Women have been pivotal influencers of the gothic genre from the very beginning. At a time when women’s opinions were largely dismissed and many doors were barred to them in other literary pursuits, writing Gothic novels was one of the few ways in which women could become prolific and popular writers. One reason for this … Continue reading Five Foundational Female Writers of Gothic Lit
Summer is winding down, but you’ve still got time to squeeze in a few more summer reads! The only question is what to choose. If you don’t already have a stack of TBRs piled next to your bed like I do, finding your next book can be a daunting task. But not to worry, that’s … Continue reading Picking Your Next Gothic Read
The Gothic literary movement may not have begun until the mid-eighteenth century with Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto, but it draws on much older wells of literary tradition. I have already explored the proto-Gothic elements of several of Shakespeare’s plays, which inspired many of the themes and tropes of later Gothic works. Another strong … Continue reading Bluebeard—A Proto-Gothic Folktale
The story in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1987) has been told and retold many times, with innumerable adaptations and reimaginings. But what is perhaps the earliest of these only came to light recently: The 1901 Icelandic “translation” of Dracula is no translation at all, but a completely different story! It shares the basic premise and indeed … Continue reading Review of Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula
One reason why the Gothic can be difficult to pin down as a genre is that over the years, it has spawned and overlapped with many different genres. I have touched briefly on the role that the Gothic played in the development of modern horror and explored in some depth how we can credit it … Continue reading Weird Fiction and the Gothic
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett is quite an interesting twist on the genre of devil and demon literature. Collaboratively written by two of the biggest names in fantasy, Good Omens is a humorous tale of the apocalypse starring an angel, a demon, a witch, a witchhunter, and the Antichrist. It’s been on … Continue reading Good Omens Review
