What better way to fall in love than by running through the halls of a haunted house together? I have been absolutely sleeping on the horrormance subgenre, which combines—you guessed it!—horror and romance. At first glance, you might think these genres are complete opposites and wouldn’t blend well. But when you think about it some more, it makes sense: Both horror and romance are about putting characters in extreme situations to explore particular emotions at their heights. If I Stopped Haunting You, a debut horrormance by Colby Wilkens that came out in October, has completely sold me on the genre combo! Continue reading If I Stopped Haunting You—Horromance
Category: Uncategorized
Death Becomes Her—Musical Comedy Revitalized
What if you could live forever . . . but so could your worst enemy? This is the premise of the cult classic film Death Becomes Her, which has recently been adapted for Broadway! The 1992 black comedy film, starring Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn, is celebrated for its high camp and ridiculous violence as the two ruthless rivals wreak havoc on each other’s immortal bodies as they fight over the same man. The new musical adapts the story for both the stage and the twenty-first century. I got the chance to see it in previews at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre earlier this month and was absolutely delighted! The show officially opens this Thursday, November 21.
Continue reading Death Becomes Her—Musical Comedy Revitalized
Winner of the Haunted History of Invisible Women Giveaway
Congratulations to Danielle on winning last week’s giveaway! Danielle, who has been contacted by email will be the proud new owner of a copy of A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America’s Ghosts, signed by authors Leanna Renee Hieber and Andrea Janes.
For the rest of you, I still highly recommend grabbing this book from your favorite local retailer, or buying it online and supporting The Gothic Library in the process using this Bookshop.org affiliate link.
I haven’t done a giveaway in quite a while, but let me know if you’d like to see more of these!
Spooky Stories to Consume Like Candy
Looking for some quick scares to get you in the mindset for Halloween? I’ve already written a post on ghost stories that you can read to get into the spirit of the season, but shades of the deceased aren’t the only things that will send shivers down your spine. Here are a few of my favorite stories featuring all sorts of other things that go bump in the night. These stories are all available online and perfect for giving yourself a quick horror fix before you go out to celebrate All Hallow’s Eve tonight:
Review of From the Abyss—Overlooked Weird Fiction
Ghosts, murderers, doppelgangers, and cave bears! What more could you want in a collection of weird fiction? From the Abyss: Weird Fiction, 1907–1945, edited by Melissa Edmundson, has all these things and more! This collection of strange and supernatural stories by early twentieth-century writer D. K. Broster came out earlier this month from Handheld Press. It follows after The Outcast and The Rite in being yet another illuminating spotlight on an overlooked author of weird fiction. Continue reading Review of From the Abyss—Overlooked Weird Fiction
Books I Edited in 2021
Reflecting back on 2021, the thing I am most proud of this year is finally kicking off my freelance editing career in a serious way. And the years of working on this blog seriously helped me to get there! I’ve held editorial ambitions since well before I launched The Gothic Library, but spending the last six and a half years writing weekly posts in which I critically evaluate books, communicate about what works and doesn’t work in a story, and build relationships with authors and publishing professionals has given me the foundation I needed to finally embark on this path. And I’ve found editing books to be even more fulfilling than I could have imagined! Read on to learn where you can find some of the books that I’ve worked on this year: Continue reading Books I Edited in 2021
Review of The Witch King
Would you want to rule over a kingdom that hates you? Wyatt Croft certainly doesn’t in H. E. Edgmon’s The Witch King. This debut YA fantasy novel came out this past summer and centers on a trans witch who escapes from a fae kingdom, only to be dragged right back into its politics and prejudices—and romance! I’ve been hearing so much hype for this book this year, and I’m so glad I finally got the chance to read it. Continue reading Review of The Witch King
Frankenstein’s Berry Bites—A Gothic Cookbook Recipe Test
As you may remember, a few weeks ago I hosted a guest post by Ella Buchan, one of the co-authors of A Gothic Cookbook, on the role of food in Gothic literature. A Gothic Cookbook, by Ella Buchan and Alessandra Pino, with illustrations by Lee Henry, is currently in development and being crowdfunded on Unbound (read to the end of this post for a discount code you can use on your pledge!). The book will feature dozens of illustrated recipes inspired by thirteen different works of classic and contemporary Gothic literature. Recently, the creators were kind enough to give me a sneak-peek at one of their recipes to try it out for myself and share with all of you!
Continue reading Frankenstein’s Berry Bites—A Gothic Cookbook Recipe Test
Review of The Black Moth–Of Highwaymen and Dandies
“A black moth amongst the gaily-hued butterflies…” A dashingly gothic villain steals the show in Georgette Heyer’s classic 1921 novel The Black Moth. Around this time last year, Sam Hirst and the rest of the good folks at Romancing the Gothic introduced me to Georgette Heyer, a woman widely celebrated as the mother of the modern Regency romance genre, yet whom I had somehow never heard of before. After getting a first taste of her writing with The Quiet Gentleman, I knew I would want to dive back into Heyer’s prodigious oeuvre. I decided to start with her debut novel The Black Moth. Continue reading Review of The Black Moth–Of Highwaymen and Dandies
#MonstrousMayChallenge Recap
If you follow this blog on Twitter (@gothic_library), you may have seen my daily tweets participating in the #MonstrousMayChallenge. The #MonstrousMayChallenge is a series of creative prompts created by Johannes Evans (@JohannesTEvans on Twitter) that approach the theme of monsters from a different angle for each day in May. [Please note: Johannes’s Twitter account and the content he produces is designated as 18+ and contains mature content. Some of the tweets by others under the hashtag may, as well.] You can find Johannes’s master thread detailing the prompts here. These prompts are primarily aimed at artists and fiction writers, and if you peruse the #MonstrousMayChallenge hashtag on Twitter, you’ll find everything from tweetfic to short stories, essays, and excerpts from works-in-progress, alongside sketches, comics, and digital art. Since I, alas, lack these creative talents, I decided to put my own spin on the Monstrous May prompts.
