A collection of very definitely adult stories. Based on well known children's fairy tales Hag" gives them an entirely new spin. An unusual concept, well executed and original.

This book is a collection of 8 forgotten folk tales retold with a feminist twist by female British authors. The collection was organised by Professor Carolynne Larrington and were told as podcasts before being published by Virago.

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I thought these stories were a delight, I especially loved The Green Children of Woolpit as it's set right next to the town I live and I'd never heard of this tale before.

The stories we're dark and eery and I would love to have some as full-length novels. The collection very much gave me Angela Carter vibes, which I'm always happy to find as she's my favourite! A perfect autumnal read.

4 ⭐

Thanks to NetGalley and Virago for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

From witches to pixies this short story collection re-tell tales that have been lost to Scotland, England and Wales. Diverse dark and creepy in execution these female authors take these fairy tales and transform them into a twisted beautiful book. It is rare I love every short story in a collection but this is definitely one that is an exception to the rule!

Hag is a collection of short stories based on UK folklore, that have been told in a contemporary fashion by some splendid authors. Covering a range of mythological creatures like fairies, elves, selkies, mermaids and weird paranormal stories like the Dauntless Girl and The brothers, theses stories are brought to life and respun in modern times. The original tales can be found at the back of the book to give some context.

In all of the ones that I really liked, I preferred the retelling to the original. My favourites (all 5 stars) were:
* Rosheen - I loved how the original tale of a badass girl is spun to show how familial bonds can draw you to certain places and people. Our heroine is also black and stays fearless.
* Between the Sea & Sky - is a sad little tale about a selkie boy torn between the sea and land. This was quite haunting and I won’t forget it. Also amazing considering the source material.
* The Holloway - great story that leaves you debating whether the happenstances are coincidental or the work of elves.
Honorable mention for the Panther’s tale, which is about an Indian princess cursed to be a panther.

The rest are a mixed bag and I generally preferred the original versions. Some of the retellings are truly forgettable like The Droll of the mermaid and The Tale of Kathleen. You will be astounded when you read the original.

Overall this was a great spooky ready for October and I found it refreshing to read all these stories I knew nothing about. It is a 3.65 but rounding up to 4 stars overall.

A weird and wonderful treat ideal for reading in a well lit, cosy room with the darkness of an autumn night and the fairy folk firmly locked outside -or at least you hope they are.
I particularly enjoyed reading the original stories and admiring the writer's imaginations in using the elements to create contemporary feminist tales.
Thank you to netgalley and Little Brown books for an advance copy of this book.

What a gorgeous collection of folk tales with a decidedly morbid, feminist twist. I love these twisted gems that sparkle and catch your eye... but once you are caught... you are hooked line and sinkered. There were one or two tales that I found were much better than their original counterpart, but on the whole this collection is an absolute classic. I would highly recommend this to be read on a cold gloomy dark night with a fire burning and a mug of coffee/tea or any hot beverage of your choice and read this creepy yet fascinating book. Love love love it.

This is a wonderful collection of short, re-imagined, stories based on lesser known folktales from the British Isles. The tales are dark and sometimes a little disturbing, and there is a definite feminist vibe throughout. Wonderful reading for longer Autumnal evenings, and as a lovely bonus the original tales that inspired the new stories are included later in the book. Recommended.

Here are sisters fighting for the love of the same woman, a pregnant archaeologist unearthing impossible bones and lost children following you home. A panther runs through the forests of England and pixies prey upon violent men.

From the islands of Scotland to the coast of Cornwall, the mountains of Galway to the depths of the Fens, these forgotten folktales howl, cackle and sing their way into the 21st century, wildly reimagined by some of the most exciting women writing in Britain and Ireland today.


Some of these folk tales are new to me, so reading some for me really has inspired me to go find their origins as these are told so incredibly well throughout this book. Tales such as ‘The Dauntless Girl’ which is a folk tale from my part of England here reinterpreted as ‘Rosheen’ is unforgettable and grips you more as you delve into the story - the characterisation and the dark setting is inescapable, and why would you want to? (Irenosen Okojie is definitely someone I want to read more from).

Another story that stands out is ‘Between Sea And Sky’ by Kirsty Logan in this collection. The changes of perspective between the mother and child as the story develops is brilliant and the ending is brilliantly done and it lingers on my mind now - the use of rhymes in the story leaving a haunting mark on it that just stays with me. ‘The Panther’s Tale’ by Mahsuda Snaith follow this and makes for an incredible read as we see the panther arrive and the people that ‘meet it’ - I think the last lines of this story are some of my favourite in the book.

This collection is so good and has some incredible retellings told by some incredible authors who really highlight their talent in this book throughout - with stunning characterisation, beautifully set scenes and bringing excellent twists to very old stories. I loved maybe the first half more, but really these stories feel so timeless, haunting, and perfect for this time of the year.

(I received an ARC from Netgalley for honest review).

This is a beautiful collection of folklore from some of the best new and established women writers on the scene. I especially loved Naomi Booth's tale!

I loved every single one of these stories. What an array of talented writers! Each original story has been retold to reflect contemporary issues, but also in a way that clearly shows each writer's distinctive style and preoccupations, so that the collection as a whole is astonishing in its variety. Some are playful, some are more lyrical and poignant, all are relevant to today's intimate female experiences. A real gem!

This! This right here is the book I've been looking for all month. I had such a hankering for some feminist short stories that are a little bit different and unique - this fit the bill perfectly.

There is such an amazing range of voices, and stories from all over the British Isles, in this collection. Usually there are a couple of stories in a set that you won't vibe with for whatever reason but I'd be hard pushed to pick one out here to be honest.

Each story is a masterclass in the form and I really appreciated that the "original", or at least the story each is based on, is also included in the book as a comparison piece. The introduction was a fascinating insight into the pulling together of this collection and I found that a great read in itself.

Overall, I really, REALLY enjoyed this. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review.

RATING: 3.5 stars.

This is a collection of forgotten folk tales from the British Isles, reimagined and put to the page in a new, diverse, feminist way.

Some stories contained quite unexpectedly dark themes, which may be uncomfortable for some. Overall, this was a collection of very well written engaging stories.

This is a wonderful collection of re-interpreted ancient folk tales, from a feminist perspective, for our more modern era by a range of diverse women authors that include Daisy Johnson, Kirsty Logan, Emma Glass, Eimear McBride, Natasha Carthew, Mahsuda Snaith, Naomi Booth, Liv Little, Imogen Hermes Gowar, and Irenosen Okojie. The dark, gothic influenced, traditional folk tales are sourced from all corners of the British Isles, originating from the oral tradition, and fittingly this collection began as podcasts that evolved into these fascinating curated stories by Carolyne Larrington, professor of Medieval English Literature. Larrington provides the reader with a lengthy, remarkably insightful and informative introduction which includes the exploration of the title, Hag.

So from Orkney, Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, the Midlands, Yorkshire, and the Fens and more, imaginative, eerie, disturbing and unsettling stories are told, of the supernatural, that which cannot be explained, of mermaids, pixies, curses, demons, boggarts, fairies, and the green children. We even have a panther, the Goddess Kali, tales of exploitation, trauma, and the exploration of the relationship between sisters. They touch on love, loss, grief, pregnancy, miscarriage, and domestic abuse. The authors bring their own backgrounds and experience to these strange, vivid, atmospheric, distinct, different, haunting and weird stories, providing perfect reading matter for those long and dark Autumn and Winter nights. I did not really connect with McBride's story, but otherwise loved the rest, particularly Snaith, Glass, Booth and Johnson's offerings.

The original source version of the tales are provided at the end. Highly recommended, particularly for those readers interested in becoming acquainted with a flavour of the range of British folk tales and their retelling. Many thanks to Little, Brown and Virago for an ARC.

I enjoyed this selection of creepy folk tales, updated for a modern readership. As is usual with anthologies of this type, some of the stories resonated with me better than others, but overall they were of a very high standard and there’s something for everyone.

It was particularly pleasing to reach the end of the book and find the original folk tales and snippets that the authors had used as a jumping off point. It’s amazing what a talented writer can do with even a short prompt.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

Hag is a wonderfully relevant and apt anthology of British and Irish folktale retellings, perfect for the upcoming Halloween season. Filled with feisty female characters, atmospheric settings and morals aplenty, the fairytale lover within me thoroughly enjoyed rediscovering some of these bygone traditional tales.

Originally a podcast series, Professor Carolyne Larrington conjured up a writing experiment which tasked 8-10 inspiring British and Irish women authors to write a contemporary retelling of a forgotten folktale with a modern, feminist twist. This collection reminds me of a fresh uplift on the gothic horror genre - think Angela Carter meets Henry James’ Turn of the Screw. With particularly eerie and dark stories, the tales within are guaranteed to get you in the mood for Halloween and those darker nights by the fire.

As someone who has spent a fair bit of time reading folk/fairytales (I even did my dissertation on them) I was pleased to see a few of the more familiar and popular creatures making an appearance here such as selkies, boggarts, fairies and mermaids. That being said, the stories they were contained within felt fresh and new, I didn’t feel like I’d read any of them before – whilst the concepts may have been familiar, the stories themselves had me gripped to finding out what was going to happen, so they felt like more than just your average retellings.

What I particularly liked in Hag, was the focus on different regions from the UK rather than just a generalisation of British and Irish tales. It really did emphasise the nature of how transient traditional stories are and how they have shaped places across our entire nation. Also, the settings of each story became more relevant and heightened; you could visualise the area you live in and the places you’ve visited. Kudos too goes to the authors who managed to incorporate some the regional accents and dialects into the speech of their stories to make them all sound incredibly authentic.

The breakdown at the end recaps for the reader the ‘original’ tales as they may have been told in anthologies from the 19th and early 20th centuries. These short snapshots not only refresh your memory of all the stories you’ve just read, but it also helps to see just how these tales have been revamped and updated for our 21st century world - they now have a modern diversity which wasn’t necessarily present in their earlier versions.

It is highly evident to see how much effort and hard work each author has put into their own retelling. Shamefully, I wasn’t aware when first diving into these stories just how well known some of these amazing writers are and it’s made me want to add more of their own voices and writings to my ever expanding TBR pile – there is some serious talent within this book and it shines off each and every page in the tone of the retellings and the way the stories have been brought to life within the pages.

Review to go live on my blog on 30th September

The introduction to this book absolutely fascinated me, and so did the first tale. It was then a mixed bag thereafter. Not entirely sure if the Kindle/ebook format is best for this type of book as perhaps reading the original folk tale immediately after the interpretation would have been better, rather than having them all bunched up at the end. As mentioned in the introduction, this project originally started off as podcasts, as folk tales are meant to be told/read aloud, and do feel as if this might have been more powerful and I would have enjoyed more of the tales.

Hag is a collection of stories, and, as with any short story collection there were some I enjoyed more than others.
The stories are all updates on old tales. Less well known choices which are set in different areas of the UK. They still have the darkness of fairy stories and the other worldliness you'd expect. The more modern settings for me gave them an edge though. I could almost believe all those things, mermaids, elves, selkies, really did exist among us now.
Whether you go for the audio or text version I think these tales are a good bet for the dark nights of winter approaching.

spoiler alert ** I haven't heard of most of these tales,but I had heard of some of the authors and was keen to see what they'd done ..
The retold tales were dark,eerie,magical,creepy...
There was a bit of something for everyone I think. It felt like a bonus to have the original tales in the book,to see how clever the writers had been

Hag started off as a podcast and what a wonderful idea: preserving little known or forgotten folk tales from the British Isles. Every child knows about Little Mermaid or Red Riding Hood but Yorkshire boggarts and Somerset pixies - not so much. Carolyne Larrington, professor of Medieval English Literature at Oxford conceived the project, researched and selected folk tales and left them to germinate in the minds of some of the best female authors found across the Isles. I very much enjoyed the results.

As the title suggests, these are not comfortable tales. They deal with motherhood, pregnancy, gender, domestic abuse, loss and grief but also with empowerment and making individual choices. I loved the different approaches the authors took and read a story a day for the whole experience to last longer. Some of the stories, like Daisy Johnson’s The Retelling are quite unsettling, an excellent opener to the collection. I thought Emma Glass’s The Dampness is Spreading particularly vivid, albeit disturbing. Irenosen Okojie completely and brilliantly reimagined her tale, The Dauntless Girl into Rohseen while Mathsuda Snaid brought her own Bengali heritage to The Panther’s Tale. The original tales are included at the end too, which I thought great.

My thanks to Little, Brown, Virago and Netgalley for the opportunity to read Hag, I loved it.

This story collection is a wonderful exploration of folktales from around the British Isles (and from further afield), often touching on themes of gender, sexuality and motherhood. Whilst each of the stories are unique and varied in style, they all fit seamlessly together into a coherent selection of tales. Additionally, there is a comfortable mix of stories which are historical and stories which have been brought into a contemporary setting. The historical stories such as Mahsuda Snaith’s ‘The Panther’s Tale’ were the ones which stuck with me as I continued in the book. However, contemporary settings did work extremely well in Liv Little’s ‘The Sisters’ and aids this book in bringing these folktales to new readers.

I expected, going into this collection, for the stories to be dark, but some of the stories explore very important but horrible themes. At times I found the stories difficult to read, but it was those stories, ‘Sour Hall’ and ‘The Holloway’ most notably, which ended up being my favourites in the collection. Both Naomi Booth and Emma Glass (respectively) do a fantastic job in writing in the horror of particular experiences in a way which I think is going to stick with me for a while. [At the end of this review I am going to list some of the content warnings for this book.]

Ultimately, this collection did a wonderful job at retelling some of the forgotten folktales, intertwining landscapes which felt incredibly familiar to me as a reader with beautiful writing and storytelling. It’s introduced me to a handful of authors I want to read more from and a few stories I was otherwise unfamiliar with.


[Content warnings: domestic abuse, miscarriage, trauma, grief, alcoholism, homophobia, lethal illness, death of a parent, skin picking, drug abuse, child neglect, mutilation, gas lighting, use of the slur gypsy]