Not sharp enough to enliven old tales
923570
I'm sure Chris Colfer does a lot of things well - I understand he's an award-winning actor, for example, and a screen writer. But this book just doesn't hold up well in the company of other books in the genre.

The genre of fairy tales told as real life has grown up. And other entrants (such as Enchantment by Orson Scott Card, or Wicked by Gregory Maguire) take the stories seriously, fleshing out characters and showing the complexities of relationships and decision making even in the midst of fairytale lands and magic powers. In their hands, the stories get deeper and we get glimpses into the motivations of the characters, there is less black and white, and good vs. bad, and more varying players trying to do their best in contentious times.

Mr. Colfer takes this book in just the opposite direction, dumbing down real life in order to make it as broad and two- dimensional as a cartoon.

Here's just one example. The main characters, Alex and Conner, realize they must go to Charming Land to get the glass slipper. On the way, Conner complains that the trip to the stream is taking much longer than it should. They must be lost or misdirected. He claims he's seen the same boulder several times already. In some books, this would create an opportunity for the brother and sister to interact and discover deeper strengths and weaknesses. Not in this book. They walk a couple more hours and reach the stream. Apparently they just mastered "the journey that took an annoyingly long time."

When they get to the stream, they encounter the obligatory stream troll who challenges them to solve a riddle or lose their heads. Nothing wrong with that. It's a nice trope you can build into something. Again, not here. You might expect the kids to try to run away. No Alex. She wants to stay and risk her life solving a riddle because the next bridge is miles away. That's the level of thinking in this book. I'm choosing to risk my life because a walk to the next bridge could take me a good half hour.

When Conner discovers the odds in the riddle game, he does leave. In fact, he runs away and leaves Alex alone on the bridge. Are you kidding me! He leaves his sister on the bridge to face death at the hands of troll.

He decides instead to face the stream and attempt to ford it alone. Another opportunity for a lesson. He wades to the deepest part of stream. We're waiting for the river croc, or the water horse, or the stream serpent, to smite him for his foolish attempt to dodge life's fearsome obstacles, or to punish him for leaving his sister. But instead, he wades trough water as deep as his waist... and comes up the bank on the other side. Apparently having just bested "the uncomfortably cold stream."

And the book goes on and on just like this. In Mr. Colfer's hands, the scariest elements of fairy tales are reduced below the level of annoyance. This is one long trek with few bumps and fewer opportunities to grow, to learn about oneself or one's mates, or to grow closer to them.

If you have a young one you'd like to expose to fairy tales that are sanitized and have safety guards, this could be a good book for you. Otherwise, go read Wicked or Enchantment. They'll take you deeper and stay with you longer.
246767
The reader of this particular audiobook had a mono-tone voice and lacked enthusiasm.  The old style ghost stories were, at best, good for a campfire at night while camping.  The stories did not capture the listeners expectations.
919672
One of the attraction of the series is its beautiful setting which also reflects the period. The poor picture quality of this edition makes it difficult to appreciate the details.
3800736
I'm not a literary scholar, but I found this collection to be repetitive. Some of the stories made no sense at all, and perhaps it's expected that folktales would lose something in the translation, but if they make no sense why include them? I liked the art, but it's not worth the price. If I were to purchase this book knowing what I know, I'd buy a cheap used copy or, even better, just borrow it from the library.
593779
Not as sharp as the older henckels i had from 5 yrs ago.. i was in the market for new ones because the ones i have are loosing some teeth and these are not going to be the replacements for sure due to them being not sharp enough
3290591
With only a couple of exceptions, this is a rather mediocre collection of stories. Some of them have been culled out of longer
publications and they suffer for it. The only thing they really have going for them is their underlying theme of drinking, alcohol, or
drunks. I really didn't enjoy any of them, with the exception of the Edgar Allen Poe, which I have already read several times before.
The overall effect of the book was that it was a chore to read, and instead of looking forward to my reading time, I felt sad when I
only had this book to look forward to.

I grew up on short stories, and there are much better collections out there.
The majority of the stories in this book fall far short of the standards of anything I would recommend.
55318
I recently purchased this collection to watch for fun.  Overall the stories are well presented and researched but there are some major problems.  The sound quality is terrible; I find myself constantly reaching for the remote so I can hear people speaking, and then turning it back down again.  This is annoying but not enough to give the low mark.

I was watching disk one, and was reviewing the trivia section.  The first question was about the Tower of London and how William the Conqueror had his wife Anne Boylen killed, correct or incorrect.  I selected incorrect, as Anne Boylen was killed by her husband Henry VIII.  Apparantly the producers of these collections know something about history that I don't know, because I was incorrect.  Yikes!  It makes me wonder how many other errors there are throughout these disks.
4942283
If most of the stories in the collection were considered to be the best, then mediocre or bad ones ought to have been horrific. There were some notable exceptions-- the story of the couples playing the game of what to talk about when talking about Anne Frank being the most salient in my mind-- but this year's collection was a disappointment for me as compared to previous years.
368640
Unfortunately, these aren't very sharp and the points did not pierce the wood frame I needed them for framing lightweight art. Tossed after much frustration.
2055054
A brilliant writer, but not for today. The book is a collection of old articles. At my old age, I vaguely recalled some of the names and events, but found them to be boring and dull for today. I read a third of the book and flipped through articles before giving up the ghost. The book was a library loaner.
17613
A little outdated and some ugly pieces in there... not what I expected
1988580
Great stories, but this "set" of book is printed on poor quality paper that hides details.

Compare any scene side by side with the preview on Amazon of the original TPB or if you have the original trade paperback like me and you will see any black ink and grey's bleed together in this set.

The low quality "green" paper is not good with any dark ink.  The brighter scenes (rare in Batman) are a bit easier on this affect.  This low quality paper is similar to old print from the old comic days and that is why so many complimentary colors were used, I hear, so the ink and images would not bleed together.
1716954
I purchased Spooky Pennsylvania thinking that it would bring a bigger and more unique approach to the spooky series than other previous books I have read, but in this one I felt a little disappointed. There were very few actual scary stories. The ones I found genuinely scary were Axe Murder Hollow, Bloody Mary, Room For One More, The Goblin and The Storm Hag. Everything else is either historical or very boring. If you are a huge fan of the state of Pennsylvania and believe that this would make a great part of your book collection, purchase it, but if your not really interested in Pennsylvania folklore don't buy it.
642821
I am a homeschool mother of boys ages 7 and 8.  It is possible this book is just a little "old" for my kids, but the stories in here were LONG with NO pictures to keep young one's attention.  Some of the stories are also very old-fashioned (victorian) and hard for kids to follow.  I was a bit disappointed and hoping for something to engage my boys better.
4889906
As I am not a huge fan of short stories, I was surprised to find most of these excellent. 'Colors of Belief' was an further insight as to how the Games of Istar worked after Caramon's experiences in the Legends. 'Kender Stew' was very funny and a nice little story. 'The Goblin's Wish' was my favourite, a saddening tale of how different races banded together to fight Istar. 'The Three Lives of Horgan Oxthrall' was not so good. The scribe's narration is just silly, I think Douglas Niles could've just told the story and got on with it. Far and away the worst story was 'Filling the Empty Places'. I find myself being more and more disappointed by Nancy Berberick's work. Stormblade was okay, but her writing style has definitely gone downhill since. 'Off Day' was hilarious. And finally, 'The Silken Threads' again showcased Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's wonderful talent which puts them at the forefront of the DL world.
Those disappointed by the other Tales books will find this a better one, with more information into a neglected part of Krynn's history.
662519
This is a collection of early Cthulhu Mythos stories by the late John Glasby, a British author of the supernatural and weird fiction, and I think this is the first time his stories have been collected in one edition. Unfortunately most of his work is just not that good, not particularly scary, and are a poor imitation of Lovecraft's style, down to the last line being a revelation with all in italics and exclamation point. However, it is still work a read and worth having if you are a Mythos fiction collector.
2781565
Very disappointed.  Pictures are so old-fashioned that it is difficult for me to guess what fairy tale they show.