I was really surprised to see that this was the author's first book, as it really reads like a piece coming from an experienced writer. The story itself reminded me of Lovecraft, as we have an evil entity hidden away and we are not fully aware of how ugly and scary it is until way later in the story. Some aspect of it bothered me and made me uncomfortable, knowing the age of the protagonist and what was expected of her. It was probably done on purpose. It will find its clientele and should do very well.

I love that this retelling really plays with a lot of different aspects of the horror potential in making Cinderella an eldritch monster. Of course there's the obvious ones - the gory tentacles and whirling mouths filled with teeth, the unsettling noises and juxtaposition of such a beautiful exterior for a creature that exists on rot and decay. Then there's the family horror aspect of it, of having to keep Cinderella alive, to constantly reinforce and truly believe you are family with someone who would sooner kill you than befriend you, the stress and burden and trauma of having that continual one-way relationship. Of having to keep her true nature a secret, and willing to be thought cruel and evil for the sake of it. There's a lot going on here just under the surface of a Cinderella retelling, of the monsters we create and how we handle them.

My one qualm is the pacing - we spend a lot of time setting up the story, watching Eunice learn the delicate dance of being Cinderella's sister and handler, but of course it all has to come undone so that the events of the ball can happen, at which point everything shifts rather quickly and we full tilt into the gory, bloody horror side of it all, with a lot of the setup of Hortense and their parents all kind of sliding out of focus.

I did really enjoy this though, watching it all come together and seeing all of the homages to all the variations of Cinderella stories we know.

I had to go back and check after the first few chapters to make sure I was really reading a debut. I instantly thought that it had a distinct voice and perspective, but was also impressed with how quickly and seamlessly the book was able to set up the rules of the world and start seeding details for later plotbeats.

This story answers the question of <i>'wtf could be the explanation for the series of events in the original Cinderella story'</i> if the stepsister was the hero and was actually behaving rationally. And I think it overall accomplishes its goal.

I did feel a little foolish that it took me so long to recognize the specific Disney Cinderella influences, vs the original Grimm ones. But I think that just speaks to how well integrated and natural they felt within this story.

While the story is fairly tame for the first 20-25% or so, the body horror and other horror elements goes straight to 11/10 pretty rapidly. There wasn't a trigger warning page in my arc but I sincerely hope there will be by the time this releases. Cause dear lord.

"We Kept Her in the Cellar" is a fascinating retelling of Cinderella with a Lovecraftian twist. I was all in for a dark and twisted fairytale!

The story is narrated by the eldest sister, Eunice, whose mother marries a man with a daughter named Cinderella. But Cinderella isn’t your typical girl—she has sinister powers, mangled mice, and cannot be looked at between midnight and three. Eunice is responsible for caring for Cinderella and protecting the family from her. However, when Cinderella gets invited to the ball, things go horribly wrong, leading to a battle for survival.

This story felt like a YA book, except for the graphic gore. I had mixed feelings about it by the end, but it was definitely memorable—I haven’t stopped thinking about it. I wish we had learned more about Cinderella's powers and what she truly was. If you're into fairytale retellings with a gory twist, this might be right up your alley.

WKHC joins the ranks of a handful of books I read this year, which were *not* blurb requests or market research reading. To clarify, I only read books I enjoy, and that includes books which make the blurb list, but it is nonetheless a different experience when you are reading with an eye for endorsement. It becomes impossibly to not scan the text with a view to weighing up its potential readership and the kind of blurb you can give which will most help the book, if you enjoy it.

All that to say, I found WKHC quite a random, through a goodreads recommendation. The title and cover immediately intrigued me, and I was pleased to be given an advance copy from Netgalley when I requested it. (And this is why I keep my netgalley accounts open after all this time!)

WKHC is a Cinderella retelling, but it is not a retelling where the romance has been shuffled around, or the culture refitted from Western medieval to non-western. There is nothing wrong with those retellings (saying that for clarity!) but I must admit that my preference for fairytale-adjacent stories is one in which the roles of hero and villain are transposed, and in which questions are asked about *why* a story exists in the form that it does. To that end, WKHC was good bait for me. It is a 2024 debut, put out by a smallish indie press, and the story itself is a Cinderella retelling told from the POV of the "ugly stepsister".

In this version of the story, Cinderella is an eldritch monster of Lovecraftian bent, only barely concealing her form in human skin to appear like a beautiful young lady. For obvious reasons, Cinderella lives in the cellar where she cannot eat, harm, kill, or otherwise torment normal humans. Many references to the original tales/versions are included, with dark twists on the originals (eg Cinderella's influence over mice and rats, the magic of the pumpkin carriage, the glass slippers, and so on.) All of this is great fun, and interesting to see from the horror angle.

The main conceit of the story is that Cinderella is insanely powerful, but for reasons never fully unearthed, she will accept commands from people who she recognises as family. The MC, Eunice, becomes Cinderella's step-sister through the marriage of their parents, and as a result is required to carry the increasingly heavy burden of "caring" for Cinderella, along with her mother and step-father. She does this from the age of 11 onwards, with no rest or respite or thanks, suffering a terrible psychological and physical toll. The amount of trauma Eunice endures across the span of the book is quite staggering.

This theme is where I think the novel really shines. Because while you could nitpick the origins of Cinderella's nature or the rules surrounding her powers and interactions, they're almost not really the point. The real story, the true horror, is the experience of a child who is asked to grow up far faster than they should, to take on responsibilities that selfish adults have burdened her with, and to manage (effectively) the emotions and whims of a deeply abusive family member, mostly solo.

Read in that context, the novel has a lot to say about the complex ways in which we define family, and what those boundaries and bonds mean to us--both in the power they exert on our lives, and the prisons they become for people--like eunice--whose good natures are taken advantage of by others.

I thought this was a great little gem of a book, full of horror and gore and trauma and a fantastic portrayal of what it's like to grow up bearing the weight of abusive family (including family who are enablers of that abuse, as well as the perpetrator themselves.) It does, imo, exactly what you want from a fairytale exploration: engages with the original narrative to ask why the story was the way it was, and to wonder whether it could be seen in another light.

I also appreciated how the romance arc was handled at the end (not what you expect, especially in the current playing field of retelling novels).

If you're in the market for this kind of novel and have the time, do check it out!

We Kept Her In The Cellar
by: W.R. Gorman
2024
Crooked Lane Pub.,N.Y.
5.0 stars

This book.....I loved where it went, the imagination and overall voice of the story. Superb and well done.
This is a re-telling of the classic fairytale "Cinderella', told from the point of the view of one of the step-sisters, Eunice. Cinderella is more than she seems. Cindrella ia a handful....and then some. The twists of the story and the horror, with the surprise ending, pulled me right in, and kept me involved in the story, and its strange turns. The interaction between the sisters is really well done.

I don't want to say to much, or give to much away, but I suggest you go into this when you have alot of free time because you will want to finish it. You will not want to stop until the bitter end. I enjoyed this telling of 'Cinderella'. I am interested in reading more by W.R. Gorman.
Recommended
Thanks to NetGalley for sending this e-book ARC for review.
#NetGalley #Wekeptherinthecellar

Thank you NetGalley for providing the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

What if Cinderella was not an orphaned beauty but an eldritch horror who must be contained by her family? Eunice is getting a new stepsister, but she is more than meets the eye. Quickly, she learns that her new stepsister Cinderella is a beast in the form of an enchantingly beautiful girl and can only be controlled by her family members. If she is uncontrolled, it would spell disaster and dismemberment for her family and anyone in her path. Caring for Cinderella comes with rules. One, always refer to her as family. Two, never let her interact with mice or rats, you won't like what happens when she does. Three, never witness her between the midnight and 3am.

This story is really Cinderella meets Lovecraft. Gorey, fast paced and sickening, this kept me enthralled. I was so surprised that this is a debut novel, I would love to read more from this author! The beginning is a little slow but stick with it, it picks up quickly.

If you are squeamish, avoid this book since it gets pretty icky (but if that's your thing, enjoy!!) I love a cosmic horror and can deal with gore in books so i had a great time with this one.

TW: Gore, death, vomit, death of a parent discussed, body horror, animal death/cruelty

I really enjoyed this!
A flipped fairytale where Cinderella is not what we've been told in the past.
I'm not sure if this was intended to be taken seriously or more humorously, I personally found it hilarious and I loved it for that. I do have a warped sense of humour though!
It was a little inconsistent I felt, some parts where treated superficially and I found myself wanting more and then a lot of attention was given to other parts that slowed it right down.
Overall though, great read! Bonus points for treating a parallel storyline as a non issue.

Starts out tense and interesting but I quickly lost interest after that. I really like the change in the mythology and the question of what is going on here but I think everything gets explained a little too quickly and the author is a little too eager to throw in scares to get you worried about just what Cinderella is inside this story that it kind of hurts it as a whole.

I loved that Cinderella is the villain! This was a very quick read for me. It was fast paced and filled with little details. I enjoyed this retelling. I love that it was so different from other retellings.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this book!

What a great horror twist in the fairy tale Cinderella! I loved this book and can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy!!

We Kept Her in the Cellar is a refreshing reimagining of the story of Cinderella, told from the POV of her stepsister, in which Cinderella is a monster.
This is a DARK and GORY retelling, so please keep that in mind before picking it up.

I truly found this reimagining to be a breath of fresh air among the numerous Cinderella reimagining’s, simultaneously keeping to the original story while bringing a completely new look to the story.

That being said, I did find the pacing a little lacking for my part. We spend a lot of time in the story getting to know Cinderella before the ball, and I felt the rest moved quite quickly after that, despite including some of the more important plot points. Despite this, I overall quite enjoyed the story.

I recommend this to lovers of dark reimagining’s of fairytales, or just gory horror in general. I’m positive you’ll have a blast!

Big thanks to Netgalley, Crooked Lane Books, and the author W.R. Gorman for allowing me to read an E-Arc of this novel

This was a dark, macabre, and unsettling twist on the fairytale of Cinderella. I love fairy tale reimaginings and this one was completely unique in the ways it twisted and darkened the original story. It was extremely graphic body horror at points, written so viscerally that it was sometimes hard to read but this also meant that the tension of the book was phenomenally done. Eunice felt so real and understandable from the first page and the growing horror and tension throughout the book made for a wonderful read.

A wonderfully dark reimagining of Cinderella.
Eunice and Hortense get a new stepsister Cinderella but they get more than they bargained for. Cinderella is a monster that only play by certain rules. Rules that the sisters must remember or pay dearly for.
This definitely isn't your Disney version of the classic story. I devoured this book and all it's weirdness. If you love reimaginings, you'll love this book.

This is a true horror. A sense of dread hovers over the story right from the start and Gorman keeps tightening the screws until it all explodes into a bloody, meaty, mess. Elements of the original stories are expertly weaved into the narrative. There’s a lot of body horror here, including one especially stomach-churning scene that I won’t spoil, but maybe don’t snack while you’re reading the second half of the book.

The original Cinderella, written down (but not created by) the Brothers Grimm was gorier than Disney’s version, but still uncritically tells a story of a beautiful, pious girl left at the mercy of her stepsisters and stepmother. Women’s supposed jealousy of one another is a pillar of patriarchy, and the various Cinderella stories play their own role in reinforcing it without examining the lack of choices that most women had besides “marry well”, and what the addition of a girl embodying patriarchy’s most prized feminine characteristics - beauty and submissiveness - might do to the chances of the other girls in the family. This book says “what if patriarchy feeds us bullshit” and not-so-subtly rearranges the original stories to show us what. Read at your own risk (but do actually read it).

Cinderella but make it horror with a hint of eldritch. Lets let the Step-sister be the hero and Cinderella the villain. This story twists the classic fairy tale into a plausible (yet fantastic) explanation for all you think you know about Cinderella.

Trigger warnings for gore, animal death, body horror, gaslighting

Imagine being forced to take care of a monster, having to make certain every word you said, every command given was phrased just so, so that the monster in the shape of a beautiful girl, wouldn’t slip through the loopholes and kill and destroy and consume. For Eunice, that’s her life, and has been ever since she was a child. One of the rules is that she thinks of Cinderella as her sister, because that’s one of the Rules: Cinderella must obey a member of her family. But the instant Eunice or her mother or her sister stops calling her sister, stops thinking of her that way … Cinderella can and will attack.

It’s a creepy idea and, for the most part, this book pulls it off. Personally I would have liked more tension, more buildup, more strain and suffering to show Eunice’s character, but while this has been her life for half a decade or so, she’s fine with it. It doesn't bother her, doesn’t seem to stress her. She even gets so accustomed to the nightmares that she misses them when they’re gone.

For myself, I wanted more of an emphasis on the horror — the conflict of the monster in the cellar and the girl chained to her by obligation. Instead it’s just the Cinderella fairy tale with a twist. It’s decently done with good writing, but the world building is mostly absent and the pace unbalanced. It skips past so much, with Eunice’s sister barely getting a scene and Eunice’s relationship with the prince happening off page.

Cinderella herself is the best part of this book, in my opinion, and it’s always nice to see a new twist on a familiar story. This is more a 3.5 than a three, but Goodreads doesn’t allow half stars, so here we are. I want to thank Net Galley and the publisher for granting me access to an advanced reader copy

I really enjoyed this!
A flipped fairytale where Cinderella is not what we've been told in the past.
I'm not sure if this was intended to be taken seriously or more humorously, I personally found it hilarious and I loved it for that. I do have a warped sense of humour though!
It was a little inconsistent I felt, some parts where treated superficially and I found myself wanting more and then a lot of attention was given to other parts that slowed it right down.
Overall though, great read! Bonus points for treating a parallel storyline as a non issue.

Cinderella meets H.P. Lovecraft. I really think the author missed an opportunity by not calling this book CinderCthulhu, because, I mean, c'mon … that title basically writes itself! But, anyway, this novel is weird and unhinged and gross and I think I probably liked it? It's not my usual type of read (I love horror but it doesn't usually involve tentacles) but overall it was pretty entertaining.

This book is a strange juxtaposition of fairy tale and cosmic horror. One moment you're reading about a ball thrown by a handsome prince, and the next … BAM! … tentacles all over the place. While the storyline does vaguely follow that of the original Cinderella (stepsisters, mice, ball, prince, etc.), it is overall a very different story. Really, if Cinderella had been named something else and glass slippers hadn't been involved, I don't know that I would have immediately recognized it as a retelling. It's certainly nothing like the Disney version – there are no cute cartoon mice or fairy godmothers to be found here.

But, yeah, it's dark. It's creepy. It's gross … so very, very gross. This book is not for the squeamish and not just because of the tentacles. There's rot and death and mutilation and gore and violence.

There were times when the story felt a little YA-ish, probably mostly due to the fact that it's narrated in the first person from a teenage girl's point of view. I don't mind a good YA read so it didn't really bother me, but it's something to be aware of if you're not into such things.

I'm honestly not sure what else to say about this book without spoilers. It's Cinderella, it's Lovecraftian, and it's completely demented. I wasn't particularly surprised by how the climax of the story played out but it was entertaining enough. And the very end? Completely unexpected (and kind of disgusting), but I can't say that there are many books that have left me shaking my head the way that this one did!

My overall rating: 3.65 stars, rounded up. If you like cosmic horror and/or fairy tale retellings, definitely consider giving this one a read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. Its expected publication date is September 24, 2024.

Quite a different take on the Cinderella story, this version is a horror filled, fun and campy version of the original. It’s done very well, using wonderfully detailed descriptions of Cinderella and her powers with an engaging plot. Throughly enjoyable, this might be my favorite rendition of the old classic yet.