The Bloody Chamber

Tales like Beauty and the Beast, Bluebeard, and others are virtually engorged by Carter with heat, poetry, and imagination. It's great writing!

Good gift for your favorite vampire fanatic, a favorite with college students.


Carter's Bloody, Pornographic Extravaganza   May 4, 2000
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Only after reading some of Carter's novels did I take a stab at this particular collection of stories. Of course, I expected her disturbingly-casual blend of fairy tale and contemporary setting, Christian and Pagan lore...and all the blood and gore that go with it. But I was completely taken by how I--my stomach, really--reacted to some of the passages in this book: my stomach literally "knotted up" and did somersaults at some instances (beginning with Carter's description of the Bluebeard's "bloody chamber," all the way through her werewolf sequence).

In this collection, you'll find virgins fetishized and explicitly eroticized by beasts, and distraight daughters in full arms against their money-hungry fathers...all of this situated on a bloody canvas of pornographic imagery and poetic language. (If you want worse, by the way, pick up Bataille or Sade.)

"The Bloody Chamber" continually provokes emotional, intellectual reactions of me, so I'm convinced it's to be considered a masterpiece. --By far, her most inventive work.


bloody chamber is blood-curdling entertainment   February 7, 2000
 3 out of 6 found this review helpful

Although I have read only the first story, the bloody chamber, I have to say it is a fantastic read with lots of suspense and heart-pounding horror. The story is well-written and builds to an exciting climax. The Bloody Chamber is a prime example of how a short story ought to be written.


Rich, unexpected revisions of old stories...   October 20, 1999
 46 out of 47 found this review helpful

On hearing that the writing style of Tanith Lee, one of my favorite authors, had derived in part from that of Angela Carter, I hastened to find a good collection and explore the similarities. I read this book, and while I am not going to compare and contrast the two styles, I am going to rave about Angela Carter. In the collection "The Bloody Chamber" she reworks five familiar fairy tales as well as spinning myriad tales from the werewolf theme and a tragic love-story out of the vampire myth. Each of the stories has its own unique perspective that works both as a stylistic trick and as a function of the story, such as having Puss-in-Boots proudly recount his own exploits, or having Beauty lost to the Beast at a game of cards. The stories are written sensually, reveling in their lush usage of language; the opening of "The Erl-King" smells of rotted leaves in October, "The Lady of the House of Love" casts haunted shadows at the reader's feet. One or two read like deconstructions of familiar tales, such as the surreal "The Snow Child" or "The Werewolf," while others are the old stories, stripped to their framework and then refleshed with Angela Carter's rich prose. All are absorbing, seductive, to read; if words are food, then this is highly caloric chocolate of the finest quality. (The bittersweet tint only adds to the flavor.) Enough of my raving; read the book yourself. For my part, I will be scouring my library for more of Angela Carter's work. You can never get enough chocolate.


totally stimulating and fasinating   October 5, 1999
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

This is a must for the readers who are wanting to be intriged by the transformation of childhood fairytales converted to stories of sexual realisation, and how women were living in a male dominated society. Very addictive and I have greatly enjoyed reading whilst studying for my English degree!