Elizabeth's Reviews > From the Depths: And Other Strange Tales of the Sea

What a highly enjoyable book! This collection features a wide variety of stories in various styles, and all of them were tales I likely would never have encountered otherwise. This anthology brings together stories that are lesser-known, even obscure, and presents them with a brief introduction about each author. I would have preferred a bit more information in the introductions, or at least the year that each story was first published, but that is minor. These are terrific yarns, and they reflect a voice and a cadence that are not often used in modern storytelling. For want of a better way of putting it, they feel old-timey. Taken together, the stories evoke the sea, not just with their subject matter, but with their mood; one can almost hear the ship's bell, feel the spray, taste the salt. As with most anthologies, I found some stories to be more enjoyable than others. There was one that I found too disturbing to finish. But most of them were fun, and even the less enjoyable ones still contributed to the overall feeling created by placing these tales together in a volume. Collectively, they create an atmosphere that is at turns brooding, terrifying, serene, and beautiful—just as is the sea itself.