Once Upon an Autumn: A Folk and Fairy Tale Anthology

by H.L. Macfarlane, Adie Hart, Ella T. Holmes

An orphaned girl finds more than she bargained for when she falls into a fairy ring.
A heartbroken wizard faces up to God to bring his dog back from the dead.
A newly-graduated witch discovers horror lurking in a small town’s apple orchard.
A sceptical tour guide takes an unusual job at a haunted house.

Once upon a time stories travelled from place to place on the tongues of merchants and thieves and kings alike. Pumpkins were carved, leaves turned golden, and whisperings from the darkening woods inspired tales of the strange and the dead.

In the spirit of these age-old stories comes Once Upon an Autumn, a seasonal anthology of folk and fairy tales from 14 authors across the globe. It covers the Gothic, the romantic, the whimsical, the frightening, and everything in-between.

The final of four planned seasonal anthologies from Macfarlane Lantern Publishing, Once Upon an Autumn is sure to have a story for just about everyone. Grab your copy in time for Hallowe’en today!

Inside this
The Network by Katherine Shaw
God is a Heteropalindrome by S. Markem
To Wield the Blade of Autumn Sunlight by Laila Amado
Pay the Troll by Josie Jaffrey
Heartless by Elanna Bellows
A Tale Not About Frog Princes by Ella Holmes
Hollywoof by Fiona Simpson
The Demon at the Door by Caroline Logan
The Thinning of the Veil by A. J. Van Belle
Mirror, Mirror by M. J. Weatherall
Swans Upon a Time by Adie Hart
Shadows of the Fall by R. A. Gerritse
The Grim Gallery by Jake Curran-Pipe

316 pages, Paperback

Published October 8, 2024

About the author

Follow me on Bookbub! https://bit.ly/HLBookb

NOTE: H. L. Macfarlane is currently on a publishing hiatus to focus on her mental health. She hopes to return with new titles in early 2026 and appreciates your understanding in the meantime.

Hayley Louise Macfarlane hails from the very tiny hamlet of Balmaha on the shores of Loch Lomond in Scotland. After graduating with a PhD in molecular genetics she did a complete 180 and moved into writing fiction. Though she loves writing multiple genres (fantasy, romance, sci-fi, psychological fiction and horror so far!) she is most widely known for her enemies-to-lovers STEM rom-com, The Unbalanced Equation, and her Gothic, Scottish fairy tale, Prince of Foxes – book one of the Bright Spear trilogy.

Reviews

[Stephanie]

Every time I pick up a magazine or anthology that includes an Adie Hart short story, I flip straight to that one first - and "Swans Upon a Time" turned out to be one of my absolute favorites out of all her cozy romantasy stories. hilarious and sweet and clever. Penelope is a practical (and bi) District Witch summoned out to deal with a feathery catastrophe of royal proportions - but what's even more disastrous is that she finds not one but both of her previous romantic partners waiting in the castle for her. The results are very, very funny, and Hart seamlessly works in a bunch of different swan-themed fairytales to create a lovely little concoction. I enjoyed it so much! Definitely 5/5.

***

I'll come back with more updates to this review as I read more stories!

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC for this anthology from StoryOrigin.

Autumn – a time for reflection, scary stories, and sombre endings. But also, the season of harvest, country fairs, new school terms and gemütlichkeit.
As every seasonal anthology in this series before, the authors put their very own interpretation of what Autumn means to them into their stories. Not surprisingly, most of the stories lean towards the spooky and scary side inspired by Halloween and grim fairy tales.

I loved Caroline Logan’s The Demon at the Door. It’s the perfect tale for Halloween reminding us that there are scarier things in life than ghosts and ghouls.

I don’t usually enjoy stories where the narrator breaks the 4th wall but anyone who has lost a beloved pet will be able to relate to S. Markem’s God is a Heteropalindrome.

The Grim Gallery by Jake Curran-Pipe reads like a teen horror flick. Wildly entertaining and nightmarish this story kept me up at night.

A special mention to Mirror, Mirror by M J. Weatherall for producing an original retelling of Snow White. I would have loved this haunting story of a stepmother and her choices as a full-length novel.

My favourite story was Swans Upon a Time by Adie Hart. It is the only story in this anthology which centres around a different aspect of the season: Autumn is the time for marriages. This is a fantastic retelling of Swan Lake and made me laugh out loud several times. The story is light-hearted, full of wit and charm and hilarious puns. Hart’s fondness for fairy and folk tales shines through and I challenge anyone to get all the references hidden in this gem.

Once Upon An Autumn is atmospheric storytelling at its best - beautifully catching those eerie fall moments of haunting and longing. I highly recommend it.

[Heather - Just Geeking By · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the fourth and final (sadly) seasonal anthology in the 'Once Upon a Season' series As an October baby, I was excited to read this one for Autumn, but also because every anthology has been brilliant. With some of the same authors contributing throughout the series, I grew very fond of some of their stories and writing styles. There was only one story that I didn't click with (not a style I like), and maybe I'm a little biased, however, I thought this was the best one of the series. So many of the stories hit the spot with me, and truly felt like they embodied the theme of autumn, changing seasons, and fall. I also loved how many authors managed to add spooky season elements.

Once again, highlights for me included stories by Ella T. Holmes, Caroline Logan and Adie Hart.

'A Tale Not About Frog Princes' by Ella. T. Holmes is a story that made my jaw drop with her bold approach to topics of consent, trauma and disability. Earlier this year, she guest posted on my blog for repDISND and it is wonderful to see her thoughts from that article in practise. This story is a must read!

I'm a huge fan of Caroline Logan's work, and her short stories in these anthologies have been incredible. Her story in this anthology, 'A Demon at the Door' is perfect for the season and I loved every moment of it.

In 'Swans Upon a Time', Adie Hart treats us to another District Witch story. As I've said in my previous reviews, I adore the world and characters Hart has created. Serving up a story about a witch being forced to work with the ex she has been avoiding since graduation, Hart had me cackling with laughter.

The anthology ends with the horror story, 'The Grim Gallery', by Jake Curran-Pipe. This is one of the darker stories in the anthology and is the perfect one to end on.

If you're looking for a read that epitomises this time of year, then this is the read for you!

The full list of stories is:

The Network by Katherine Shaw
God is a Heteropalidrome by S. Markem
To Wield the Blade of Autumn Sunlight by Laila Amado
Pay the Troll by Josie Jaffrey
Heartless by Elanna Bellows
A Tale Not About Frog Princes by Ella T. Holmes
Hollywood by Fiona Simpson
The Demon at the Door by Caroline Logan
The Thinning of the Veil by A. J. Van Belle
Mirror, Mirror by M. J. Weatherall
Swans Upon a Time by Adie Hart
Shadows of the Fall by R. A. Gerritse

[Talli Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an *excellent* collection of autumnal stories. I thoroughly loved every single one, and it was fun to see the various takes on classic fairy tales. I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for more works from these authors!

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting medley of short tales whose only connection is that they are set within the autumn. Most of them were fairly short, and there was a mix of horrifying to funny to nostalgic to strange.

The Network opens the collection, which presents a tale about a young woman who has lost her parents and is struggling to survive when she falls into a fairy ring.

God is a Heteropalidrome strays into the peculiar with a wizard on a quest to convince God to revive his dog.

To Wield the Blade of Autumn Sunlight offers a mage attempting to escape from the failures of her magic, only to find out it's not quite what she thought it was.

Pay the Troll is a take on the billy goat story with the troll taking center stage.

Heartless follows a woman who has buried her heart to prevent herself from ever being hurt again.

A Tale Not About Frog Princes explores the idea that kisses given to frog princes under coercion can lead to a worse fate.

Hollywoof offers a movie star terrified of the world (and dogs) after a break-in at his house.

The Demon at the Door has a young woman living in a house of ghosts to escape her own past.

The Thinning of the Veil shows a young girl longing to leave behind a society that is intent on keeping students and often families apart.

Mirror, Mirror is a take on Snow White involving bargains with demons and a mirror world.

Swans Upon a Time involves a magical mishap that ends up bringing two young lovers back together while also uncovering a new set of problems.

Shadows of the Fall explores what happens when you are given a gift only to become focused on changing the one thing in life you can't.

The Grim Gallery closes out with a tale that cautions against putting your greed above the well-being of those you care about.

[Annette Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once Upon an Autumn is the fourth in this series of seasonal anthologies, and having loved each of the previous three I was looking forward to this one immensely. I was not disappointed, this is a diverse collection of stories, some based on the folk and fairy tales that many of us grew up loving. While all the stories are strong it is a simple fact that in any collection some will resonate more strongly than others and as several of the authors included here have also featured in previous anthologies I knew going in that I was in safe hands. Among those were Adie Harte whose District Witch stories are always among my favourites, and Swans Upon a Time was no exception, full of the humour and cosy romance that I have come to expect. I absolutely adored A Tale Not About Frog Princes by Ella Holmes which really resonated with me because of the physical disability of the main character. Josie Jaffrey tickled me with Pay the Troll her take on the Three Billy Goats Gruff, which was not a story I expected to find referenced but was one of my childhood favourites. I could keep going because there is not a single weak story in the bunch, but honestly all I can say is check it out for yourselves, you won't be sorry .
I read an ARC courtesy of the publisher, all opinions are my own .

[Emily Rennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another beautiful collection. Jake Curran-Pipe's 'Grim Gallery' is delightfully creepy, weaving classic fairytales with modern day horror. Not just a collection for spooky season, but all year round.

[Hanna Belle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun collection of folk stories!

I received a copy of this book via StoryOrigin and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

all of the stories in this collection hit the right note for spooky season. Every one is different which makes for an interesting and enjoyable anthology. My favourite one this time is ‘Hollywoof’ an almost King-esque story of an American expat actor in the UK working with a traumatic experience.
Thoroughly enjoyed each story in here.

[Abi Pellinor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I obviously had a mixed reaction to this collection, but I enjoyed most of the stories in here. There is a particular author in here that I won't name, but I'm not the biggest fan of. They were in the summer edition as well, and I just don't personally like their story style. It's a very their writing style. It's a very unique writing style, and I'm not a fan of it. But I really enjoyed a lot of the other books.

There was one where I was like, "Oh, I'm loving this story. Who's the author? I need to check out more from them." And it's Caroline Logan. The entire reason I picked these anthologies up. So, but yes, I had a wonderful time with these anthologies. They are definitely very seasonal which is exactly what I was looking for and I had a great time.