Comments on: Gingerbread House

Gingerbread House

The Whelk — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 11:39:39 -0800

"There was a time when the woods near Duva ate girls. It's been many years since any child was taken. But still, on nights like these, when the wind comes cold from Tsibeya, mothers hold their daughters tight and warn them not to stray too far from home. "Be back before dark," they whisper. "The trees are hungry tonight." Tor.com brings us some short horror/fairy tale fiction from Leigh Bardugo, "The Witch of Duva: A Ravkan Folk Tale."

By: Think_Long

Think_Long — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 11:41:52 -0800

Has Tor.com always been awesome? I've only started to notice the kickass content they've been posting over the past year or so.

By: sarcasticah

sarcasticah — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 12:18:38 -0800

That was fabulous, haunting, and lovely.

By: KokuRyu

KokuRyu — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 12:25:30 -0800

Sounds like Hwy 16.

By: nolnacs

nolnacs — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 12:38:55 -0800

I actually read this short story just an hour so ago and it is fantastic - well worth a read even for those who don't typically like fantasy

By: Fizz

Fizz — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 12:47:13 -0800

It has more the feel of a fable than fantasy but yes, well worth a read.

By: the man of twists and turns

the man of twists and turns — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:14:22 -0800

Great story!

By: snaparapans

snaparapans — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:28:51 -0800

Beautiful..

By: stompadour

stompadour — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:31:42 -0800

Love it. Thanks Whelk.

By: jamjam

jamjam — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:53:22 -0800

In some ways, I object to a retelling of the old tales even as knowing as that retelling is. If it is a retelling of a real tale, what is that real tale really about?

Sitting on the porch of Baba Olya's house, the old women peered into the forest and muttered, khitka. The word raised the hairs on Nadya's arms, but she was no longer a child, so she laughed with her brother at such silly talk. The khitkii were spiteful forest spirits, bloodthirsty and vengeful. But in stories, they were known to hunger after newborns, not full-grown girls near old enough to marry.

It's about infanticide performed on babies they don't have the food to feed by people you've known all your life and blaming it on "spiteful forest spirits", because no one could live with the truth. Yet everyone, at some level deep inside, knows what actually happened. Try that on for horror.

By: solotoro

solotoro — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:55:17 -0800

Wow. That is brilliant. More, please.

By: AdamCSnider

AdamCSnider — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:59:59 -0800

Has Tor.com always been awesome? Pretty much, yeah.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 14:26:12 -0800

Ive read it three times now and I don't think there is a single wasted word. It's so ...exact.

By: SpacemanStix

SpacemanStix — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 14:57:28 -0800

Very good story. Thanks for sharing.

By: mochapickle

mochapickle — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 15:20:02 -0800

That was delicious. Thanks for posting.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 17:24:31 -0800

Awesome read. Thank you.

By: pickingupsticks

pickingupsticks — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 17:58:43 -0800

Oh, lovely, thank you.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 20:30:21 -0800

This is great timing, too. I'd just rewatched The Brothers Grimm (2005) last night on Hulu (no subscription required). Similar theme (village daughters being taken by nefarious forces in the deep, dark wood).

By: ZaphodB

ZaphodB — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 20:47:58 -0800

That was awesome. Some wondered if the girls might have just walked into the wood, lured there by their hunger. There were smells that wafted off the trees when the wind blew a certain way, impossible scents of lamb dumplings or sour cherry babka. Nadya had smelled them herself, sitting on the porch beside her mother, trying to get her to take another spoonful of broth. She would smell roasting pumpkin, walnuts, brown sugar, and find her feet carrying her down the stairs toward the waiting shadows, where the trees shuffled and sighed as if ready to part for her. So, so good.

By: Existential Dread

Existential Dread — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 21:54:41 -0800

Truly wonderful. I'll have to read more of her work.

By: Katjusa Roquette

Katjusa Roquette — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 00:17:50 -0800

The twist at the end was brilliant.

By: harujion

harujion — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 03:59:06 -0800

That is indeed a marvelously interesting take on familiar tales, gorgeously presented. Thanks - I'll enjoy sharing this around.

By: snaparapans

snaparapans — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 07:20:24 -0800

Also, big plus for avoiding the sexist stereotypes, prevalent in fairy tales, that have been handed generation after generation.

By: samthemander

samthemander — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 10:20:42 -0800

This is amazing. As I finished I realized my heart rate was up and I was taking only short breaths. Not scary, just... Good. Thank you for posting.

By: newdaddy

newdaddy — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 13:32:43 -0800

Wasn't expecting to like this quite as much as I did.

By: arnicae

arnicae — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 15:34:05 -0800

Exceptional story.

By: rtha

rtha — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 21:34:55 -0800

This is great. More, please, internet.

By: triggerfinger

triggerfinger — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 08:19:12 -0800

This was such an amazing story, thanks for sharing. It looks as though this is a companion tale to The Geisha Trilogy being written by the author, the first of which was released June 5: Shadow & Bone The series is also mentioned in the Atlantic Wire in a post called The Race for the Next Hunger Games. Can't wait to read this book. Thanks again.

By: kostia

kostia — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 02:43:34 -0800

Thanks for the heads up triggerfinger!

By: jeffburdges

jeffburdges — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 19:33:38 -0800

Very cool, thanks.