Upon a Once Time

There’s something special about anthologies. The ebb and flow of different voices all telling stories within the bounds of a specific category or theme can be really satisfying when it’s executed well. It reminds me of music, like each story is its own song that has to both stand alone and mesh with the rest of the album. Determining the right order of those songs is an art that falls to the anthology’s editor.

Todd Sanders of Air and Nothingness Press is an excellent editor. I had the good fortune of working with him earlier this year (shameless plug: check out Upon a Twice Time!) and got to see firsthand the care and dedication he puts into the each of AAN’s offerings, the thoughtful craftsmanship of fine-tuning a story lineup while considering pacing, flow and the larger arc of the collection.

Upon a Once Time is the first fairytale mashup collection from AAN. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it after seeing how well the Twice collection turned out, and mega thanks to AAN Press for providing me with a copy so that I could create the (cue fanfare) DA DA-DA DAAAA…

Upon a Once Time playlist and musical book review!

Traveler beware: Some slight spoilers ahead

SIX RUSALKI by NA Sulway
THE DEEP (Phildel)
After their mother dies and their father declares them illegitimate, six exiled sisters each become legends in their own right.

THE WATERS AT THE END OF THE WORLDS by Mike Morgan
MURKY (Saint Mesa)
The youngest son of the Worm King proves a sharp mind can be the deadliest weapon of all when he sets out with his brothers to find magic waters of immortality.

LITTLE TOM’S REALITY by Rebecca E. Treasure
RUN BOY RUN (Woodkid)
The eight-year-old son of Mars colonists is tired of being cooped up inside and discovers a world he never imagined beyond his airlock.

DIAMONDS, TOADS, AND… PUMPKINS? by Melissa Mead
THE MOSS (Cosmo Sheldrake)
Spouting flawless jewels and precious stones may sound like a fast pass to happily ever after, but poor Marta would probably disagree.

THE RABBI’S DAUGHTER AND THE GOLEM by Alex Langer
STONE (Agnes Obel)
When Rokhl takes her place as captive to her father’s creation, she and the creature of clay explore what it means to be human.

ABIGAIL WASHINGTON AND THE ANGELIC ORGAN OF FAR KHITAN by Joshua Gage
ALL THE EARTH (Jessica Curry)
A forgotten girl is eclipsed by a fancy new contraption—but when it fails, she lifts her voice to restore the order of things.

STRINGS THAT OUGHT TO BE PONDERED, EVEN IN URGENT TIMES by M. Regan
LOVELY CREATURE (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds)
After a terrible battle, a warrior prince is saved by a maiden in a tower, but learns too late that she’s not at all what she seems.

LADY OF THE SLAKE by Suri Parmar
HEART HEART HEAD (Meg Myers)
“I knew at first sight that she would stop at nothing for her happy ending.” What I thought was going to be a princess revenge quest becomes an incredible journey of self-love for a fairy queen.

RED BOOTS BLUES by Cat Rambo
WARRIORS (Imagine Dragons)
When a robot soldier is turned into a statue—body off, mind on—as a monument to war crimes, the revolution begins in little surges of bandwidth from an old friend.

TAKETORI MOMOGATARI by Evan Dicken
CYPRESS QUEEN (The Last Bison)
A beautiful algorithm outsmarts the forces of wealth, knowledge, and power, proving every fairytale is more than just the sum of its parts.

TWO OF OUR KIND by Anna Martino
DEAR WORMWOOD (The Oh Hellos)
A historian presents the thoroughly researched account—complete with footnotes!—of a possible relationship between Cinderella and the Valiant Little Tailor.

CURRANTS TO THE SEA by Taryn Haas
SALT (Eivør)
Vasilisa escapes an unfulfilling marriage through a portal hidden inside a currant bush and is transported to the sea, where she eventually follows its currents to freedom.

CLOAK OF BEARSKIN by Anna Madden
COSMIC LOVE (Florence + The Machine)
A young woman seeks to rescue a traveler from a witch’s curse and discovers more than one person trapped in the magic’s thrall.

SUNSHINE NOIR FOR SYNTHETIC LOVERS by Lin Darrow
BLOOM (The Paper Kites)
A vibrant parable about gender, discrimination, and gender discrimination, bursting with life as the predominantly synthetic Jin pays a high price to become “good enough” for the one he loves.

THE CANDLEWOOD TRAIL by Dennis Mombauer
VIDE NOIR (Lord Huron)
An indenture works hard to earn freedom from her evil step-company (which, by the by, is so many layers of clever that I genuinely snort-laughed when I first read it)—but it’s the cargo she doesn’t intend to bring back that ultimately sets her free.

GELL WHO MAKES by Kit Falbo
GO DO (Jónsi)
A girl struggles to find her path in a clever technical tale that just goes to show: sometimes being a maker also means being a troublemaker.

MUTABILITY by Maya Chhabra
COLD COLD COLD (Cage The Elephant)
A flower-turned-maiden is forever changed when she discovers that humanity, no matter how painful, is worth choosing.

THE PILOT by CJ Dotson
CURSES (The Crane Wives)
Ivy helps her cousin woo the woman he loves in an imaginative steampunk romp full of subterfuge, disguise, and delightful magic-mechanical trinkets made with a whole lot of love.

A DARK PATH THROUGH THE FOREST OF STARS by Jude Reid
THE WOLVES (Cyrus Reynolds, Keeley Bumford)
Red Riding Hood seizes her chance at a better life when the Big Bad Wolf’s treachery presents her with a unique opportunity.

THE FOREST MAGIC PROTECTS ITS OWN by Jamie Lackey
MOUNTAIN SOUND (Of Monsters and Men)
A young woman finds her place in the world in this beautifully phrased Appalachian folk tale. The vivid details are already fading from my memory, as I’m sure the forest intended…

WHERE THE EARTH MEETS THE SEA AND THE SEA MEETS THE SKY by Brent Baldwin
CARRY ME OHIO (Sun Kil Moon)
A bashful fisherman and a half-wild selkie fall in love by the sea where they share their lives (and scones) in this wonderfully wrought, dual-POV tale.

Order your copy of Upon a Once Time here.
Discover even more fairytale mashups in the follow-up collection, Upon a Twice Time.
And because fairytales always come in threes: Support Upon a Thrice Time, the third and final collection of fairytale mashup stories, here.