Strange Horizons, November 19, 2018

“Toothsome Things” by Chimedum Ohaegbu

Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf

Like Angela Carter’s famous story “The Company of Wolves” and the film adapted from it, “Toothsome Things” by Chimedum Ohaegbu is a multilayered variation on “Little Red Riding Hood” and other folk tales. The narrator seems, at first, to be a child’s grandmother in the shape of a wolf, although the truth is more complicated. She quickly devours the girl, but this does not kill her. Together they flee from a danger that threatens both of them. While on the run, the child tells the grandmother a story, which provides the reader with their background.

The author creates a mysterious and eerie mood, although much of the story is unclear. The narrative style is often poetic but obscure. Readers familiar with Carter’s work will find this to be a worthy effort, but not up to the same level as that classic tale.

Victoria Silverwolf thinks the illustration for this story is very beautiful.