The Gothic Library is Five Years Old!

Happy bloggiversary! As of this Friday, June 5, I’ll have been posting weekly to The Gothic Library for exactly five years. When I started this blog the summer after graduating college, I never imagined I’d stick with it for so long or that it would become such a huge part of my life. For those of you who have been with me for all five years, thank you for believing in me! For readers who have found this blog more recently, thank you for joining! The last time I did any sort of reflecting on my blogging journey was back at my one-year anniversary, so I’d like to take this time to highlight some of the accomplishments I’m most proud of that have come out of this blog:

Gravestone that reads 5 Years!

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Review of Unspeakable: A Queer Gothic Anthology

Unspeakable coverThe Gothic has always been a place where marginalized gender expressions and sexualities could be explored—though in the past, this was often either done through deeply buried subtext or in a way that punished transgression and reasserted the prevailing societal norms. Today, however, queer Gothic is one of the most lively and prolific areas of the genre, and many authors are writing stories where queer identities are overt, accepted, and even celebrated. Unspeakable: A Queer Gothic Anthology, edited by Celine Frohn, collects a whole set of stories that do just that. The anthology came out back in February from Nyx Publishing after raising money through a successful Kickstarter campaign. Continue reading Review of Unspeakable: A Queer Gothic Anthology

Gothic Tropes: The Snake Lady

Monstrous women are found throughout Gothic literature. They represent fears and anxieties around female bodies and women’s role in society. But there is one type of monstrous woman we see over and over again, whose symbolism goes back centuries: the snake lady. Part woman and part snake, the snake lady might physically be half and half—like a land-bound mermaid—or she might transform between the two forms. Either way, she inspires both desire and fear—the paradox at the heart of the Gothic.

Painting of a humanoid serpant handing Eve an apple from the Tree of Knowledge
Michelangelo’s The Fall and Expulsion from the Garden of Eden

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Review of Robbergirl—A Snow Queen Retelling

How about a little queer romance to warm the icy chill of isolation? Robbergirl by S. T. Gibson, which came out last year, is a YA retelling of Hans Christian Anderson’s classic fairy tale “The Snow Queen.” While the original tale centers a young girl’s quest to save her loved one from the embodiment of winter, Robbergirl approaches the story from the perspective of the young thief who aids the other girl with her adventure and along the way learns the difference between loving someone and possessing them. Continue reading Review of Robbergirl—A Snow Queen Retelling

Review of Haunted Voices—Scottish Gothic

Haunted Voices coverWe’ve talked about American Gothic, French and German Gothic, and even Irish Gothic. But what about Scottish Gothic? Cultures with a strong oral storytelling tradition tend to also have a very rich tradition of horror stories, and Scotland is no exception. A recent anthology by the independent press Haunt Publishing seeks to capitalize on that connection. Haunted Voices: An Anthology of Gothic Storytelling from Scotland, edited by  Rebecca Wojturska, blends traditional Scottish oral tales with dark stories from newer voices that reflect the diversity of the country. Check it out for an informative and entertaining take on Highland horror! Continue reading Review of Haunted Voices—Scottish Gothic

The Gothic Library is a Bookshop.org Affiliate!

There’s a brand new way to buy your books online and support independent bookstores in the process—Bookshop.org! Indie bookstores are the backbone of the book world, but they’ve long been fighting an uphill battle against Amazon and large corporate chains. Now, with the coronavirus pandemic slowing sales, indie bookstores need our support more than ever. Bookshop.org has recently emerged as the ethical alternative to Amazon.

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Happy 90th Birthday, Nancy Drew!

The girl detective is officially a nonagenarian. Well, her book series is anyway. Tomorrow, April 28, marks the 90-year anniversary of the publication of the first Nancy Drew book, The Secret of the Old Clock (1930) by Carolyn Keene. As a young child, I devoured my way through the library’s entire shelf of Nancy Drew mysteries, and I’m sure that the gloomy settings, air of suspense, and plucky heroine had long-lasting effects on my literary taste. So, I want to take today to celebrate the legacy of Nancy Drew.

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Gothic Tropes: Corrupted Clergy

“Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned”—But what if the one who is supposed to absolve you is even more guilty? This is an idea explored in quite some depth and from a variety of angles throughout Gothic literature. The Gothic has had a very complicated relationship with religion, and Christianity in particular, from its earliest days. Sincere religious belief is often a virtue of the best Gothic heroes and heroines. But some of the genre’s most debased villains are those who wear the cloth of the Church. Early Gothic novels were highly critical of the horrors committed in the name of religion during the Spanish Inquisition, and these works also reflect Protestant and Anglican fears around Catholicism. But even the most obvious anti-Catholic caricatures were often a bit more nuanced, as many authors relied on the acceptable depiction of evil Catholic clergy to more subtly critique the overreach of religious authorities within their own communities. And no sect is safe! You’ll find dangers in any denomination in later works of Gothic literature. Let’s take a look at how corrupted clergymen (and a few women!) have crept through these novels.

Screen-shot of Frollo from Disney's Hunchback

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Vampires: First Blood, Volume I Review

Vamipres First Blood vol 1 coverDracula is the vampire lord who brought fame to the undead monster of legend, the one we’re all most familiar with. But the concept of vampires didn’t spring fully formed from Bram Stoker’s mind. Who were the literary vampires that came before Dracula and paved the path for him? Editor James Grant Goldin seeks to answer that question in his two-volume collection Vampires: First Blood, published back in July. The volumes are divided by gender, with the first volume focusing specifically on “The Vampire Lords.” This is the one I’ll be reviewing today. Continue reading Vampires: First Blood, Volume I Review

Netflix’s Dracula Miniseries Review

Dracula miniseries posterDo we really need another Dracula adaptation? I say, if it does something new and clever, then yes! And I think the new miniseries released earlier this year on Netflix and BBC One delivers on that. Dracula, created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, is a very loose retelling of Bram Stoker’s novel that takes the vampiric Count in a unique direction and explores his relationship with a new, original character: Agatha Van Helsing. If you’re looking for something quick to watch during quarantine, I definitely recommend it! Continue reading Netflix’s Dracula Miniseries Review