Tales for the HInterland is a wonderful collection of gothic fairy tales exploring the darkest corners of the mind as Kings. Queens and lowly peasants all succumb to trickery from the evil spirits of the HInterland. Their desires; to be more; have more; accept things at face value; all contribute to the downfall of even the cleverest and self aware of characters. Readers can enjoy these tales without prior knowledge of The Hazel Wood books, with each beautifully crafted story taut with intrigue and sinister magic. Dispel your logic and just enjoy this beautifully written book.

I loved The Hazel Wood and the magical, but sinister, world created by Melissa Albert. I approached Tales from the Hinterland positively, expecting good things.

The stories are fantastical and align with my expectations. However, I didn’t love these - mainly because I feel the tales are too similar to age-old fairytales. This isn’t a criticism - it’s more that I expected something a bit different, more unconventional.

So - three stars for me.

A collection of dark fairytales set in the world of the Hinterland? Sign me up!!!! If you loved The Hazel Wood then you will love these original stories!

It was just how you might expect, dark, creepy and delightfully twisted!

My faves were:
Hansa the Traveller
Twice Killed Katherine
Alice Three Times
Death and the Woodwife

A fab companion to this series!

I got an Arc on netgalley of "Tales from the hinterland" by Melissa Albert, for an honest review. This book is a part of the Hazel wood series. And is the actually book that is talked about in the first book.

The tales reminds me of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales. Cause they are both dark and grim on their own way. So we are not talking Disney fairy tales here. But dark and scary stories, and it's how I like it.

I've read the two books in hazel wood and they are dark and twisted so ofcause the stories that behind those books will be too, I didn't expect pink and fluffy unicorn. I got dark and grim.

The stories allso make me think and wonder about what the moral and the meaning of thise tales, if there is any. You can say they are a modern grim tales build on their own stories.

So I'm very entertained by thise tales, and they make me wonder. So there for my rating.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get into this so I decided to dnf it for now :( I was really excited for it but yeah I didn’t really care? I might try it again someday but for now I’m leaving it at this.

I was thrilled to get my hands on this collection of stories, as I am a big fan of The Hazel Wood.

These are twisted, dark, nightmarish tales that will find a way to sneak in right beneath your skin and make you feel uncomfortable. Gloomy and wicked, these tales feel like a fusion of fairy tales and your worst dreams.

These are not stories with happy endings, or at least it depends on how you look at them. Some of the tales reminded me of the old school, Brother Grimm's tales, but with a note of wickedness that makes them stand out. Each of the stories is authentic, and they will make you feel different degrees of fear, sadness and despair, maybe even disgust at some points.

You can expect magical elements in varying degrees in all tales, but also elements of horror in others. The writer's ability to describe all of the creatures and surroundings is incredible, as it truly engages all your senses. I close my eyes and am still haunted by some of the visuals. Obviously, not a bad thing when these kinds of stories are concerned.

My favourite stories were: Twice-Killed Katherine, Ilsa waits, Alice-Three-Times and The Skinned Maiden.

If you'd love to step into a world of dark fairy tales, I think this would be a great collection to start your journey. I believe you don't have to read The Hazel Wood or its sequel to be able to enjoy this, although you will definitely have an additional degree of appreciation for them if you already know Melissa Albert's previous works.

Thank you to Penguin Random House Children’s U.K. and NetGalley for the e-arc of Tales from the Hinterland in exchange for my honest & unbiased review.

Melissa Albert delivers 12 dark and luscious fairytales that are the the body and bones to The Hazel Wood. The stories are based on characters that escaped The Hazel Wood, including Hansa the Traveler, Twice-Killed Katherine, and, of course, Alice-Three-Times.

The tales themselves are reminiscent of the Brothers Grimm, but with more of a modern and feminist twisted edge. The female protagonists’ stories abound in rich and glorious savagery, twisting and turning in their own beautiful and macabre glory.

The tales are filled with fairy tale tropes of male dominance and manipulation, of maternal neglect, and all of course are accompanied by death.

Despite the pessimism and dark nature of these stories, they bring a richness and splendour that adds more dimension to The Hazel Wood. Although, they can also be read as a stand alone or even as a precursor, but please, don’t read them alone on a dark stormy night in a haunted mansion.

I started off enjoying these short stories - they’re incredibly dark stories - there’s nothing lighthearted at all about them!

I may have ploughed through them a little quickly as about 5 in I started to find them a little tedious!

I think this book, rather than be a “sit down and read” book, is a book to be read one story at a time.

The stories are good - very dark! I’m surprised it’s a children’s book - especially the first story...

My thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Children’s UK for the advance copy

I really enjoyed this short story collection, it definitely gave me sort of creepy fairytale vibes and I really enjoyed that. I thought that all of the stories were different enough that I could keep them clear in my head by had similar themes and tones throughout so I felt that they worked in a collection together. I really enjoyed the setting of the stories and they felt dark, magical, mysterious, and wonderous. I felt like some of the characters were a little bland however some really stood out. I definitely had favorite stories and stories that I preferred less. I really loved the story about the toymaker and the clockwork toys. Some stories I felt could be a bit longer but overall I enjoyed my time reading them and they kept me compelled to read on.
4 out of 5 stars from me

I didn’t read Tales from the Hinterland I devoured it!

Some of the short stories in this twelve- story collection will be familiar to those of us readers who loved The Hazel Wood. These dark and delicious fairy tales are fantastic and each one is better than the last.

There is a common thread of strength in female characters, not just meek and willing brides and evil stepmothers. The author turns traditional fairy tales on their head. For example, in traditional fairy tales unwed women are often considered to be a danger but in this collection ‘an unwed prince is a dangerous thing.’

The cover of the book is beautiful just like the cover of The Hazel Wood.

The tales to do with Death were among my favourite.

An outstanding and truly unique collection.

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Random House and Melissa Albert for my arc of Tales From the Hinterland in exchange for an honest review.

Publication: 14th January 2021

For fans of The Hazel Wood and The Night Country comes the original Tales From the Hinterland. Twelve fairytales which both delight and terrify in equal measure and bring the characters of Melissa's spooky fairytale series to life.

I thoroughly enjoyed diving back into this world and getting to know the characters in the stories better as well as linking in how important certain elements of the stories are to the original book. It was a fascinating little collection which I read very quickly, I think once published the illustrated edition will be STUNNING!

The stories were dark and powerful, and I did enjoy them. The illustrations at the start of each story were amazing. However I do have to look back at The Hazel Wood and remember that this was supposed to be a book of stories that stuck with every reader, and I don't think I found them that memorable.

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Children’s UK for a review copy of this book.

One of the first books I read when I joined NetGalley was The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert. This was the story of Alice, living an itinerant life with her mother till the day her mother disappears. Alice soon connects this with a collection of dark fairy tales her grandmother Althea Proserpine had written, and with that begins her adventure looking for Hinterland where the tales are set. Tales from the Hinterland is that collection of stories.

This is a collection of twelve stories—each very dark, and many with a twist that one doesn’t see coming. We have ‘The Door that Wasn’t There’ in which Anya and her sister Lisbeth find a way out of their house where the stepmother has locked them; but their escape turns out to be very different from what they expected. This one had a few shades of The Bear and the Nightingale; and if I remember right this one was in the Hazel Wood as well.

‘Hansa the Traveller’ decides to escape the restrictions placed on her by her family (of not going out at night) and while this does take her on the adventure of a lifetime, one is left wondering whether it was worth it?

In ‘The Clockwork Bride’, two children are fascinated by a magical toyshop but can’t afford its offerings. A chance to play there comes their way but at a price. What when the time comes to pay that price?

Jenny in ‘Jenny and the Nightwomen’ is an extremely spoiled little girl who accepts help from a strange girl when her parents decide to take her in hand. But naturally, the stranger has her own agenda.

In ‘The Skinned Maiden’, a cruel and heartless prince becomes smitten with a beautiful girl he sees by a lake. But she is no ordinary girl and in a bid to gain her he ends up taking away her very essence. Can she regain it?

‘Alice Three Times’ is the story of a strange princess Alice, born to the queen illegitimately. Alice also grows in the strangest of ways. The Queen wishes to rid herself of this daughter and as soon as she is old enough finds her some grooms; but neither the grooms nor the Queen know what they are getting themselves into.

In ‘The House under the Stairwell’, Isobel who has suffered a broken engagement has a strange dream after she and her sisters try a dark spell of sorts to see their future husbands. When Isobel manages to get over her past and finds a chance at happiness, she must contend with the consequences of that dream.

Ilsa in ‘Ilsa Waits’, who has seven brothers happens to be able to see death. But he comes and takes those dear to her but never herself till she decides to pit her wits against him. But is it so simple to take on death?

In ‘The Sea Cellar’, we have Alba whose sister is sent as a bride to a strange home where brides go but are never seen or heard of anymore nor is the groom ever seen. She decides to go there as a bride herself and solve the mystery but what does she uncover?

In ‘The Mother and the Dagger’, a queen from a magical land tries her hand at some dark magic to have a child but can’t make the sacrifice required of her. For this she must pay, and so must others.

Katherine in ‘Twice Killed Katherine’ is the only one of a sorcerer’s children who has his powers. He decides to take her under his wing and protect her at any cost.

A King and Queen’s children are cruelly killed in ‘Death and the Woodwife’ but then she is blessed with a strange child. When this child grows up and is set to marry, she ends up with a dark suitor. Can she escape?

The stories had some lovely (and vivid) descriptions of places magical like in ‘The Clockwork Bride’
The shop nestled among darkened buildings like a lit birthday cake. From its open door poured tinkling music-box notes and thick golden light…. There before them were all the toymaker’s treasures. The paper ballerinas had grown to the size of children, with the small heads and slim limbs of women. They pirouetted in skirts of taffeta netting, their laughter scattering like light….

Or dark like in ‘The House under the Stairwell’
There was no sky here, but a roof of earth, heavy coils of roots running through it. Moths larger than men perched on the roofs with their wings open wide, casting a delicate glow. In the distance stood a house with lights shining through every window and before it a grove of gold and silver trees. A masked figure waited beneath each tree, limbs too long and fingers hidden in dark gloves. Above their masks each painted with a man’s face, stood grey wolf ears.

As you can gauge from the descriptions, these are very imaginative stories indeed. I thought the author did a great job at creating some really creepy tales. While one might feel sorry for a few of the characters, others (even central characters) are dark and not particularly likeable, and there are also evil stepmothers, mothers and fathers galore. Since one can’t really tell where each story will lead, each has its share of surprises. There are also illustrations at the beginning of each story and I think full page illustrations in the final version. These would be great for Halloween or any time you’re in the mood for something very creepy. But be warned, most of these don’t have happy endings, and will leave you feeling unsettled more than anything else…

This is a lovely little book of stories based on fairy tales. I really liked the idea as I do like fairy tales but clearly new ones are quite unusual. It was nice to be able to read a full short story before I went to sleep each night and I thought the stories were well written and very clever,

A very enjoyable read.

I was so excited to have the opportunity to read these stories. I was such a huge fan of Albert's first book and the fairy tales were my favourite part of it, so a book of them was right up my street.
These are fantastic. I love fairy tales as a genre and I believe these sit happily next to Grimms. They are dark and twisted, and i just get the feeling that Albert herself is a fan or even scholar of fairy tales, she just gets it.
Also - you dont need to have read the series to enjoy these, they can be read as a standalone collection.

Thank you Netgalley for this review copy.

I haven't read Hazel Wood yet but when I saw this book I was like why not.
I really enjoyed the first 2,3 stories after that everything started to get repetitive, Wicked queen, suspicious child, meetings with death, marriages. After all that creepiness, there was still a good amount of happy endings which I didn't get.

I must say the starting of every story was great but after a few pages all the potential were lost somewhere and they started to make me bored.

This is a great collection of short fairy/folk tales. Creepy, ominous and haunting. I really enjoyed this book.

I am a self confessed non fan of short stories.
Maybe if they were all labelled sinister fairytales,and were as brutal,dark and magical as these,I might change my mind.

So good to be back in the hinterland,where things are twisted,strange ,bloody and more than a little creepy.

I think this might be my favourite book so far!

Lovely illustrations at the beginning of each tale too.
It's hard to pick a favourite.

Tales from the Hinterland was an accidental experiment for me. I didn’t realize it was part 2.5 in The Hazel Wood series - a series I never read. Nevertheless, it didn’t feel like I missed important knowledge from The Hazel Wood. Tales from the Hinterland actually desperately makes me want to read it.

Tales from the Hinterland is a collection of fairytales from the world of The Hazel Wood. Very few of them had the typical fairytale happy ending, however. These fairytales and stories aren’t the happy kind. They are gritty and dark and exactly the type of stories you can imagine parents telling their children to keep them from wandering into dark woods alone and after dark. They hold lessons and warnings, and I can imagine they wonderfully expand the world of The Hazel Wood.

The way it was written was wonderful, beautiful prose and lovely descriptions. Melissa Albert is a master of the written word, and I am extremely excited to dive into The Hazel Wood now. I would highly recommend this book to anyone - Hazel Wood fans and those not familiar with the books alike.