Going through high school as a social outcast is hard enough when the school itself isn’t trying to kill you. At the Scholomance, being a loner can be deadly…. I’ve finally read A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik, a young adult fantasy novel which came out back in 2020. I’ve been a fan of Novik since first stumbling upon Uprooted in 2015, but even more so ever since I read her Slavic fairy story Spinning Silver. I’ve been hearing great things about the Scholomance series for years, and now that all three books in the trilogy are out, I figured it would be the perfect time to pick up Book 1. Continue reading Review of A Deadly Education—Monsters and Dark Magic
Category: Genre
Review of Here in Avalon—A Cultish Cabaret
If you could walk out of your old life, leaving everything behind, and into a new one filled with beauty, magic, and wonder, would you? Two sisters are confronted by this question in Tara Isabella Burton’s latest literary thriller Here in Avalon, which came out earlier this month. I loved the decadent dark side of New York City that Tara conjured up in her debut Social Creature. With this book, Tara explores the same city through a lens of glittering magic. But even the most ethereal of artists and dreamers cannot truly live inside a fairy tale…. Continue reading Review of Here in Avalon—A Cultish Cabaret
Review of Sunless Solstice—Christmas Ghost Stories
As my various posts over the years about Christmas ghost stories might suggest, I’m on a bit of a mission to bring this spooky seasonal activity back into fashion. But I’m not alone in my quest! The British Library has started publishing annual collections of haunting Christmas tales as part of their Tales of the Weird series. Sunless Solstice: Strange Christmas Tales for the Longest Nights, edited by Lucy Evans and Tanya Kirk, is the third such collection, released in December 2022. If you, like me, would like to start spending your Christmases telling scary stories around a fire, I cannot recommend these collections enough! Continue reading Review of Sunless Solstice—Christmas Ghost Stories
Gothic Gambles
Gambling is as pervasive in the world of Gothic literature as it is in the real world. Gothic novels are full of dissolute villains whose dastardly dealings at the card table are just one facet of their poor behavior and hapless heroes who find themselves in dire straits after running up debts. But today I want to highlight a few pieces of short fiction with gambling at their center. These tales warn not just of the ordinary dangers like debt and addiction, but also of potential supernatural consequences for those who gamble excessively or unwisely.
Christmas Ghost Stories, Part 3
’Tis the season … for Christmas ghost stories! In recent years, I’ve been all about bringing back the classic tradition of livening up the winter months by sharing tales of terror. After all, encounters with the spirit world are the perfect way to get into the Christmas spirit! You can see some of the seasonally spooky tales I’ve previously recommended here and here. But if those aren’t enough for you, here’s a third round of Christmas ghost stories:
Review of Coffin Hill—Gothic Comics
“Wicked witch of Coffin Hill, buried in the woods and lives there still. Hide your face and close your eyes, if you see her you will die. Only the crows to hear you cry…” So goes the nursery rhyme at the heart of the Coffin Hill comics by Caitlin Kittredge, with art by Inaki Miranda and coloring by Eva de la Cruz. This comic series, published by Vertigo between 2013 and 2015, consists of twenty issues which have been collected in three trade volumes: Forest of the Night, Dark Endeavors, and Haunted Houses. With stunningly macabre artwork and a storyline that features black magic, bloody murders, and generational curses, this series is the perfect gateway into comics for any Gothic literature lovers. Continue reading Review of Coffin Hill—Gothic Comics
Review of A Power Unbound—Fantasy Politics and Power Plays
There’s just nothing quite like a satisfying conclusion to a stellar trilogy. I’ve been eagerly awaiting A Power Unbound, the conclusion to Freya Marske’s The Last Binding series, which finally came out earlier this month. I was sucked into Marske’s intricate world of Edwardian magic from the first few pages of A Marvellous Light and fell even more in love with the series and its recurring characters when I read Book 2, A Restless Truth. With A Power Unbound, Freya Marske does a masterful job of rounding off the series and orchestrating a large cast of characters and complex plot to a satisfying conclusion. Continue reading Review of A Power Unbound—Fantasy Politics and Power Plays
Review of Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror
Jordan Peele is one of my absolute favorite directors and I think his horror films are some of the cleverest and most thoughtful contributions to the horror genre in recent years. So when I saw his name on an anthology of short horror fiction, I knew I needed to pick it up. Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror, edited by Jordan Peele and John Joseph Adams, came out last month, right on the heels of another great horror anthology centering marginalized voices: Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology. Judging by the quality of tales in these two collections, this diversity of voices is definitely here to stay in the horror genre! Continue reading Review of Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror
Review of Starling House—Kentucky Gothic
Opal has been dreaming of Starling House, but the house seems to have dreams of its own… Starling House by Alix E. Harrow is a brilliant Gothic fantasy which came out earlier this month. With a sentient house, a cursed family, and long-buried secrets rising to the surface, this book puts Kentucky Gothic on the map. Continue reading Review of Starling House—Kentucky Gothic
Review of Wrath Becomes Her—Gothic Golems
“I am retribution!” is the battle cry of Vera the golem in Aden Polydoros’s brilliant new young adult novel Wrath Becomes Her, which comes out tomorrow, October 10. I’ve been impressed with Polydoros’s ability to seamlessly blend Jewish culture and folklore with the Gothic ever since reading his debut, The City Beautiful, a couple of years ago. But he takes this to a whole new level in Wrath Becomes Her, creating the kind of book I really wish I could have read as a teen. Continue reading Review of Wrath Becomes Her—Gothic Golems