The Midnight Circus Read online

  Praise for The Midnight Circus

  “Jane Yolen is, simply, a legend. The powerful fairy godmother of every writer working in mythic fantasy today. In these dark and wonderful stories, that legend proves itself true over and over again.”

  —Catherynne M. Valente, author of the Fairyland series

  “Look this way, look that; blazing her consummate imagination against the shadows of human sorrow, Jane Yolen has done it again. The Midnight Circus delights.”

  —Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked

  “Jane Yolen’s stories are pure magic! They draw you in, beguile your senses, and paint the world in richer hues than you’ve ever seen. Her tales will haunt you in the very best way. I loved every word!”

  —Sarah Beth Durst, author of Race the Sands

  “Nebula Award winner Yolen follows How to Fracture a Fairy Tale with another, slightly more sinister collection of delightfully dark fairy tales. Each of the 16 stories is coupled with a companion poem and fascinating story notes that allow readers to delve into Yolen’s magical worlds . . . Yolen’s many fans will be thrilled.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Some stories, like ‘Inscription,’ read like Celtic folktales while ‘Requiem Antarctica’ is a Jamesian tale of creeping madness at the ends of the Earth, and ‘An Infestation of Angels’ is a retelling of the book of Exodus. And if the stories themselves somehow aren’t enough, each is accompanied by a poem that extends its themes into evocative verse. Haunting stories from a modern master.”

  —Kirkus

  “The Midnight Circus sings with magic, darkness, and wonder— perfect for anyone who has ever loved a fairy tale. Thrilling and chilling all at once, this collection of stories will keep you riveted long after your bedtime, no matter your age.”

  —Meagan Spooner, author of the Starbound Trilogy

  “5/5 stars. A wonderful collection of short stories! Each one is its own self-contained story that is just perfection.”

  —Ash & Books

  Praise for the Jane Yolen Classic Fantasy collections

  On 2018 World Fantasy Award Winner The Emerald Circus

  “These delightful retellings of favorite stories will captivate newcomers and fans of Yolen.”

  —Library Journal, starred review

  “These highly entertaining retellings are perfect for teen fans of fairy tales and classic literature, though they are easily enjoyed without any background knowledge.”

  —School Library Journal, starred review

  “Jane Yolen facets her glittering stories with the craft of a master jeweller. Everything she writes, including The Emerald Circus, is original and timeless.”

  —Elizabeth Wein, author of Code Name Verity

  On 2019 Anne Izard Storytelling Award Winner How to Fracture a Fairy Tale

  “This collection is Jane Yolen at her best.”

  —Patricia C. Wrede, author of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles

  “Yolen takes well-known fairy tales and splits them apart, some- times leaving them still quite familiar and other times shining a light from an unfamiliar angle to reveal new truths and possibilities.”

  —Margo Kelly, author of Unlocked

  “A master storyteller at her best. I’ve been a fan of Jane Yolen and fractured fairytales for years and this collection doesn’t disappoint.”

  —Chanda Hahn, bestselling author of Reign

  Praise for Jane Yolen

  “The Hans Christian Andersen of America.”

  —Newsweek

  “The Aesop of the twentieth century.”

  —The New York Times

  “Jane Yolen is a gem in the diadem of science fiction and fantasy.”

  —Analog

  “One of the treasures of the science fiction community.”

  —Brandon Sanderson, author of Mistborn

  “There is simply no better storyteller working in the fantasy field today. She’s a national treasure.”

  —Terri Windling, author of The Wood Wife

  Also by Jane Yolen

  Novels

  The Wizard of Washington Square (1969)

  Hobo Toad and the Motorcycle Gang (1970)

  The Bird of Time (1971)

  The Magic Three of Solatia (1974)

  The Transfigured Hart (1975)

  The Mermaid’s Three Wisdoms (1978)

  The Acorn Quest (1981)

  Dragon’s Blood (1982)

  Heart’s Blood (1984)

  The Stone Silenus (1984)

  Cards of Grief (1985)

  A Sending of Dragons (1987)

  The Devil’s Arithmetic (1988)

  Sister Light, Sister Dark (1989)

  White Jenna (1989)

  The Dragon’s Boy (1990)

  Wizard’s Hall (1991)

  Briar Rose (1992)

  Good Griselle (1994)

  The Wild Hunt (1995)

  The Sea Man (1997)

  Here There Be Ghosts (1998)

  The One-Armed Queen (1998)

  The Wizard’s Map (1999)

  The Pictish Child (1999)

  Boots and the Seven Leaguers (2000)

  The Bagpiper’s Ghost (2002)

  Sword of the Rightful King (2003)

  The Young Merlin Trilogy: Passager, Hobby, and Merlin (2004)

  Pay the Piper: A Rock ’n’ Roll Fairy Tale (with Adam Stemple, 2005)

  Troll Bridge: A Rock ’n’ Roll Fairy Tale (with Adam Stemple, 2006)

  Dragon’s Heart (2009)

  Except the Queen (with Midori Snyder, 2010)

  Snow in Summer (2011)

  Curse of the Thirteenth Fey (2012)

  B. U. G. (Big Ugly Guy) (with Adam Stemple, 2013)

  The Last Changeling (with Adam Stemple, 2014)

  Centaur Rising (2014)

  A Plague of Unicorns (2014)

  Trash Mountain (2015)

  The Seelie King’s War (with Adam Stemple, 2016)

  The Last Tsar’s Dragons (with Adam Stemple, 2019)

  Young Heroes series

  Odysseus in the Serpent Maze (with Robert J. Harris, 2001)

  Hippolyta and the Curse of the Amazon (with Robert J. Harris, 2002)

  Atalanta and the Arcadian Beast (with Robert J. Harris, 2003)

  Jason and the Gorgon’s Blood (with Robert J. Harris, 2004)

  Collections

  The Girl Who Cried Flowers and Other Tales (1974)

  The Moon Ribbon (1976)

  The Hundredth Dove and Other Tales (1977)

  Dream Weaver (1979)

  Neptune Rising: Songs and Tales of the Undersea People (1982)

  Tales of Wonder (1983)

  The Whitethorn Wood and Other Magicks (1984)

  Dragonfield and Other Stories (1985)

  Favorite Folktales of the World (1986)

  Merlin’s Booke (1986)

  The Faery Flag (1989)

  Storyteller (1992)

  Here There Be Dragons (1993)

  Here There Be Unicorns (1994)

  Here There Be Witches (1995)

  Among Angels (with Nancy Willard, 1995)

  Here There Be Angels (1996)

  Here There Be Ghosts (1998)

  Twelve Impossible Things Before Breakfast (1997)

  Sister Emily’s Lightship and Other Stories (2000)

  Not One Damsel in Distress (2000)

  Mightier Than the Sword (2003)

  Once Upon a Time (She Said) (2005)

  The Last Selchie Child (2012)

  Grumbles from the Forest: Fairy- Tale Voices with a Twist (with Rebecca Kai Dotlich, 2013)

  The Emerald Circus (2017)

  How to Fracture a Fairy Tale (2018)

  Graphic Novels

  Foiled (2
010)

  The Last Dragon (2011)

  Curses! Foiled Again (with Mike Cavallaro, 2013)

  Stone Man Mysteries (with Adam Stemple)

  Stone Cold (2016)

  Sanctuary (2017)

  The Midnight Circus

  Copyright © 2020 by Jane Yolen

  This is a collected work of fiction. All events portrayed in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coinci- dental. All rights reserved including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form without the express permission of the author and the publisher.

  Introduction: “Welcome to the Midnight Circus” copyright © 2020 by Theodora Goss

  “Who Knew I Was a Writer of Dark Stories?” copyright © 2020 by Jane Yolen

  “Afterword: From the Princess to the Queen” copyright © 2020 by Alethea Kontis

  Interior and cover design by Elizabeth Story

  Author photo © 2015 by Jason Stemple

  Pages 240–242 constitute an extension of this copyright page

  Tachyon Publications LLC

  1459 18th Street #139

  San Francisco, CA 94107

  415.285.5615

  www.tachyonpublications.com

  [email protected]

  Series Editor: Jacob Weisman

  Project Editor: James DeMaiolo

  Print ISBN: 978-1-61696-340-8

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-61696-341-5

  Printed in the United States by Versa Press

  First Edition: 2020

  Contents

  Introduction: “Welcome to the Midnight Circus” by Theodora Goss

  “Who Knew I Was a Writer of Dark Stories?” by Jane Yolen

  The Weaver of Tomorrow

  The White Seal Maid

  The Snatchers

  Wilding

  Requiem Antarctica (with Robert J. Harris)

  Night Wolves

  The House of Seven Angels

  Great Gray

  Little Red (with Adam Stemple)

  Winter’s King

  Inscription

  Dog Boy Remembers

  The Fisherman’s Wife

  Become a Warrior

  An Infestation of Angels

  Names

  Story Notes and Poems

  The Weaver of Tomorrow / “The Wheel Spins”

  The White Seal Maid / “Ballad of the White Seal Maid”

  Snatchers / “Lou Leaving Home”

  Wilding / “Deer, Dances”

  Requiem Antarctica / “Vampyr”

  Night Wolves / “Bad Dreams”

  The House of the Seven Angels / “Anticipation”

  Great Gray / “Remembering the Great Gray”

  Little Red / “Red at Eighty-One”

  Winter’s King / “If Winter”

  Inscription / “Stone Ring”

  Dog Boy Remembers / “The Path”

  The Fisherman’s Wife / “Undine”

  Become a Warrior / “The Princess Turns”

  An Infestation of Angels / “Work Days”

  Names / “What the Oven Is Not”

  Afterword: From the Princess to the Queen by Alethea Kontis

  About the Author

  About the Contributors

  Extended Copyrights

  Welcome to the Midnight Circus

  Theodora Goss

  IN ITS THREE RINGS you will find a seal maiden and a queen of the sea, wolves that howl under the bed and wild girls who know how to fight for themselves, angels who are less than angelic, a boy who dreams of winter, a weaver of fates You may have seen some of the performers before (surely you’ve met Little Red Riding Hood?), but never quite like this. In this book, Jane Yolen weaves beauty and darkness, reality and the fantastic, imagination and the ordinary, as only she can.

  I knew Jane from her stories long before I met her, so when I did finally meet her at a science fiction and fantasy convention where we were on the same panel, I was meeting that Jane Yolen. I was (don’t tell her) a little intimidated, particularly because she knows more about fairy tales and fantasy than most professors in the field. She is formidably intelligent and articulate, unafraid to challenge viewpoints that are not historically sound or backed up by solid evidence. But she is also deeply kind and supportive to other writers, as she was and has been to me.

  I first read her stories in the wonderful anthologies edited by Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow—the various fairy-tale anthologies beginning with Snow White, Blood Red, and, of course, The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror volumes, which were such an important part of my teenage years. Now I teach them in classes on fairy tales and the fantastic, along with her novel Briar Rose, which has the same beauty and darkness as the tales in this Midnight Circus. It is the story of a young woman who discovers that her grandmother’s version of the Briar Rose fairy tale both hides and illuminates a dark secret. Like several of the stories in this volume, it is a tale of the Holocaust, told without any of the darkness diminished, but with the beauty of both the fantastical and of ordinary, everyday things. This is Jane’s magical elixir, with three ingredients: the transformative beauty of fairy tale, which J. R. R. Tolkien called faërie; the sadness and cruelty of human life; and the strong, solid reality of our world. However fantastical her stories, they are grounded in bread and butter and wine, the landscape of Scotland or Massachusetts, the inescapable truths of history. This is why her stories always feel real and true—and wise.

  The stories in this collection remind me of a garden of dark flowers: the old rosa gallica Cardinal de Richelieu, tulip Queen of the Night, hellebores and monkshoods and snake’s head fritillaries, deep purple violets. They are darker than most of Jane’s stories, but that darkness is there in much of her work, both fiction and poetry, because her writing is grounded in history and human nature, which have a dark edge. She has been called America’s Hans Christian Andersen, and I can see why—Jane is as prolific and imaginative as the Danish writer of fairy tales. She has published so many books that you could read a new one every day for a year, and they are so different, in genre and subject matter and intended audience, that you would never feel as though she were repeating herself. She has also, by the way, won numerous awards, some of them multiple times, including the Nebula Award, Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, World Fantasy Award, Golden Kite Award, Rhysling Award . . . the list goes on. However, for me, a Jane Yolen story is fundamentally different from one of Andersen’s tales in two ways. First, Jane is never sanctimonious. Her characters are sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes broken, but they are always treated as people, not vehicles for a message. And second, her stories contain a strong dose of her own common sense and pragmatism. They show us how we can survive in a difficult world and teach us what to value—in that sense, they are moral without being moralistic, wise guides to our lived reality. Andersen may sentimentalize, but she never does.

  I have a personal list of favorite fantasy writers whom I read over and over again, because they capture what feels to me like true magic—both the numinous magic of fairyland and the ordinary magic of human life and love and hope. It includes such writers as Peter S. Beagle, Angela Carter, Susanna Clarke, John Crowley, Ursula K. Le Guin, Hope Mirrlees, Patricia McKillip, Sylvia Townsend Warner, and T. H. White. And for a long time now, it has included Jane Yolen. She transports me to magical worlds and teaches me how to create magic myself through the ultimate spell, which is the one cast by a master storyteller. Her fiction and poems are a masterclass in craft. (Do, by the way, read the wonderful poems in the story notes. Jane is one of the rare fiction writers whose poetry is as rich and compelling as her prose.) I would recommend them to any aspiring writer, together with her wonderful book Take Joy on the pleasures and challenges of the writing life.

  But you’re not thinking about that right now, are you? No, you want the stories themselves, and I don’t blame you. You want the mysterious Dog Boy, the man who worships owls, and the truth about Scott’s Arcti
c expedition. Here you stand at the entrance to the tent, ticket in hand. You’ve come to see a performance.

  You want marvels and delights, and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

  Welcome to the Midnight Circus. Please take your seat. The show is about to begin.

  Who Knew I Was a Writer of Dark Stories?

  Jane Yolen

  ACTUALLY, I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW, though I’d had several darkish stories in the Year’s Best Horror Stories collection, been nominated for horror awards, was in the Horror Writers of America for fifteen seconds or so, and read Tales from the Crypt comics as a young teen, huddled in the bathroom of our house, before creeping back to my bedroom with the (borrowed) comic safely down the front of my pants. And no, my parents never knew.

  But while I have written the occasional vampire or werewolf story, three Holocaust novels, and a novella about the Russian Revolution with dragons, and books with ghosts and/or golems, witches (Baba Yaga appears in three different books—a novel in verse, a picture book for young kids, and a graphic novel), gargoyles, trolls, nasty fey princes, etc., I prefer my must-read dark matters to be somewhat limited. A frisson of terror rather than massive amounts of spilt blood. No pop-up all-devouring monsters, no bedwetting scares. No vicious and unrelenting tortures of women and children. No lusting after BRAINS!

  Just plain old-fashioned M. R. James and that Other James—Henry, the author of The Turn of the Screw. Or more modern: The Haunting of Hill House, which is a 1959 gothic horror novel by American author Shirley Jackson. It was a finalist for the National Book Award, so that tells you something about the quality of the writing. It is still considered one of the best literary ghost stories of the 20th century.