Magical realism is not usually my go-to genre, but Aiken wrote the occasional ghost story and references to those led me to this collection which I enjoyed much. No spooky ghost stories here, but no matter, wildly imaginative stories all the same. A lycanthropic Shakespearean actor who has to quit because his passion for acting turns him -- a witch's familiar who goes after a boy's math teacher. A castle and its inhabitants only visible after dark. I am now a devout fan hoping to meet Joan Aiken in the great beyond where we might have coffee and scones at the base of the castle that only appears during certain moons while fairy-folk giggle in the potted plants around us. ( )

I know it's only June, but I'm gonna go ahead and call it: Favorite Book of 2016 right here. Of course the short stories in this collection were all written between 1955 and 1990, but they're entirely new to me, and I mean that in every sense of the word. Aiken, in what seems to me almost a miracle, brings fairy tales solidly into the contemporary world (or at least the mid to late 20th-century world when Aiken was writing). So kings, countesses, princesses, enchanted forests and castles and animals exist side by side with telephone booths and cars and toaster ovens. Aiken reminded me that magic is always possible. ( )

Vintage Joan Aiken. If you like your world a little off-kilter, she is the author for you. ( )

These fantastical short stories were all quite short and great for spot reading. It is not often that you like every story in a collection but it didn't let me down once. ( )

This was a great short story collection! I don't think there was a single story I didn't like. They were creative, often-supernatural, and well written. Highly recommended. ( )