This was definitely an interesting book of stories. I love Alice in Wonderland, and some of the stories were definitely my cup of tea, but I did find after reading this I much prefer longer stories rather than short stories.

Saying that though, without personal opinion on short stories it definitely had something for everyone in, and I'm sure everyone would be able to find at least one story that interested them - I found quite a few.

If you're reading this review on Goodreads you can note that I've listed my favorite book as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and readers of my blog may recall that I often mention how much I like short fiction so it should come as no surprise that I was eager to read this collection of short stories.
But one of the other things I've noted is that anthologies, even those from a stalwart editor such as Ellen Datlow, have such a mixed bag of stories that, while they might have something for everyone, they also have something that everyone will dislike.

This book started out on a really great note. The first couple of stories really felt like they belonged to the 'Alice' universe. They captured the heart of the Lewis Carroll stories. But as we get further into the book we get more pieces that are quite disconnected to the Alice stories. Stories about Dodgson or about a different version of Alice having PTSD-type flashbacks to Wonderland could still maintain a sense of the Wonderland stories, but they don't.

This is a hard book to review because of the real variety of stories (variety in content and in quality). It's not a book that I would recommend - it's just not strong enough, even though I really enjoyed, "My Own Invention"; "Lily-White & The Thief of Lesser Night" and "Worrity, Worrity". Most of the others aren't bad, but just don't generate any strong reactions one way or the other. The last two stories however, "Moon, Memory, Muchness" and "Run, Rabbit, Run" drag the collection down.

This anthology is a disappointment.

This volume contains the following:
Acknowledgments
Introduction
“My Own Invention” by Delia Sherman
“Lily-White & The Thief of Lesser Night” by C.S.E. Cooney
“Conjoined” by Jane Yolen
“Mercury” by Priya Sharma
“Some Kind of Wonderland” by Richard Bowes
“Alis” by Stephen Graham Jones
“All the King’s Men” by Jeffrey Ford
“Run, Rabbit” by Angela Slatter
“In Memory of a Summer’s Day” by Matthew Kressel
“Sentence Like a Saturday” by Seanan McGuire
“Worrity, Worrity” by Andy Duncan
“Eating the Alice Cake” by Kaaron Warren
“The Queen of Hats” by Ysabeau Wilce
“A Comfort, One Way” by Genevieve Valentine
“The Flame After the Candle” by Catherynne M. Valente
“Moon, Memory, Muchness” by Katherine Vaz
“Run, Rabbit, Run” by Jane Yolen

Looking for a good book? Mad Hatters and March Hares, edited by Ellen Datlow is a disappointing and forgettable collection of stories using Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as a springboard.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, though Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

"From master anthologist Ellen Datlow comes an all-original of weird tales inspired by the strangeness of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There.

Between the hallucinogenic, weird, imaginative wordplay and the brilliant mathematical puzzles and social satire, Alice has been read, enjoyed, and savored by every generation since its publication. Datlow asked eighteen of the most brilliant and acclaimed writers working today to dream up stories inspired by all the strange events and surreal characters found in Wonderland.

Featuring stories and poems from Seanan McGuire, Jane Yolen, Catherynne M. Valente, Delia Sherman, Genevieve Valentine, Priya Sharma, Stephen Graham Jones, Richard Bowes, Jeffrey Ford, Angela Slatter, Andy Duncan, C.S.E. Cooney, Matthew Kressel, Kris Dikeman, Jane Yolen, Kaaron Warren, Ysbeau Wilce, and Katherine Vaz."

So... I'm more interested in this to see if anyone can actually succeed, because all Alice inspired writing I've ever read has failed miserably, because seriously, there's no one like Carroll.

Like many Alice anthologies, this contains a number of prismatic, shifting, off-center stories veering toward the Lovecraftian grotesque. Some of its bigger hits, though, are the stories that are deeply touching, focusing on loss. Standout: Moon, and Memory, and Muchness by Katherine Vaz. Other excellent choices (more weird, less touching): tales by Seanan McGuire and Stephen Graham Jones.

I always love the collections Ellen Datlow puts together. Who doesn't love Alice in Wonderland?

Unfortunately I really only enjoyed about half of this collection (edited by Ellen Datlow and created by sixteen different authors). I appreciated the fact that the stories differ in genre and that there are horror and psychological thrillers in the mix, but I felt like the collection leaned a little too far into the horror realm. I also really wish that the stories had focused on characters from Wonderland that weren't Alice. I know that Alice is central to the storyline, but it's a little boring to read several stories about Alice in a row. What about the Doormouse? Or the Dodo? Or the Jabberwocky? That said, for lovers of Wonderland this is a must read - just be prepared to only lovelove some of the stories.

Ellen Datlow has managed to corral a book full of stories and poems that deal in one fashion or another with Alice in Wonderland. Some of the tales are sad, some, are creepy, some are outrageous, but all have Wonderland in their DNA. The poems that open and close the books are nice touches to lure the readers in and drive them out of the book. Each reader will have their own favorites, mine happen to be "All The King's Men," "Run Rabbit," and "Sentence Like a Saturday." Read the book and discover your own favorite.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital ARC of “Mad Hatters and March Hares” by Ellen Datlow. I love everything Ellen Datlow edits. As a child I reread her teen anthologies over and over so when I saw this book I literally danced around. This is the book I never knew I needed but am so happy it has been created. The stories are reminiscent of the original book and are perfect for those looking to spend more time in Wonderland.

I had never read the original work that these stories relate to, so I did admittedly have a little trouble following certain aspects taken from Carroll's work. However, I found some of these stories incredibly interesting and well paced. I am huge fan particularly of Yolen and Gaiman's stories, as I was sure I would be. I think this would be an excellent read for anyone who is a fan of Alice.

I love Alice in Wonderland. I own over 40 copies of the book and I try to read every retelling that comes out about Wonderland. This book sounded really great but I couldn't get in to it for some reason. I liked the writing but something just didn't click with me so I had to put the book down and don't see myself picking it back up to finish it.

The playground that is Lewis Carroll's Wonderland begs to be peopled by authors, filmmakers, comic makers, indeed anyone with a creative spark who can produce a fresh take on the adventures of Alice and the surreal, sinister crew that she encountered down the rabbit hole and through the looking glass.

And so we have in this book an abundance: dark Wonderlands, Wonderlands turned into theme parks or battle fields, imaginary Wonderlands, Wonderlands that have spilled over into the "real world". We have White Rabbits (literal and metaphorical), Red and White Queens, Cheshire Cats (and other Cheshires), Jabberwockies, wabes and much, much more.

Above all, we have Alices. Alices of all sorts: little girls who fell down that rabbit hole, older women who came out, the real Alice Liddell, missing daughters, wayward Alices, tough cookie Alices. Alices as victims, as manipulators, as surrogates, as avengers.

All read at once, it is perhaps rather overwhelming, like eating a whole box of Christmas chocs in one go, and I wouldn't advise that (apart from anything else, many if not all of the stories evoke - mostly with some success - the jargon and atmosphere of Carroll's books and that is something which is perhaps best not taken in large doses). No, I'd suggest rather that you come and go: read a story, ponder, return. Hop around the book, depending whether you want pastiche Alice, Alice-with-a-twist or - and these were my favourites - Alice inspired fiction, perhaps with no Wonderland, indeed even no Alice as such, but with a sense of something.

As you fall down that rabbit hole, passing shelves and volumes, I offer the following as a brief guide, to help you choose what to read and in what order.

My Own Invention (Delia Sherman) - An Alice meets the Red Knight in a wood. Or is she a not-Alice? In Wonderland you can never be sure.

Lily-White and Thief of Lesser Night (CSE Cooney) is a beguiling piece of fantasy, clearly set in a Wonderland but not, for once, featuring an Alice. It's a nice story of fantasy and adventure set among the vorpal roses.

Conjoined (Jane Yolen - some of whose Alice stories were included in her The Emerald Circus which I recently reviewed, although not those featured here) is a story of the Tweedle twins touring with Barnum's circus.

Mercury (Priya Sharma) is a dark tale set in a debtors' prison not so far from the village of Daresbury where the real CL Dodgson is commemorated in church window. It features a hatter and his daughter and the mercury that causes hatters' madness. The ensemble of Wonderland turn up in wonderfully distorted ways - a Duchess who is the boss of the jail. An Alice who's taught "Be tiny. be giant. Adapt to the dictates of the situation". A cat called Dinah. A Knave... Here, it's all about escape.

Some Kind of Wonderland (Richard Bowes) reimagines the Alice stories as a film made in 1960s New York, which is revisited by its stars, now advanced in age. Again, the Wonderland motif bleeds through into mundane reality raising possibilities of escape but also of entrapment in that beguiling pocket universe.

Alis (Stephen Graham Jones) is towards the horrific end of the whimsy-horror spectrum that these stories define, taking a familiar trope - foolish students experimenting with things that should be left alone - and giving it a distinctly Carollian twist involving a mirror. "Inspired by" rather than "interpretation of", I think, but nevertheless a fine and chilling story.

All the King's Men (Jeffrey Ford) is one of the odder stories here. Again it features motifs from Carroll's books, but is not quite set in either Wonderland or in any real world. It is more a nursery rhyme kingdom, complete with an evil Humpty Dumpty. It's an inventive, twisty tale, hauntingly effective, portraying a world which could surely feature in a longer piece of fiction.

Run, Rabbit (Angela Slatter) is firmly set in the (a) real world but in a seamy, noirish version of it. The Rabbit (something of a dandy) is on the run from the Queen, and he's late. Then he encounters a girl in a bar. Her name is Pleasance and she works in a garden, with roses. Rabbit works in import-export: don't ask in what he traffics or for whom. A truly seamy, shudder-inducing take on that original encounter between innocent Alice and the distracted Rabbit.

In Memory of a Summer’s Day (Matthew Kressel) is another rather twisted story, its embittered narrator working as guide ("I've been leading tours of Wonderland for forty years...") in a tawdry version of Wonderland that's now run as a theme park. It's still not a safe place, though, as some of the visitors - and our narrator - discover. Memorable for the collision between the essential Wonderland magic, the sheer sinisterness of the reality behind that, and the hustle of the carnival, this one will stay in your mind a long time.

Sentence Like a Saturday (Seanan McGuire) points out that "doors swing both ways" as do stories and then rather brilliantly inverts the logic (or illogic) of Wonderland to ask what happens if somebody - or something - comes up the rabbit hole? A rather tender story, in point of fact, this contains multitudes and shows how strange our world would be - it runs on logic! - to a befuddled Wonderlandian exiled here. And the price they might pay. After all "a mother was the door through which tomorrow passed".

Worrity, Worrity (Andy Duncan) is another that might almost be a classical horror - I was strongly reminded of MR James. It focuses on Sir John Tenniel, illustrator of Alice, and his problem with wasps. Eerie, chilling and a nice counterpoint to the stories which actually take us to Wonderland.

Eating the Alice Cake (Kaaron Warren) is another horror story (I think!) There's no overt Wonderland here, quite the opposite: but we have an Alice, who has a consuming passion for food and a painful secret, we meet a Mock Turtle... and there are some familiar names and a mirror. It is a grim little story, slightly nasty in the manner of the best horror.

The Queen of Hats (Ysabeau Wilce) is a little different from the other stories here in that it takes the Alice mythology and transposes it into a new cultural setting: it's about a "poor tamale girl", locating the story in South America but also evoking a meta fictional world which might contain "Ticonderoga, Arkham, Cibola, Porkopolis, Beleogost, Goblin Town, Eboracum, Sunnydale" as well as that most fictional of locations, "London". These names are found on labels on a theatrical trunk, a trunk that contains many marvels, indeed, wonders... here the Wonderland settings are transposed to disused backdrops as might be found in an old style theatre, complete with wardrobe room and auditions for something called (to avoid bad luck) "The Oxford Play". What might that be?

A Comfort, One Way (Genevieve Valentine) speculates on the very question of the identity of an Alice, seeming to suggest that despite all appearances, Wonderland has its own logic and that this may lead it to consume you...

The Flame After the Candle (Catherynne M Valente), a long story, indeed practically a novella, is very much set in this world, the real world, until it isn't. Again it seems to suggest that to its hero, Olive (not, for once, an Alice) real world events and people foreshadow or parallel another, richer place ("Father Dear had left them for that pale, rabbity little heiress in London"). Olive's story is interspersed with an the story of an encounter between who great literary figures, scarred by their visits - whether real or not, is never quite sure - to Wonderland and Neverland. The two tales complement each other well and there are echoes between them, as there are echoes between Olive's own life and the fantasy behind the mirror. A truly enchanting fairytale with a rather bitter edge to it - my favourite in this volume.

Moon, Memory, and Muchness (Katherine Vaz) is another "real world" story. It invokes the tropes of Wonderland ("Everything screams, Eat Me, Drink Me") to tell a very sad story, set in present-day New York, about a mother's loss ("I turned my back, and the earth swallowed her.") A story about appearances, and hurting, and what comes afterwards. Very moving.

The book closes with Run, Rabbit, Run (Jane Yolen), a short poem and perhaps a warning that the childish delights of Wonderland will only carry you so far.

If there is a preoccupation that these authors return to time and gain it is perhaps, "afterwards". We see both the effect on the Alices (and others) of that time in Wonderland - a kind of theme of the effect on survivors of what was a very weird experience, whether treated as real or imagined. But we also see the effect on "real" people of their encounter with an author who, literally, wrote them into immortality. How does it change you to have your life defined at an early age like that?

Overall, a very strong collection of stories. Recommended.

I love the Alice books and thought this would be fun. It was but I was shocked by so many of the stories being horror. Looking at the cover maybe I should have guessed, but it just didn't occur to me. I liked some of the stories more than others of course. My favorite was the Catherynne M. Valente story "The Flame After the Candle.'' A lovely juxtaposition of Olive, a new Alice, and the aged Alice Liddell. Other stories will also delight.

If you thought Alice and the Jabberwocky were strange enough in the original tale, you'll have a lot more odd characters to think about now...

Tor Books and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It will be published December 12th.

These tales are dark and some of them are horror tales but my favorite ones were the ones that were just a bit odd.

My favorites were:
Mercury by Prya Sharma
All the King's Men by Jeffrey Ford (starring Humpty Dumpty)
The Flame After the Candle by Cathrynne M Valente (a bunch of short tales used to make a whole)
Moon Memory and Madness by Katherine Vaz

None of the tales are usual, none are boring and many made me go: "Oh!" The writer's words flow well and they will entertain you.

I'd recommend you don't read this one late in the evening...

any collection edited by ellen datlow is guaranteed to be good and this anthology of stories based on the alice in wonderland stories is no exception. this seemingly disparate group of writers is brought together to create a charming and entertaining set of stories that welcomes readers while ushering them into a world of the strange and the fascinating.

I’m always excited about SFF anthologies coming out, and one focusing on the world of Alice in Wonderland really seemed like a truly interesting one to read for me.

While not the *biggest* fan of the original books, I really appreciate this nonsense world, how it plays with logic and how anything could happen, no matter how unbelievable or incredible. I think it would be more accurate to say this anthology draws from the many things Lewis Carroll has written and having only read Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass might not be enought to understand all the references. To speak for myself I also didn’t understood all the references mainly because I read the books in french long ago and most names are not the same, but it wasn’t a very big issue either.

This anthology definitely follows in the footsepts of the books and reimagined what could have been, tie up stories or even throw a whole new look on this world. I didn’t liked the stories that merely used the names of the characters and transposed them into a whole different setting, or tried to do too much, make the story feel more “adult”, if I’m making any sense.

Some stories felt written by people who genuinely loved and connected to Lewis Carroll’s stories but I felt like some others merely saw this opportunity as an exercice in style or imagination (which is valid) and those stories didn’t sat right with me most of the time. By trying to distance themselves from the source material and to address the lore around the man and the story, it went to some very dark and edgy places that weren’t what I was expecting to find in such profusion in this anthology. Still, it sometimes discussed some very important topics and in the end I liked what some of these stories had to say.

As usual, I loved some stories more than others and here are some thoughts for each of them :

“My Own Invention” by Delia Sherman
I loved this story! Such a great start for this anthology. Where Alice isn’t a girl and the entire concept of Alices is reinvented.

“Lily-White & The Thief of Lesser Night” by C.S.E. Cooney
A bit long, almost a novella. I didn’t love it really but it was still a good creepy one that is worth being there. Maybe tried to stuff too many stories in one? Loved the presence of Cheshire animals and the story focusing on two sisters going in an adventure.
content warning: child endangerment

“Conjoined” by Jane Yolen
Told in the first person by an orangutan from a circus who goes to have his own adventure in Wonderland. Really liked that story of this creature very fond of logic going into such an illogical world and keeping his head straight.

“Mercury” by Priya Sharma
This storys is set in a debtor’s prison where Alice’s father – a hatter – is emprisonned and mad from the mercury he uses to makes hats for a mysterious man. A sad story where Alice stuggles with sanity, but is still a quick-witted kind teenage girl.

“Not meaning any harm doesn’t mean you won’t cause me any.”

“Some Kind of Wonderland” by Richard Bowes
This is the story of actors who starred on an Alice In Wonderland adaptation back in the day, the ugly side of the actors’ life and what became of them. It focuses on the young gay actor who played the Cheshire cat and his involvement with the director, now dead. Not very an enjoyable one for me, even if I understand it didn’t aimed to be enjoyable.
content warning: drug addiction, death or maybe suicide by overdose

“Alis” by Stephen Graham Jones
Mixed mathematics, drugs, sex and horror. Interesting premise and idea but didn’t work for me really. I’m not loving when the stories are trying to make grown up themes out of this, especially with an unlikeable protagonist and grad students who think highly of themselves. I liked it a bit better when it turned in a horror story though, but the over abundance of self harm was… hard to read about.
content warning: drug use, self-harm (very graphic)

“All the King’s Men” by Jeffrey Ford
About Cinder, the Queen of Hearts’s sister, who’s asked to reassembled Humpty Dumpty after the king killed him. That was a weird story but didn’t really make me entertained, I was relieved when it was over even if it managed to stick to the nonsense world and add a bit of the magical.

“Run, Rabbit” by Angela Slatter
Rabbit faces the consequences of bringing Alice in Wonderland. Another shady story, interesting. (Felt a bit disturbing to me that while he’s turned into the bad guy he’s also shown as bisexual.)

“In Memory of a Summer’s Day” by Matthew Kressel
When Wonderland becomes a tourist attraction that everyone everywhere wants to visit at least once. The tour guide is uncomfortable with the way the tourists security is handled. I quite liked this one, even if it keeps on being very dark.

“Sentence Like a Saturday” by Seanan McGuire
Here a Cheshire cat becomes a little girl after falling down a hole. I loved it and I think it would be the case for anyone who already love this author’s writing and themes of predilection. This story was really reminiscent of her Wayward Children series.

“Worrity, Worrity” by Andy Duncan
This story was lost on me, coudn’t concentrate nor understand who and when and where all of this was set. It draws from the The Wasp In A Wig “suppressed” episode.

“Eating the Alice Cake” by Kaaron Warren
This was the first to address child abuse and implied rape. From how very dark and disturbing most of the stories had been until now I was beginning to wonder why this matter hadn’t been addressed yet. The story used the mock turtle and and I don’t quite know what I think of it.
content warning: child abuse, implied rape or sexual assault

“The Queen of Hats” by Ysabeau Wilce
A tamale girl gets her own adventure by falling down a trunk and a weird world of theatre. When Alice in Wonderland is reinvented through the lense of a girl from a non-western country: loved the idea!

“A Comfort, One Way” by Genevieve Valentine
A bit confusing, but intriguing and different. Also plays with the idea of several Alices, and Mary Anns.

I have to note that there was a nice transition between the two stories here.

“The Flame After the Candle” by Catherynne M. Valente
This story links two stories in one. One where a little girl is vacationing in Wales and falls through the looking glass, and one where Peter (from peter pan) and an old Alice meet and discuss their situations. I really liked this one, very clever.

“Oh, how very dare those precious old men prattle on and on to us about childhood! The only folk who obsess over the golden glow of youth are ones who’ve forgotten how perfectly dreadful it is to be a child.”

“Moon, Memory, Muchness” by Katherine Vaz
This is about a woman whose young daughter was murdered and she has to keep on living by taking care of her little cafe called Wonderland. This took darker and darker turns and while it was very moving, it also made me feel very miserable.
content warning: eating disorder, drowning, suicidal thoughts

“Run, Rabbit, Run” by Jane Yolen
This one was a poem. To be honest it was too short for me to have an opinion. Still a nice idea to close an anthology.

In the end this was a surprising anthology. I was not expecting it to be so dark and I don’t think all people who love the original books will like this. If people are going into this looking for similar stories and want to imerge themselves again in a nonsense world and be surprised anew this is not really the anthology for it. Some stories are of course strongly derivative of the original work ; but most of them are taking a closer look at all the darker things surrounding the book and writer.

My favourites were “My Own Invention” by Delia Sherman, “Conjoined” by Jane Yolen, “In Memory of a Summer’s Day” by Matthew Kressel, “Sentence Like a Saturday” by Seanan McGuire, “The Flame After the Candle” by Catherynne M. Valente, and lastly “The Queen of Hats” by Ysabeau Wilce.

Great collection of authors and stories. Love the Alice in Wonderland theme.