The New York Times Book Review - Amal El-Mohtar
His Hideous Heart is a superb collection…The volume is divided between the new stories and Poe's originals, which makes for a delightful reading experience; I found myself skipping back and forth between them to better appreciate the authors' ingenuity. Adler's anthology brims over with fierce delight and uncanny invention; the stories here vary in their effect nearly as much as Poe's do. Readers often forget that in addition to being the literary embodiment of a specific kind of horror, he was also tremendously funny—and these authors recognize and capitalize on that versatility. From straightforward, gleeful revenge stories to heartbreaking tales of loves lost and unsettlingly found, the scope of play is a constant pleasure.
Publishers Weekly
★ 07/15/2019
Presenting 13 reinterpretations of Poe’s works alongside the originals, this enticing anthology offers an accessible, multifaceted reading experience for fans old and new. Some stories—such as Kendare Blake’s “She Rode a Horse of Fire” and Tiffany D. Jackson’s “It’s Carnival!”—serve updated wrappings of Poe’s classic plotlines. Others deconstruct Poe’s pieces in novel ways, such as Tessa Gratton’s lyrical “Night-Tide,” which poignantly delves into themes of queer identity, familial responsibility, and anxiety over the bones of Poe’s famous elegy, “Annabel Lee.” Diverse genres abound—Marieke Nijkamp situates “Changeling,” her fae rendition of Poe’s “Hop-Frog,” in a historical fantasy world that powerfully engages with disability, while Lamar Giles reframes “The Oval Portrait” in “The Oval Filter” through the lens of a football star haunted by the inexplicable death of his almost-girlfriend, an Instagram influencer. And Rin Chupeco’s “The Murders in the Rue Apartelle, Boracay” is the most comedic entry, juxtaposing the mystery of “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” with Filipinx mythology, LGBTQ slang, Lovecraftian references, and romance. A refreshing assortment of diverse voices and contemporary themes ensures there’s something for everyone in this delightful compilation. Ages: 12–up. Agent: Victoria Marini, Irene Goodman Literary. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
Kirkus Best Book of the Year
Junior Library Guild Selection
“A superb collection of young adult short stories inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s work...The volume is divided between the new stories and Poe’s originals, which makes for a delightful reading experience. Adler’s anthology brims over with fierce delight and uncanny invention; the stories here vary in their effect nearly as much as Poe’s do...And if you haven’t read Poe before, His Hideous Heart works equally well as an introduction, a tribute and a loving critique. Welcome.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Presenting 13 reinterpretations of Poe’s works alongside the originals, this enticing anthology offers an accessible, multifaceted reading experience for fans old and new...A refreshing assortment of diverse voices and contemporary themes ensures there’s something for everyone in this delightful compilation.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“A genre-bending collection of 13 twists on Edgar Allan Poe’s works does Poe proud with this creepy and atmospheric set of stories inspired by a handful of his most well-known works...Strong feminist themes appear throughout, and genres run the gamut from futuristic to gothic to lots in between. Diversity in race, gender identity, and sexuality is well-represented. Poe’s ghost happily haunts this fresh, delightfully dark collection.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“While we love Edgar Allan Poe—the original sadboi and Halloween’s unofficial literary mascot—we have to admit that his 150-year-old stories could use a 2019-worthy glow-up. The YA story collection His Hideous Heart, edited by Dahlia Adler, takes that challenge and runs with it. Each of the anthology’s contributors revamp or totally reinvent 13 of Poe’s best-known stories and poems, imbuing most of them with a much-needed dose of feminism, LGBTQ representation, and racial diversity.” —HelloGiggles
“In Adler’s inclusive anthology, 13 YA authors honor Edgar Allan Poe’s pioneering work in mystery, horror, and science fiction with retellings that emphasize diverse characters, settings, and genres. Poe fans new and old will find stories to appreciate here.” —Booklist
“Thirteen authors reshape short stories by Edgar Allan Poe in a collection that practically pulses with curricular potential. Both well-known works and lesser-known stories are reimagined here, and the retellings echo the suspense, wit, and undeniable sadness that move through the original pieces. Poe’s original short stories are all provided in the second half of the book, and any fan of the writer will appreciate these modern takes on the morbid and macabre.” —The Bulletin
“Heartbreaking, thrilling, gruesome, and gorgeous: these stories will delight longtime Poe fans just as much as readers who haven't read the classics.” —Beth Revis, author of Give the Dark My Love
“Beautiful, haunting, and wickedly clever, His Hideous Heart digs deep into the essence of Poe’s legendary works and ingeniously reanimates them for modern readers.” —Cat Winters, author of The Raven’s Tale
Library Journal
09/01/2019
Thirteen of Edgar Allan Poe's most famous works are reimagined by YA authors in this compilation of delightfully shivery tales with strong adult crossover appeal. Tessa Gratton's "Night-Tide" reworks "Annabel Lee" in a story about family obligations and a lost love between two teen girls. Kendare Blake's "She Rode a Horse of Fire" recounts an act of dark vengeance enacted by a ghostly woman to a callous young man. "Happy Days, Sweetheart," by Stephanie Kuehn is a retelling of "The Tell-Tale Heart," with a jealous high-school student as the guilty killer of her rival. In "The Oval Filter," by Lamar Giles, a high school football player seeks the answer to who killed his crush, a social media influencer. This collection shines in getting readers to view Poe's work in a new light, featuring characters from diverse ethnic backgrounds, queer protagonists, and other perspectives not represented in the earlier texts. Packaged in the book are the original stories, making comparisons between the old and the new works easy for readers. VERDICT A solid collection of thoroughly modernized Poe classics, recommended for YA shelves and classrooms or for die-hard Poe scholars.—Jennifer Mills, Shorewood-Troy Lib., IL
OCTOBER 2019 - AudioFile
This YA story collection on audio reimagines Edgar Allen Poe's classics by focusing on people who were marginalized in Poe's time. The myriad stories and narrators delve into the dark psychology of Poe with an odd new edge of triumph. Jeanette Illidge superbly inflects Caribbean soul as a woman who avenges misogyny in a story reminiscent of “The Cask of Amontillado." JorJa Brown is luminous as a bubbly and fierce trans woman hanging onto the detective in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." Many of the authors read their own works; Fran Wilde's tight pacing and pathos enliven her class warfare story of bringing down the House of Usher. Placing all of the original Poe stories at the end of the audiobook provides belated context. S.T.C. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2019-07-13
A genre-bending collection of 13 twists on Edgar Allan Poe's works.
Editor Adler (contributor: It's a Whole Spiel, 2019, etc.) does Poe proud with this creepy and atmospheric set of stories inspired by a handful of his most well-known works. All are well worth reading, but there are quite a few standouts, including Rin Chupeco's (contributor: Hungry Hearts, 2019, etc.) ebullient "The Murders in the Rue Apartelle, Boracay," in which an effervescent Filipina trans woman joins up with her dashing new half-French, half-Filipino boyfriend to solve the baffling murders of two American tourists on the island of Boracay. Lamar Giles' (The Last Last-Day-of-Summer, 2019, etc.) unsettling "The Oval Filter" features African American football star Tariq, whose dead girlfriend's distorted images appear on his phone—and they seem to be trying to tell him something. "The Fall of the Bank of Usher" by Fran Wilde (The Fire Opal Mechanism, 2019, etc.) is an adrenaline rush of a tale about assumed white orphans Rik and Mad, brother and sister twins, who must hack their way out of an intimidating Scottish bank for a life-changing prize—a challenge many before them have failed. Strong feminist themes appear throughout, and genres run the gamut from futuristic to gothic and lots in between. Diversity in race, gender identity, and sexuality is well represented. As a bonus, all of the original stories and poems are included.
Poe's ghost happily haunts this fresh, delightfully dark collection. (author bios) (Anthology. 14-adult)
