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Evil Roots: Killer Tales of the Botanical Gothic by Daisy Butcher
3.5
dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Rappaccini’s Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1844) – 4.0☆
Evil Roots is off to a strong start. Hawthorne isn’t secretive about his influences (namely the story of Adam and Eve, Dante’s Inferno, and some Indian legends about poisonous maidens), but it’s the way he subverts these tales rather than simply retelling them that makes this story engaging and unique.

The American’s Tale by Arthur Conan Doyle (1880) – 2.5☆
Doyle floats the idea of a flytrap large enough to eat humans but doesn’t really do anything with it. Pretty forgettable.

Carnivorine by Lucy H Hooper (1889) – 3.5☆
Okay so the monster in this story is pretty goofy but the concept behind it is so good. I love the combination of science and mythology, though the premise is a little too fantastical to be convincing science fiction.

The Giant Wistaria by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1891) – 3.0☆
A sad beginning and a sad end, with some cute banter in the middle. Not nearly as enthralling as The Yellow Wallpaper, unfortunately. The titular wisteria isn’t particularly relevant to the story, so it feels like a bit of a reach to claim this as an example of “botanical gothic.”

The Flowering of the Strange Orchid by H G Wells (1894) – 3.0☆
Could have done without the racism.

The Guardian of Mystery Island by Edmond Nolcini (1896) – 2.5☆
I don’t know, I just found this story really uninteresting.

The Ash Tree by M R James (1904) – 3.0☆
It’s fine? It’s very similar to The Giant Wistaria in a lot of ways, and, likewise, it’s not quite what I was hoping for.

A Vine on a House by Ambrose Bierce (1905) – 4.5☆
Concise!

Professor Jonkin’s Cannibal Plant by Howard R Garis (1905) – 3.5☆
Perfectly serviceable, if a little silly. I’m not surprised that this author went on to write for children; his somewhat whimsical tone is probably better suited to bedtime storybooks about bunny rabbits than it is to horror stories about insatiable pitcher plants.

The Voice in the Night by William Hope Hodgson (1906) – 3.5☆
This story deals with a fungus rather than a plant, but I suppose that’s still botanical – or at least botany-adjacent. The setup is promising but the tension is completely dissipated when the narrative shifts to an expositional monologue.

The Pavilion by Edith Nesbit (1915) – 3.5☆
A little underwhelming but certainly not bad.

The Green Death by H C McNeile (1920) – 3.0☆
A murder mystery with a twist. Quaint 1920s phrases, not-so-quaint glorification of colonialism.

The Woman of the Wood by Abraham Merritt (1926) – 4.0☆
Beautiful. Haunting. Mentions breasts a lot. The protagonist is a WWI veteran who was clearly very deeply affected by his experiences. His trauma relating to violence is explored, but so is his philosophy and outlook; he conceives of everything – including deforestation – in terms of war. Surprisingly nuanced characterisation for a short story.

The Moaning Lily by Emma Vane (1935) – 4.5☆
Evocative imagery, a straightforward plot, and a nice amount of body horror. Vane doesn’t overcomplicate things. A satisfying conclusion to the collection.
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