What an outstanding premise-short stories based on old folk ballads. I'm happy to say that this book lived up to that premise.

Edited by Jonathan Maberry, this anthology features many authors I was already familiar with, which was good, but also some new to me authors, like Seanan McGuire and Del Howison. (I mean, who the hell is this guy? He is the author of my favorite story in the collection: "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair.") That story was followed closely in my favorites list by Seanan McGuire's "Driving Jenny Home." One thing I've always loved about anthologies is that it's a great way to find new authors and obviously this method is still working for me to this day.

Each story was followed up by notes as to the folk ballad on which the story was based. I found them to be interesting while also shedding some light as to the origins of the songs.

I listened to the audio version of this book and there were two narrators. I'm sorry to report that I did not care for the female narrator at all, but I enjoyed the male voicing just fine.

Out of Tune is a lovely anthology with a lot of variety and new blood to offer. I highly recommend it!

*Thanks to Christopher Payne of JournalStone for the free audio version he provided.*

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I was pleased to receive an Early Reviewer copy of Out of Tune from LibraryThing last year. The editor of this anthology, Jonathan Maberry, was a contributor to another JournalStone collection I enjoyed in 2014, and I was curious what he would do in the editor’s chair.

Out of Tune is a solid anthology with an interesting theme. These fourteen stories take as their inspiration old British and American folk tunes that range from “John Henry” and “Tam Lin” to “The Unquiet Grave” and “The Mermaid.” It’s fun to see what the authors do with them.

My favorite stories are the ones that take a nugget of inspiration from the chosen song and then branch out in an unexpected direction. For example, Gary A. Braunbeck‘s “John Wayne’s Dream” puts “The Streets of Laredo” in a very contemporary context with excellent results. Gregory Frost‘s “Bedlam” presents “The Demon Lover” in an especially chilling aspect, àpropos of the story’s title.

I also couldn’t help but be fond of Nancy Holder‘s “In Arkham Town, Where I was Bound.” Her homage to Edgar Allan Poe in this retelling of “Barbara Allen” is nigh on perfect.

Other stories in the collection didn’t grab me quite as well. “The Cruel Mother,” for example, is a ballad that can die and never come back, as far as I’m concerned, and turning its creepiness on to Peter Pan‘s Wendy Darling as Christopher Golden does in his story just feels mean. Other stories, too, stuck too close to the original songs for my taste.

That said, there is a lot of good reading in Out of Tune. Definitely worth checking out. 3.8/5 ( )