I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I had recently finished another book which mentioned "fens" and was interested in engaging more in this idea and the cultural signaficance of it. Boy, did I engage. This book gripped by heart and soul and gave me all the goosebumps I could ever ask for.

It was masterfully written, with each voice and story standing alone, but not leaving me with too many questions as I often find short stories do.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

This anthology had stories with ghouls and ghosts, plenty of horrors, and unique twists. From the very first disturbing story I was invested in the anthology, and had to keep reading. For me, Bubble Bath is one I still think about. All the stories are well-written, and the twists among them were unique. They had horror without a focus on gore. I recommend this anthology and hope there will be another like this!

This turned out not to be my cup of tea. The book contains multiple short stories as it is a anthology. It's mostly about battlefield stories and lost memories. I requested the book because of the title and the cover, which are beautiful. But unfortunately I had expected something else for a story.

Because this was not what I expected and hoped it to be, I didn't finish the book and rated it on 2 stars for what I have read.

Fun and creepy collection of short stories that I flew through. There are a few I did not care for and overall none of them really stood out to me.

This is a great collection of thought provoking horror vingettes. The first one really took me by surprise because it was so intense but also very short. It did a good job setting the tone.

I didn't finish this because I felt very detached from a lot of stories, but I liked the parts of it that reminded me of the DARK series by Alexandra Bracken.
The first story was good but not very unique, but I quite enjoyed the second. It was good and, maybe I just don't read enough about cannibalism, but I've never read a story like this one before. A similar trend happened with the third and fourth books, where I didn't enjoy the third, but the fourth was my favorite out of the six I finished. The fifth story didn't make any sense and the sixth didn't stand out at all.
As much as I wanted to go forward, I couldn't convince myself to get through the seventh story; it just wasn't engaging or enjoyable.

Tangle and Fen was such a fun anthology! My favorite stories were The Way This Will End, and Demon is Just Protector Spelled Wrong. The Way This Will End by Andy Rafferty has such a beautiful tone. The way memories were woven throughout the story made it feel genuine and the story overall conveyed so much in a limited format/space. I found it morosely beautiful. Demon is Just Protector Spelled Wrong by Anjum Choudhury quickly grabbed my attention and held it with the complex relationships between parents and children. These were my favorites, but I have largely neutral feelings overall, with a few standout gems. There is a large range of themes and writing levels, so I wish there had been a short introduction before the stories. I love anthologies' ability to introduce me to authors and serve as a good starting place for newer authors. I appreciated that this anthology wasn't completely male-authored as so many of them are, and there were at least two authors from different cultures than myself. One of the main reasons I requested this was the LGBT tag, so I was disappointed that most of the stories weren't in line with that description.

A wonderful collection of short stories – Tangle & Fen is filled with horror, cannibalism, historical fiction, twists and thrills. As is the case with every single collection (pretty much) there were some hits and some misses. For me, the novellas were overwhelmingly well written and interesting, with a few strong misses.

I was originally interested for the "folk horror" description and I was definitely not dissapointed! The vibes were very much there – I'll recommend this to other horror, and especially folk horror, fans.

A nice collection of horror short stories! Nothing hugely jumped out as an immediate favourite, but everything was in enjoyable in it's own way. The collection flows well and is a cohesive anthology.

Quick, easy read of eerie short stories reminiscent of old Twilight Zone episodes. This collection does not challenge or advance this genre of literature, relying on fairly predictable tropes.

A brilliant book full of short novellas.

I decided to rate each novella within this book separately but also do an overall rating. I did thoroughly enjoy reading this although a few werent really to my taste.


Bubble Bath - A.V.Greene
A short 5 minute novella about a family whose daughter has been infected, like a zombie virus. Although a great asset to this book as a whole I couldn’t rate it on its own. It was too short for me to give a fair rating.

Take from the earth what is given - Scott Bowen
This took me roughly 30 minutes to read through and I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would’ve loved to read more about Karl’s young life eating “forest meat” and if he was able to resist his urges throughout his adult life. This novella alone I would give 3.5⭐️.

Crossroads - Madison Estes
A lovely little short novella, brilliantly written about a couple about to start a family when the man bought a second hand Porsche that turned out to be haunted. This novella alone I would give 4⭐️.

The way this will end - Andy Rafferty
An apocalyptic novella with a sad ending. Not much gore but definitely a good read. Will definitely see if Andy has written any other novellas related to this one as would like to read about it from other character perspectives like Mia’s other sibling and their mum, or about her brothers family when they left. This novella alone I would give 4⭐️.

Lingering Trinkets - Tarver Nova
A short little thriller novella that definitely deserves a 4⭐️ on its own.

The other Jack - Samantha Bryant
A very short little thriller about two brothers that narrowly escaped death. 3.5⭐️.

A yoke of iron - Gabriel Tuggle
Although only short this little novella had me guessing from the start. The twist at the end was brilliant. I rate this novella alone as 4⭐️.

Good bones - Jeff Samson
A little unsure about this novella but I can’t quite put my finger on what. The writing is good but just not to my taste I think.

Susurrations - Carol Gyzander
Another strange little novella but a good read still. This novella alone I’d give 3⭐️.

The warehouse - Michael J Moore
Wow.. although a tad odd at first it had a brilliant twist at the end. This novella alone I would give 3.5⭐️ losing .5 just because of how it started.

The demon core - Scotty Milder
A short novella set in 1940’s about radiation and drs. Not really my cup of tea but was well written. 3⭐️


The Olympics of corporeality along route 206 - Mike Robinson
Brilliant little story about a dead hitchhiker. 3.5⭐️

Go - Matthew Kensal
A wrong decision or a bad nightmare? Wilburforce’s life changed in an instant. 3.5⭐️

Demon is just protector spelled wrong - Anjum. N .Choudhury
A childhood story to scare kids into behaving or actually a true story? Read this novella to find out. 4⭐️

Broken plates - Jara Nassar
This novella sort of reminds me of how someone would explain schizophrenia or maybe their life flashing before their eyes before death. 3.5⭐️

Moonless night - Jim. D .Gillentine
A brilliant horror/romance novella about an unlikely and forbidden love in the midst of war. 4.5⭐️

A walk through the dark house - Gregory. L. Norris
Really short, less than a 5 minute read.

Watch out for the master - Maggie Holman
Absolutely loved this little novella, light horror mixed with history. 4⭐️

The cuckoo’s brood - Christina Nordlander
A short slight horror strange novella. Would’ve loved to have more. 3⭐️

An engagement of long standing - Spencer Koelle
A quick thriller.

Schrodinger’s ghost - H.R.R. Gorman
Absolutely loved this little novella set in the 1960’s. 4⭐️

Topside - Gustavo Bondoni
Wow!! So so good!! 4.5⭐️

By her hand, she draws you down - Douglas Smith
A brilliant little thriller 4.5⭐️

I absolutely love this short collection of horror stories.
Each was unique and interesting.
I loved the characters and the writing style.

Definitely recommend

This was a great collection of horror stories, it had everything that I enjoyed from the genre. Each story worked with the theme and I enjoyed how well the characters were in each story.

Tangle and Fen is an eclectic set of short stories. Everything from haunted and changing houses, dangerous side hustles, a few holiday horrors and some alternate dimensions.

Not every story hit for me, but a few were really memorable and they will be new authors added to my list.

I really enjoyed Schrödinger’s Ghost by H.R.R. Gorman. The title is phenomenal. I’ve always been intrigued by Schrödinger and this ties in horrors from the 60’s.

A horrifying anthology of folk horror and spooky fiction. A few of these stories have definitely stuck with me long after finishing the book. A fantastic read, especially during spooky season!

I enjoyed this book. It’s funny how it was able to stick with me. I started reading this book Back in Oct, got away from reading for quite some time yet I still had this book with me when I picked it back up to finish it.

A fantastic collection of folk horror and dark fiction from some of the best writers.
As with any anthology, the stories are hit and miss but there's enough variety that I think any fan of horror (from ghost stories to zombies and more) that someone is bound the find something they love.
My favorites included:
Watch for the Master by Maggie Holman, which is a unique take on a haunted house story told from the perspective of one of the ghosts within.
Probably because I am a parent, the two stories that bothered me (in the best way) were ones about mothers.
Bubble Bath by A.V. Greene is one of the shortest stories in the collection but stuck with me the longest. This take on zombies told from a mother's perspective was chilling.
Demon is Just Protector Spells Wrong by Anjum N. Choudhury - I loved reading a story inspired by folklore that isn't confined to European legends. The Rakkhost Bury and the themes of passing on generational trauma was fantastic.
Highly recommend for folk horror and dark fiction collectors.

This is a fine anthology of short stories that run the gamut from the ghostly to the grisly. Editor Rachel Brune has a fine eye for what makes a compelling tale. The writing is strong throughout and although some of the tales will seem a bit derivative there is enough originality to make this worth your while.

A horrifyingly great set of stories, Tangle & Fen is an anthology book filled with scares. A set of wildly differing stories ensures that everyone will find something that absolutely scares the living daylights out of them. My personal favourites include a family’s winter tradition of cannibalism, a Bengali monster from legend, and two ghostly hitchhikers. In addition, this book does what all great horror stories do - invent new fears in its reader. One story, for example, reawakened the same fear of radiation originally put into me by HBO’s Chernobyl.

Some stories are bound to be less interesting to certain people than others. However, this shift is not so much due to a drop in quality, but more because of varying personal tastes. Some readers may not be as interested in a story centred on worms, while others would be spellbound. Some may think an apocalyptic setting is tired, while others revel in it. Overall, the shifting nature of the stories is a blessing in disguise - while readers may not love all stories the same, they are practically guaranteed to find a story they love.

A solid 3.5 - 4 stars, leaning more towards a 4. While the weaker stories do drag the anthology down a bit, the strongest tales left me with strong emotions - horror, sadness, visceral disgust, claustrophobia. I very much recommend this to all looking for their next scary read.