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Bull Running for Girls
2009 British Fantasy Award Winner for Best Collection
The twenty-one stories collected in Bull Running for Girls are widely varied, both in setting and subject. From small town life in Madison County to the dangers of bull running in Pamplona, the stories seem, at first blush, unrelated. They are bound, however, by Allyson Bird’s strength. She is a remarkable woman, the stories collected here as personal as they are unsettling. The atmosphere, the tone and mood invoked by the author aside – it is the humanity at the heart of each tale that is so disquieting.
The twenty-one stories collected in Bull Running for Girls are widely varied, both in setting and subject. From small town life in Madison County to the dangers of bull running in Pamplona, the stories seem, at first blush, unrelated. They are bound, however, by Allyson Bird’s strength. She is a remarkable woman, the stories collected here as personal as they are unsettling. The atmosphere, the tone and mood invoked by the author aside – it is the humanity at the heart of each tale that is so disquieting.
242 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 13, 2014
I didn't get on with the writing style of these. It felt dry, and all the stories had the same feeling to them -- something a bit too prone to explanation rather than action, which took the impact of some of the interesting ideas and creepy aspects away. I liked some of the ideas here, but the execution really didn't work for me.
The stories are structured okay, and self-contained, but... I don't know, altogether I felt they were lacking something.
The stories are structured okay, and self-contained, but... I don't know, altogether I felt they were lacking something.
November 16, 2009
I like horror stories. They offer you a glimpse into a terrifying world that you will hopefully never experience. After the story is done, I can continue on in my comfortable world without needing intense therapy. For a moment I get to experience life to the creepy extreme.
As there are so few female authors writing good horror fiction, Allyson Bird gives a different, female point-of-view to the genre. Almost all of the short stories in Bull Running for Girls has a strong, young female protagonist. The stories also have a common theme of strong family relationships and ties. What's amazing is that the plots of the stories themselves run the gamut: ghosts, vampires, witches, other occult happenings, and just pure psychological thrillers. If you have a favorite horror sub-genre, you'll definitely find it here. Some stories are in different time periods, and different countries; it's quite a voyage by the end!
A couple of the stories really stood out to me as being interesting and especially well written. "The Caul Bearer" which starts off the anthology, has Lovecraftian overtones. A woman in a mythical British seaside has to deal with the premature death of her fiance. She tries and fails to continue her daily communal fishing-village life, while learning the horrifying realities of the powers of the sea and village. I felt the terror to my bones.
"In the Hall of the Mountain King" is more of a psychological horror tale, with little creepy occurrences slowly dropped into the story until they all come together. A young girl lives with her family in a house where the back garden abuts the back of an Asylum. I probably don't have to say much more than that!
I did find a few of the stories in the middle to be a bit weak or perhaps not as thoroughly thought out. I find this to be pretty typical of such a diverse set of short stories; I didn't expect every one to be to my tastes.
I also really liked the bio-punk and scientific take on horror in "In a Pig's Ear," as well as the creativity of a horror story set in modern-day Pompeii.
What's excellent about an anthology of short, diverse horror stories like in Bull Running for Girls is that I can experience a terrifying fictional reality for 20 pages with the story wrapped up at the end. It's no less freaky or scary, but I don't have to take the dark world with me when I pause in the story to carry on my real life.
As there are so few female authors writing good horror fiction, Allyson Bird gives a different, female point-of-view to the genre. Almost all of the short stories in Bull Running for Girls has a strong, young female protagonist. The stories also have a common theme of strong family relationships and ties. What's amazing is that the plots of the stories themselves run the gamut: ghosts, vampires, witches, other occult happenings, and just pure psychological thrillers. If you have a favorite horror sub-genre, you'll definitely find it here. Some stories are in different time periods, and different countries; it's quite a voyage by the end!
A couple of the stories really stood out to me as being interesting and especially well written. "The Caul Bearer" which starts off the anthology, has Lovecraftian overtones. A woman in a mythical British seaside has to deal with the premature death of her fiance. She tries and fails to continue her daily communal fishing-village life, while learning the horrifying realities of the powers of the sea and village. I felt the terror to my bones.
"In the Hall of the Mountain King" is more of a psychological horror tale, with little creepy occurrences slowly dropped into the story until they all come together. A young girl lives with her family in a house where the back garden abuts the back of an Asylum. I probably don't have to say much more than that!
I did find a few of the stories in the middle to be a bit weak or perhaps not as thoroughly thought out. I find this to be pretty typical of such a diverse set of short stories; I didn't expect every one to be to my tastes.
I also really liked the bio-punk and scientific take on horror in "In a Pig's Ear," as well as the creativity of a horror story set in modern-day Pompeii.
What's excellent about an anthology of short, diverse horror stories like in Bull Running for Girls is that I can experience a terrifying fictional reality for 20 pages with the story wrapped up at the end. It's no less freaky or scary, but I don't have to take the dark world with me when I pause in the story to carry on my real life.
January 31, 2014
Review copy
Allyson Bird is an author worth watching and worth reading. In addition to winning the Best Collection award from the British Fantasy Society for Bull Running for Girls in 2009, her first novel, Isis Unbound, earned the Bram Stoker award for Best First Novel in 2011. Quite an auspicious start.
This collection of twenty-one stories covers a broad spectrum of speculative fiction genres, from fantasy to horror to science fiction and some that defy classification. It all begins with "The Caul Bearer," a rather shaky story of a woman who loses her lover to the sea and the terrible thing she does to appease the deities of the sea.
Fortunately, the stories get better from here and continue to do so as each tale seems to be more enjoyable than the last.
There are ghost stories, vampire tales, witches, pirates, mermaids, real world terrors, and so much more. Some of my favorites include one of the best shorts I've read in this, or any collection, in quite a while, "Shadow On Shadow." "It took a long time to push, with a struggling will, to that higher part of Alice's mind where she could not tell reality from insanity--between what was imagined and the supernatural. In her indesicion she was suffering. That night she had tampered with doors that should not be opened, pushed the car over the cliff with herself in it, and unknowingly had unleashed something from deep within her subconscious, or another place--where dark things live, where creatures as old as time, formless but nonetheless still dangerous, dwelt."
Other favorites include "The Bone Grinder," " The Conical Witch," and a wonderful story inspired by H. G. Wells' The Island of Dr Moreau, called, "In a Pig's Ear."
One of the things I really liked about this work was the way each story was prefaced by a quote from another work which provided the inspiration for Allyson's piece.
Bull Running for Girls is available both in paperback and various e-book formats from Journalstone Publishers on their website and from Amazon.com.
Highly recommended.
Allyson Bird is an author worth watching and worth reading. In addition to winning the Best Collection award from the British Fantasy Society for Bull Running for Girls in 2009, her first novel, Isis Unbound, earned the Bram Stoker award for Best First Novel in 2011. Quite an auspicious start.
This collection of twenty-one stories covers a broad spectrum of speculative fiction genres, from fantasy to horror to science fiction and some that defy classification. It all begins with "The Caul Bearer," a rather shaky story of a woman who loses her lover to the sea and the terrible thing she does to appease the deities of the sea.
Fortunately, the stories get better from here and continue to do so as each tale seems to be more enjoyable than the last.
There are ghost stories, vampire tales, witches, pirates, mermaids, real world terrors, and so much more. Some of my favorites include one of the best shorts I've read in this, or any collection, in quite a while, "Shadow On Shadow." "It took a long time to push, with a struggling will, to that higher part of Alice's mind where she could not tell reality from insanity--between what was imagined and the supernatural. In her indesicion she was suffering. That night she had tampered with doors that should not be opened, pushed the car over the cliff with herself in it, and unknowingly had unleashed something from deep within her subconscious, or another place--where dark things live, where creatures as old as time, formless but nonetheless still dangerous, dwelt."
Other favorites include "The Bone Grinder," " The Conical Witch," and a wonderful story inspired by H. G. Wells' The Island of Dr Moreau, called, "In a Pig's Ear."
One of the things I really liked about this work was the way each story was prefaced by a quote from another work which provided the inspiration for Allyson's piece.
Bull Running for Girls is available both in paperback and various e-book formats from Journalstone Publishers on their website and from Amazon.com.
Highly recommended.
July 24, 2014
I'm torn on this book and not sure if I really liked it or didn't like it at all. Allyson Bird has written a collection of stories that have either vengeance/justice or the power of women as the common themes. Some of the stories are incredibly dark and make me wonder if the author has gone through some very dark sort of trial(s) in her life. Sometimes I think she hates men and at other times loves them in an "older brother who protects me" type of way. When I first started the book I thought, "This girl (I keep picturing her as a young adult - maybe because of the cover but more a sense from the stories) really hates men and surely gives credence to the fact that women can be scary cold and vicious." As I moved through the book I began to think the stories were more about some kind of process the author needed to work through her issues. I think this is one of those books I'm going to have to think about so please forgive my ramblings in this review.
Did not finish
January 24, 2021I didn't read enough of this to be able to give it an overall rating. The first story didn't do anything for me. Though, what annoyed me most was the use of "fiancée" twice in the first couple pages for the main character's husband-to-be. Bad enough that the author did it twice (at least), making it unlikely to be a typo, but, good grief, who edited this?
Fair warning: I went in with high expectations due to a recommendation and the fact it won the British Fantasy Award, and of course didn't get very far. So maybe the rest of the stories are supeb and do more than showcase the author's weak command of English and the publisher's crappy editing.
Fair warning: I went in with high expectations due to a recommendation and the fact it won the British Fantasy Award, and of course didn't get very far. So maybe the rest of the stories are supeb and do more than showcase the author's weak command of English and the publisher's crappy editing.
January 10, 2021
Death may be the ultimate bull-run, indeed. But when the midwife herself is the last left to die, who helps her transit? The author of this book was that very midwife, abandoned there at its end, with only one more note to write. This impels me to shed a form of sympathetic tear in support, having now read that final note. Thanks so much for ‘Bull Running for Girls’. A reading experience that will never be forgotten.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.
December 17, 2013
This is the collection of twenty-one crazy horror stories which do not make sense at all. Targeted readers of this book are typical modern-short-stories- fans, which I am not. I have read first seven stories and liked only one (In The Hall of the Mountain King). The stories failed to scare me, did not create any kind of curiosity. One positive thing about this book is diversity of stories contained in it. All stories have different concepts. But this reason alone is not sufficient enough to convince me to read remaining stories.
*E-book received for free from LT Early Review.
*E-book received for free from LT Early Review.
January 6, 2014
When reading this book I had to set aside any preconceived notions that there is a singular theme besides each having a female protagonist. I wouldn't even say all could be included in the horror genre. Once I allowed the stories to all stand on their own, I found that it was a really mixed bag in terms of opinions. Some stories were so short that they felt incomplete, as if the author had an idea, wrote for a bit and then gave up on it. Some stories totally hooked me though and left me wanting more.
January 2, 2013
Although I generally love fantasy, I was not a fan of it in this book of short stories. The way the stories flowed seemed stilted and awkward, and I sometimes lost track of what was happening. I couldn't relate to any of the characters and instead of being horrified I was simply bored. I had high hopes for this book and was disappointed with it.
* I received this book for free from Goodreads First Reads.
* I received this book for free from Goodreads First Reads.
November 19, 2014
I received this book from Library Thing Early Reviewers. Bull Running for Girls is 21 short adventure, horror, and paranormal stories. Every story has a female protagonist that goes through some type of trauma. The stories vary in subject and setting. Each story is unique. Some stories are very brutal. I feel these stories are short and to the point. A lot of them have unhappy endings, and that is just reality.
December 18, 2013
I have only one comment about this book actually it’s a question: what’s this?
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews