What a fantastic title, am I right folks? A Natural History of Hell is the first I've read of many works by authors I found out about at 2016's Readercon. Almost immediately, from the first story, I have found that this collection is what I'm looking for from horror, and more characteristics that I didn't even know I wanted in a story! It is at times humorous (subtle and obvious) but can also incite feelings of dread and at times even awe and wonderment.A natural history is defined, according to...

Every story is great but my favorites are "Word Doll," "Rocket Ship to Hell," "The Last Triangle," and-- especially-- "The Prelate's Commission." Ford takes ideas that most writers would cling to and milk for three or four or five hundred pages and tosses them off left and right like they were nothing on his way to new worlds he seems to create out of thin air. If these stories weren't so god damn enjoyable they'd make me jealous as hell.

A must-read for Jeffrey Ford fans. So far, the standouts for me have been "A Natural History of Autumn" and "Word Doll", which are both online. I hated the two religious stories.Here is Paul di Filippo's fine professional review. He likes it a lot. This is the review to read first:http://locusmag.com/2016/07/paul-di-f...My story notes:"The Blameless" (2016). Exorcisms for teens! A new suburban rage. Unsold, likely a NYer reject, but pretty good. The Reverend Kan, the High Holy Blameless is a hoo...

This is a beautiful trip into a wild and weird collection of short stories. Mr. Ford grabs on to some of the weirdest and most varied ideas you could imagine and weaves wonderful snapshots into the multiverse.If you are a fan of the things I review, go read this. You will not be disappointed.

Best book I've read so far this year. I loved the social commentary. I loved the creepy unease I felt even after the stories I liked less. Just phenomenal.

A couple moments of boredom, but also some really moving, beautiful moments that outweigh the former. If you don't want to read the whole collection, then read Word Dolls, The Thyme Fiend, and The Prelate's Commission.

In a literary world compartmentalised into genres and sub-genres, how would you categorise a book where supernatural is merely a cloak for exploration of human evil, its consequences, and the payback?Perhaps fantasy would be the most overarching term for such literature.So, is the book under discussion a fantasy? I don't know. But one thing I can say for sure.It's fantastic.Regrettably devoid of a preface which should have graced this book, we have the following stories therein:1. The Blameless:...

A solid collection of strange and supernatural stories. My favorites were "Word Doll," "A Terror," and "The Thyme Fiend."

And so with time’s deep breath…A substantive work that flows delightfully through the mind with all its forking Fordisms and desiccated salt-visions. Except the threads are not hemp but smoky swirls of inhaled thyme and cups of thyme tea to help assuage the demons. The work is about a 14 year old boy who needs such hits of thyme, and a bike, to broaden his horizons and defend his own sapling defences, and eventually a girl to hold his hand, as he and then both of them are faced with visitations

An incredible collection by one of the best fabulists in the genre, often dark, sometimes hopeful but always intense, deep and moving, sometimes to tears. Fords ability to craft empathy in short stories is a remarkable feat, not to mention crafting original settings, ideas, and worlds. I know when i crack into a ford book or story that I will come out the other side with new perspectives and ideas. always. Some of the stand out stories:The Blameless: A world where exorcisms are as casual as a sw...

I received an ARC copy in return for an honest review. A NATURAL HISTORY OF HELL is a collection of thirteen stories, almost all of them previously published in magazines and anthologies but for the lead story "The Blameless." All thirteen are delightful, terrifying, thoughtful and incredibly well written. Jeffrey Ford's style is eloquent and accessible, literary and engaging. His stories have an engrossing, almost mythological feel to them, strengthened by well-placed descriptions, impeccable p...

I have two problems with this collection of stories by Jeffrey Ford. The first is that I simply don't like horror stories as a genre. I have never understood the appeal of horror literature; clearly a great many people disagree. Real life is frightening enough (particularly as I write this in 2020 and coronavirus stalks through the world, slaying tens of thousands). I was aware that some of these tales were intended to be horrifying, though, so I can hardly blame Jeffrey Ford for my reading them...

A couple of good stories amidst a sea of mediocrity. A mildly interesting idea cannot make up for the bland, clumsy writing style. And those ideas were not that great anyway. Maybe if he had managed the tension or twists better… alas, mediocre.

This is a book of short stories. Some much better than others, but generally, held my attention well. Some of the stories were very creative and fun to listen to, some were very engaging and some seemed dry. All in all, a great book, with a little something for everyone with the theme being based on Hell and Hell-ish things.

There were a couple of really strong stand-outs for me - the Emily Dickinson story for sure, and Mount Chary Galore. The rest were good, and I enjoyed reading this overall; I’m just not sure how much it’ll stay with me.

Weird as shit but I like it that way

Outstanding collection of short stories. Lovely, poetic combinations of fantasy, horror and the weird, written with the assured style and deft hand of a storytelling master. My favorite piece, "A Natural History of Autumn", read like the screenplay for an amazing Asian cinema horror movie, absolutely superb.Highly recommended.

This collection of short stories, united by the theme of wickedness and with varying degrees of the supernatural, is, like most collections, an uneven thing. Unfortunately, while many collections have a number of adequate stories and some gems, this one is heavily weighted towards the shoddy end of mediocre. There are a few pretty entertaining stories, several “meh,” and a couple that are really bad. The copy I received through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer's program is marked as “Advance Unco...

A fantastic collection of horror short stories by the master himself, Jeffrey Ford."The Blameless" - A middle-aged couple gets invited by neighbors that they kind of know to witness their daughter's exorcism. Exorcism has become a fashionable thing, almost like a sweet 16 party. It's a great story that seems, sadly and strangely, all too plausible."Word Doll" - A great story within a story. In this story, Jeffrey Ford is the main character and is a writer who stops by a mysterious farmhouse that...

When it comes to short fiction, I place Jeffrey Ford up there with Kelly Link and Ray Bradbury. He's a master of the form, and unsurprisingly, A NATURAL HISTORY OF HELL does not contain a single dud. Each story features exquisitely crafted prose, an artist's eye for detail, and impeccable characterization, but two stories in particular really blew me away. "Mount Chary Galore," which displays an astonishing level of imagination and is so chock full of story that I can't believe it's only twenty