I expected this book to be full of darkly ridiculous stories themed around women’s issues. It can be read at the surface level, just for your amusement-which is guaranteed to all that enjoy gallows humor-or as a scholarly endeavor. Ortberg has created a masterpiece of feminist fiction replete with some of the best word smithery found in contemporary prose. But it’s done with such genius that all I can do is shake my head in admiration. At first I wondered if I would react badly to this I am a grandmother of tiny children as well as a retired teacher, and these stories tread on sacred ground. She often combines the influence of a second fairy tale, and everything is beautifully documented at the back. You may not be able to pinpoint the exact place Ortberg goes off script some of these are Grimm’s Fairy Tales, which are fairly sinister in the first place. Ortberg takes well known children’s stories and fairy tales and injects sinister elements into them, sometimes starting with the exact wording of the story, cited in her end-notes, and then changing it a tiny bit at a time. Many thanks go to Henry Holt and Net Galley for the review copy, which I read free and early in exchange for this honest review.

Mallory Ortberg’s feminist horror collection is bound to be the best short story collection of 2018, darkly funny, cleverly conceived and brainier than I realized when I signed on for it.

Unfalteringly faithful to its beloved source material, The Merry Spinster also illuminates the unsuspected, and frequently, alarming emotional complexities at play in the stories we tell ourselves, and each other, as we tuck ourselves in for the night. Readers of The Toast will instantly recognize Ortberg's boisterous good humor and uber-nerd swagger: those new to Ortberg's oeuvre will delight in this collection's unique spin on fiction, where something a bit mischievous and unsettling is always at work just beneath the surface.

Sinister and inviting, familiar and alien all at the same time, The Merry Spinster updates traditional children's stories and fairy tales with elements of psychological horror, emotional clarity, and a keen sense of feminist mischief. The feature has become among the most popular on the site, with each entry bringing in tens of thousands of views, as the stories proved a perfect vehicle for Ortberg's eye for deconstruction and destabilization. Adapted from the beloved 'Children's Stories Made Horrific' series, 'The Merry Spinster' takes up the trademark wit that endeared Ortberg to readers of both The Toast and the best-selling debut Texts From Jane Eyre. From Daniel Mallory Ortberg comes a collection of darkly mischievous stories based on classic fairy tales.

The Merry Spinster by Daniel M. Lavery