What if your life suddenly turned into a slasher movie? For most of us, that idea is fodder for our most terrifying nightmares, but Jade Daniels is thrilled by the prospect in Stephen Graham Jones’s My Heart Is a Chainsaw. From the moment I read The Only Good Indians just over a year ago, I knew that Stephen Graham Jones was one of the horror writers to be watching right now. Reading his latest novel has only confirmed that assessment. My Heart Is a Chainsaw came out in August of 2021 and is a brilliant self-aware homage to the horror genre. Continue reading Review of My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Review of Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula
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 many scenes with the monumental classic of the vampire genre, but Makt Myrkranna—as the Icelandic translation was called, which translates to “Powers of Darkness”—features brand new characters, unfamiliar scenes, and even an entirely different motivation and modus operandi for the infamous Count.
But is Makt Myrkranna an enterprising translator’s attempt to exert his own creative license over Stoker’s story, or is it merely based on an earlier draft of Dracula than the one that eventually made it to print? Literary scholar Hans Corneel de Roos puzzled over this question when he first discovered the unique nature of the Icelandic text in 2014. And now you can explore this question for yourself with the first ever English translation of the Icelandic version of Dracula, complete with scholarly annotations and other supplementary materials. Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula, translated from the Icelandic and annotated by de Roos, came out in 2017. The publishers were actually kind enough to send me a copy back when it first came out, but—relatively new to blogging at the time and intimidated by the intensive scholarly approach and the sheer size of the hardcover—I put it on the back burner and never quite got around to reading it. (Apologies!) But now, as part of my resolution to read more of the books festering away on my shelves, I finally picked it up again—and I wish I hadn’t waited! Powers of Darkness is a truly interesting story both in its own right and in regard to its tangled history with Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and I would recommend it to hardcore Dracula scholars and casual Gothic literature enthusiasts alike. Continue reading Review of Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula
Review of Death on the Nile
Can you believe I had never read an Agatha Christie novel before? As the reigning queen of the detective novel scene for much of the twentieth century, Christie’s contributions to the genre are immeasurable. She gave us two of the best-known detective characters after Sherlock—Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple—and some of her major works such as Murder on the Orient Express have been adapted so many times over that they’ve become cultural touchstones. Despite all this, and my love of mystery novels dating back to my earliest reading years, I just had never gotten around to picking up one of Christie’s classics. Thankfully, the Romancing the Gothic book club has been working hard to improve my literary education. Last month we read Christie’s 1937 novel Death on the Nile. And I have to say, I’ll definitely be coming back for some more Poirot! Continue reading Review of Death on the Nile
Books I’m Excited for in 2022
Now that 2021 is behind us, it’s time to look ahead to the new year. There’s no telling what 2022 will bring us, and I’ve been struggling with feeling optimistic as we head into another year of the pandemic, but at least one good thing is certain: there will always be new books! In fact, there are so many exciting new releases coming, that I was able to compile this year’s list of books to read in record time. Here are just a few of the books I’m looking forward to: Continue reading Books I’m Excited for in 2022
My 2021 Reading Challenge Recap
This year has been an amazing reading year for me—though it’s been a real rollercoaster of a year in almost every other way. These days, I’m reading at a pace that I haven’t matched since high school, often finishing more than one book a week. This is the first time in many years that I’ve easily blown past my numerical reading goal. However, I wasn’t quite as successful with my content-based goals. Let me walk you through my year in books:
Books I Edited in 2021
Reflecting back on 2021, the thing I am most proud of this year is finally kicking off my freelance editing career in a serious way. And the years of working on this blog seriously helped me to get there! I’ve held editorial ambitions since well before I launched The Gothic Library, but spending the last six and a half years writing weekly posts in which I critically evaluate books, communicate about what works and doesn’t work in a story, and build relationships with authors and publishing professionals has given me the foundation I needed to finally embark on this path. And I’ve found editing books to be even more fulfilling than I could have imagined! Read on to learn where you can find some of the books that I’ve worked on this year: Continue reading Books I Edited in 2021
A Tribute to Anne Rice
Gentleman Death has come in silk and lace to put out the candle of one of our most beloved writers. Anne Rice’s son Christopher announced to her fans via Facebook late Saturday night that the Vampire Chronicles author has passed away due to complications from a stroke. But much like her creations, Anne Rice is truly immortal—in the sense that her literary impact will continue to affect writers and readers for generations to come. Continue reading A Tribute to Anne Rice
Cursed Gifts in Gothic Literature
‘Tis the gift-giving season! As the days grow cold and dark here in the northern hemisphere, giving your loved ones presents for the holidays can be an excellent way to warm each other’s hearts. But if you’re living in a Gothic story, you should probably be wary of any gifts you receive…. What seems like a gift often turns out to be a curse instead. Here are a few of my favorite examples of ill-fated gifts in Gothic literature:
Review of The Witch King
Would you want to rule over a kingdom that hates you? Wyatt Croft certainly doesn’t in H. E. Edgmon’s The Witch King. This debut YA fantasy novel came out this past summer and centers on a trans witch who escapes from a fae kingdom, only to be dragged right back into its politics and prejudices—and romance! I’ve been hearing so much hype for this book this year, and I’m so glad I finally got the chance to read it. Continue reading Review of The Witch King
Gothic Settings: Abbeys and Monasteries
I’ve discussed before on this blog how the Gothic literary genre takes its name from the Gothic style of architecture. Appropriately, the medieval structures that typify this architectural style are often used as the backdrop to Gothic stories. The obvious example, and the very first structure I discussed in this series on Gothic settings, is the castle. But another place we see Gothic architecture from the Middle Ages is in religious buildings, such as monasteries and abbeys.
