What happened to Annabell?
- She left poor instructions.
- She outgrew her manufacturing specs.
- She defrauded an international brewing company.
- She burned down her house.
- She sold her soul to vengeance.
- She sent herself to the future.
- She never existed in the first place.
- She was too stubborn to die.
Annabell should have died long ago—and often did—but there’s more than one way to be immortal.
Monday Night Anthology presents the many possible lives of Annabell Doyle as told through occult humor, speculative feminism, historical fiction, and even a touch of cozy mystery. Perhaps she joined a satanic cult, or maybe she ran away from a society that didn’t yet value her skills. She could be stuck for eternity cooking for her descendants, or solving murder mysteries in a fantasy world with a talking cat at her side. She could have built a new life in the aftermath of the Great Depression, or quietly died, forgotten by everyone she once knew.
Or, perhaps, she’s just the oldest woman in the world.
Assessment:
Plot/Idea: A series of thematically connected speculative stories based around a single persona. A shorter, more curated collection might have been beneficial here, but the main hook is alluring and will keep readers invested.
Prose: The prose styles vary greatly across the stories, as do the stylistic approaches to storytelling and the genre conventions, but the works form a cohesive and gratifying whole via the conceptual framework.
Originality: What Happened to Annabell? offers a truly unique conceit. While the stories vary in terms of their content and tone, the collection is infused with enjoyably dark humor.
Character/Execution: The individual pieces of the collection are inventively devoted to a single character. The primary strength of What Happened to Annabell? lies in the manner in which each author takes up a given prompt. The result is great fun.
Date Submitted: April 12, 2023
The third in the Monday Night Anthology series of collections of fictions inspired by a shared prompt, What Happened to Annabell? offers a delightful abundance of imaginative worlds and characters. In “Bubbe in the Kitchen,” Annabell is a deceased grandmother bound to return to her kitchen every Thanksgiving to cook Kasha Varnishkes for her family. The wit of this tale creates a compelling contrast with “I Remember,” a somber, lyrical portrayal of immortal love. “ROSE Recruiting” thrives as a cult piece with dark humor and plenty of fun sass, while “The Beast” and “The Blue Clover Café” dip into the fantasy realm. Contributing author Rachael Sterling masterfully compels Annabell to seek equality in a male dominated world, while fellow Stephen Folkins cleverly strips Annabell of politeness and makes her a town’s most disgruntled citizen.
The anthology explores a wide variety of themes including revenge, second chances, independence, and grief. Ghosts, magic, time travel, and mayhem are just a handful of elements featured in these narratives. The pacing and organization of stories creates an easy flow of suspense and tension. Inevitably, one or two tales don’t measure up to the well-crafted plots and inspired play of the best, here, but most will appeal to readers of inventive and speculative short fiction.
Takeaway: An inspired, surprising anthology imagining a woman’s life from a tombstone prompt.
Great for fans of: Ellen Datlow’s When Things Get Dark, Philip Fracassi’s Beneath a Pale Sky, Kevin Lucia’s Liminal Spaces.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-
