The latest in Terri Windling's Fairy Tale series is an adaptation of the story of Bluebeard, set in the Finger Lakes region of New York in the first half of the 19th century. I'm going to proceed on the assumption that anyone reading this is familiar with the basic Bluebeard story. A Boston widower with three beautiful daughters has remarr ied, to a woman who leads him into the orbit of a millenialist preacher, the Reverend Elias Fitcher. Rev. Fitcher has announced that the world will end within the next year, and that only those who are accepted into his utopian community of Harbinger will be saved. (Fitcher and his followers are based on a real millenial movement, the Millerites, whose leader predicted the end of the world in 1843.) So Mr. Charter takes his new wife, Lavinia, and his three daughters (Vernelia, Amelia, and Katherine) off to Harbinger. There they are installed in the community's gatehouse, to collect a toll from each family seeking to enter Harbinger. They quickly discover that the house has an odd history--the previous gatekeeper and his wife, the Pulaskis, vanished, and there's apparently a ghost or spirit residing in the room shared by the three girls. The spirit predicts that each of the girls will have a suitor before the end, and in short order, Rev. Fitcher pays them a visit and decides to take the eldest, Vernelia, as his bride.

Vern is quickly whisked off to her new life as Mrs. Fitcher, in the main Harbinger community, completely separated from her family in the gatehouse. It doesn't take her long to realize there's something very wrong about her husband, and something very strange about life in Harbinger, including some odd deaths and disappearances. Eventually, of course, her husband gives her the keys to the main house at Harbinger, tells her she can go anywhere except the one room whose lock is opened by the small, glass key, and then leaves her for another proselytizing journey. This ends in the expected manner, and Fitcher, sadly informing his wife's family that she has run off to join a lover in Boston, has the marriage annulled and marries Amy. Amy in her turn makes unpleasant discoveries, with the expected result.

None of the sisters is either stupid or weak-willed, but in proper fairy-tale fashion, itrquote s the youngest sister, Kate, who is clever enough and stubborn enough to find the truth and escape Fitcher's trap.

This latest in the Fairy Tales series is, once again, a very good adaptation of the traditional story for modern, adult readers. ( )

part of the excellent Fairy Tale Series, with an very good introduction by editor Terri Windling. combines the Bluebeard fairy tale with another collected by Grimm called "Fitcher's Bird", and then resets the whole thing in early nineteenth century New England amid tent evangelists busily manufacturing some end-of-the-world Christian fervour. that's a lot of different elements to juggle, but the whole thing works surprisingly well, and yields some vivid characters and moments of true gothic terror. ( )

This is a great book. The historical descriptions of end-of-the-world New York State, the journey the family takes, the house they buy . . . all of the minutae of their world translates into a very authentic description of a true historic time. It reminds the reader that the world was supposed to end and it didn't, either in the 1840's or 1993 or in 2012.

Once the "action" moves to the sisters and their marriage to the creepy Fitcher it becomes, well, creepy. Since the sisters are depicted as 3 distinct women with distinct personalities and strengths, each wedding and subsequent betrayal of their trust draws the reader deeper and deeper. ( )

Another in Terri Windling's Fairy Tale series, in which a common story is retold. In this case, Frost chose to translate Bluebeard into 1840s America. Quite good. ( )

This book is quite radically different from the other entries in Terri Windling's 'Fairy Tale Series.' Most of the other books Windling selected stayed much closer to the classic feel of fairy tales in their retellings. I knew that, from what I'd read in other reviews, and for that reason waited quite a while to get around to reading this - the description just didn't appeal to me that much.

However, now I'm sorry I didn't give it a chance earlier! No, this book doesn't have that 'fairy-tale' feel to it - but it's a damn good book.

It retells the tale of Bluebeard - so the reader knows from the start this isn't going to be a pleasant story.
Set in 19th-century America, Frost gives us an apocalyptic cult which has set up a compound in upstate New York. A widower has been converted by his new wife, and he relocates, bringing his three unmarried daughters, to join the utopian community. The family falls under the spell of the charismatic preacher that leads the cult - and of, course, it's an honor one can't refuse when the leader chooses the oldest daughter to be his bride.
You know bad things are coming when one of the cult members mutters, "she's not the first, and she won't be the last..."
And, of course, things degenerate to the exact opposite of a utopia...

Frost is an excellent writer. I found the setting and the characters to be completely convincing, even when they were acting against all reason. He portrayed the cult mentality in a way that felt utterly believable.
Almost 5 stars, but I felt that the demonic denouement didn't flow smoothly from the events leading up to it. It was a bit much, in an effort to give it a Big, Dramatic ending. (Kind of like how I feel about the ending of Foucault's Pendulum - which is also an excellent book.) I'd still recommend this. ( )

Rating: 3.5 of 5

Until late-2013 I knew jack squat about Bluebeard. That's when I started reading Bluebeard Tales From Around the World by Heidi Anne Heiner (SurLaLune Fairytales). It's some of the darkest folklore I've read: frightening and gory. So I thought it would be fun to read the retellings of Bluebeard whilst I continued (and eventually complete) Heiner's collection.

Fitcher's Brides was my first selection in a list of retellings. It presented a Bluebeard - Elias Fitcher - as someone revered and worshiped by those in his "community" versus someone who scared people at first sight. Mr. Fitcher also seemed to possess an uncanny power which attracted rather than repelled women, especially those he physically touched.

Of course, as the audience, we're on to him straightaway, which is, after all, part of the fun in watching a story unfold: so we can yell at the book when someone acts completely idiotic. I mean, we, the audience, have never, would never make such poor decisions in the face of such obvious villainy, right?

Having read multiple versions of Bluebeard, the Charter sisters' choices and Mr. Fitcher's actions came as no surprise yet there was a bit of suspense in their individual journeys to the Chamber. I'll admit to enjoying Amy's demise; she was the sister I liked least and I couldn't wait for her to meet the real Elias Fitcher.

My curiosity about the truth behind Fitcher and his brides was the biggest motivation in finishing this book. (Eve's daughter to the core LOL.) Yet it wasn't an entirely pleasant experience: I had to read overabundant descriptions of candle-making and way too many twisted sermons. And the ending did leave unanswered questions, but that didn't contribute to my rating of 3.5 stars. I like a little ambiguity.

Recommend Fitcher's Brides to fairytale retelling enthusiasts with a strong stomach for violence, both physical and sexual, who aren't overly annoyed by the matrimonial pining of 19th century woman **or** the rantings of zealots. ( )

Genuinely creepy take on the tale of Bluebeard. ( )

This is a truly amazing re-telling of "Bluebeard." Even though each one of the three sisters exemplifies a certain 'sin,' they are all well-rounded and interesting characters. Frost's choice of setting and time period added to the book's fascination, because the turn-of-the-century apocalyptic cults were certainly interesting. Frost also does a great job of using current events and literature of the time. Reading Fitcher's Brides made me look up [b:Wieland or, the Transformation, an American Tale|762338|Wieland or, the Transformation, an American Tale|Charles Brockden Brown|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178135099s/762338.jpg|1223465] and decide that I need to read that one too. I'm also now tremendously curious about what Rev. Fitcher's throwaway reference to "what happened in Canandaigua" meant.

The prose was a little purple in spots, but the story of Bluebeard is a horror tale, and such demands slightly more florid writing. I read this in one day, unable to leave it for more than very short periods. It's a compelling and horrific modern retelling of a very creepy story. ( )

The Bluebeard tale reset in a 19th century cult waiting for the end of days in upstate NY. On the plus side, this is good and creepy. The author captures the atmosphere of upstate NY really well. In fact I will admit that may be that he captured it well enough to make me uncomfortable and dislike parts of the book just because I live in NY state and I don't want to be afraid to go into the woods.

The cult is well portrayed too - the evil charismatic preacher in his utter self assurance is one scary guy. His followers may be even scarier, so defeated that they are actually glad to hear that the world is ending and they don't have to keep trying to make sense of it, so eager to turn over their decisionmaking to a charismatic who looks like he might have some answers.


On the minus side, the story is a tale of three sisters - but a lot of time is spent with the first sister, less with the second, and even less with the third. The balance didn't work so well for me. I could have done with a little less time listening to Vern go over the same ground repeatedly, and a little more getting to know Kate.

The major difficulty for me was that somehow the balance between the natural and supernatural elements didn't quite work. Gothic horror is hard to write, it is supposed to be inchoate, you're supposed to spend a lot of the story wondering if the central character is seeing ghosts or just going insane. Its not easy to make that work, and here it doesn't always.

A lot of the book was so extremely realistic in its tone, very specific descriptions of architecture and clothing and place names, and landscape. Because of that level of realism I felt like I wanted the gothic horror elements to be more grounded too. For example, its summertime - I don't understand how the chamber of blood doesn't clot, or smell, or draw flies. I don't understand what the ghosts are doing the third floor or what their role is in the story. I don't know who the Angel of Darkness is, or even if it exists. I'm left with too many questions.

Its still a good, scary, well written story, it just feels like it came really close to being something even more interesting but in the end it didn't quite gell. ( )

I love fairy tale retellings in general, and this one in particular was really good for me. I loved how Gregory Frost interpreted Bluebeard's bloody tale and put it in a historical setting, with characters that are very realistically drawn. A very worthwhile read. ( )

A dark retelling of an already dark tale. Gregory Frost has masterfully imagined this classic fairy tale (a combination of BLUEBEARD and THE FITCHER BIRD) in 1843 in upstate New York, amidst an end-of-the-world "Utopian" community under the leadership of Elias Fitcher. Three girls, Vernelia, Amy and Catherine Charter, are brought to the community when their father and step-mother fall under the preacher's influence. Fitcher is a charismatic, but ominous figure. Ghostly voices whisper through the walls of the girls' old house, seductive and mesmerizing. With the world about to end, Fitcher, determined to spend eternity with a wife, marries Vernelia, the eldest. When she is taken into the heart of the community, away from her family, Fitcher quickly reveals his darker instincts. Women disappear, men commit suicide, mysterious shadows roam the halls... Erotically charged, full of brutality and treachery, this novel goes places the original tales only hinted. It's a rollicking, at times uncomfortable read. An exploration of lust, masochism, messianic psychosis and the nature of evil combined with social commentary. Highly recommended. ( )

This is as truly disturbing as any tale of Bluebeard should be. I was surprised at times, but in the right ways. I was occasionally frustrated by the things the sisters didn't put together and the fact that they took it for granted that the world really was going to end. The reader had a sort of eerie position in the story following each of the three sisters in turn. ( )

I normally enjoy Terri Windling's Fairy Tale Series, but this one left me cold. It's a re-imagining of the Bluebeard legends, transported from the French nobility to a New York cult. ( )

Interesting retelling of the Blue Beard tales. Like the originals and like most early versions of fairy tales, this one is not for children. ( )

This is a masterful combination of the "Bluebeard" and "Fitcher's Bird" fairytales, set in New York state in the 1830s. Vernelia, Amy, and Kate have been uprooted from Boston by their father and stepmother and brought to Harbinger House, the apocalyptic community led by the Reverend Elias Fitcher. At Harbinger House, hundreds of men, women, and children live and work communally while they wait for the end of the world, which according to Rev. Fitcher will occur in just three short months. When Rev. Fitcher makes it clear that he has no desire to spend the next life alone, it is Vern who marries him, little realizing that she is in unimaginable danger -- as is the entire population of Harbinger House.

This book is thoroughly creepy and lives up to the bloody precedent set by its source material. Frost also makes excellent use of the obsessions and fads of the time, touching on Spiritualism and communication with the dead, mesmerism, and of course apocalyptic fervor. The story moves slowly, but builds to a truly terrifying and exhilarating climax. ( )