[Novella Review] The Asylum For Fairy Tale Creatures By Sebastian Gregory & Raven’s Brew Coffee Wicked Wolf

Title: The Asylum For Fairy Tale Creatures
Series/Universe: Standalone
Author: Sebastian Gregory
Publisher: Carina UK
Publication date: June 27th 2014
Page Count: 52 pages
Age Rating: YA & Up (blood, gore, violence, disturbing imagery)
How I got my hot little hands on it: Received a copy to review
Publisher’s page: The Asylum For Fairy Tale Creatures

Once upon a nightmare…

Long ago, in a land where imagination meets the darkest nightmares, they built the asylum. Surrounded by a forest of thorns, it holds the most twisted minds in the fairy tale kingdom: a terrible collection of evil creatures and forgotten souls. Imprisoned within its walls, they are doomed to spend forever after telling their tales… and serving as a warning to others.

Now, you are invited to accompany Blood Red Riding Hood into the depths of this strange place – where you will meet its even stranger inhabitants. But be warned: walls this thick were built to withstand the darkest magic… so once you’re inside, you might just find yourself living horribly ever after… and wishing you were indeed in a land far, far away.

My Review

This novella is super short and super creepy.

The Asylum For Fairy Tale Creatures takes the already pretty dark Grimms’ fairy tales and twists them even more, making them so horrific it’s no wonder the characters go mad. The main story being told is that of the traumatic experiences of Blood Red Riding Hood and her companions and their subsequent incarceration into an asylum with other fairy tale characters. This journey is used as a thread, weaving together several other tales, those of the asylum’s other fairy tale inmates and employees (though it’s hard to tell which is which at times), making this sort of a short story collection as well.

Despite the cheery cover, this book is not for the faint of heart or the easily squicked out – it gets pretty dark. How dark does it get, you wonder? Well, to give a particularly gruesome example, someone is murdered and skinned (though the murder and skinning take place off the page), and someone else wears that skin. Also, there’s a child made out of body parts collected from dismembered children who plays a pretty big role in the story. And yet, for how creepy it sounds, the writer someone manages to make it humorous and kind of, well, cute? (That little patched together child I mentioned is actually a really adorable little girl) Which only makes the whole thing more disturbing.

Uniquely creepy and disturbing, The Asylum For Fairy Tale Creatures is not for everyone, but I actually found myself liking it. If you like Grimms’ fairy tale retelling, the scarier and darker the better, then you’ll probably enjoy this book.

Raven’s Brew Coffee Wicked Wolf – a bold, rich dark roast with a nice little hint of spice. I’m not only recommending this coffee because it’s a fantastic dark roast, although it is, but also because it comes in gorgeous packaging with scenes from Little Red Riding Hood all around the bag and has a byline that says “Grannie’s Gone But The Coffee’s On”. Great coffee in a great package (fantastic gift idea for the fairy tale lover in your life btw 😉 )