I’m starting a new blog post series! Much like my Gothic Tropes series, these posts will highlight recurring elements that appear time and again throughout different works of Gothic literature. But rather than focusing on plot elements, motifs, or themes, the Gothic Settings series will examine the physical locations in which these stories are set. Of course, I had to start off this week with the most obvious classic setting for a Gothic novel: the castle.
Last year I started a series of posts highlighting vocab terms that will help you better understand the Gothic. So far, we’ve covered the sublime, the uncanny, and the grotesque. Today, I want to turn our attention to an adjective that is frequently employed to describe people, places, and situations in Gothic literature: “liminal.”
Even Gothic romance authors deserve a Gothic romance of their own. Lisa Greer gets meta about the genre in her self-published romance novel, The Haunting of Craigmorag Castle, which came out earlier this year. If you’re looking for something fun to read this summer that blends the sweet and silly with the spooky and atmospheric, give this one a shot! Continue reading Review of The Haunting of Craigmorag Castle
Even malevolent spirits conjured by witches for the purpose of creating mischief can be changed by the power of friendship. This is the plot of Hanna Alkaf’s delightful middle-grade debut, The Girl and the Ghost, which came out last year. Inspired by spooky elements of Malaysian folklore, the novel uses the relationship between a girl and her ghostly companion to explore some rather dark themes ranging from bullying to death, grief, and complicated family ties in a way that is accessible and engaging for kids and adult readers alike. Continue reading Review of The Girl and the Ghost
As you may remember, a few weeks ago I hosted a guest post by Ella Buchan, one of the co-authors of A Gothic Cookbook, on the role of food in Gothic literature. A Gothic Cookbook, by Ella Buchan and Alessandra Pino, with illustrations by Lee Henry, is currently in development and being crowdfunded on Unbound (read to the end of this post for a discount code you can use on your pledge!). The book will feature dozens of illustrated recipes inspired by thirteen different works of classic and contemporary Gothic literature. Recently, the creators were kind enough to give me a sneak-peek at one of their recipes to try it out for myself and share with all of you!
Continue reading Frankenstein’s Berry Bites—A Gothic Cookbook Recipe Test
How many times can one Gothic novel be retold? If that novel is Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre—a story that spawned other great classics like Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca and served as a blueprint for the entire genre of mid-century Gothic romance pulps—I think its generative capabilities are endless. One of the latest authors to put her own spin on Jane Eyre is Mimi Matthews, with John Eyre: A Tale of Darkness and Shadow, coming out tomorrow, July 20. From the title, you might guess that this is a gender-swapped retelling, but it’s actually much more than that: John Eyre uses the familiar beats of Brontë’s classic (along with elements from a few other Gothic novels) to tell an entirely different story. I am thrilled to have been invited to participate in the official blog tour for this book’s release, because I need more friends to geek out about this charming and clever reimagining with! Continue reading Review of John Eyre—Monsters in the Attic
“A black moth amongst the gaily-hued butterflies…” A dashingly gothic villain steals the show in Georgette Heyer’s classic 1921 novel The Black Moth. Around this time last year, Sam Hirst and the rest of the good folks at Romancing the Gothic introduced me to Georgette Heyer, a woman widely celebrated as the mother of the modern Regency romance genre, yet whom I had somehow never heard of before. After getting a first taste of her writing with The Quiet Gentleman, I knew I would want to dive back into Heyer’s prodigious oeuvre. I decided to start with her debut novel The Black Moth. Continue reading Review of The Black Moth–Of Highwaymen and Dandies
Could you brave the depths of the underworld to rescue your lost love? That is Teagan’s goal in Holly J. Underhill’s debut novella The Bone Way. Released just last week from one of my favorite indies Nyx Publishing, The Bone Way is loosely a sapphic, witchy retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth with a fairy-tale twist. Continue reading Review of The Bone Way–Sapphic Orpheus and Eurydice
Gothic literature-loving foodies, you’re in luck! A talented team is putting together A Gothic Cookbook, which explores the role that food plays in classic and contemporary Gothic texts and allows you to bring the spirit of your favorite Gothic settings to life in your own kitchen. This gorgeously illustrated cookbook will feature over sixty recipes inspired by thirteen different Gothic texts. The cookbook is currently being crowdfunded on Unbound, so if you want to get your hands on a copy be sure to support the campaign! In the meantime, check out this guest post by one of the cookbook’s creators. Below, Ella Buchan, co-author of A Gothic Cookbook with Alessandra Pino, talks about how food is the most underrated character in Gothic literature:
Continue reading A Gothic Cookbook Guest Post: Supper and the Supernatural
When zombies take the East Coast, it’s time to strike out for the West. Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland, which came out early last year, is the sequel to Dread Nation, a captivating alternate history that imagines a world where the Civil War was derailed by the rise of the restless dead and young Black girls are trained in combat to fend off the oncoming hordes. If you enjoyed the first book, you don’t want to miss this thrilling conclusion to the duology. Continue reading Review of Deathless Divide–Mad Scientists and Monstrosity
