Book info

• Title Kiss Kiss
• Author Roald Dahl
• Year 1960
• Genres Short Stories, Horror, Humour

In Kiss Kiss you will find eleven devious, shocking stories from the master of the unpredictable, Roald Dahl. What could go wrong when a wife pawns the mink coat that her lover gave her as a parting gift? What happens when a priceless piece of furniture is the subject of a deceitful bargain? Can a wronged woman take revenge on her dead husband? In these dark, disturbing stories Roald Dahl explores the sinister side of human nature: the cunning, sly, selfish part of each of us that leads us into the territory of the unexpected and unsettling. Stylish, macabre and haunting, these tales will leave you with a delicious feeling of unease.

Thoughts

I’ve read this before in a variety of formats but realised I hadn’t reviewed it, so I quickly dug out the audiobook and whipped through it again. I love these Roald Dahl short stories – they’re all so clever, although they don’t all do it for me.

Here are my thoughts on them:

• The Landlady – Great horror story to kick things off with, just gives you a bit of a chill that such a naïve boy could end up in such a creepy place.
• William and Mary – Dipping into sci-fi, where the husband does what he thinks is a super exciting scientific endeavour but ends up just putting him at the mercy of his wife – revenge being a dish best served cold and all that!
• The Way Up to Heaven – ugh, the husband in this. Just ugh.
• Parson’s Pleasure – reminds me of the Only Fools & Horses episode with the stolen painting, if you con you have to prepare for the tables to be turned!
• Mrs Bixby and the Colonel’s Coat – I really love this story, it’s such a great and clever conceit, the way it winds up makes me smile every time.
• Royal Jelly – just a bit gross.
• Georgy Porgy – this is one I really don’t like. I don’t totally get it and I don’t like the way the women are portrayed.
• Genesis and Catastrophe: A True Story – short and really not so sweet.
• Edward the Conqueror – Interesting story, although I think the wife is too quick to believe it and the husband is too quick to react.
• Pig – again, just a bit gross, and kinda puts me off restaurant food.
• The Champion of the World – This one confuses me a bit because I’m more familiar with the full-length book.

Fantastic narrators on the audiobook, by the way, Tamsin Greig, Stephen Mangan, Juliet Stephenson and more!

Rating: 4 / 5