I've been looking forward to reviewing this book for a long time. It's one one the few books where only the intro itself made me think that this is a special and interesting book - before I even got started with the stories. And for each story I read, the more interesting the book became.

We are all wearing masks. That is what makes us interesting. These are stories about those masks, and the people we are underneath them." 

- Neil Gaiman, writing from a cabin in the dark woods.  

This book contains 24 different stories, poems and "disturbances". It holds the genres fantasy, horror, science fiction, poetry, anthology and fiction. It contains horro stories, fairy tales and poems and a lot, lot more.


One of the stories I personally loved the most is "Nothing O'clock". It is a story Gaiman wrote for the fiftiteth anniversary of the Doctor Who series. It's a story about the doctor and Amy, and it was just perfect. As a Doctor Who fan, it felt like someone had taken an episode I had'nt seen before and written it like a story instead of a tv-episode. This could most definetly have been a part of the show, because it was so accurate and exciting and I recognized the characters from the show. Gaiman har actually written some episodes of the real show, so I get why he's good at it. This was just a fantastic read, and it was so nice to enjoy the world of doctor who again, even though it's not from the tv-show.


Another story I really liked is "The Sleeper and the Spindle". A few writers, including Gaiman, was asked to write a story based on a stories that had influenced them. "The Sleeper and the Spindle" was the outcome, inspired by both "Snow White and the Seven Dwarf's" and "Sleeping Beauty". This is just a really special and amazing version that I loved and would love to see as a movie. I could just picture this creepy, yet wonderful world all as I read. The story is actually also avialable as an illustrated storybook for children, as you can see on the picture above.

"Click Clack the Rattlebag" nearly scared me to death... It may be because of the timing and setting though; I was really tired and had already gone to bed, and decided to finish the story I was reading (wich was "Jerusalem", wich is really good but not scary). I did that and decided to read another, even though I was getting really sleepy. And there it was. I had to read yet another one to be able to sleep afterwards, because I was seriously scared. It's really short, and explains what all the creaks and clatter in the house that you only hear when you're alone really is.

A third story that I was really fascinated by is "The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains...". It was really interesting and a world I just sunk into. The images that came up in my head while reading was amazing. I could just sit and think how beautiful and mighty the world looked like was. Also, Gaiman had about the coolest performance of the story at the Sydney Opera House (wich I did'nt know until I was done, but I can just imagine how wonderful it would have been to see that). He had a string quartet play a "moody and glorious soundtrack" while he was reading, and artist Eddie Campbell created illustrations that was shown during the performance. That, would have been so amazing to be at!


There are a lot of other really good stories and poems in this book, and I have enjoyed the whole journey from beginning to end. It's a collection worth having and worth reading. I have to be honest and say that I did'nt read "Black Dog", wich probably is the biggest reason for a lot of people to buy this book. It is a new tale, exclusively for this collection, that revisits the world of "American Gods". The only reason I did'nt read it, is because I want to read that one first.

All over, I'm really pleased and my love for short stories have been nothing but bigger after reading Trigger Warning.