The Gothic has always been a place where marginalized gender expressions and sexualities could be explored—though in the past, this was often either done through deeply buried subtext or in a way that punished transgression and reasserted the prevailing societal norms. Today, however, queer Gothic is one of the most lively and prolific areas of the genre, and many authors are writing stories where queer identities are overt, accepted, and even celebrated. Unspeakable: A Queer Gothic Anthology, edited by Celine Frohn, collects a whole set of stories that do just that. The anthology came out back in February from Nyx Publishing after raising money through a successful Kickstarter campaign. Continue reading Review of Unspeakable: A Queer Gothic Anthology
Category: Genre
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
Queen of the Conquered Review
How do you know if you’re the hero or the villain of your story? Sigourney Rose certainly sees herself as the hero in Kacen Callender’s adult fantasy debut Queen of the Conquered, but by the end of the novel we’re not quite so sure. Remember this book? It was one of the ones I highlighted back in October in my Slytherin Season post about books with snaky covers and resourceful, ambitious protagonists. Well, Queen of the Conquered certainly delivered on that front. Continue reading Queen of the Conquered Review
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 Spirits Unwrapped—An Unconventional Mummy Anthology
While you’re unwrapping your gifts this holiday season, how about unwrapping a few ancient mummies, as well? (Except, not literally. The Victorians used to do that, and it was a pretty sketchy practice…) Spirits Unwrapped, edited by Daniel Braum, is an anthology of fourteen unconventional mummy tales. It was released by the small indie publisher Lethe Press back in October and has finally made its way up to the top of my post-Halloween book pile. Continue reading Review of Spirits Unwrapped—An Unconventional Mummy Anthology
Intro to Southern Gothic
Since the Gothic first arose as a handful of tales about virginal young women being chased through European castles by usurping noblemen, the genre has splintered off into many different forms, some of which bear very little resemblance to the earliest Gothic stories. One of the best-known off-shoots of this mode of writing is the Southern Gothic. I touched on this topic briefly in my post on the American Gothic Tradition, but now I want to cover it in more depth. Southern Gothic is a subgenre of Gothic literature that is defined both geographically and thematically. Generally set within the southern United States, works of Southern Gothic employ the macabre and the grotesque to expose the myth of the idyllic antebellum South. Common themes include the decay and corruption that exist behind beautiful facades (both physically and metaphorically), the decline of a dispossessed aristocracy, and the scars left by slavery and a long history of racial tensions. If you’ve ever taken an American literature class, it’s likely that you’ve already encountered some Southern Gothic. Below are a few authors best known for writing in this genre: Continue reading Intro to Southern Gothic
Review of Darkly: Black History and America’s Gothic Soul
“America’s haunted history is Black history.” This is the premise of a new book by Leila Taylor, Darkly: Black History and America’s Gothic Soul. A while back, I had the pleasure of attending her lecture on “The Afro-Gothic” at an event run by Morbid Anatomy. The presentation got me thinking about the Gothic in a whole new way, and I was eager for more information than what could fit in a one-hour talk. Luckily, Leila was in the process of writing this book, and now it’s finally out! Darkly, which came out just last week, examines the intersection of goth, the Gothic, and Blackness. Continue reading Review of Darkly: Black History and America’s Gothic Soul
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
Review of Women’s Weird–Bringing Female Authors Back into the Spotlight
As Halloween approaches, it’s time to get weird! Last month, I read Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction, which brought my attention to the many gaps in our understanding of the history of these genres, caused by the tendency of past (and some present) critics to value male authors over their equally inventive and influential female contemporaries. Well, a small press in the UK is looking to fill one of those gaps with the collection Women’s Weird: Strange Stories by Women, 1890–1940, edited by Melissa Edmundson. Appropriately, the book is being released on Halloween day. Continue reading Review of Women’s Weird–Bringing Female Authors Back into the Spotlight
Denizens of Distant Realms Review
Once upon a time doesn’t necessarily have to be long, long ago. I’ve mentioned my great love of fairy tales—whether they be classics, retellings, or brand-new fairy tales that emulate the classics in form and style. Denizens of Distant Realms, a new collection of short stories by Dawn Vogel, falls into the latter category. The book came out back in August, and while I was previously unfamiliar with the author and her other works, my great love of fairy tales drew me to take a chance on the new collection. Continue reading Denizens of Distant Realms Review