'Empowering, subversive . . . Daniel Mallory Ortberg twists fairy tales into elegant garrotes . . . There's not a single weak link in the cat's-breath chain of this collection . . . incredible' New York Times Book Review

'Dark and dreadful and persistently clever. Ortberg bloodily turns familiar tales inside out' Rainbow Rowell

'Daniel Mallory Ortberg has the sloe gin wit of Dorothy Parker and the soul of a Classics nerd . . . An absolute delight' John Scalzi

From Texts from Jane Eyre author Daniel Mallory Ortberg, comes a creepy collection of darkly mischievous stories based on children's classics. Sinister and inviting, familiar and alien all at the same time, The Merry Spinster updates traditional bedtimes stories and fairy tales with elements of psychological horror, emotional clarity and a keen sense of feminist mischief. And reveals the alarming emotional games at play in the stories we tell as we tuck ourselves in for the night.

Bed time will never be the same.

'A collection of stories delectable, formidable, and nimble . . . Daniel Mallory Ortberg is without peer' Kelly Link