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Evil Roots: Killer Tales of the Botanical Gothic
Strangling vines and meat-hungry flora fill this unruly garden of strange stories, selected for their significance as the seeds of the "killer plant" trope in fiction, film, and video games. Before the Demogorgon of Stranger Things and the appearance of Mario's iconic foe the Piranha Plant, writers of the 19th and early 20th centuries were exploring the lethal potential of vegetable life, inspired by new carnivorous species discovered on expeditions into the deep jungles of the world and breakthroughs in the grafting and genetics disciplines of botany. Suddenly, the exotic orchid could become a curiously alluring, yet unsettlingly bloodthirsty menace; the beautifully sprawling wisteria of the stately home could become anything but civilized, and the experimentation of botanists weening new shoots on their own blood could become fuel for a new genre of horticultural nightmare. Every strain of vegetable threat (and one deadly fungus) can be found within this new collection, representing the very best tales from the undergrowth.
288 pages, Paperback
First published August 22, 2019
192 people are currently reading
5520 people want to read
About the author
Daisy Butcher
4 books21 followersDoctoral student at the University of Hertfordshire. Focusing on Female body horror in mummies and killer plants.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 125 reviews
May 17, 2022
First, can we all take a moment to appreciate that the editor of a collection on killer plants is called Daisy Butcher?
Right, that aside, it was nice to read an anthology. Anthologies are really much more fun than single-author collections, unless you are a major devotee of that author. I was originally planning to sample this book, thinking, not unreasonably, that there’s maybe a limit to how many stories of the “botanical gothic” I need in my life. But they all went down so easily, and there were so many lesser-known stories by famous writers and they were all relatively short – I found myself reaching for it again and again. It also made an interesting companion to reading The Vegetarian.
All the stories are from the late 19th and early 20th century (presumably in part to avoid paying copyright) and most of them are adventure/vaguely pulpy sci-fi. It’s interesting to have famous and forgotten authors grouped around a theme in this way: you can really see why the famous authors are famous. It’s not that their stories are necessarily more interesting in terms of subject, but they do more interesting things with them in terms of writing, character development and themes. Obviously, having all the killer plants here together takes out the element of surprise to any given story (spoiler: the plant did it) but that in turn allows you to see the other things that are going on: turn of the century worries relating to Darwinism, the monstrous, gender relations, the natural world, and so forth.
The stories are as follows:
“Rappaccini’s Daughter,” Nathaniel Hawthorne (4 stars). Ridiculous and very gothic but quite delightful story of a young couple in love – if only the girl’s father hadn’t raised her to be a poisonous flower.
“The American’s Tale,” Arthur Conan Doyle, (2 stars). Standard Conan Doyle non-Holmes adventure story. Decent, but would have benefitted from Holmes and/or less American dialect.
“Carnivorine,” Lucy H. Hooper (3 stars). Fairly standard carnivorous plant story, but in a way it’s the perfect encapsulation of what the book wants to achieve – showing the preoccupations of the Victorian age (there are references to Darwin, etc) and how that anxiety is manifest through the Gothic. Very tortured sentences however!
“The Giant Wistaria,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman (3 stars). Not wonderful in itself, but we’re back in early-feminist-classic territory with the author of “The Yellow Wall-Paper.”
“The Flowering of the Strange Orchid,” H.G. Wells, (4 stars) This is one that is elevated by the mastery of Wells’s writing. An example of what I have discovered is the subgenre of the killer plants genre, the “mad scientist who has gone to exotic climes and brought something threatening back” story. This one works well because orchids are, let’s face it, creepy.
“The Guardian of Mystery Island,” Edmond Nolcini (3 stars). A guardian dog, a deserted island, ghosts of the French revolution.
“The Ash Tree,” MR James (3 stars). A ghostly tale that weaves historical witch trials into something vengeful and green.
“A Vine on a House,” Ambrose Bierce, (4 stars). Slight but well-written, almost more of a supernatural anecdote than a story. Bonus points of the description “Mrs Harding was a well-mannered, sad-eyed woman, lacking a left foot.”
“Professor Jonkin’s Cannibal Plant,” (2 stars). Mad scientist goes to exotic climes, etc. etc. Also featuring that other stand-by, mad-scientist’s more conventional friend who acts as foil/rescuer.
“The Voice in the Night,” William Hope Hodgson (4 stars). Moss is the culprit here! There is some extra creepiness for the setting (a ship becalmed on a dark night) and the scare factor of the plant actually growing on you and taking you over.
“The Pavilion,” Edith Nesbit, (4 stars). Male bravado, murderous plants, a practical heroine, social snobbery. Again, elevated by the writing and appealing characterization.
“The Green Death,” H.C. McNeile (2 stars). Adventure-mystery yarn with all the early 20th century stereotypes: class snobbery, male in-jokes, stupid police, pretty maidens. Also, a bit convoluted in its explanation.
“The Woman of the Wood,” Abraham Merritt (4 stars). Probably my favourite story in the collection, here we have murderous trees using humanity to their own ends. It is green and fairylike, with shades of World War I, PTSD, deforestation, feudalism, eco-terrorism.
“The Moaning Lily,” Emma Vane (3). Really interesting ideas touching on feminism/body horror with a lily with a human mouth and tongue, but quite a slight story, and again in the “Mad scientist in exotic climes with more conventional friend” thing.
Maybe I should rate three stars overall. But this was fun to read, the introduction was short but very interesting, and the individual stories also had very short introductions highlighting main themes and overall, as a collection and a reading experience, it just worked.
Right, that aside, it was nice to read an anthology. Anthologies are really much more fun than single-author collections, unless you are a major devotee of that author. I was originally planning to sample this book, thinking, not unreasonably, that there’s maybe a limit to how many stories of the “botanical gothic” I need in my life. But they all went down so easily, and there were so many lesser-known stories by famous writers and they were all relatively short – I found myself reaching for it again and again. It also made an interesting companion to reading The Vegetarian.
All the stories are from the late 19th and early 20th century (presumably in part to avoid paying copyright) and most of them are adventure/vaguely pulpy sci-fi. It’s interesting to have famous and forgotten authors grouped around a theme in this way: you can really see why the famous authors are famous. It’s not that their stories are necessarily more interesting in terms of subject, but they do more interesting things with them in terms of writing, character development and themes. Obviously, having all the killer plants here together takes out the element of surprise to any given story (spoiler: the plant did it) but that in turn allows you to see the other things that are going on: turn of the century worries relating to Darwinism, the monstrous, gender relations, the natural world, and so forth.
The stories are as follows:
“Rappaccini’s Daughter,” Nathaniel Hawthorne (4 stars). Ridiculous and very gothic but quite delightful story of a young couple in love – if only the girl’s father hadn’t raised her to be a poisonous flower.
“The American’s Tale,” Arthur Conan Doyle, (2 stars). Standard Conan Doyle non-Holmes adventure story. Decent, but would have benefitted from Holmes and/or less American dialect.
“Carnivorine,” Lucy H. Hooper (3 stars). Fairly standard carnivorous plant story, but in a way it’s the perfect encapsulation of what the book wants to achieve – showing the preoccupations of the Victorian age (there are references to Darwin, etc) and how that anxiety is manifest through the Gothic. Very tortured sentences however!
“The Giant Wistaria,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman (3 stars). Not wonderful in itself, but we’re back in early-feminist-classic territory with the author of “The Yellow Wall-Paper.”
“The Flowering of the Strange Orchid,” H.G. Wells, (4 stars) This is one that is elevated by the mastery of Wells’s writing. An example of what I have discovered is the subgenre of the killer plants genre, the “mad scientist who has gone to exotic climes and brought something threatening back” story. This one works well because orchids are, let’s face it, creepy.
“The Guardian of Mystery Island,” Edmond Nolcini (3 stars). A guardian dog, a deserted island, ghosts of the French revolution.
“The Ash Tree,” MR James (3 stars). A ghostly tale that weaves historical witch trials into something vengeful and green.
“A Vine on a House,” Ambrose Bierce, (4 stars). Slight but well-written, almost more of a supernatural anecdote than a story. Bonus points of the description “Mrs Harding was a well-mannered, sad-eyed woman, lacking a left foot.”
“Professor Jonkin’s Cannibal Plant,” (2 stars). Mad scientist goes to exotic climes, etc. etc. Also featuring that other stand-by, mad-scientist’s more conventional friend who acts as foil/rescuer.
“The Voice in the Night,” William Hope Hodgson (4 stars). Moss is the culprit here! There is some extra creepiness for the setting (a ship becalmed on a dark night) and the scare factor of the plant actually growing on you and taking you over.
“The Pavilion,” Edith Nesbit, (4 stars). Male bravado, murderous plants, a practical heroine, social snobbery. Again, elevated by the writing and appealing characterization.
“The Green Death,” H.C. McNeile (2 stars). Adventure-mystery yarn with all the early 20th century stereotypes: class snobbery, male in-jokes, stupid police, pretty maidens. Also, a bit convoluted in its explanation.
“The Woman of the Wood,” Abraham Merritt (4 stars). Probably my favourite story in the collection, here we have murderous trees using humanity to their own ends. It is green and fairylike, with shades of World War I, PTSD, deforestation, feudalism, eco-terrorism.
“The Moaning Lily,” Emma Vane (3). Really interesting ideas touching on feminism/body horror with a lily with a human mouth and tongue, but quite a slight story, and again in the “Mad scientist in exotic climes with more conventional friend” thing.
Maybe I should rate three stars overall. But this was fun to read, the introduction was short but very interesting, and the individual stories also had very short introductions highlighting main themes and overall, as a collection and a reading experience, it just worked.
January 31, 2025
3.75 stars
This particular collection by the British Library is subtitled Killer Tales of the Botanical Gothic. Yes, we are talking plants. There are fourteen tales in the collection and the authors are Hawthorne, Conan Doyle, Wells, M R James, Edith Nesbit, Emma Vane, Lucy Hooper, Edmond Nolcini, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Ambrose Bierce, Howard Garris, H C McNiele, Abraham Merritt and William Hope Hodgson. They range from 1844 to 1935. There are vines, tendrils, poisons, orchids, parasites, tentacles, fungi, venus fly traps and a fair amount of cannibalism and bloodletting.
Most reflect the concerns of the times and the later ones start to reflect the science fiction tropes of the 1920s and 1930s. But most definitely no Triffids and not an Ent in sight! There are reactions to Darwinism and colonialism and lots of pretty outrageous plants. Genetics and grafting also make appearances. Some are better than others. I didn’t enjoy the Conan Doyle much, but the Gilman was good. There are a few killer lies as well:
“The plant had turned cannibal and eaten the man who had grown it!”
All in all an ok collection.
This particular collection by the British Library is subtitled Killer Tales of the Botanical Gothic. Yes, we are talking plants. There are fourteen tales in the collection and the authors are Hawthorne, Conan Doyle, Wells, M R James, Edith Nesbit, Emma Vane, Lucy Hooper, Edmond Nolcini, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Ambrose Bierce, Howard Garris, H C McNiele, Abraham Merritt and William Hope Hodgson. They range from 1844 to 1935. There are vines, tendrils, poisons, orchids, parasites, tentacles, fungi, venus fly traps and a fair amount of cannibalism and bloodletting.
Most reflect the concerns of the times and the later ones start to reflect the science fiction tropes of the 1920s and 1930s. But most definitely no Triffids and not an Ent in sight! There are reactions to Darwinism and colonialism and lots of pretty outrageous plants. Genetics and grafting also make appearances. Some are better than others. I didn’t enjoy the Conan Doyle much, but the Gilman was good. There are a few killer lies as well:
“The plant had turned cannibal and eaten the man who had grown it!”
All in all an ok collection.
auf-pause
September 16, 2020Eine Anthologie mit Erzählungen aus dem Sub=Genre des Botanischen Horrors, wow! Wer wissen will, wie das Genre entstand, frage einen Victorianer oder lese das kurze, aber informative Vorwort von Daisy Butcher, die auch jeder Erzählung eine kurze Einleitung vorangestellt hat.
1. Nathaniel Hawthorne: RAPPACCINI´S DAUGHTER
Veröffentlicht 1844 ist dieser Text der älteste in der Anthologie. Literarisch anspruchsvoll und tiefgründig, dabei auch durchaus spannend erzählt, fällt mir kein geeigneter Vergleich ein, vielleicht am ehesten der zu ETA Hoffmanns Erzählungen.
Übrigens kann man ihn unter dem Titel DER GARTEN DES BÖSEN kostenfrei in deutscher Übertragung aufs Kindle herunterladen:
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00R...
Bislang habe ich noch nichts von Hawthorne gelesen, was mich mitgerissen hat, aber diese Erzählung kann ich vorbehaltlos empfehlen:
2. Arthur Conan Doyle: THE AMERICAN´S TALE
So schwungvoll und voller Wortwitz ist mir ACD bislang noch nicht begegnet. In breitester Mundart erzählt ein Amerikaner in einem englischen Club eine Geschichte, die vielleicht nicht wirklich besonders gruselig oder überraschend ist, aber dafür sprachlich reichlich Anlass zur Heiterkeit bietet.
Ich werde meine Venus=Fliegenfalle, die mir meine Tochter zum Geburtstag geschenkt hat, jedenfalls nicht unbeobachtet & allzu groß werden lassen:
(Audrey III)
3. Lucy H. Hooper: CARNIVORINE
CARNIVORINE von Lucy Hamilton Hooper (1835-1893), nicht zu verwechseln mit Lucy Hooper (1816–1841), ist der erste Text einer Autorin und einer Amerikanerin in der Anthologie. In der wohl nur selten zu findenden kurzen Story macht sich Carnivorine, eine fleischfressende Pflanze, auf die Beine, Verzeihung, auf die Wurzeln, und wandert triffidös durch ein Anwesen in der Campagna.
1. Nathaniel Hawthorne: RAPPACCINI´S DAUGHTER
Veröffentlicht 1844 ist dieser Text der älteste in der Anthologie. Literarisch anspruchsvoll und tiefgründig, dabei auch durchaus spannend erzählt, fällt mir kein geeigneter Vergleich ein, vielleicht am ehesten der zu ETA Hoffmanns Erzählungen.
Übrigens kann man ihn unter dem Titel DER GARTEN DES BÖSEN kostenfrei in deutscher Übertragung aufs Kindle herunterladen:
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00R...
Bislang habe ich noch nichts von Hawthorne gelesen, was mich mitgerissen hat, aber diese Erzählung kann ich vorbehaltlos empfehlen:
2. Arthur Conan Doyle: THE AMERICAN´S TALE
So schwungvoll und voller Wortwitz ist mir ACD bislang noch nicht begegnet. In breitester Mundart erzählt ein Amerikaner in einem englischen Club eine Geschichte, die vielleicht nicht wirklich besonders gruselig oder überraschend ist, aber dafür sprachlich reichlich Anlass zur Heiterkeit bietet.
Ich werde meine Venus=Fliegenfalle, die mir meine Tochter zum Geburtstag geschenkt hat, jedenfalls nicht unbeobachtet & allzu groß werden lassen:
(Audrey III)
3. Lucy H. Hooper: CARNIVORINE
CARNIVORINE von Lucy Hamilton Hooper (1835-1893), nicht zu verwechseln mit Lucy Hooper (1816–1841), ist der erste Text einer Autorin und einer Amerikanerin in der Anthologie. In der wohl nur selten zu findenden kurzen Story macht sich Carnivorine, eine fleischfressende Pflanze, auf die Beine, Verzeihung, auf die Wurzeln, und wandert triffidös durch ein Anwesen in der Campagna.
September 23, 2023
10/2021
The Botanical Gothic. I love it
The introduction, by editor Daisy Butcher, is fascinating. The human relationship to plants in the 19th century was a heavy one. From exploring the far corners of the world, to Victorian love of orchids and distrust of the outdoors, to Darwin. The fear of a man eating plant loomed large in the Victorian mind. But in the 20th century, Butcher points out, killer plants became more part of sci fi and horror movies (even, apparently, video games).
The American's Tale by Arthur Conan Doyle is from 1880 and set in Arizona. And it is basically Cowboys v. Giant Flytraps (a decade before Sherlock). The story Carnivorine by Lucy Hooper is good.
The Voice In the Night by William Hope Hodgson (1906) is extra scary because it's all about mold, a fungus you can't kill and will kill you. This seems pretty realistic to me.
The Botanical Gothic. I love it
The introduction, by editor Daisy Butcher, is fascinating. The human relationship to plants in the 19th century was a heavy one. From exploring the far corners of the world, to Victorian love of orchids and distrust of the outdoors, to Darwin. The fear of a man eating plant loomed large in the Victorian mind. But in the 20th century, Butcher points out, killer plants became more part of sci fi and horror movies (even, apparently, video games).
The American's Tale by Arthur Conan Doyle is from 1880 and set in Arizona. And it is basically Cowboys v. Giant Flytraps (a decade before Sherlock). The story Carnivorine by Lucy Hooper is good.
The Voice In the Night by William Hope Hodgson (1906) is extra scary because it's all about mold, a fungus you can't kill and will kill you. This seems pretty realistic to me.
February 7, 2020
Just like horror movie anthologies, British Library's Tales of the Weird series proves that a well-constructed story doesn't necessarily need much room to be effective. I picked Evil Roots as my first read back in November (review of my December read is a couple of posts back), because I'd never thought "botanical gothic" was a thing and it seemed so intriguing. All I could think of was the Finnish Moomin TV show that has a creepy plant attacking the characters. Short stories, though? Crickets.
As this collection shows, dangerous plants that seem to have a life of their own and people who make use of the deadly properties of plants are excellent material for horror and gothic. Butcher gets a little spoiler-y in the introductions, so I recommend reading the stories first, but I can't recall that any of the stories weren't worth the read. My favorites:
The Ash Tree by M. R. James (1904): Sir Richard Fell inherits a house with a dark past and a creepy tree. Made me feel itchy.
The Voice in the Night by William Hope Hodgson (1906): On a dark night, a rowboat approaches a schooner asking help. The man in the boat can't be seen, but he sounds strange when he starts telling his story.
Professor Jonkin's Cannibal Plant by Howard R. Garis (1905): I have a thing for meat-eater plants. I had a thriving venus flytrap a couple of years ago, but then I went on holiday and my mom accidentally killed it; RIP George. Garis is best known as a children's author, and although this story has a more comical bent to it and simply has a gigantic pitcher plant, I really liked it.
The Moaning Lily by Emma Vane (1935): The protagonist enters flower shows and becomes obsessed with a lily that has a mouth and moans. Bizarre and a little body horror-ish which is always nice.
The Flowering of the Strange Orchid by H. G. Wells (1894): Tackles the topic of exotic plant collecting and didn't change my opinion about orchids being creepy (my parents have orchids; should I warn them?).
As this collection shows, dangerous plants that seem to have a life of their own and people who make use of the deadly properties of plants are excellent material for horror and gothic. Butcher gets a little spoiler-y in the introductions, so I recommend reading the stories first, but I can't recall that any of the stories weren't worth the read. My favorites:
The Ash Tree by M. R. James (1904): Sir Richard Fell inherits a house with a dark past and a creepy tree. Made me feel itchy.
The Voice in the Night by William Hope Hodgson (1906): On a dark night, a rowboat approaches a schooner asking help. The man in the boat can't be seen, but he sounds strange when he starts telling his story.
Professor Jonkin's Cannibal Plant by Howard R. Garis (1905): I have a thing for meat-eater plants. I had a thriving venus flytrap a couple of years ago, but then I went on holiday and my mom accidentally killed it; RIP George. Garis is best known as a children's author, and although this story has a more comical bent to it and simply has a gigantic pitcher plant, I really liked it.
The Moaning Lily by Emma Vane (1935): The protagonist enters flower shows and becomes obsessed with a lily that has a mouth and moans. Bizarre and a little body horror-ish which is always nice.
The Flowering of the Strange Orchid by H. G. Wells (1894): Tackles the topic of exotic plant collecting and didn't change my opinion about orchids being creepy (my parents have orchids; should I warn them?).
April 15, 2020
★★★★
I rated every story in this collection as I finished them, for future reference and to know which authors I might be interested to look up more of later. After I finished the whole collection I adjusted the star ratings based on which stories stuck and which I quickly forgot. However, the star rating of the collection as a whole is higher than just the average rating of the individual stories (the average is 3.18). You can see the list of stories and my ratings of them further down, if you're interested.
I'm a fan of gothic literature. I can't read too much old-school gothic stories, becasue WOW they knew how to overwrite (especially looking at you, Hawthorne), but now and again I enjoy a dose of chilling melodrama. I also find it interesting to read from a feminist perspective, and to see these tales as documentation of a social history, especially of gender. But I'm not beneath admitting that I'm mostly in it for the crumbling mansions and family curses. Love me a good family curse.
Botanical gothic. As an avid indoor-person I can really understand the distrust for nature that these stories express. Imagine if we no longer were the boss over it. We've always been in a fight with nature over dominance, and the thought of losing that fight became a lot scarier the closer we felt to winning. This collection dwells on that fear. Mix in some helpless women (Edith Nesbit's story being the one exception), mad scientists and old mansions and we have some good gothic stories going.
(Side note/rant: Today I think the common theme for literature in the botanical gothic is The Vengeful Environment. The mad scientists drove nature to take revenge on us, etc etc. These stories are written before we knew we were killing a whole planet, and the mad experiments are never on a large scale, and never affect more than a very small circle of people. Well, Abraham Merritt's story is about a forest taking revenge on humans so in a sense that's a comment on humans' hubris in the fight against nature, but it is also one of the later stories in the collection. The horrific events in the story are still on a rather local level though.)
I really enjoyed this collection as it gave a good overview of a gothic tradition I wasn't aware of earlier, and the introductions to the collection and the individual stories were brief but gave a comprehensive explanation on where and how these stories placed within the gothic literature. Plus for including a few female authors as well. As gothic literature has a been a stage for some successful female authors it would be a shame if they hadn't been represented here, albeit in small numbers. (One thing that always fascinated me with gothic literature is the different ways female and male authors portrait the helpless woman.) The stories spanns chronologically from 1844 to 1935, which gave a nice overview of different tones and themes in the genre.
A small note is that I really liked the little illustrations that went with some chapters, and I wish they had included one for every story.
I will pick up more British Library Tales of the Weird collections as I really liked this one.
Rappaccini's Daughter ★ 2,0
Nathaniel Hawthorne
The American's Tale ★ 4
Arthur Conan Doyle
Carnivorine ★ 4
Lucy H. Hooper
The Giant Wistaria ★ 3,5
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Flowering of the Strange Orchid ★ 4
H. G. Wells
The Guardian of Mystery Island ★ 3,5
Edmond Nolcini
The Ash Tree ★ 3
M. R. James
A Vine on a House ★ 2,5
Ambrose Bierce
Professor Jonkin's Cannibal Plant ★ 2,5
Howard R. Garis
The Voice in the Night ★ 5
William Hope Hodgson
The Pavilion ★ 3
Edith Nesbit
The Green Death ★ 2
H. C. Mcneile
The Woman of the Wood ★ 2,5
Abraham Merritt
The Moaning Lily ★3
Emma Vane
I rated every story in this collection as I finished them, for future reference and to know which authors I might be interested to look up more of later. After I finished the whole collection I adjusted the star ratings based on which stories stuck and which I quickly forgot. However, the star rating of the collection as a whole is higher than just the average rating of the individual stories (the average is 3.18). You can see the list of stories and my ratings of them further down, if you're interested.
I'm a fan of gothic literature. I can't read too much old-school gothic stories, becasue WOW they knew how to overwrite (especially looking at you, Hawthorne), but now and again I enjoy a dose of chilling melodrama. I also find it interesting to read from a feminist perspective, and to see these tales as documentation of a social history, especially of gender. But I'm not beneath admitting that I'm mostly in it for the crumbling mansions and family curses. Love me a good family curse.
Botanical gothic. As an avid indoor-person I can really understand the distrust for nature that these stories express. Imagine if we no longer were the boss over it. We've always been in a fight with nature over dominance, and the thought of losing that fight became a lot scarier the closer we felt to winning. This collection dwells on that fear. Mix in some helpless women (Edith Nesbit's story being the one exception), mad scientists and old mansions and we have some good gothic stories going.
(Side note/rant: Today I think the common theme for literature in the botanical gothic is The Vengeful Environment. The mad scientists drove nature to take revenge on us, etc etc. These stories are written before we knew we were killing a whole planet, and the mad experiments are never on a large scale, and never affect more than a very small circle of people. Well, Abraham Merritt's story is about a forest taking revenge on humans so in a sense that's a comment on humans' hubris in the fight against nature, but it is also one of the later stories in the collection. The horrific events in the story are still on a rather local level though.)
I really enjoyed this collection as it gave a good overview of a gothic tradition I wasn't aware of earlier, and the introductions to the collection and the individual stories were brief but gave a comprehensive explanation on where and how these stories placed within the gothic literature. Plus for including a few female authors as well. As gothic literature has a been a stage for some successful female authors it would be a shame if they hadn't been represented here, albeit in small numbers. (One thing that always fascinated me with gothic literature is the different ways female and male authors portrait the helpless woman.) The stories spanns chronologically from 1844 to 1935, which gave a nice overview of different tones and themes in the genre.
A small note is that I really liked the little illustrations that went with some chapters, and I wish they had included one for every story.
I will pick up more British Library Tales of the Weird collections as I really liked this one.
Rappaccini's Daughter ★ 2,0
Nathaniel Hawthorne
The American's Tale ★ 4
Arthur Conan Doyle
Carnivorine ★ 4
Lucy H. Hooper
The Giant Wistaria ★ 3,5
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Flowering of the Strange Orchid ★ 4
H. G. Wells
The Guardian of Mystery Island ★ 3,5
Edmond Nolcini
The Ash Tree ★ 3
M. R. James
A Vine on a House ★ 2,5
Ambrose Bierce
Professor Jonkin's Cannibal Plant ★ 2,5
Howard R. Garis
The Voice in the Night ★ 5
William Hope Hodgson
The Pavilion ★ 3
Edith Nesbit
The Green Death ★ 2
H. C. Mcneile
The Woman of the Wood ★ 2,5
Abraham Merritt
The Moaning Lily ★3
Emma Vane
September 27, 2023
First, can we just appreciate that the editor of this collection of stories about spooky plants written from 1844-1932 is named Daisy Butcher? That’s fate, right there.
There’s a lot of familiar names represented here – Nathaniel Hawthorne, Arthur Conan Doyle, HG Wells, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’) – but also authors like Lucy Hooper and Emma Vane who I hadn’t encountered before. If you want to read these stories with minimal spoilers beyond “the plant did it” (which the title of the collection gives away), I’d recommend saving the introduction to each story and the book overall until afterward.
As a plant biologist, it was fun to see how many times Darwin and his work on orchids and carnivorous plants got name-dropped! One shouldn’t expect too much botanical accuracy here, of course. And I remained pretty chill about the artistic license until I ran into a pet-peeve of mine: Grafting does NOT lead to mixing of traits!! Its purpose is exactly the opposite – to preserve a variety without change, or to grow several distinct varieties on the same stem – as even a medieval gardener monk could tell you. Of course, what happens in that story is actually less like grafting and more like , so ‘The moaning lily’ actually ended up pretty high on my list of favorite tales.
My favorite overall was ‘The woman of the wood’ (which has actually given me a short story idea of my own), followed by ‘The flowering of the strange orchid’, ‘The voice in the night’, ‘The moaning lily’, and ‘Professor Jonkin’s cannibal plant’. Two of those are actually pretty funny, one would belong on my “Lovecraftian but not racist” shelf, and in one it is ambiguous whether the plants are “villains” or not – but I won’t say which is which for spoiler reasons!
Gilman’s story, ‘The giant wistaria’, was nicely spooky and has some of her usual critique of patriarchal structures, but I wish there was a bit more information about what actually happened in the past timeline and how the vine was or was not involved, since that part was a bit confusing. Hawthorne’s ‘Rappaccini’s daughter’ has some gorgeous language: “Yet Giovanni’s fancy must have grown morbid…for the impression which the fair stranger made upon him was as if here were another flower, the human sister of those vegetable ones…but still to be touched only with a glove, nor to be approached without a mask.” The ending, however, was a tad misogynistic and also unsatisfying, since we don’t find out what happens to Giovanni.
In art and literature in general, there is link drawn between plants and the feminine, and so here of course there is a link between fear of (more active than usual) plants and (non-passive/vengeful/predatory) femininity. As such, it's perhaps not surprising there’s only one story where the main character is a woman…and that no one listens to her in time to stop the tragedy! We also get a lot of the fear of exotic lands not fully known to Europeans – of the fruits of colonialism turning out to have poisoned seeds, one might say. And, of course, there’s the “scientific obsession going to far” fear, breeding a host of leafy Frankenstein’s monsters.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this to any fans of plants and gothic literature.
There’s a lot of familiar names represented here – Nathaniel Hawthorne, Arthur Conan Doyle, HG Wells, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’) – but also authors like Lucy Hooper and Emma Vane who I hadn’t encountered before. If you want to read these stories with minimal spoilers beyond “the plant did it” (which the title of the collection gives away), I’d recommend saving the introduction to each story and the book overall until afterward.
As a plant biologist, it was fun to see how many times Darwin and his work on orchids and carnivorous plants got name-dropped! One shouldn’t expect too much botanical accuracy here, of course. And I remained pretty chill about the artistic license until I ran into a pet-peeve of mine: Grafting does NOT lead to mixing of traits!! Its purpose is exactly the opposite – to preserve a variety without change, or to grow several distinct varieties on the same stem – as even a medieval gardener monk could tell you. Of course, what happens in that story is actually less like grafting and more like , so ‘The moaning lily’ actually ended up pretty high on my list of favorite tales.
My favorite overall was ‘The woman of the wood’ (which has actually given me a short story idea of my own), followed by ‘The flowering of the strange orchid’, ‘The voice in the night’, ‘The moaning lily’, and ‘Professor Jonkin’s cannibal plant’. Two of those are actually pretty funny, one would belong on my “Lovecraftian but not racist” shelf, and in one it is ambiguous whether the plants are “villains” or not – but I won’t say which is which for spoiler reasons!
Gilman’s story, ‘The giant wistaria’, was nicely spooky and has some of her usual critique of patriarchal structures, but I wish there was a bit more information about what actually happened in the past timeline and how the vine was or was not involved, since that part was a bit confusing. Hawthorne’s ‘Rappaccini’s daughter’ has some gorgeous language: “Yet Giovanni’s fancy must have grown morbid…for the impression which the fair stranger made upon him was as if here were another flower, the human sister of those vegetable ones…but still to be touched only with a glove, nor to be approached without a mask.” The ending, however, was a tad misogynistic and also unsatisfying, since we don’t find out what happens to Giovanni.
In art and literature in general, there is link drawn between plants and the feminine, and so here of course there is a link between fear of (more active than usual) plants and (non-passive/vengeful/predatory) femininity. As such, it's perhaps not surprising there’s only one story where the main character is a woman…and that no one listens to her in time to stop the tragedy! We also get a lot of the fear of exotic lands not fully known to Europeans – of the fruits of colonialism turning out to have poisoned seeds, one might say. And, of course, there’s the “scientific obsession going to far” fear, breeding a host of leafy Frankenstein’s monsters.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this to any fans of plants and gothic literature.
September 24, 2025
4.5 stars
January 1, 2026
4.25 - I think this might be my favorite of all the British Library Short Story Collections I've read. Every tale in this one had a Gothic air to it which I really enjoyed. I also found that you could see similarities to other stories that followed while reading these, some of the more obvious being Little Shop of Horrors and The Last of Us. I really enjoyed every story in this with The Pavilion being my least favorite but still being rather enjoyable. Highly recommend this collection, especially in the spring, I think that would be a great time to pick this one up.
April 12, 2024
3.2 ☆
i was so excited to read this collection of botanical gothic stories, and became even more excited when i saw that daisy butcher’s research focus is on female body horror. i was expecting stories in line with shirley jackson, or perhaps a nineteenth-century precursor to sayaka murata, and so i was inevitably let down a bit when it became clear that the (very masculine) botanical gothic scene between 1844 and 1932 was…not that.
i think sometimes it’s difficult to read "foundational" literature in genres that have more recently been explored in really fun and imaginative ways, because it's inevitably going to feel less exciting in comparison. i’m sure that to a nineteenth century reader, the image of a human-plant hybrid taking human victims and digesting their bones sounds a bit terrifying, but it leaves me personally wanting a bit more.
but that’s not to say that i can’t appreciate what these stories are exploring, or what they’ve offered to a genre that i really enjoy in its more modern forms. the themes developed across this period of literature are really interesting—the dangers of scientific advancement, often explored through a darwinian and frankenstein-esque lens; a link between the botanical and the female; and society versus nature (especially a manipulated form of nature). i definitely enjoyed thinking about how these ideas have maintained relevance in the years following their publication, and several stories have really stuck with me. my favorites from the collection include charlotte perkins gilman’s “the giant wistaria,” edith nesbit’s “the pavilion,” william hope hodgson’s “the voice in the night” (which gets bonus points for its prediction of the fungal zombie sub-genre), and h.c. mcneile’s “the green death.”
butcher did a great job of selecting stories that reflect the themes that she set out to explore. despite this, there were some less admirable aspects to these stories that are definitely in-line with the period in which they were written. in terms of plot and writing style, many of these stories take a long time to really get going, with lots of unnecessary fluff at the beginning or the use of contrived frame narratives. the female characters are largely sidelined or foolish, which is especially frustrating in the stories where the parasitic or evil plants adopt a female host or appearance. many of the stories also depend largely on the exoticization of the tropics, including the plants at the center of the stories and the people that live near and are familiar with them.
i probably wouldn’t recommend this to most readers, largely because of how dated the writing is at times. but if you’re a big fan of gothic literature, or have a particular interest in botanical horror throughout history, it’s probably worth a read.
i was so excited to read this collection of botanical gothic stories, and became even more excited when i saw that daisy butcher’s research focus is on female body horror. i was expecting stories in line with shirley jackson, or perhaps a nineteenth-century precursor to sayaka murata, and so i was inevitably let down a bit when it became clear that the (very masculine) botanical gothic scene between 1844 and 1932 was…not that.
i think sometimes it’s difficult to read "foundational" literature in genres that have more recently been explored in really fun and imaginative ways, because it's inevitably going to feel less exciting in comparison. i’m sure that to a nineteenth century reader, the image of a human-plant hybrid taking human victims and digesting their bones sounds a bit terrifying, but it leaves me personally wanting a bit more.
but that’s not to say that i can’t appreciate what these stories are exploring, or what they’ve offered to a genre that i really enjoy in its more modern forms. the themes developed across this period of literature are really interesting—the dangers of scientific advancement, often explored through a darwinian and frankenstein-esque lens; a link between the botanical and the female; and society versus nature (especially a manipulated form of nature). i definitely enjoyed thinking about how these ideas have maintained relevance in the years following their publication, and several stories have really stuck with me. my favorites from the collection include charlotte perkins gilman’s “the giant wistaria,” edith nesbit’s “the pavilion,” william hope hodgson’s “the voice in the night” (which gets bonus points for its prediction of the fungal zombie sub-genre), and h.c. mcneile’s “the green death.”
butcher did a great job of selecting stories that reflect the themes that she set out to explore. despite this, there were some less admirable aspects to these stories that are definitely in-line with the period in which they were written. in terms of plot and writing style, many of these stories take a long time to really get going, with lots of unnecessary fluff at the beginning or the use of contrived frame narratives. the female characters are largely sidelined or foolish, which is especially frustrating in the stories where the parasitic or evil plants adopt a female host or appearance. many of the stories also depend largely on the exoticization of the tropics, including the plants at the center of the stories and the people that live near and are familiar with them.
i probably wouldn’t recommend this to most readers, largely because of how dated the writing is at times. but if you’re a big fan of gothic literature, or have a particular interest in botanical horror throughout history, it’s probably worth a read.
October 30, 2019
Wonderful collection of previously unknown stories which deserve a read! Very much enjoy the theme of killer plants/fungi and love the illustrations throughout which is a lovely touch. Butcher's headnotes are great little intros while avoiding spoilers which I appreciated. Recommend!
January 9, 2025
[3.5]
"it has always been my theory that the hydra, the dragon, and other monstrous forms of animal life really did exist, and that, in the evolution of ages and by reason of geological changes on the surface of the earth, these creatures, deprived of their accustomed forms of nourishment, degenerated into trees and plants and took root in the earth."
it's hard to review short story collections, because there's always such a variety of stories within them and it is inevitable that some will be better than others. and, while there were one or two stories that i thought this book could have done without (my sincere apologies, sir arthur conan doyle), daisy butcher's choices were an excellent insight into the development of the botanical gothic subgenre, and it was interesting to see how much it evolved over the course of a century that brought with it the argument for evolution, natural selection, and widespread industrialisation. while it may not be 'horror' as many people think of it, the stories had a subtle eeriness and quality of voice that made them pleasant to read, even when they were not the most interesting or innovative.
that being said, the clear highlights (for me, at least) were rappaccini's daughter (nathaniel hawthorne), the pavilion (edith nesbit), and the woman of the wood (abraham merritt). each had a completely different take on the botanical gothic, from the poisonous corruption of innocence and femininity that helped spark the femme fatale trope to personification of nature in the face of deforestation and blurring of the nature-human binary. as a geography student, it's incredibly interesting to see how these ideas made their way into literature long before academics thought to voice them, and i suppose my interest in this collection came from that academic background. even the stories that i did not enjoy as much had merit in their representations of how societal concerns influence what people find horrific and their contributions to the wider gothic genre, and reading them was rewarding, albeit a little dull at times. such is the nature of classic literature.
the promise of the collection was greater than the reality, and i admit i was expecting more from stories written by such high-profile authors, but i got enough out of it that i cannot call it disappointing. it is a nice book, and i suspect i will reread at least some parts of it in the future.
"it was strangely frightful to the young man's imagination, to see this air of insecurity in a person cultivating a garden, that most simple and innocent of human toils, and which had been alike the joy and labour of the unfallen parents of the race. was this garden, then, the eden of the present world? - and this man, with such a perception in what his own hands caused to grow, was he the adam?"
"it has always been my theory that the hydra, the dragon, and other monstrous forms of animal life really did exist, and that, in the evolution of ages and by reason of geological changes on the surface of the earth, these creatures, deprived of their accustomed forms of nourishment, degenerated into trees and plants and took root in the earth."
it's hard to review short story collections, because there's always such a variety of stories within them and it is inevitable that some will be better than others. and, while there were one or two stories that i thought this book could have done without (my sincere apologies, sir arthur conan doyle), daisy butcher's choices were an excellent insight into the development of the botanical gothic subgenre, and it was interesting to see how much it evolved over the course of a century that brought with it the argument for evolution, natural selection, and widespread industrialisation. while it may not be 'horror' as many people think of it, the stories had a subtle eeriness and quality of voice that made them pleasant to read, even when they were not the most interesting or innovative.
that being said, the clear highlights (for me, at least) were rappaccini's daughter (nathaniel hawthorne), the pavilion (edith nesbit), and the woman of the wood (abraham merritt). each had a completely different take on the botanical gothic, from the poisonous corruption of innocence and femininity that helped spark the femme fatale trope to personification of nature in the face of deforestation and blurring of the nature-human binary. as a geography student, it's incredibly interesting to see how these ideas made their way into literature long before academics thought to voice them, and i suppose my interest in this collection came from that academic background. even the stories that i did not enjoy as much had merit in their representations of how societal concerns influence what people find horrific and their contributions to the wider gothic genre, and reading them was rewarding, albeit a little dull at times. such is the nature of classic literature.
the promise of the collection was greater than the reality, and i admit i was expecting more from stories written by such high-profile authors, but i got enough out of it that i cannot call it disappointing. it is a nice book, and i suspect i will reread at least some parts of it in the future.
"it was strangely frightful to the young man's imagination, to see this air of insecurity in a person cultivating a garden, that most simple and innocent of human toils, and which had been alike the joy and labour of the unfallen parents of the race. was this garden, then, the eden of the present world? - and this man, with such a perception in what his own hands caused to grow, was he the adam?"
September 26, 2023
some of the language was a bit aged but this was so fun
September 24, 2021
I find the idea of evil plants hilarious, and so these stories to me were a lot more funny than scary. After a few they do get repetitive though; not great for stories that were already very predictable to begin with.
December 30, 2024
Excellent anthology easily among the best I read this year!
November 19, 2019
"A diferencia de sus contemporáneos el vampiro, hombre-lobo, fantasma y momia, la planta asesina nunca ha sido reconocida como un propio subgénero dentro del terror gótico. A pesar de esto, la planta-come-hombres fue un verdadero fenómeno literario en el siglo XIX, que inspiró a escritores de la talla de Nathaniel Hawthorne, Arthur Conan Doyle o H. G. Wells a escribir sus propios cuentos". Así arranca la introducción de Daisy Butcher, la editora de esta carnívora colección. Además de los autores mencionados, incluye a Lucy H. Hooper, Edmond Nolcini, M. R. James, Ambroise Bierce, Howard R. Garis, Edith Nesbit, H. McNeile, Emma Vane, William Hope Hodgson, Abraham Merritt y Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Sólo había leído los maravillosos cuentos "La voz en la noche" y "La mujer del bosque" (de Hodgson y Merritt, respectivamente). Aunque todos me gustaron, los que más me sorprendieron fueron "La enredadera gigante" de la maravillosa Charlotte Perkins quien, como lo hizo de manera soberbia en "El tapiz amarillo", le imprime su toque feminista, criticando el control patriarcal y los roles de género, y "El pabellón" de Edith Nesbit, quien también hace lo suyo, poniendo sobre la mesa la hombría y los prejuicios contra las mujeres. Este terror botánico o eco-terror, por razones evidentes, está resurgiendo (para nuestro deleite lector). Además de recordarme a la maravillosa película La tiendita del horror (que se rumora tendrá remake) y a Stranger Things, me hizo pensar en "Raíces", cuento de Enrique Urbina, y a mi propia colección inédita de cuentos llamada Légamo. Seguiré consumiendo con voracidad los demás título de la colección Tales of the Weird de la British Library.
February 11, 2022
Like all anthologies, there's a bit of a mixed bag here for what I enjoyed. This is from a long series by British Library Tales of the Weird, and unfortunately a story repeated in this volume that I read in their one about the woods a couple weeks back. BUT it was my favorite tale of that one so I can't gripe too much.
I enjoyed how they've again put in the work to include authors and works I've never heard of - and who all happen to have written on such a delightful topic. There was a Western tale whose villain is not a gunman, but a venus flytrap; another tells of a creeping vine that kills people who enter a pavilion on the grounds of an estate.
The Woman of the Wood was an absolute standout in this. A haunting tale of deforestation and the war between man and nature, it gave me Princess Mononoke vibes in an early 20th century format. If we could hear the trees scream, would humanity have progressed as it did?
I enjoyed how they've again put in the work to include authors and works I've never heard of - and who all happen to have written on such a delightful topic. There was a Western tale whose villain is not a gunman, but a venus flytrap; another tells of a creeping vine that kills people who enter a pavilion on the grounds of an estate.
The Woman of the Wood was an absolute standout in this. A haunting tale of deforestation and the war between man and nature, it gave me Princess Mononoke vibes in an early 20th century format. If we could hear the trees scream, would humanity have progressed as it did?
August 26, 2022
4.5 rounded up
This collection is a lot of fun to read. I love a good gothic tale and the twist of having murderous/carnivorous/just plain spooky plants involved as the main horror driving force is a lot of fun.
For myself (and potentially others) I'm listing here each story and my rating for it out of five for reference in the future (in case I would like to reread some of these stories).
---------------------
Rappaccini's Daughter ★★★★
The American's Tale ★★★
Carnivorine ★★★★★
The Giant Wistaria ★★★★★
The Flowering of the Strange Orchid ★★★★★
The Guardian of Mystery Island ★★★
The Ash Tree ★★★
A Vine on a House ★★★★
Professor Jonkin's Cannibal Plant ★★★★★
The Voice in the Night ★★★★★
The Pavillion ★★★★
The Green Death ★★★★
The Woman of the Wood ★★★★★
The Moaning Lily ★★★★★
This collection is a lot of fun to read. I love a good gothic tale and the twist of having murderous/carnivorous/just plain spooky plants involved as the main horror driving force is a lot of fun.
For myself (and potentially others) I'm listing here each story and my rating for it out of five for reference in the future (in case I would like to reread some of these stories).
---------------------
Rappaccini's Daughter ★★★★
The American's Tale ★★★
Carnivorine ★★★★★
The Giant Wistaria ★★★★★
The Flowering of the Strange Orchid ★★★★★
The Guardian of Mystery Island ★★★
The Ash Tree ★★★
A Vine on a House ★★★★
Professor Jonkin's Cannibal Plant ★★★★★
The Voice in the Night ★★★★★
The Pavillion ★★★★
The Green Death ★★★★
The Woman of the Wood ★★★★★
The Moaning Lily ★★★★★
January 8, 2021
One of the better collections from the British Library's excellent weird fiction series, this offers a wide range of generally outstanding stories, displaying the full range of the "botanical gothic." My one gripe about these is how poor the copy-editing is, and this collection, unfortunately, is one of the most egregious in that respect. The typos increase as the book progresses, until in the final stretch typos appear sometimes three or more to a page. Regardless, this is a valuable collection, knowledgably edited by the improbably named "Daisy Butcher" (!).
October 22, 2024
Excellent read. A great selection of weird and gothic horror stories that explore the fear of plants, exploration and science! They all seem to be fairly deep-cuts from the archives and shine light on lesser known writers who can really spin a spooky tale. I love the framing of this collection as a result of imperialism, colonialism and orientalism and how by collating them we can see the exotic botanical fever and the fear of the distant lands that fed the fear and imagination of the writers and readers of the time. Do we Stan the colonialism in here? No, but we do love that they are all so camp.
March 29, 2024
favourite stories: rappacini‘s daughter by nathaniel hawthorne, the ash tree by m. r. james, a vine on a house by ambrose bierce, the voice in the night by william hope hodgson, the women of the wood by abraham merritt
March 12, 2023
A quick read of a bunch of anthology stories it was entertaining and I loved it
August 15, 2025
4.5 ⭐ not all of the short stories were my favorites of course, but I adore this book
April 25, 2023
me he tenido que saltar un capítulo porque era super aburrido pero ya me lo he terminado... me ha dejado sin palabras es chulisimo 💙 plantas 💙 cuando comen personas 🥰
October 28, 2024
Great collection of Killer plant stories from some great classic authors: Nathanial Hawthorne, Arthur Conan Doyle, H. G. Wells, M.R. James, E. Nesbitt, William Hope Hodgson, Charlotte Perkins Gilman....
Particular stand outs (other than the Wells and Hodgson stories, which go without saying as I'm a massive fan of both): Nesbit's The Pavilion, Hawthorne's Rapaccini's Daughter and Mcneile's The Green Death.
There's a nice range of stories here - quiet feminism, murder mystery, mad scientist, eco-horror, western tall tale to full on body horror.
There are relatively few horror anthologies out there that specifically cover Botanical gothic, the only other one that springs to mind is: The Roots of Evil: Weird Stories of Supernatural Plants (Michel Parry ed) which has been out of print since 1976 and is hard to track down these days - so I'm delighted to find this more accessible collection.
Particular stand outs (other than the Wells and Hodgson stories, which go without saying as I'm a massive fan of both): Nesbit's The Pavilion, Hawthorne's Rapaccini's Daughter and Mcneile's The Green Death.
There's a nice range of stories here - quiet feminism, murder mystery, mad scientist, eco-horror, western tall tale to full on body horror.
There are relatively few horror anthologies out there that specifically cover Botanical gothic, the only other one that springs to mind is: The Roots of Evil: Weird Stories of Supernatural Plants (Michel Parry ed) which has been out of print since 1976 and is hard to track down these days - so I'm delighted to find this more accessible collection.
September 9, 2020
4.5
This was way more enjoyable than it has any business being.
This was way more enjoyable than it has any business being.
January 22, 2024
4.5 estrellas en general. Hubieron unos muy únicos, aprendí mucho sobre el subgénero del gótico botánico! Aquí pondré mi ranking de los cuentos:
14. The Woman of the Wood, by Abraham Merritt-. Aún siendo la “peor” de la antología, me gustó mucho. Me pareció el más lento de todos, por eso esta aquí. Trata sobre cómo unos espíritus del bosque poco a poco se meten en la cabeza del protagonista para matar a los tres hombres que están deforestando el bosque.
13. Professor Jonkin’s Cannibal Plant, by Howard R. Garis- Me gustó muchísimo, pero está en número trece porque no da nada de miedo jajajajaja. Sólo es de un científico que crea esta planta que come carne. Dato curioso que este profesor también según creó un árbol que da de todo tipo de fruta, lo cual me pareció una muy buena imagen.
12. The Giant Wistaria, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman- No entendí el inicio, y siento que eso es lo que le da el punch al desenlace. Trata de estos amigos que rentan una casa porque creen que esta embrujada, y después de la noche cuentan lo que vieron.
11. A Vine on a House, by Ambrose Bierce- Es el más corto de la antología, por lo que no se puede profundizar mucho en sus temas, pero me gustó mucho el final. Me recordó un poco al podcast de The Magnus Archives, así que muy bien jsjsjs. Es sobre esta familia rara, y la esposa desaparece. Según se había ido de viaje, pero luego todos desaparecen y encuentran cosas raras en la casa 🤨.
10. The American’s Tale, by Arthur Conan Doyle- Combina un Western (balazo tipo vaquero) con lo gótico, así que estuvo curioso, me gustó esa mezcla, y hay Venus atrapamoscas gigantes, lo cual siempre es un plus. Me costó leer el inicio, tho, no me atrapo hasta después.
9. The Voice in the Night, by William Hope Hodgson- Usualmente no me gustan las historias náuticas (yo creo por su terminología y traumas después de Moby Dick) peeeero este estuvo muy creepy. Realmente fue el único que si me dio mucho miedo. Trata de que unos tipos están casual en su barquito pasando varios días por niebla, y algunas veces escuchan que alguien se acerca con una balsa (escuchan los remos). Y les empieza a hablar un dude sobre que tiene mucha hambre y que “ella” también tiene. Creepy af.
8. The Green Death, by H. C. McNeile- Éste está curiosín y bien construido. Es un murder-mystery, y el final si te deja con el ojo cuadrado, pero por lo poco científico que es jajajaja. Lo disfrute mucho.
7. Carnivorine, by Lucy H. Hooper- Otra vez crear una planta, pero esta tiene tentáculos y al hablar sobre ella, sus amigos pensaban que hablaba de una mujer jajajaja. Buen twist. También me gustó todo el build up y que el prota tiene que realmente buscar a esta persona desaparecida.
6. The Flowering of the Strange Orchid, by H. G. Wells- Éste fue igual sobre un científico que tiene su plantita que casi lo mata por su belleza, pero me gustó la ejecución y el insight a la cultura de coleccionismo de plantas exóticas en la Inglaterra victoriana.
5. The Guardian of Mystery Island, by Edmond Nolcini- Ok, otra vez una náutica, y esta me pareció muy pesada al inicio, y luego unas partes están muy confusas, pero me atrapo la atmósfera y la señora de la cabaña, el perro, y lo del tesoro. Las vibes e imágenes son excepcionales, realmente me cautivaron, y la atmósfera es lo más importante en el género gótico, así que llego hasta el quinto lugar.
4. The Pavilion, by Edith Nesbit- Hay cuatro personajes, y todos me parecieron bien ejecutados y caracterizados, y ese final???? Pero si sería jajajaja. Trata sobre que está esta leyenda en una casa, que quien se queda a dormir en el Como invernadero amanece muerto, así que un amix reta al otro amix para pasar la noche ahí (los dos quieren con la misma). Pero le sale el tiro por la culata básicamente, y la amiga de la chica con la que quieren va a ver que está pasando en verdad.
3. The Ash Tree, by M. R. James- Muy witchcore, y lo amé. Es sobre los witch trials, la conexión entre mujeres (brujas) y la naturaleza. La trama es de que una habitación de un Lord que condenó a una bruja está embrujada, y esa habitación está junto a un árbol, así que suceden cosas extrañas relacionados a este.
2. Rappaccini’s Daughter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne- No se si porque es el primer cuento dejo una gran impresión en mi sobre este subgénero del gótico botánico, pero me encanto. Nuevamente es sobre un científico que creó una planta (que puede estar conectado a su hija?), y su estudiante se enamora de su hija y tienen citas extrañas en el invernadero.
1. The Moaning Lily, by Emma Vane- Fue el último y de nuevo, no se si es por esto que se quedó conmigo jajajaja. Pero está curiosón, es otra vez de este científico que hace una planta jajajjaa, que es como fusión de humano con planta, y me pareció tan imaginativo y, otra vez, con una atmósfera e imágenes tan peculiares que lo hacen merecedor de este lugar.
14. The Woman of the Wood, by Abraham Merritt-. Aún siendo la “peor” de la antología, me gustó mucho. Me pareció el más lento de todos, por eso esta aquí. Trata sobre cómo unos espíritus del bosque poco a poco se meten en la cabeza del protagonista para matar a los tres hombres que están deforestando el bosque.
13. Professor Jonkin’s Cannibal Plant, by Howard R. Garis- Me gustó muchísimo, pero está en número trece porque no da nada de miedo jajajajaja. Sólo es de un científico que crea esta planta que come carne. Dato curioso que este profesor también según creó un árbol que da de todo tipo de fruta, lo cual me pareció una muy buena imagen.
12. The Giant Wistaria, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman- No entendí el inicio, y siento que eso es lo que le da el punch al desenlace. Trata de estos amigos que rentan una casa porque creen que esta embrujada, y después de la noche cuentan lo que vieron.
11. A Vine on a House, by Ambrose Bierce- Es el más corto de la antología, por lo que no se puede profundizar mucho en sus temas, pero me gustó mucho el final. Me recordó un poco al podcast de The Magnus Archives, así que muy bien jsjsjs. Es sobre esta familia rara, y la esposa desaparece. Según se había ido de viaje, pero luego todos desaparecen y encuentran cosas raras en la casa 🤨.
10. The American’s Tale, by Arthur Conan Doyle- Combina un Western (balazo tipo vaquero) con lo gótico, así que estuvo curioso, me gustó esa mezcla, y hay Venus atrapamoscas gigantes, lo cual siempre es un plus. Me costó leer el inicio, tho, no me atrapo hasta después.
9. The Voice in the Night, by William Hope Hodgson- Usualmente no me gustan las historias náuticas (yo creo por su terminología y traumas después de Moby Dick) peeeero este estuvo muy creepy. Realmente fue el único que si me dio mucho miedo. Trata de que unos tipos están casual en su barquito pasando varios días por niebla, y algunas veces escuchan que alguien se acerca con una balsa (escuchan los remos). Y les empieza a hablar un dude sobre que tiene mucha hambre y que “ella” también tiene. Creepy af.
8. The Green Death, by H. C. McNeile- Éste está curiosín y bien construido. Es un murder-mystery, y el final si te deja con el ojo cuadrado, pero por lo poco científico que es jajajaja. Lo disfrute mucho.
7. Carnivorine, by Lucy H. Hooper- Otra vez crear una planta, pero esta tiene tentáculos y al hablar sobre ella, sus amigos pensaban que hablaba de una mujer jajajaja. Buen twist. También me gustó todo el build up y que el prota tiene que realmente buscar a esta persona desaparecida.
6. The Flowering of the Strange Orchid, by H. G. Wells- Éste fue igual sobre un científico que tiene su plantita que casi lo mata por su belleza, pero me gustó la ejecución y el insight a la cultura de coleccionismo de plantas exóticas en la Inglaterra victoriana.
5. The Guardian of Mystery Island, by Edmond Nolcini- Ok, otra vez una náutica, y esta me pareció muy pesada al inicio, y luego unas partes están muy confusas, pero me atrapo la atmósfera y la señora de la cabaña, el perro, y lo del tesoro. Las vibes e imágenes son excepcionales, realmente me cautivaron, y la atmósfera es lo más importante en el género gótico, así que llego hasta el quinto lugar.
4. The Pavilion, by Edith Nesbit- Hay cuatro personajes, y todos me parecieron bien ejecutados y caracterizados, y ese final???? Pero si sería jajajaja. Trata sobre que está esta leyenda en una casa, que quien se queda a dormir en el Como invernadero amanece muerto, así que un amix reta al otro amix para pasar la noche ahí (los dos quieren con la misma). Pero le sale el tiro por la culata básicamente, y la amiga de la chica con la que quieren va a ver que está pasando en verdad.
3. The Ash Tree, by M. R. James- Muy witchcore, y lo amé. Es sobre los witch trials, la conexión entre mujeres (brujas) y la naturaleza. La trama es de que una habitación de un Lord que condenó a una bruja está embrujada, y esa habitación está junto a un árbol, así que suceden cosas extrañas relacionados a este.
2. Rappaccini’s Daughter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne- No se si porque es el primer cuento dejo una gran impresión en mi sobre este subgénero del gótico botánico, pero me encanto. Nuevamente es sobre un científico que creó una planta (que puede estar conectado a su hija?), y su estudiante se enamora de su hija y tienen citas extrañas en el invernadero.
1. The Moaning Lily, by Emma Vane- Fue el último y de nuevo, no se si es por esto que se quedó conmigo jajajaja. Pero está curiosón, es otra vez de este científico que hace una planta jajajjaa, que es como fusión de humano con planta, y me pareció tan imaginativo y, otra vez, con una atmósfera e imágenes tan peculiares que lo hacen merecedor de este lugar.
February 25, 2025
Rappaccini’s daughter- 2.5/5: a really interesting story. The male protagonist should have just not stalked his beautiful neighbour but that’s men for you. Rappaccini stated that he made his daughter poisonous to give her power and in a way I actually agree with him? No one could hurt Beatrice at a time where women were treated awfully, especially women as beautiful as she was. He probably saved his daughter from a lot of heartache and physical pain even if his methods were unconventional and he did get her a boyfriend like in a way he was a good dad?? Giovanni was silly for being angry with Beatrice when he knew the whole time that she was weird and probably poisonous, very man-coded. Beatrice was allowed almost no agency as her power was gifted to her by a man against her will and Giovanni did just take advantage of a lonely woman by breaking into her garden because he thought she was attractive like what actually were his intentions?
The Americans tale- 4/5: short but very impactful. The use of the dialect and implied accent did a lot for the story telling. I like that the killer plant is actually at the background of this story and the conflict between the two groups living within the town is at the forefront, it added to the idea that the story could be a lie and heightened the sense of danger that the (maybe?) innocent man was in.
Carnivorine- 2/5: this one was pretty lacklustre. Not much happened and I think killing Carnivorine was a bad decision as the story could have concluded with an impactful cliffhanger but instead one gunshot instantly killed the threat.
The giant wisteria- 1/5: this story did not deliver. Literally nothing happened other than they saw the ghost then found the body, I wanted the ghost to be a bit more menacing. The wisteria also didn’t really play a big part in this. Maybe upon reflection I will find meaning to this story but as a horror story it’s so boring.
Note - I have not yet found meaning to this story.
The flowering of the strange orchid- 5/5: H.G Wells slays again.
The guardian of mystery island- 5/5: this was really good and built up a lot of tension and I liked the ending.
The ash tree- 4/5: it began with house rambling? I actually did find this story to be the scariest so far but the lack of explanation annoyed me a little bit.
A vine on a house- 2.5/5: women being trapped in plants is really becoming a big theme of the genre.
Professor Jonkins cannibal plant- 4/5: similar to carnivorine and the strange orchid, a man nurtures a terrible plant, however, the ending has elements of a psychological horror as the professor is crazy. The professor and Adams are definitely gay and I rate that.
The voice in the night-5/5: this really slayed. The story was so sad and scary at the same time and I liked the slight cliff hanger and the conveyed idea that the fungus could just take over the world.
The pavilion- 5/5: this story was definitely my favourite because it was the first time a character had evil intent as well as the plant, the man’s plan was so shocking and Amelia was an amazing character.
The green death- 3/5: I feel like this would be a good whodunit if the story wasn’t in a book about killer plants. The suspense and putting clues together really drives a whodunit so reading the story with the mystery already solved was underwhelming. I liked the little romance though.
The woman of the wood - 3.5/5: I did not expect this story to essentially be about a turf war between trees and a family. I thought that McKay was just mad and hallucinating until the other people in the village also thought the trees were alive. If I lived there I’d just move, I don’t know why any of them choose to stay there.
The moaning Lilly: 3/5- this felt a bit less original than some of the other stories as it closely aligned with professor Jenkins cannibal plant and the flowering or the strange orchid. However, the body horror was the most impactful compared to other stories. This small subgenre really just makes you feel sorry for the friends of the crazy professors that love them and have to deal with their shenanigans.
November 29, 2025
8+ - I really enjoyed this collection of 19th-century and early 20th-century horror and weird fiction stories. The fact that they centered plants was definitely a bonus (as I am something of a plant enthusiast myself - I even have several carnivorous plants in my collection. And as an author I too have written several stories featuring plants ...). The introductions to the stories were a bit spoilery, but they illuminated the themes. It is interesting to see how in these stories plants embodied the fears of the time (or of humanity more broadly), often intermingled. Theres the transgressiveness of something passive developing the power of intent and often sudden movement. To see something move that you thought was 'dead' is a strong source of fear, or something physically beautiful hiding a threatening aspect. Here it is coupled with a certain fear of the feminin - as especially in the 19th century flowers and femininity were coupled (and maybe the male authors were scared by women being too pro-active?). There is the fear of science and progress aiding in this transgression (mad scientists/collectors changing their plants to become gigantic or flesh eating), but also a fear of the exotic (colonialist fears: something the English took from the tropics comes back to haunt/eat them) - often the deadly plants are sourced from Brazil or other tropical countries. Plants offer a thematically rich substrate for the imagination it would seem.
Not every story was succesful. Several of the stories here will have been ground breaking in their time, but because they were the originators of an idea, they did not feel original any more, their tropes being used and expanded upon in story after story since. Take the 'botanist feeds carnivorous plant in his hothouse with unintended consequences'-story: it feels almost a parody since we all know (even if we have not seen it) Audrey 2 from 'Little Shop of Horrors'. Thus later stories expanding or twisting these tropes feel more fresh and original for a modern reader.
I will make note of what (to me) were the standout stories in this anthology.
My absolute favorite was 'The Voice in the Night' by William Hope Hodgson. I liked this so much I am ordering a collection of his short fiction. Well written. He managed to give me the creeps, with a haunting setting, and a suggestive description, that left just enough to the imagination, and then ending with a hint of revelation ...
The (to me) second best story in here was 'The Woman of the Wood' by Abraham Merritt in which a soldier with PTSD from World War I tries to recover in a forest, but is called to its aid by a vision. Or is he? The descriptions of the beautiful forest had a poetic quality, the inner life of the protagonist is well portrayed and the story kept a sense of ambiguity that felt quite modern - the reader, like the protagonist, asking him/herself whether what he experiences is real or not.
Also very good was 'The Pavilion' by Edith Nesbit. Her dialogues were crispy and witty, and I had to read several passages out loud to my wife, and I liked her characterization, especially of Amelia (who in contrast with several more female characters in this collection is no damsel in distress).
'The Ash Tree' by M.R. James was very creepy, and made me want to read more of his work - in my quest to discover the roots of the horror genre. I think I read this one in another anthology before, but reading it again was certainly no chore.
'Professor Jonkin's Cannibal Plant' by Howard R. Garis was a quite funny entry, that I won't spoil ...
'Rappaccini's Daughter' by Nathaniel Hawthorne was overwritten, and tried to be more archaic than was necessary, but I found the story being told quite effective (if a bit misogynistic. The protagonist should not have accused the titular daughter if he himself refused to listen to advise about the garden in which she dwells ...).
All in all, a great anthology, and I will certainly read more from this series.
Not every story was succesful. Several of the stories here will have been ground breaking in their time, but because they were the originators of an idea, they did not feel original any more, their tropes being used and expanded upon in story after story since. Take the 'botanist feeds carnivorous plant in his hothouse with unintended consequences'-story: it feels almost a parody since we all know (even if we have not seen it) Audrey 2 from 'Little Shop of Horrors'. Thus later stories expanding or twisting these tropes feel more fresh and original for a modern reader.
I will make note of what (to me) were the standout stories in this anthology.
My absolute favorite was 'The Voice in the Night' by William Hope Hodgson. I liked this so much I am ordering a collection of his short fiction. Well written. He managed to give me the creeps, with a haunting setting, and a suggestive description, that left just enough to the imagination, and then ending with a hint of revelation ...
The (to me) second best story in here was 'The Woman of the Wood' by Abraham Merritt in which a soldier with PTSD from World War I tries to recover in a forest, but is called to its aid by a vision. Or is he? The descriptions of the beautiful forest had a poetic quality, the inner life of the protagonist is well portrayed and the story kept a sense of ambiguity that felt quite modern - the reader, like the protagonist, asking him/herself whether what he experiences is real or not.
Also very good was 'The Pavilion' by Edith Nesbit. Her dialogues were crispy and witty, and I had to read several passages out loud to my wife, and I liked her characterization, especially of Amelia (who in contrast with several more female characters in this collection is no damsel in distress).
'The Ash Tree' by M.R. James was very creepy, and made me want to read more of his work - in my quest to discover the roots of the horror genre. I think I read this one in another anthology before, but reading it again was certainly no chore.
'Professor Jonkin's Cannibal Plant' by Howard R. Garis was a quite funny entry, that I won't spoil ...
'Rappaccini's Daughter' by Nathaniel Hawthorne was overwritten, and tried to be more archaic than was necessary, but I found the story being told quite effective (if a bit misogynistic. The protagonist should not have accused the titular daughter if he himself refused to listen to advise about the garden in which she dwells ...).
All in all, a great anthology, and I will certainly read more from this series.
July 7, 2021
A really interesting and varied collection. There's quality eerie/creepy stuff in The Ash Tree and The Voice in the Night, and while they were probably my favourites I also really enjoyed The Pavillion and The Flowering of the Strange Orchid (the last of which includes possibly my favourite line: "Yes" he said, and became meditative over a piece of toast)
There's also some great pulpy nonsense in The Guardian of Mystery Island and the gloriously unsubtly titled Professor Jonkin's Cannibal Plant. Conan Doyle's rendering of cowboy dialect in The American's Tale is certainly a choice, Hawthorne's Rappaccini's Daughter is absurdly gothic in the best possible way, and The Green Death is a neat little murder mystery (in which the victim couldn't possibly have been killed by a houseguest, since strangling is a very "un-English method of killing a man").
One running theme I enjoyed was how remarkably chill so many characters were with mad botanists growing enormous carnivorous plants. Probably most notable in Carnivorine where our protagonist's response to the revelation that is to express disapproval, tell him to keep him updated, and then to go home.
There's also some great pulpy nonsense in The Guardian of Mystery Island and the gloriously unsubtly titled Professor Jonkin's Cannibal Plant. Conan Doyle's rendering of cowboy dialect in The American's Tale is certainly a choice, Hawthorne's Rappaccini's Daughter is absurdly gothic in the best possible way, and The Green Death is a neat little murder mystery (in which the victim couldn't possibly have been killed by a houseguest, since strangling is a very "un-English method of killing a man").
One running theme I enjoyed was how remarkably chill so many characters were with mad botanists growing enormous carnivorous plants. Probably most notable in Carnivorine where our protagonist's response to the revelation that is to express disapproval, tell him to keep him updated, and then to go home.
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