Chris Priestley (text), David Roberts (illus.), Tales of Terror from the Black Ship, Allen & Unwin, 272pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781408871119
This quietly spooky collection of short stories for middle grade readers is framed around a weary sailor, Thackeray, arriving at an inn where Cathy and Ethan are waiting for the father to return with the doctor. Thackeray convinces them to let him in out of a terrible storm and proceeds to regale them with stories of horror, murder and magic tattoos on the high seas.
What this book gets right is atmosphere: from the artwork by David Roberts, with characters drawn in delicate strokes to the storm raging within the story and Thackeray’s tales – it’s spooky. However, while each story is interesting and spooky on their own, put together in this novel, with this framing device, I thought it didn’t work as well as it should. This book might have been better as a collection of short stories; or it needed a stronger framing device in the storyline with the children. There is perhaps too much focus on the twist, but for that to resonate with readers, they need to care about Cathy and Ethan, and to care about them, you’d need to know more than a short conversation at the beginning and end of each chapter. Instead, there’s a disconnect between the stories and Cathy and Ethan that is never quite bridged for me. Thackeray himself is a plot device that seems to be there for the sake of being there – to provide an avenue for these stories and to be part of the twist in the end.
This is a highly competent collection of short stories that would have been better if that was all it was trying to be. For me, a twist can’t fix everything in a book.
Reviewed by Verushka Byrow
6 Comments
It does sound like it probably would’ve worked better as just a collection of short stories. I can imagine it’d be hard to connect to the characters with just a little conversation between each story. But at least the stories themselves were enjoyable!
Kristen, the stories were extremely enjoyable AND spooky in the best way! I really do think the author nailed the atmosphere of the stories int his book.
Completely agreed with Kristen above too Verushka, it sounds like it would have been more successful purely as a short story collection, especially when aimed at the middle grade market. I’m glad you were still able to enjoy it though. Wonderful review!
Kelly, TY 🙂 I think the author totally created the right kind of spooky atmosphere for the middle-grade market and wuss that I am I was finally able to enjoy the spookiness of a horror story lol
Great review! This one sounds interesting and although you have said that it didn’t work so well, I’m still keen to see how they managed to tie in the short stories with Thackeray the story teller. I also want to know what the twist is! 😉
I’m glad you enjoyed the short stories themselves and that the illustrations were good and the spooky atmosphere was there. All in all it sounds like a decent one.
Thanks Di! It is a pretty decent read all in all. The author and the illustrator really worked well together in this one! Heh, and no spoilers here 😉