I have a deep appreciation for literary scholars who aim to draw once-popular but now obscure authors out of the shadows and back into the light for a new generation of readers to discover! Donald K. Hartman does just this with The Hypnotic Tales of Rafael Sabatini, which came out last year. This is the third installment in Hartman’s series of books that highlight the role of hypnotism in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century horror, mystery, and weird fiction. I have previously reviewed Death by Suggestion and The Hypno-Ripper, and I can now say I fully share Hartman’s fascination (if you’ll excuse the pun) with this intriguing microgenre. In this latest book, Hartman collects two short novelettes by the author Rafael Sabatini along with some notes about the cultural context in which they were written. Continue reading The Hypnotic Tales of Rafael Sabatini Review
Tag: Victorian
Review of The Widow of Rose House—Romance and Haunted Homes
Victorian romance and haunted houses—I’m always on the lookout for books that combine two of my favorite things like this, and have just found one that does so extraordinarily well! The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller is a delightful Gothic romance that came out back in 2019. It fit so perfectly in my wheelhouse, that I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more books by this author in the future. Continue reading Review of The Widow of Rose House—Romance and Haunted Homes
Review of Beatrix Greene—A Spooky Fiction Podcast
When a fraudulent Spiritualist hosts a séance in a genuinely haunted house, she proves to be the key to unlocking the manor’s dark secrets. This is the premise of the fiction podcast Beatrix Greene. A short, nine-episode series produced by Realm and released last spring, Beatrix Greene is written by Rachel Hawkins, Vicky Alvear Shecter, and Ash Parsons, and features the skillful voicework of Shiromi Arserio and Alister Austin. If you love haunted houses, Victorian Spiritualism, and atmospheric horror, I highly recommend that you check it out!
Continue reading Review of Beatrix Greene—A Spooky Fiction Podcast
Christmas Ghost Stories, Part 2
A couple years ago, I wrote about the tradition of the Christmas ghost story—which became an indispensable part of the festive season after Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol in 1843. The heyday of the Christmas ghost story overlapped with the Golden Age of the ghost story more generally, and many celebrated spooky authors began incorporating Christmas into their haunting tales. Last time, I highlighted several stories by male authors, but women were equally if not more involved in the festive ghost story game. Check out the stories by women below for a seasonally appropriate scare!
Review of Cursed Once More
How many curses can one woman handle? Clara Blackwood finds her happily-ever-after interrupted by yet another family curse in Cursed Once More by Amanda DeWees. I had reviewed the initial book in this duology, With This Curse, quite a few years ago and was very impressed with DeWees’s grasp of classic Gothic tropes. After hearing how much I loved the first book, the author was kind enough to send along the sequel. It had gotten buried in my TBR pile until now, but I was delighted to finally dive back into DeWees’s luscious Victorian Gothic world with Cursed Once More. Continue reading Review of Cursed Once More
A Summoning of Souls Review
Leanna Renee Hieber is back with a new book in her Spectral City series! In case you missed it last week, Leanna wrote a lovely guest post for us on the many possibilities of ghost stories in her works and in her life. In her Spectral City books, ghost stories help the psychic ladies of NYPD’s Ghost Precinct to solve mysteries and save lives! A Summoning of Souls is the third book in this trilogy, and it comes out tomorrow, July 21. WORD Bookstores will be hosting a virtual release party on their Instagram page tomorrow at 7:30pm EDT. Continue reading A Summoning of Souls Review
A Dangerous Observer Review–Escape into Gothic Suspense
Can I offer you a beautiful woman fleeing a castle in these trying times? From the cover of A Dangerous Observer alone, I knew this book was going to have everything I needed for a purely pleasurable escapist read. A Dangerous Observer is the latest Gothic Romance from one of my favorite authors, Amanda DeWees. (You may remember my reviews of her Gothic spin on Hamlet, Sea of Secrets, and her Daphne du Maurier Award–winning novel, With This Curse.) A Dangerous Observer came out just last month, so now is the perfect time to grab this fresh new read. Continue reading A Dangerous Observer Review–Escape into Gothic Suspense
A Sanctuary of Spirits Review
Halloween may be over, but that just means it’s time for my other favorite thing about fall: a spooky new release from Leanna Renee Hieber! In A Sanctuary of Spirits, the second installment in Leanna’s new Spectral City series, the girl-gang of the NYPD Ghost Precinct return to investigate a horde of restless children’s spirits. The book comes out tomorrow, November 12. And if you’re in the New York City area, you should join me tomorrow for the launch party at WORD bookstore in Brooklyn! Continue reading A Sanctuary of Spirits Review
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue Review
Ah, the Grand Tour of Europe—that most exciting part of coming of age for any young Victorian gentleman. Monty’s Grand Tour, however, gets a bit too exciting in The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee—a queer YA historical novel that my friends have been ranting and raving to me about for well over a year. Apparently, July is the month for me to finally catch up on all the great reads from the last few years that I somehow missed. I actually met Mackenzi Lee back in 2015 at the Brooklyn Book Festival and reviewed her debut novel, This Monstrous Thing. And yet I still managed to be the last one to hop on the Gentleman’s Guide bandwagon. Oh well, better late than never! Continue reading The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue Review
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