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
Category: Review
The Lady and the Highwayman Review
Want some romance with a side of literary rivalry? How about if it’s set in the Victorian era and features that aptly named mode of early horror fiction—the penny dreadful? The Lady and the Highwayman by Sarah M. Eden, which came out earlier this month, is a delightful historical romance that pushed all the right buttons for me. If you love Victorian literature, bold heroines, and sweet couples solving mysteries together, then this is the perfect book to curl up with on a cool autumn day! Continue reading The Lady and the Highwayman Review
His Hideous Heart Review—Poe Retellings with a YA Twist!
Edgar Allan Poe stories with a diverse, YA twist? Yes, please! So many of us first discover Poe during our teenage years that it seems perfectly fitting to reinterpret his stories in a young adult context. Editor Dahlia Adler does exactly this in her upcoming anthology His Hideous Heart, which gathers together thirteen celebrated YA authors to write modern tales inspired by some of Poe’s. I’ve been invited to participate in the official blog tour for His Hideous Heart, which comes out on September 10. See my thoughts on the book below, and be sure to check out the preorder link at the end of the post! Continue reading His Hideous Heart Review—Poe Retellings with a YA Twist!
The Sisters of the Winter Wood Review
“Come buy! Come buy!” While I don’t recommend that you hearken to the call of goblin men, I do highly encourage you to come and buy a copy of the debut YA fantasy novel The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner. Set in an Eastern European shtetl, Rossner’s story is a particularly clever retelling of one of my favorite poems, Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market,” that blends in Slavic folklore, Jewish traditions, and historical elements. I always love a good fairy tale retelling, but this is one of the most creative examples I’ve ever encountered that both truly honors the source material and also uses it to say something new. Continue reading The Sisters of the Winter Wood 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
Review of Middlegame–Brutal and Beautiful Alchemy
One of my favorite authors is back with a book quite unlike anything I’ve read before! Middlegame by Seanan McGuire is an adult fantasy novel starring a pair of twins imbued by alchemists with special powers as part of a plot to take over the world. If you’re familiar with McGuire from her Wayward Children series, this book is very different. It is ambitious and broad in scope with an experimental style that hops around between different timelines. But it does still have the signature elements that I love about McGuire’s works: in-depth explorations of nuanced characters, clever plays on classic tropes, and a certain tendency toward the macabre. Middlegame comes out tomorrow, May 7. Continue reading Review of Middlegame–Brutal and Beautiful Alchemy
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
Review of Amnesty–The Aftermath of Revolution
Time to finally close the case files in the Amberlough Dossier—the final book in this thrilling trilogy by Lara Elena Donnelly has arrived! Two years ago, I reviewed Amberlough, the decadent spy thriller that kicked off the series, and last year followed up with Armistice, its dark and gritty sequel. Now the series is finishing off with Amnesty, which comes out tomorrow, April 16. If you’re in the New York City area, be sure to join me at the official book launch at the Astoria Bookshop! Continue reading Review of Amnesty–The Aftermath of Revolution
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