In an alternate London, there is a pit of depravity at the heart of the city where no law can reach…. The Price of Meat by K.J. Charles is a horror novella loosely inspired by the story of Sweeney Todd. After reading Charles’s adventure-filled romance Spectred Isle, I knew I had to check out some of her darker work. And you can’t get much darker than a network of murderous cannibals in the bustling city of London…. Continue reading Review of The Price of Meat–A Modern Penny Dreadful
Review of Beasts Made of Night
In the walled city of Kos, sins are made manifest into shadowy beasts and consumed by the downtrodden caste of sin-eaters. But are those who have transferred their sins to others truly pure and blameless? Beasts Made of Night is a Nigerian-influenced YA fantasy novel and the first in a duology by Tochi Onyebuchi. It came out back in 2017 but jumped to the top of my reading list while I was searching for a book to meet the “Feeding Time” category for the #MonstrousMayChallenge on Twitter. Continue reading Review of Beasts Made of Night
Review of Sorcerer to the Crown–Ambition and Fairy Bargains
Magic is drying up in Great Britain and the blame is about to be placed on the country’s most hated magician.… Sorcerer to the Crown was the debut novel by Zen Cho, which came out back in 2015. It’s a striking read-alike to a more recent release, The Midnight Bargain by C. L. Polk. Both explore sexism and clashing cultures in a magical alternate Regency setting. But Sorcerer to the Crown adds one more element that I love—the fae. Continue reading Review of Sorcerer to the Crown–Ambition and Fairy Bargains
The Women of Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft is not particularly known for his varied and nuanced depictions of female characters. In fact, he’s known for barely depicting women in his tales of cosmic horror at all. Discounting female eldritch gods and dead queens, I’ve come up with a total of three women across Lovecraft’s oeuvre that play significant roles in his stories. Let’s take a look at how they fit into the mythos: Continue reading The Women of Lovecraft
Review of Netflix’s The Haunting of Bly Manor
A few months ago, I reviewed the much talked-about Netflix television show The Haunting of Hill House. And as requested, I’m back with a review of the follow-up season The Haunting of Bly Manor! Like Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor was created for Netflix by Mike Flanagan and it features many of the same actors, but it is not a direct sequel. Instead, while Hill House took on Shirley Jackson’s most famous novel, Bly Manor tackles the works of another beloved American author, Henry James. Loosely inspired by James’s ghostly novella The Turn of the Screw, with plot elements from a few of his other stories thrown in, the nine episodes of The Haunting of Bly Manor debuted on Netflix on October 9, 2020—just in time to be the perfect mid-pandemic binge. Continue reading Review of Netflix’s The Haunting of Bly Manor
Gothic Vocab: The Grotesque
Perhaps more so than the other vocabulary words we’ve discussed thus far (the sublime and the uncanny), “grotesque” is a term you’re just as likely to hear thrown about in casual conversation as in academic discourse on Gothic literature. We might use it to describe anything that’s bizarre, incongruous, unnatural, or gross. But where does it come from, and what does it mean in a literary context? Much like the word “Gothic” itself, grotesque has a convoluted and roundabout history that covers a wide range of meanings and takes us back to ancient times. Continue reading Gothic Vocab: The Grotesque
Gothic Tropes: Animate Portraits and Tapestries
The eyes of the portraits are watching you, seeming to follow you no matter where you go.… It’s such a classic scene in horror that we see this moment parodied in nearly every sitcom or children’s cartoon that has a haunted house episode. But where did this trope come from? To an extent, it’s inspired by an actual artistic phenomenon—an optical illusion called “ubiquitous gaze,” in which the artist’s use of perspective makes the subject appear to be looking at the viewer, no matter what angle the viewer approaches it from. In Gothic literature, however, a supernatural explanation is more likely. In fact, in several classic works, the portraits do quite a bit more than merely follow you with their eyes. Below are a few of my favorite examples of portraits and tapestries that come to life:
Continue reading Gothic Tropes: Animate Portraits and Tapestries
Review of Wicked Saints—Holiness and Heresy in a Fantasy World
A battle-hardened blood mage, a girl touched by the gods, and a monster forged by magic each have one goal: to overthrow the king. Delicate alliances, heartbreaking betrayals, and devious machinations fill the pages of Wicked Saints, the first book in Emily A. Duncan’s young adult fantasy series Something Dark and Holy. I picked up a copy of this book back when it first came out in 2019, but only just now got around to reading it—right in time for the trilogy’s conclusion! Book 2, Ruthless Gods came out last year and now the final book, Blessed Monsters, comes out tomorrow, April 6. If you haven’t hopped on this bandwagon yet, you’ll want to dive right in with Wicked Saints and then keep on reading the next two books. Just brace yourself to fall in love with some monsters! Continue reading Review of Wicked Saints—Holiness and Heresy in a Fantasy World
Review of Maplecroft–Lovecraft Meets Lizzie Borden
Take the story of Lizzie Borden and cross that with Lovecraft’s “The Shadow over Innsmouth”.… This is essentially the plot of Cherie Priest’s 2014 horror novel Maplecroft. This book has been on my to-read list for years now, and I finally got around to listening to the audiobook. If you love bold women swinging axes, casual queer representation, and eldritch beings emerging from the sea, you’ll want to pick this one up, too! Continue reading Review of Maplecroft–Lovecraft Meets Lizzie Borden
Review of Lost in the Never Woods–A Dark Peter Pan
What if Wendy’s brothers never came back from Neverland? Aiden Thomas, celebrated author of Cemetery Boys, is back with a dark and spooky twist on Peter Pan! Lost in the Never Woods is a YA fantasy novel that takes on one of the most iconic characters in children’s literature to explore the themes of trauma and grief. It comes out tomorrow, March 23. Continue reading Review of Lost in the Never Woods–A Dark Peter Pan