It goes without saying that one of the defining characteristics of Gothic fiction is a creepy setting—a castle falling into ruin, a haunted manor, or some mist-covered moors. But what’s a creepy setting without some creepy inhabitants? One of the most iconic of these, particularly in mansions and manors, is the creepy housekeeper. The creepy housekeeper is usually an older woman with personal ties to the manor itself or its previous inhabitants. Her primary role is generally to make the young female protagonist feel anxious and out of place as a newcomer and to provide either threats or warnings of danger.
Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers looms behind the nameless narrator in Hitchcock’s Rebecca.
“Come now, my child, if we were planning to harm you, do you think we’d be lurking here beside the path in the very darkest part of the forest?”
These ominous lines by poet Kenneth Patchen serve as an epigraph to my new favorite faerie-based urban fantasy, by an old favorite author—Holly Black. You may remember my recent review of Holly Black’s morbid middle grade ghost story, Doll Bones. Well, Black has come back into the wonderful world of YA with one of her newest novels, released last year, The Darkest Part of the Forest. While nothing will ever replace vampires for me in the paranormal romance department (sorry, werewolves and zombies), faeries tend to come in second among my favorite supernatural creatures. Like vampires, they force you to confront the paradox of beautiful monsters. How can something so alluring be bad? And how can something so dangerous be beautiful? While confronting these paradoxes outwardly, the characters of The Darkest Part of the Forest also have to come to terms with the beauty and the monsters inside themselves. Continue reading The Darkest Part of the Forest Review
(I stumbled on this lovely image by @Pencil_Fangirl on Instagram)
I talk a lot about how modern horror fiction and paranormal romance have descended from the classic Gothic novel. Well, detective stories are yet another example of a popular genre that rose up from this immensely fecund area of fiction. Many of the earliest detective stories were written by authors of Gothic fiction, or otherwise incorporated Gothic elements. In fact, detective fiction is a relatively young genre, and its origin is generally accredited to one of the greatest gothy patriarchs of all—Edgar Allan Poe. Continue reading Is Sherlock Goth???—Detective Fiction and the Gothic
Who says love poems need to be all rainbows and sunshine? Sometimes death and decay can be just as romantic. If you’re tired of sappy hallmark cards and sickly sweet phrases written on candy, consider sharing some of these creepy classics with your loved ones.
This tarot deck was one of my most anticipated items on my holiday wish list this year. And because my parents love me, I got it for Christmas! For those of you who don’t know, Maggie Stiefvater is one of my absolute favorite authors of YA fantasy, and she recently designed a tarot deck to go with her latest series, The Raven Cycle. Since the first book in this series, The Raven Boys, was my favorite book of 2015 and I’m always drooling over Maggie Stiefvater’s artwork, I knew I needed to get my hands on this deck. Continue reading Maggie Stiefvater and The Raven’s Prophecy Tarot
First things first, congratulations to Ewan for winning our Eterna Files giveaway! Ewan, who has been notified by email, will be receiving a signed copy of the brand new paperback edition of The Eterna Files directly from the author herself!
The paperback even has new updated cover art–Now with more pink parasol!
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, last week I wrote a review of Leanna Renee Hieber’s latest gaslamp fantasy novel The Eterna Files. In brief, The Eterna Files chronicles the efforts of two secret teams established by their respective governments on either side of the Atlantic and tasked with finding answers in the quest for immortality. As always after finishing a good book, I am currently in a state of mourning over no longer being able to live in this fantastical world, especially in this case a world so full of exciting international drama and paranormal intrigue. Luckily for me (and any of you that decide to read this dark Victorian masterpiece), the second book in the series, Eterna and Omega, is coming out in August!
Until then, author Leanna Renee Hieber has graciously decided to help us get through these six long months by answering some questions on behalf of her characters. I asked her a question directed at Clara Templeton—one of the main characters of The Eterna Files and the one inadvertently responsible for sparking the American government’s interest in immortality. Clara is more sensitive to aspects of the paranormal than most people are, particularly to ghosts and apparitions—though it was another power of hers that intrigued me throughout the book: Clara can remember details from her past lives. Continue reading Eterna Files Character Questions and Giveaway Winner
Yup, you read that right. The Eterna Files by Leanna Renee Hieber is a Victorian paranormal spy drama—and so much more! This book has been sitting at the top of my to-read list for a while, and I’ve mentioned several times how excited I was to read it. Leanna Renee Hieber is one of my absolute favorite authors, largely because her aesthetic tends to line up perfectly with my particular brand of gothic tastes. Well-researched gaslamp fantasy with dark paranormal elements and nuanced feminist characters who kick ass in their fashionable Victorian finery? Count me in! Darker Still, one of Leanna’s previous books, was one of the first books I reviewed on this blog and it still holds the title of my favorite. But The Eterna Files did not fail to live up to my high expectations. Be sure to read through to the end to find out how you can enter to win a signed copy of The Eterna Files for yourself! Also, make sure you tune in next week to see Leanna answer some of my burning questions on behalf of her characters. Continue reading Eterna Files Review and Giveaway—Victorian Paranormal Spy Drama
I’m very excited to be participating in a Bloggiesta event for the first time! For those who don’t know, Bloggiesta is blogging marathon in which a bunch of bloggers band together to challenge and support each other as we each work on improving our blogs. This coming weekend (Saturday the 16th and Sunday the 17th) is the yearly winter mini Bloggiesta! You can find out more at the Bloggiesta website.
On New Year’s Day, I posed a list of broad goals I’d like to accomplish with this blog over the coming year. But today I’d like to share my to do list of concrete tasks to accomplish this weekend in order to get going down the right path.
To Do List:
Leave at least 5 comments on posts by other bloggers
Participate in the Bloggiesta twitter chat on Sunday at 2pm Eastern
Do a Bloggiesta mini challenge
Post reviews on Goodreads and Amazon with links back to the blog
Sort through my genre categories
Plan out my next 3-5 posts
Evaluate my sidebar, and rearrange if necessary
Are you participating in Bloggiesta? Have you done it in the past? Let me know in the comments!
Horror. Terror. They’re synonyms, right? Actually, they’re similar, but their meanings are slightly different, especially in the world of Gothic literature. In fact the terms represent two different schools of thought that early writers of Gothic literature divided themselves along. And at the beginning, this division occurred loosely along gender lines, as Matthew Lewis and Ann Radcliffe were held up as the representatives of each camp.
It’s a new year, and you know what that means? New books! 2016 has just begun, and I’m already getting hyped about all of the amazing books coming out this year. Here are just of a few of the great-looking gothic reads coming out in 2016:
The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater (Set to be released April 26, 2016)
I’ve been talking about this series a lot lately, especially since the first book was my favorite book I read last year. Well, I hopped on the Raven Cycle bandwagon just in time, because the fourth and final book in this series is finally coming out in April! I’m excited to see if Blue and the raven boys succeed in finding their Celtic king and to find out how exactly my favorite corvid creatures fit into this mythos. Continue reading Books I’m Excited for in 2016
Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers looms behind the nameless narrator in Hitchcock’s Rebecca.
