Summer camp is one of the last places you want to find yourself if you’re living inside a horror novel. But the scariest thing about Camp Damascus? Rose can’t even remember attending it. Internet-famous erotica author Chuck Tingle deftly pivots to serious horror in his first traditionally published novel Camp Damascus, out tomorrow, July 18. Continue reading Review of Camp Damascus—Horrors Real and Imagined
Review of Nettle & Bone—Fairy-Tale Fantasy
Marrying a prince seems like the ending of a fairy tale, but for Marra’s sister’s it is only the beginning of a nightmare. So, Marra sets out on her own fairy tale quest to find whatever magic or powerful allies can kill a prince in T. Kingfisher’s Nettle & Bone, which came out last year. Having thoroughly enjoyed Kingfisher’s Poe-inspired horror tale What Moves the Dead, I was excited to see what this author would bring to more straightforward fantasy. Kingfisher certainly has a gift for creating fantasy worlds that seem comfortingly familiar and yet also strange and unique. Continue reading Review of Nettle & Bone—Fairy-Tale Fantasy
Review of Starve Acre—Slow-burn Folk Horror
“There’s not an inch of soil that’s still alive.” Nothing grows on the land where the town hanging tree once stood in Andrew Michael Hurley’s folk horror novel Starve Acre. Originally published in the UK in 2019, Starve Acre is being newly released in the U.S. tomorrow, July 4. Continue reading Review of Starve Acre—Slow-burn Folk Horror
Classics: Mistress of Mellyn
I talk a lot on this blog about the initial Gothic heyday at the turn of the nineteenth century, which sprung up after the publication of Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto and brought us such authors as Ann Radcliffe, Matthew Lewis, and William Beckford. But these days when you mention the Gothic to someone not overly familiar with the genre, they may picture a more recent heyday: the boom of Gothic romance and suspense novels in the mid-twentieth century, many of them mass-produced by a handful of genre-focused publishers. These books are perhaps best remembered today for their evocatively illustrated covers that employed common visual tropes such as a fleeing woman in a diaphanous dress or nightgown, a looming manor castle in the background, and a single illuminated window peering out like an eye. The book most often credited with kicking off this boom is Mistress of Mellyn by Victoria Holt. Continue reading Classics: Mistress of Mellyn
Review of Night’s Edge—A Vampire Pandemic
You’re not sick of pandemic books yet, are you? Liz Kerin uses the premise of a vampire pandemic—and the restrictions and lockdowns that come with it—to explore complicated family relationships in her sophomore horror novel Night’s Edge. The book, which follows a young woman who has devoted her life to being caretaker to her infected mother, comes out tomorrow, June 20. Continue reading Review of Night’s Edge—A Vampire Pandemic
Review of The Scourge Between Stars
“Don’t open the door.” This warning comes just a little bit too late for Jacklyn and her crew in The Scourge Between Stars, a stunning debut sci-fi thriller by Ness Brown that came out in April. This tense game of cat-and-mouse between a starship crew and unseen alien intruders lurking within the vessel’s walls is perfect for fans of the Alien film franchise who have been waiting for something new and fresh in that vein. Continue reading Review of The Scourge Between Stars
Review of Book of Night—Crime and Shadow Magic
It’s a bad idea to mess with those who have magic abilities you could only dream of. But Charlie Hall is full of bad ideas in Holly Black’s debut adult fantasy novel Book of Night, which came out last year. I’ve been a fan of Holly Black’s YA faerie books for many years, most recently enjoying The Cruel Prince and its sequels. But with Book of Night, Black takes a fresh approach to the fantasy genre and proves that she can write just as powerfully for adults as for kids and teens. Continue reading Review of Book of Night—Crime and Shadow Magic
The Quiet Stillness of Empty Houses Review
An orphaned governess takes up a new position in a remote manor and begins to develop inadvisable feelings for her employer. You’ve heard this story before—or have you? L. V. Russell puts a new twist on this classic Gothic premise in The Quiet Stillness of Empty Houses, which came out earlier this month from small indie press Quill & Crow Publishing House. Continue reading The Quiet Stillness of Empty Houses Review
Folk Horror in Literature
Something ancient has been awakened in the woods…. This premise encapsulates the essence of many folk horror stories. I have briefly touched on folk horror before in my review of the YA folk horror anthology The Gathering Dark, but as this deeply rooted subgenre of horror experiences another wave of popularity, I figured it was time to dive into it more deeply and give you a few recommendations through which to explore the genre.
In my earlier post, I defined folk horror as “any horror tale that draws on regional folklore,” but this is a bit of a simplification. As with the Gothic, folk horror is difficult to nail down and define. Works in this category tend to deal not just with folklore but also with folk religion, customs, and rituals. In Western literature, this often involves elements of some pre-Christian pagan practice that has persisted in isolated communities despite the pressure to Christianize. Works of folk horror may draw on real life folklore, beliefs, and practices from a particular culture or region, or they may feature a fictional community with lore of the author’s own creation. Common themes and tropes in works of folk horror include a rural setting, a supernatural entity associated with the natural environment, and worship of or sacrifice to this entity. Continue reading Folk Horror in Literature
Re: Dracula Podcast Review
Happy birthday to me! I just turned thirty last week and I can’t think of a better present than the fact that my birthday month is the start of Dracula season. Bram Stoker’s classic vampire novel begins with an entry from Jonathan Harker’s journal dated May 3. Last year, I wrote about following along with the email newsletter Dracula Daily, which kicked off a fervor for experiencing the story of Dracula in real time through the letters and diary entries that comprise this epistolary tale being sent to you one by one on the corresponding date. If you missed it last time, the Dracula Daily newsletter has just started up again for its third yearly cycle. But this year, there’s yet another way to follow along with the daily adventures of Jonathan Harker and his friends, and this one’s in my favorite format: audio. Re: Dracula is a brand new podcast that turns the letters and diary entries of Stoker’s novel into short audio episodes. As with Dracula Daily, each episode is released on the date that corresponds with the events of the novel.
