Even a monster can have a heart. Two monstrous men make an exquisite pair in Jennifer Giesbrecht’s dark fantasy debut The Monster of Elendhaven, which came out last year from Tor.com. Though I devoured this bite-sized novella in a single day, I have a feeling its lyrical prose and intricately constructed world will linger with me for some time to come. Continue reading The Monster of Elendhaven Review
Tag: horror
Back to School Reading List, Part 2
“Back to School” doesn’t look quite the same this year. Whether you’re attending virtually, in person, hybrid, or still waiting on your school administrators to figure that out, things are sure to be rather chaotic as we try to navigate this new reality of educating during a pandemic. I figured I would try to reintroduce a little normalcy to this fall season by bringing back my old tradition of putting together a mini-syllabus of classic Gothic works for the start of the school year. In my initial Back to School Reading List, I highlighted a few Gothic novels you’re most likely to come across in class. I followed that post up with a Short Story Edition, Drama Edition, and Poetry Edition of the reading list. Today, I’m returning to novels to spotlight a few more classics that didn’t make it into the initial post: Continue reading Back to School Reading List, Part 2
Review of Mexican Gothic
Who says the Gothic has to be relegated to creepy old castles in Europe? While American Gothic has been an established subset of the genre since the nineteenth century, in recent years the Gothic has really expanded into a diversity of settings and perspectives. Celebrated Mexican-Canadian author Silvia Moreno-Garcia brings classic Gothic tropes and story structures into the Mexican countryside in the straightforwardly titled Mexican Gothic, which came out earlier this summer. Continue reading Review of Mexican Gothic
Plagues and Pandemics in Horror
The spread of COVID-19 is taking over our lives right now. And while I know for some of you, death and disease are the last things you want to read about right now, for many others literature is a place where we can process and confront our anxieties. This has been true throughout history. The Gothic, in particular, has always had a fascination with contagious illness. You can’t build an entire genre around nostalgia for the Middle Ages without grappling with the Black Death—a devastating plague that swept through Europe in the 1300s, killing millions. As Gothic literature developed, many authors—particularly in the Victorian era—had their own lives touched by such infectious diseases as tuberculosis, cholera, scarlet fever, and typhoid. The pandemics of the past and the present force us to confront our mortality and fears around infection and contagion. Some authors explore this through the invention of fictional plagues, while others use myth and monsters as metaphor for transmitting disease. Below are a few major works from Gothic and horror literature’s rich tradition of plagues and pandemics: Continue reading Plagues and Pandemics in Horror
Review of Burn the Dark–Witch Hunters and Hauntings
After wiping out witches all around the country, there’s only one place left for Robin Martine to go: home. A witch-hunting Youtube star returns to her hometown and confronts her past in Burn the Dark, the first book in S. A. Hunt’s fantasy/horror series Malus Domestica. If that title sounds familiar, it may be because the series spent several years as a self-published top-seller on Amazon. But last week, Burn the Dark finally came out in print from a traditional publisher, and can now be found on shelves at your local bookstore! Continue reading Review of Burn the Dark–Witch Hunters and Hauntings
Review of Monster, She Wrote—A Comprehensive Compendium of Female Authors
Some members of the literary community always seem to express surprise and disbelief when they see women writing horror and speculative fiction books—and winning awards for them. Aren’t these genres predominantly the purview of men? Well, not really. Women have been there from the very beginning, and a compelling argument can even be made that these genres couldn’t exist without them. Scholars Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson do just that in Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror & Speculative Fiction. This exhaustive guide explores over one hundred female authors from the earliest days of speculative fiction to the present day. The book comes out tomorrow, September 17, and you do not want to miss it! Continue reading Review of Monster, She Wrote—A Comprehensive Compendium of Female Authors
Review of Death by Suggestion–A Hypnotic Anthology
You are getting very, very sleepy … and also a bit murderous. Mesmerism, also called animal magnetism and later hypnosis, spread in popularity throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries as doctors, hobbyists, and stage performers demonstrated their ability to control the actions of others through mere suggestion. The Victorians and Edwardians were fascinated by this new discipline, but also, understandably, quite anxious. Without knowing what the limitations were of this power, they imagined scenarios in which one could be mesmerized to commit crimes, betray loved ones, and even kill. Death by Suggestion: An Anthology of 19th and Early 20th-Century Tales of Hypnotically Induced Murder, Suicide, and Accidental Death edited by Donald K. Hartman brings together twenty-two tales by authors both well-known and obscure that explore the darker side of suggestion. Continue reading Review of Death by Suggestion–A Hypnotic Anthology
Grief: The Raven and The Babadook
What does Poe’s most famous poem have to do with an Australian horror film from a few years back? More than you might think. “The Raven” and The Babadook utilize similar plot lines to explore the inescapable nature of grief after the loss of a loved one. (Warning: This post contains spoilers for the movie The Babadook.)
Most of you are likely familiar with “The Raven,” Poe’s 1845 poem that first skyrocketed him into literary fame. The poem is told from the perspective of an unnamed speaker who mourns for his lost love, Lenore. One night, a raven comes in through his window and answers all of the speaker’s questions with one word: “Nevermore.” At the end of the poem, the speaker acknowledges that the raven is still sitting above his door, and his soul will be under its shadow forever. If you’d like to refresh yourself on the details, you can read the full text of “The Raven” here.
Somewhat more niche is The Babadook, a debut horror film written and directed by Jennifer Kent, which made waves among horror fans when it was first released in 2014. The story features a single mother named Amelia, whose husband died the same night she gave birth to her son Sam. Years later, Amelia and Sam discover a mysterious pop-up book that features a terrifying creature called the Babadook. Though Amelia initially dismisses the Babadook as fictional, it soon begins to take over her mind, showing her visions of violence and causing her to act erratically. Amelia finally confronts the Babadook, and the end of the movie shows the monster now somewhat docile, living in her basement. Amelia visits occasionally to feed it. Continue reading Grief: The Raven and The Babadook
Review of The Invited—Helpful Hauntings
Would you intentionally invite spirits into your home? What about if you knew they had an important message for you? Jennifer McMahon explores these questions in her latest horror novel, The Invited, which comes out tomorrow, April 30. If you’re a fan of haunted houses, historic ghosts, and women who defy expectations, you won’t want to miss this one! Continue reading Review of The Invited—Helpful Hauntings
We Have Always Lived in the Castle Review
As much as I love reviewing recent releases, it’s just as important to go back and spend some time on the classics. This month, I finally picked up a book that I’d been meaning to read for years: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Jackson is one of the most prominent authors of twentieth-century Gothic. Her novel The Haunting of Hill House is a staple of the haunted house and psychological horror genres, while her short story “The Lottery,” is one of the most terrifying things I remember reading for school. However, it is her final novel—We Have Always Lived in the Castle, published in 1962—that really explores the Gothic in depth. Continue reading We Have Always Lived in the Castle Review