Lost Children: Dark Fairy Tales

by Francesca Lia Block

After the loss of her mother, a woman returns to the San Fernando Valley only to uncover a haunting secret about her childhood friend.

A visiting professor at a charming but strange California liberal arts college must face her past in order to protect her son.

A sister, lost in the woods, confronts the dangerous truth about her brother, her stepmother, and herself.

Rose's dog Wolfie has died, and three seductive women offer to help return him to her. But only if she will pay the price.

Mira, distraught and ill after the death of her husband, Richard, wanders out into a weird new world to battle the monsters of her grief.

And Mim must disguise herself in order to infiltrate an LA sex trafficking ring and rescue her daughter.

Francesca Lia Block, known for her own brand of Southern California magical realism, brings the darkest of traditional fairy tales to life in a contemporary way that speaks to universal themes and the very specific challenges of our times, as her heroines fight ogres, witches, and demons in order to save their loved ones and, ultimately, themselves.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Horror, Fiction, Short Stories, Fairy Tales, Magical Realism

Audiobook

First published April 15, 2021

About the author

Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than twenty-five books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association and from the New York Times Book Review, School Library Journal and Publisher’s Weekly. She was named Writer-in-Residence at Pasadena City College in 2014. Her work has been translated into Italian, French, German Japanese, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Portuguese. Francesca has also published stories, poems, essays and interviews in The Los Angeles Times, The L.A. Review of Books, Spin, Nylon, Black Clock and Rattle among others. In addition to writing, she teaches creative writing at University of Redlands, UCLA Extension, Antioch University, and privately in Los Angeles where she was born, raised and currently still lives.

Reviews

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story 3.75 stars**
Audio 4 stars**
Narrator Lauren Singerman

[Sarah K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Right so all the negative reviews on this are saying "the themes were really upsetting" or "this is not for kids", which... No shit?? Read the description??

If you're upset that it was a free download without a content warning take that up with audible, not in the reviews.

I thought it was a really wonderfully atmospheric collection of short stories in the tradition of old dark dairy tales

[Mona · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short collection of deliciously creepy, dark fairy tales for our times.

These stories are suitable for adults, not children.

Bear in mind that a lot of older fairy tales (I’m thinking Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm, and Hans Christian Anderson) contained undertones or even overt instances of darkness and horror, so Francesca Lia Block is following an old tradition. It’s even true for Lewis Carroll.

Actress Lauren Singerman is an excellent audio narrator. She reads the stories with just enough wonder and vulnerability to emphasize the horror by contrast.

This is an Audible Original, so it’s audio only, no text.

A lot of these Audible Originals are really well done.

However, I must add some trigger warnings. There is rape, pedophilia, incest, and murder (although the author did not dwell on these, and there was less brutality than in much horror fiction). If these topics trigger you, stay away.

[Noula · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was really depressing to listen too. It's not a children's book and it is very graphic. But, it is a short read.

[Anniken Haga · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am extremely torn as to how to rate this book. While it was well written and the stories clearly had some depth, the general theme of the stories was disgusting. There was so much rape, child abuse, pedophilia, incest, and just... no. I guess the point of the stories were warnings? But I feel like the author just wanted to shock the reader, to be honest.

I'm giving it a 3/5 stars, because it was well written, had nice prose, and I guess it delivered its message, no matter how disgusting it was.
Or, rather, when I wrote that last sentence, I remembered how frustrated I was with the stories because only 1 of them had an actual ending. The rest of them just randomly cut off. So I'm rounding down to 2/5 stars. That feels more right.

[Josh Angel · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF’ed. Lost interest.

[Maureen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a free audible original, and only a two hour book so I thought, what the heck... how bad can it be? I got my answer. Most of the short stories just ended right in the middle of the story. And the themes were very very dark and all involving children, so I felt like there should have been some sort of warning about that. Anyway, if you're an audible listener, feel free to skip this one!

[Randi · Rating 2 out of 5]

So the first story was the one that made me feel the most betrayed. I was so invested emotionally, and then it just...ended. Yeah, so she says some words and reveals the true nature of the nixies, but what is her power, how did she know those words, and who the heck is that guy? Do I just not know mythology well enough? It was a coy ending, and I didn't like it. In fact, calling it coy is giving the author the benefit of the doubt.

I hoped the rest of the stories might be a little better, and they did have somewhat more resolution or at least a clearer direction at the end, but they still ended in unsatisfying ways. The stories ultimately seemed kind of pointless. More aesthetic/evocative than substantial.

I liked the prose and the concepts for the most part, but dang. Very little payoff. Glad this was free and only two hours long.

[Tess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ever since I found "Girl Goddess #9" at the library in 7th grade I've been drawn to Francesca Lia Block's dark gritty fantasy writing. I love how she makes me feel the world is dark and sexy, heady, poetic, scary and beautiful and full of magic all at once.

I listened to this because it was free on Audible. The writing style and atmosphere definitely delivered on the previous expectations I had of her work, and gave new twists to old fairy tales. Keeping them Grimm, not Disney, and modernized.

None of these stories really seem like they will stay with me, sadly. There wasn't enough there, or maybe it is because I listened to them spaced too far apart (over a couple weeks) instead of binging all at once.

The narrator was great, though. I still would recommend it for a listen if you can get it for free.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every single one of these short, creepy stories was deeply disturbing on some level, much in the vein of old fairytales like the original (i.e. not Disney-fied) Grimm tales. Can't say I liked the first one much - anyone who has lost a beloved pet really doesn't need those memories dragged front and center of their mind first thing in the morning when they're already having what's shaping up to be a shitty day - but enjoyed the rest.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

These 3 stories were dark, about children and seemed to end before the end of the story was told. The stories had so much promise and yet disappointed me in the end. The description of Dark certainly fits better than Fairy Tales. Could have been so much better.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big fan of Weetzie Bat so I was excited to see this author's work as a free Audible download. Loved this. Super entertaining and all of the stories were creepy, unique and strong.

[Joonas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Review by Dani (they/them) for Olympics readathon (no prompt):
Rating: 2

This book may be the biggest disappointment when it comes to this readathon. Lost Children: Dark Fairy Tales certainly consists of dark short stories but none of them did not strike me at all fairy tale like. Instead they seem to revel in the awful things humans are capable of.

I liked the open endings but at times the stories felt like they went too fast for me to start caring about them or the characters. It also seemed to fly by so much it became really straightforward and felt like an account of horrible actions and the fantasy elements didn’t get to shine through. I was expecting mystery and creepy chills but instead got sexual violence, child abuse etc. It was dark though, so maybe my expectations were way off when I expected more like creepy horror with fantasy elements. Or then I just don’t personally enjoy this sort of dark.

The point is that this was not for me but I’m still rating it two stars because it might be for someone else. There wasn’t anything wrong with the writing or ideas of this book which is why I still see other people liking this a lot. Just don’t go in expecting what I did.

[Arryanna Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very graphic and not really engaging. The second the story got a little interesting, it would switch.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not like how the stories so abruptly ended in what felt like the middle of the story. The stories were good, but there were a few commonalities from one story to the next in two of them that could have been more thought out to keep the stories completely different. All in all not bad for a quick listen.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written short stories that are independent of each other, but share the commonality of folklore, Grimm's darkness, and an open-ended mystery.

Yes, the content can be T'ing for trauma survivors and is not intended for children, nor adults seeking a fairytale happily ever after (or even any ending). But the author is a master of imagery and storytelling, leaving a lot of the answers up to you.

[Naomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was the epitome of why I loathe short stories. A chunk of the stories ended awkwardly like the author had to stop the story or else lose short story status. Believe it or not, the narration was even worse.

[Bunny Cakes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories in this are good and I like the twists but they also feel like they are missing pieces and could be a bit longer.

[Beatrice Moulin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok, so.... Here's the thing. This was very hard to get through, especially considering how short it was. I have no problem with the themes in this book. What I do have a problem with, however, is how the stories ended. It was so abrupt. It made them all feel so incomplete!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A haunting mystery to be uncovered.

[Andrea Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a quick listen just over 2 hour. All the stories are magical.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to go wrong by me when offering adult fairy tales. This collection was good. And free. That's like taking a walk through the woods and stumbling across a gingerbread house. ;)

[Shannon Scudella · Rating 3 out of 5]

The endings of the stories left me hanging, felt like there should have been more to them. Was disappointed

[Mescha Hoskins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a fan of this, I thought I would enjoy this since I love all kinds of fairy tale retellings but where these started promising they didn't feel finished at all.

[Candace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this, I really did. Francesca Lia Block was a huuuge influence in my teenage years and I was so excited to see this in the audible plus library. While the writing was dreamy and beautiful, the stories themselves fell flat. Abrupt endings with no resolution, leaving more questions than anything, I found myself disappointed in a large way with most of them. Three stars only because I love the way she writes, if not these stories themselves.

[Big Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stories that pull the reader in but way too brief.

[Ariel Paiement · Rating 3 out of 5]

These were... Interesting. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but not exactly this. I will warn anyone considering this series that while the tales are intriguing in some cases, many of them are pretty twisted, center around some form of sexual depravity (though most do not describe it in depth and deal with abuse rather than glorifying it), and contain vulgar language. I think I was expecting to find Grimm style dark fairy tales, but you won't really find any clear moral to the story. I think these would more accurately be labeled folk tales. They had, in many cases, the feel of old ghost stories or other weird tales from areas that have passed them down for ages. Really, they feel very little like a fairytale, dark or otherwise. I feel like maybe some of the poor reviews come less from the content itself and more from expectations ill matched to the book. The word "fairytale" evokes in many people's minds the tales of their childhood, and this is anything but. Read the description closely and be aware that you will not want to give this to any child under 18 nor should you expect the stories to be tame or light hearted. The word "dark" in the subtitle is particularly apt.

[Vel Veeter]

The reviews for this book are really something.

I mostly enjoyed this collection of short stories my Francesca Lia Block, who is known mostly for her children's writing, and as the readers clearly mention, this is not for children. So, of course, don't get mad that it isn't. A feeling I fairly consistently have with stories that are written based on fairy tales or with fairy tales in mind is that they need to do something for me to take them even remotely seriously. Generally, I just don't enjoy them, in part because of how much I generally enjoy realistic fiction, and how much I begin to check out a little when fiction strays too much into, let's call it, a more metaphorical realm. It's a preference issue.

Here, I think these are very well-balanced stories. The situations tend to be pretty intense, and the elements that stray them into those fairy tale territories elevate them really well. In general, within the limited range of the book I like these.

[Catfairy books · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Francesca Lia Block and I know that as an artist your writing changes. Her writing has turned a bit more dark over the past recent years and I just couldn’t vibe with these kind of dark fairy tales. Although I did enjoy the Hansel and Gretel kind of story, Blue Light, and the last story in the collection. There wasn’t much hope in the stories and I always enjoy stories that leave me with some kind of hope. If you weren’t into this fairy tale collection I recommend all of you to read FLB’s earlier works which is also a collection of fairy stories. These stories have more of a whimsical and hopeful feel. The book is The Rose and the Beast. Highly recommend it. The writing of this book was spectacular and beautiful as usual but the stories weren’t for me.

[Barb Conrad · Rating 2 out of 5]

So...

I read the reviews prior to listening on Audible, and a lot seemed disturbed by the dark content of the book. That wasn't necessarily an issue to me. What my issue was, though, was how the short stories start and abruptly ended.

I didn't even realize the first one ended and the second one began.

I prefer a short story that has more of a resolve. This felt more like my Google Doc of novel ideas I've created for when those 2am book ideas hit.