BOOK REVIEW: DANCING IN THE SHADOWS: A TRIBUTE TO ANNE RICE

Book review: Dancing in the Shadows: A Tribute to Anne Rice

20/5/2022

Dancing in the Shadows not only gives you that proprietary Anne Rice blend of gloom & thrill in spades, it also shows how beautifully those rock-solid foundations can be built upon by new voices, exceptionally cultivated and curated by Elaine Pascale and Rebecca Rowland.

Dancing in the Shadows: A Tribute to Anne Rice
Edited by Elaine Pascale and Rebecca Rowland
Yuriko Publishing, LLC
Release date: May 22, 2022 in paperback and eBook
Page count: 291
ISBN: 978-1-7372083-6-5
Book website: https://rowlandbooks.com/dancing-in-the-shadows

Immortality in More Ways Than One

There’s a certain mood that you come to expect when you read a Rice. Whether you were partial to her vampires, or her witches, or her more sensational works, there’s a sultry slow darkness that prompts you to curl up in an overstuffed armchair and let yourself be carried away.

If you pick up one of her books—which you should do, frequently—you know what you’re after, and know you’ll be left trembling and satisfied, and that’s exactly what you’d want to see from a tribute anthology as well.

Dancing in the Shadows not only gives you that proprietary Anne Rice blend of gloom & thrill in spades, it also shows how beautifully those rock-solid foundations can be built upon by new voices, exceptionally cultivated and curated by Elaine Pascale and Rebecca Rowland.

The two editors seem in perfect control not only of the voice of the anthology overall, but also of the rhythm & order of their selections, doing their damndest to leave you rather breathless by the end. There’s no doubt in my mind they’re fans of the original work, and their mission, as pointed out in the poignant foreword by Lisa Kröger, was to contribute to Anne Rice’s immortality: “ “I want to be loved and never forgotten. […] I want to be immortal.” Anne Rice did not have to become a vampire to live forever. She is alive in her words. And she is alive in her legacy.”

Picking favorite stories doesn’t seem right in this case. The original work that inspired these stories has many facets ranging from thrilling twists to delectable sensory elements to historical and architectural detail, and they’re all represented here. Those aspects of Rice’s work that titillated me most might be the ones you suffered through to get to your favorite parts, and the same may very well apply to this collection. What I can guarantee, however, is that you’ll have access to a broad range, of which the baseline quality is very high.

The opening story, C. W. Blackwell’s “House of Blood and Stone”, firmly and skillfully shows you the classic moods and roots of what you signed up for and why we still seek out those moods today, while the exit point, “Only Bees Remember” by E. F. Schraeder, takes an approach that spans both time and genres, excitingly touching on thriller and even eco-horror tones, without ever forgetting its Gothic core.

Holley Cornetto needs no more than three lines to hook you beyond hope, break your heart, and raise your temper in “Black Mold Lullabies”, while Morgan Sylvia’s “The Witch Mirror” lets you gracefully sink into a carefully-set scene before taking you on a languorous trip through generational magic.

Kristi Petersen Schoonover’s “Haint Gonna Happen” lures you in with its wry conversational humor that makes you feel like you’re being told a ghost story by your funniest friend—who happens to be an expert in marine life!—while Scotty Milder’s “A Little Stain” is standing by to rip your heart out with grief and give you the full-body sob you didn’t know you needed.

The mysterious buildup to the fierce, wild brutality of Trish Wilson’s “Dirty, Unhappy Things” is likely going to leave you in a state of shock, while Angela Yuriko Smith’s “Interview with the Almighty” will have you nodding along to the perversely familiar power struggle between humans and the divine.

I could go on through every entry, but truly, this range and breadth is something you deserve to discover for yourselves.

That’s not to say that you won’t find a coherent voice fueled by common themes. You’ll get your old manor houses with secret pasts exposed under full moons, your abbeys and cemeteries, your last will and testaments, your psychics, your hauntings, and even a much-beloved-by-horror-fans daguerreotype. More importantly, you’ll get to explore and experience occult forces, colorful characters, strained family relationships, secrets, sanity, and very real human pain, trauma, and catharsis. What this collection doesn’t have (or need!) in terms of modern trappings, it has in terms of modern sensibilities, the voice of today’s fears and hopes shining through the seemingly classic tales.

As for who might not be thrilled by this publication, and what might bother them: I’ve not been able to find any entry in this anthology that I couldn’t immediately trace back to its mission and inspiration, nor one that didn’t deserve to stand among the others. Having said that, it’s normal that not all books are right for everyone. Readers who find Gothic styles a bore, or who enjoy modern voices and unprecedented settings, might not find what they’re looking for in this anthology. There’s nothing wildly experimental about it, nor will you find exact in-universe replicas of the stories that inspired it. I’d also say that if your favorite aspect of Rice’s work was the eroticism, that’s not particularly the focus of this publication. Everyone else, however, is guaranteed to find at least a handful of new favorite stories, here.

As an avid reader of short fiction, I found myself loving the book’s format that placed author bios right at the end of their respective story, giving me an immediate chance to learn who I’m enjoying and what else of theirs I can read. The rest of the form & formatting, including the heading illustration and fonts, really contribute to the complete feel and experience.

Overall, I’d say: listen to your heart. Has it been too long since you’ve read a Rice? Do you want to learn who else in the modern literary world might help you scratch that same sultry itch? Then pick up Dancing in the Shadows and breathe that evening blossom-scented marshland air in.

Nitty Gritty:

Dancing in the Shadows pays tribute to Rice’s legacy with tales from today’s most innovative authors, drawing from the darkness where vampires and witches, mummies and rougarous, spirits and demons move to the music of nightmares.
Featuring stories by C. W. Blackwell, Anthony S. Buoni, Holley Cornetto, Stephanie Ellis, Douglas Ford, Lee Andrew Forman, Holly Rae Garcia, KC Grifant, Greg Herren, Christine Lajewski, Tim Mendees, Scotty Milder, Kristi Petersen Schoonover, E. F. Schraeder, Angela Yuriko Smith, Morgan Sylvia, Lamont A. Turner, Gordon B. White, and Trish Wilson; edited by Elaine Pascale and Rebecca Rowland.

All proceeds from this anthology will be donated to ARNO.

Animal Rescue New Orleans (ARNO) is an organization created and dedicated to the rescue and aid of abandoned and homeless animals in the New Orleans area, including responding to the immediate needs of those in need of medical care or those too old, too young, too sick, neglected, abused and deprived of love. ARNO promotes the foster, adoption and reunion of pets with caretakers as well as spaying and neutering all companion animals through our no-kill shelter.

DANCING IN THE SHADOWS: A TRIBUTE TO ANNE RICE
BY ELAINE PASCALE, REBECCA ROWLAND

A tribute to author Anne Rice, a scrabble of authors show their love to the Queen of Horror with a collection of Gothic tales written to honor her.

Alex Woodroe

I’m Alex Woodroe, a writer of dark fantasy, folk horror, and many other weird speculative genres.

Born in Romania, I’ve been moving around for the past five years, picking up skills like dog training, cart racing, and hand gestures in multiple languages.