Strange Candy by Laurell K. Hamilton, 3

Book description: Known for her darkly violent, stunningly erotic Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novels, New York Times bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton reveals new dimensions of her talent in these fantastical fairy tales and lush parables as she welcomes readers to the far corners of her fertile imagination.

From a woman who marries into a family of volatile wizards to a couple fleeing a gang of love-hungry cupids, from a girl who seeks sanctuary in the form of a graceful goose to the disgruntled superhero Captain Housework, readers will revel in the many twists and turns of fortune in these unique, sometimes surreal visions. Hardened vampire hunter and zombie animator Anita Blake gets blindsided by the disturbing motives of her clients in the never-before-published "Those Who Seek Forgiveness" and in "The Girl Who Was Infatuated with Death."

Review: Strange Candy is a collection of Laurell K. Hamilton’s older stories, with the exception of The Girl Who Was Infatuated With Death which was published recently in the Bite anthology. If you like Hamilton for her erotica you’ll probably be disappointed in this but older fans will find something to like here.

There are some stand-outs in the anthology. Those who Seek Forgiveness was the first Anita Blake story and this is the first time it’s been published. It’s a great zombie story and it reminded me how much I use to like the Anita Blake series. The Edge of the Sea is about a merman who come out of the ocean at night and murders women. I loved the atmosphere and it was one of the few stories in the anthology that felt complete. Selling Houses is a creepy story set in the Anita Blake universe about a woman who tries to sell a house that the previous owners had been murdered in. Hamilton is at her best when she writes horror like this. Geese is about a woman who disguises herself as a goose until she can seek revenge for her family’s murder. This was the only traditional fantasy story here that worked for me. The last really great story was a slightly sci-fi one called Here Be Dragons. It’s about empathic sociopaths and is genuinely disturbing.

Unfortunately, there are more mediocre and bad stories in this anthology than there are great ones. I’m not going to go through all of them but the four stories set in the Nightseer universe are the worst. They are dull, traditional fantasies that have little creativity and don’t suit Hamilton’s style at all. Still, I’d say the anthology is worth reading (but not buying) for Hamilton’s older fans.

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