I will never be tired of vampire stories. Especially when authors keep finding clever new ways to reinvent the lore as Holly Black does in The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. I’ve been a fan of Holly Black for years and have particularly enjoyed her books on fairy tales and faeries, so I knew my favorite monsters would be in good hands with her. “The Coldest Girl in Coldtown” started out as a short story, which I came across in an anthology several years ago. Though the story hardly did more than briefly sketch out the vampire-infested world that Holly Black created, I remember enjoying it immensely. Well, the full-length novel that grew out of it is even better. Continue reading The Coldest Girl in Coldtown Review
Month: July 2018
French and German Gothic
I’ve spoken many times on this blog about how the Gothic genre originated in England with the publication of Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto, and I’ve gone on to enumerate many other early English writers of the Gothic, as well as several American authors that followed later on. But the Gothic was not limited to the English-speaking world. In fact, many of the early and influential pieces of Gothic literature originated in Continental Europe—specifically in Germany and France. Below, I’ve listed a few seminal works to take a broad look at the Gothic tradition in these two countries: Continue reading French and German Gothic
Tales of Monstrous Mermaids
As you splash in the waves this summer, just remember that the ocean’s depths hold all sorts of horrors. And not least among them are … mermaids. That’s right, these mythical fish folk aren’t necessarily as cute and cuddly as Disney has led us to believe. Mermaids, and their singing sisters the sirens, have long been known for cruelty, cannibalism, and luring sailors to their certain death. Below are four of my favorite tales that tackle the darker side of these sea creatures: Continue reading Tales of Monstrous Mermaids
Bruja Born Review—The Right Way to Do Zombie Romance
Do not mess with death—That’s pretty much the golden rule of magic. You can have all the magic power in the world, but if you use it to bring someone back from the dead, things will not go as planned. I know that, you know that, even Harry Potter knows that. But apparently Lula Mortiz does not. Bruja Born is the second book in Zoraida Córdova’s Brooklyn Brujas series. Two years ago, I reviewed Labyrinth Lost, which Alex Mortiz accidentally sends her family to the underworld while trying to banish her magic. Now, in the sequel published last month, Alex’s sister Lula gets her own story. Continue reading Bruja Born Review—The Right Way to Do Zombie Romance
Review of Winter Tide—Subverted Lovecraft
*A version of this review first appeared as an article in Auxiliary Magazine*
Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys is the perfect book for lovers and haters of Lovecraft alike. H. P. Lovecraft, often considered the father of modern horror fiction, is famous for inventing the Cthulhu Mythos, which was been continued by many others in decades’ worth of novels, movies, games, and pop culture. But he’s also notorious for his rampant racism and serious lack of female characters. In Winter Tide, Ruthanna Emrys takes the amazing world that Lovecraft created, but subverts his negative aspects by using her story to explore the complexities of race and gender in post-World War II America. Winter Tide was published last year, but its sequel, Deep Roots, will be coming out in July. Continue reading Review of Winter Tide—Subverted Lovecraft