Curses, Inc. and Other Stories

Curses, Inc. by Vivian Vande Velde was one of my favorite books growing up, and I half-hesitated before picking it up again. What if it didn't live up to my childhood memories? What if it was more goofy than spooky?

Thankfully, my fears were unfounded. Vivian Vande Velde shines as much to me now as an adult as she did when I was in elementary school. She is an absolute master of the short story, with a twist at the ending of most - if not all - that never feels forced or smug. Sometimes you can see the twist coming, sometimes not, but every time is a delight. She also has a keen sense of humor that shines in her stories. Even the first story, the namesake of the anthology, mixes modernity with ancient superstition in a quick-witted, show more tongue-in-cheek story of revenge.

My personal favorite, however, will always be "Past Sunset", a mournful and melancholy tale about a small town in France where one never opens their shutters after dark. For years, this story haunted me well after I read it. It's thrilling and tense at parts, and achingly sad at others.

Other stand-outs include the funny "Skin Deep" and "Boy Witch", the wicked just-desserts "Cypress Swamp Granny", and the historical morality tale, "The Witch's Son".

A collection not to be missed, Vivian Vande Velde was great as a kid and - as proven by myself - still a delight to adults. show less

Curses, Inc. by Vivian Vande Velde was one of my favorite books growing up, and I half-hesitated before picking it up again. What if it didn't live up to my childhood memories? What if it was more goofy than spooky?

Thankfully, my fears were unfounded. Vivian Vande Velde shines as much to me now as an adult as she did when I was in elementary school. She is an absolute master of the short story, with a twist at the ending of most - if not all - that never feels forced or smug. Sometimes you can see the twist coming, sometimes not, but every time is a delight. She also has a keen sense of humor that shines in her stories. Even the first story, the namesake of the anthology, mixes modernity with ancient superstition in a quick-witted, show more tongue-in-cheek story of revenge.

My personal favorite, however, will always be "Past Sunset", a mournful and melancholy tale about a small town in France where one never opens their shutters after dark. For years, this story haunted me well after I read it. It's thrilling and tense at parts, and achingly sad at others.

Other stand-outs include the funny "Skin Deep" and "Boy Witch", the wicked just-desserts "Cypress Swamp Granny", and the historical morality tale, "The Witch's Son".

A collection not to be missed, Vivian Vande Velde was great as a kid and - as proven by myself - still a delight to adults. show less

Mildly interesting. I liked a couple of the stories - Witch's Son, in particular, and the one about the man who couldn't remember who he was - and found some of the others amusing. Some I didn't like, generally because the subject was so clearly expressed and I didn't like that (the one about the water spirit, in particular - and to some extent the one about the ghost, After Sunset). I preferred the stories set in fairy-tale times rather than the modern-day ones; not sure if that relates to the settings (though I do enjoy urban fantasy) or to those particular stories. As with most Vande Veldes, many (not all) of the stories illustrate someone getting a well-deserved comeuppance, particularly the title story. I'm glad I read it, but I show more doubt I'll bother to reread. show less

I will review each story individually first

Curses, Inc.--the title story, is about an 8th grade boy who jilts his date a week before the big dance because he doesn't want to spend his game money on some stupid dance. It was funny to see how cheap this boy would be. He originally starts out with a Jinx that would cover the girl's body completely with warts. This turns out to be too expensive so he instead wants her to lose her dog. Each curse thereafter is slightly more expensive and slightly more 'disasterous' to the girl. In the end nothing was as it seemed and the boy learned a very expensive lesson.

Skin Deep--I loved this story. Ardda is this unattractive sixteen year old girl who lives by herself to avoid having to deal with people. show more She has the power that her 'wishes' come true and got tired of having the villagers constantly asking for her to wish them things and then make cruel jokes behind her back. She thinks her luck has changed when an injured prince lands in her backyard, but sadly he turns out to be less then princely. She gets her revenge however.

Past Sunset--I cried a little during this story honestly. It starts with the tale of the Lady in White who roams the backalley street the narrator lives on every night after sunset. Despite being warned many kids still wish to sneak a peek to prove how 'brave' they are. One night a neighbor calls out that she needs help, she's dropped her son's medicine. The narrator's older brother volunteers for the mission and all goes well. Until the Lady shows up and it becomes a mad dash to save the boy's life.

To Converse With Dumb Beasts--What would happen if you were granted the gift of talking to animals? Would they really be as interesting as stories make them out to be? A lonely farmer finds out the answer, but the result is less then he wanted and worst then he thought possible.

Boy Witch--The young son of a witch is left to tend the house while his parents are away. A damsel in distress happens by for a cure to her afflication and the young boy makes things only worse.

Lost Soul--This was a cruel tale of a story. A young man, on his way home from a chore he was to have performed, chances across a beautiful maiden by a creekbed. He falls instantly in love and recklessly promises to return as often as she would like. Is she an undine or sylph as his neighbors have warned him? His obsession turns to murder and in the end he gets what he deserves, but hasn't learned his lesson.

Remember Me--A young man in rich clothing wakes up in the middle of the road, having no idea how he got there or who he is. Traveling to the nearest town does nothing, but subjecting him to the casual cruelty of the noble class and servants alike. Who is he? Where did he come from? Is he a prince? Though we're never given the reason he was afflicted with amnesia, we can draw our own conclusions at the end from the courtiers comments.

Witch-hunt--This was a chilling tale. A young girl's family is persecuted by the authorities for their satanic vices. We are told the story first from the young girl's perspective--as her home is raided and the Witch Hunters claim her parents, but the end of the story is told from the perspective of the Witch Hunter General and the truth is more in line with Fahrenheit 451 then the Salem Witch Trials.

Cypress Swamp Granny--A young girl in the South, just after the Civil War, learns what it means to appreciate what you have. Despite the fact this tale was serious and the end was anything but funny, the dark humor and irony of the young girl's commuppence is wonderful.

The Witch's Son--A mother tries for 13 years to ressurrect her son so that he can take vengence on those who wrongly murdererd him during the War of Independence. I was confused at first why Hugh was killed, but war is a nasty thing and vengence is even worse. This, unlike many of the other stories, had a happy ending filled with hope.

Overall I'd say the theme of the story was 'Be Careful What You Wish For', since many of the stories focused on a person either wanting better then they had or ignoring what they had. Some were chilling, from an emotional perspective (Past Sunset) and a couple were just hilarious (Curses, Inc. and Boy Witch), but I enjoyed all the stories. Though classified as 'young adult' I think that even adults might find the morals and humor in each story easily. show less

It basically goes the way of most anthologies: some stories I wanted to keep on going into a full length novel, others I didn't particularly care for. Though I must admit that each one has its good parts. Vivian Vande Velde is very reliable that way. Magic and chilling plot twists are basically her signature, so she does very well with this anthology of witches.

I think my favorite of the ten tales is unquestionably ‘Witch-Hunt’ as it leads you on a spooky journey with a fantastically true and hilarious ending that will have girls everywhere relating to it. ‘Curses, Inc’ is another story that stuck out to me, with its ironic turn of events and ‘Boy Witch’ was refreshing as we rarely hear of tales of male witches. I also thoroughly enjoyed the Afterword. As a aspiring writer myself, I very much enjoy hearing what inspires fellow writers and Vivian Velde doesn’t disappoint.

The art on the cover is fantastic as well. I never get tired of seeing what the mind of Cliff Nielsen can cook up, he is definitely an inspiration to a fellow digital artist. Overall, this is a brilliant show more compilation of tales for anyone interested in the supernatural, or needs a batch of stories for their next sleepover or Halloween party. show less

This is a collection of short fantasy. Some of them set in traditional fairy tale backdrops and others are in modern settings. Most of the stories are about kids aged 12-16 using magic for personal gain and discovering that the end results are not always what they expcected or wanted. My favorite short story was "Curses Inc" itself. A cheapskate boy discovers a website that offers curses and hexes. He decides to curse a classmate he hates, but refuses to spend enough money to make the curses actually effective. Each of the curses backfire and the ending is very clever. Most of the stories are humorous and make for fun, light reading.