I would highly recommend. show less

The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror by Joyce Carol Oates is a volume of short stories that certainly keep the reader riveted to the page. This is only my second volume of short stories by this author but she has landed firmly on my list of favorite authors. These stories are dark and twisted and play upon the reader’s secret fears and paranoia. There are six stories in this collection and, like most short story collections, I found some worked better than others, but I truly found each one disturbing and chilling in its own way.

The stories varied from a young boy obsessed with dolls, a vivid racial killing, a teen being disturbed while house-sitting, a wife who is certain her husband is planning to kill her, the intricacies of show more feeding one’s pet, and how to advance your business. I was enthralled by “Big Momma”, and quite horrified by both “The Doll-Master” and “Gun Accident”.

I don’t consider myself a fan of short stories, but I must concede that Joyce Carol Oates certainly writes stories that make me sit up and take notice. The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror serves up a collection that is creepy, troubling, slightly distasteful and quite wonderful to read. show less

I received an ARC copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A very fine collection of dark stories by a master writer in her prime. Really, it is a matter of taste with regard to which of the individual stories you will prefer, but Oates genius is evident in every word.

I found the first story, the title story--The Doll-Master to be a bit predictable and that took away from my enjoyment but it also reinforced for me something I really enjoy about Ms. Oates' writing. Mainly, that despite her numerous accolades that place her at the top of the literary scene, she isn't afraid to acknowledge her affection for Lovecraft and other "pulp" writers and engage in playfulness that other "serious" show more writers avoid. That just makes her not only great, but fun to read.

"Soldier" was a very interesting character study that approaches a fairly frequent headline event from an interesting and cynical angle. "The Gun Story" was probably the most literary of the bunch as it explores criminal violence through the eyes of a young girl who deliberately refuses accept evil around her. I found it to be very moving and quite sad.

"Equatorial" was a fresh story, set in the Galapogos Island and other exotic locals. Wife #2 is facing the very real possibility that this exotic vacation is the opportunity for her to be removed in favor of a new and younger model. This story for me was exceptional in that while it wasn't a completely novel concept, the the exotic locations and the wonderful voice of the protagonist made this story very moving as well as enjoyable.

"Big Momma" is a wonderful Southern Gothic creep show and my favorite of the bunch.

"Mystery, Inc." was an homage to "pulp" mysteries and could have been pulled from an Ellery Queen's or maybe even more likely Alfred Hitchcock's mystery magazine.. The story line and narrative voice actually made me think of creepy comics from the 50's in the way the story lead to what gradually became a more an more obvious, but appropriate ending.

First rate collection. show less

It wasn't the type of "terror" that I am accustomed to reading but it was still intriguing enough to satisfy this terror fan. The terror was so subtle that it gave you the chance to imagine what the characters were going through. The images that are built in the reader's own mind can sometimes be more frightening than any other kind. Overall it is a pretty good short story collection of bizarre and sinister tales.

Este libro es definitivamente una sopresa para mi, no conocía a la autora y la verdad es que desee leerlo por el título. Ninguno de los cuentos se siente incompleto, como puede suceder en algunas ocasiones, de hecho para mi el falló está en que, en las historias más largas, se siente como que das vueltas a lo mismo sin llegar a una conclusión, pero los cuentos más cortos son bastante sólidos.

En la mayoría, los protagonistas son niños, aunque hay algunos narrados por adultos acerca de las vivencias de su niñez. Este recurso es muy utilizado por los autores dada la vulnerabilidad de los niños especialmente sí, como en este caso, las situaciones no son fantásticas, sino que entran en el terreno de lo verosímil.

No creo que show more ninguna de las tramas llegué a asustar, aunque son definitivamente perturbadoras. La autora tiene una manera de llevarte a la resolución dando desde el principio pistas para que sepas lo que pasará, pero haciendo que quieras conocer el como llegaremos a este cierre. De hecho está fue una de las cosas que más me gustó, los finales no son del todo explícitos, te deja lo suficiente para que sientas que la historia cerró del todo dándote al mismo tiempo elementos que hacen que tú decidas que les sucederá a los personajes después de que la narración termina. Está en tu imaginación decir si viven, mueren, matan, corren, se paralizan, etc. al no explayarse del todo en que finaliza tu tienes la oportunidad de cambiarlo que sucede.

Para finalizar ¿Algunas vez han escuchado que en un desfile lo primero y lo último que muestras debe ser lo más impresionante? Pues aquí la autora maneja los cuentos de esa manera. El primero, que da título al libro, es una historia muy perturbadora y realista, te deja impresionado y esperando mucho de los cuentos. Y cerramos el libro con Mystery, Inc. un cuento ambientado en una librería, y con protagonistas adultos, que fue posiblemente el que más me gustó; te regresa a la misma sensación de extrañeza y te introduce en los dialogos. show less

If you are worried that any of these stories are going to scare the pants off of you, never fear, I give them 3 scares out of 5. Seriously though, there is some creepiness here and there, but nothing that is going to make you have nightmares for days, looking at you "It".

I got this collection back when I was still scouting around for Scary (Women) Authors and Diverse Authors Can be Spooky Fun books.

There are only 6 stories in this collection and though some were dancing towards scary/horror most were just more in the mystery or thriller genre to me.

"The Doll-Master" (4 stars)- I liked the set-up to this book. A young boy who mourns his cousin that has passed away. He keeps a doll of hers to remember her by, but it is taken away from show more him by his jerk of a father. The boy grows up to become obsessed with stealing away found dolls that he finds laying around on the ground, playground, etc. Of course when you start reading you realize what is really going on. I liked this one the most of the six stories though I thought the ending was a real letdown. I think you can guess at what is going to occur, but in all of her stories, Oates endings just kind of peter out. I don't know if that's her way of showing tension/terror, but it got old real quick by the end of the collection.

"Soldier" (5 stars)- I don't think I was in the proper mindset for this story. This hit a little too close to home for me with regards to me thinking about the Trayvon Martin shooting and how a lot of people applauded GZ (I am not spelling out his name) for the actions he took and how we all got a well gee he's a really racist and appalling human being after the fact. In "Soldier" we have a young man being applauded for shooting a young black boy (in his recitation to the police and others he thought he was a man) when the boy and his five other friends tried to attack him. Oates manages to really get under the skin of what a lot of people are saying and not saying regarding violence against African Americans in the U.S. right now. And she slowly peels back the shooter's state of mind until you get to see every little ugly thought the person had concerning black people. This story actually made me tear up a bit. The ending leaves so much unsaid so who knows how things will go. Will this man be lauded a hero or be found guilty in the court of law.

"Gun Accident: An Investigation" (2 stars)-This one was just odd. We have an older woman recollecting her childhood teacher and how she was asked to take care of her Siamese cat, plants, mail, etc. while she was away attending to her husband. I honestly thought the story was heading one way, and then Oates throws in the girl's older black sheep cousin and the story shifts. I don't know exactly what Oates was going with here, maybe look deeper at stories that a person is telling you. Maybe she was also trying to get into how back in the day (and still today I would argue) people don't talk much about the things a man/boy can do to a young woman and how that can leave them. Like I said, this story was odd and I felt like was trying to do too much.

"Equatorial" (1 star)-Sorry the wife in this story (we finally find out her name is Audrey) was not that smart. She obviously realizes slowly but surely something is wrong with the vacation she and her husband (who has been married twice before her) is on. I wanted to ask girl do you even Hitchcock or what?

The flow in this one was not as great as the first two either. The story just builds and builds and we all get talks about goats, turtles, etc. on the Galapagos Island (yes I am serious) which I am sure symbolically were supposed to represent the wife, but guess what i am not in English Lit senior class anymore and I don't feel like trying to interpret people, words, or things. The ending still left things somewhat in the air. But since I am a Stephen King woman I went the dark route and just said ah well so that's how that ended and went about my day.

"Big Momma" (1 star)-apparently this and the previous story were stories of naive women/young girls. I am too tired to even get into this, but a girl befriends someone whose family would make Leatherface's family cringe from. There is obviously something not right there. So yeah the ending was a foregone conclusion and I just kind of went, okay moving on.

"Mystery, Inc." (3 stars)- Look, I love bookstores too, enough to kill for one though.....okay no. I am going to go with no.

But reading the unraveling of one man named Charles Brockden who is going to do whatever is necessary to acquire this bookstore. The guy ends up I guess blundering on (or not) and at least in this story, we can 100 percent guess at the ending. show less

Excellent, beautifully written collection of short stories. I enjoyed each and every one of these stories and found them to be disturbing, chilling, suspenseful and thought provoking and sometimes even sad.

My favorite of the six, though it was hard to choose a favorite, was “Mystery, Inc.”, which every mystery book lover will devour like candy (pun not intended for those who have read the story). I felt like I was reading an Edgar Allan Poe story that I had somehow missed over the years. As for the title story, “The Doll-Master”, I’ve always found dolls to be a bit eerie. I remember as a child sitting with all my dolls having a tea party when I realized they were all staring at me with those big blank eyes and I’d get show more frightened and have to leave the room. This doll story by Ms. Oates was quite different from what I had expected. “Equatorial”, “Gun Accident” and “Big Momma” all kept me on the edge of my seat with suspense. “Soldier” is a most timely story.

These stories are proof that there is no need for excessive gore and over-the-top fantasy to write a great horror story. I’ve read reviews that these aren’t horror stories but I’m sure if you encountered any of these happenings in your normal day, they would certainly register as total horror. Joyce Carol Oates proves again that she is a master at quietly finding the dark areas in every-day lives.

Whether these stories can be considered thrillers, horror or engrossing character studies, the book is highly recommended by me.

This book was given to me by the publisher through NetGalley and Edelweiss in return for an honest review. show less