We’ve talked about American Gothic, French and German Gothic, and even Irish Gothic. But what about Scottish Gothic? Cultures with a strong oral storytelling tradition tend to also have a very rich tradition of horror stories, and Scotland is no exception. A recent anthology by the independent press Haunt Publishing seeks to capitalize on that connection. … Continue reading Review of Haunted Voices—Scottish Gothic
Do we really need another Dracula adaptation? I say, if it does something new and clever, then yes! And I think the new miniseries released earlier this year on Netflix and BBC One delivers on that. Dracula, created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, is a very loose retelling of Bram Stoker’s novel that takes … Continue reading Netflix’s Dracula Miniseries 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 … Continue reading Denizens of Distant Realms Review
All aboard! You don’t want to miss the train to Hadestown, a Broadway musical that gives Greek mythology a modern twist. Friends have been telling me for months that I needed to see this show, especially since the tale of the spring goddess Persephone and her underworld husband Hades is one of my favorite myths … Continue reading Review of Hadestown—A Mythic Musical
“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 … Continue reading The Sisters of the Winter Wood Review
It’s never wise to brag where the Staryk can hear you…. One of my favorite authors, Naomi Novik, once again brings fairy tales to life in Spinning Silver. This stand-alone novel came out last year and is a chilling tale that blends a Slavic-inspired fantasy world with a loose retelling of “Rumpelstiltskin.” If you love folklore, … Continue reading Review of Spinning Silver—Slavic Demons and Ice Fairies
As a lover of the dark side, I often find myself more intrigued by the villains of a story than by the heroes. Villains have such complexity of character and face the hardest decisions—not to mention that they tend to have a vastly superior wardrobe and aesthetic. I was delighted, then, when it slowly dawned … Continue reading Forest of a Thousand Lanterns Review—Rooting for the Villains
Sometimes the oldest and most familiar tales just need a new twist. Daniel Mallory Ortberg does that to the extreme, turning the familiar quite strange in The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror. In this collection of creepy short fiction, each story is based on a classic fairy tale, sometimes blended together with other fairy tales, … Continue reading Review of The Merry Spinster: Sinister and Surreal Fairy Tales
As you splash in the waves this summer, just remember that the ocean’s depths hold all sorts of horrors. And not least among them are … mermaids. That’s right, these mythical fish folk aren’t necessarily as cute and cuddly as Disney has led us to believe. Mermaids, and their singing sisters the sirens, have long … Continue reading Tales of Monstrous Mermaids
I can never resist a new anthology by Ellen Datlow. If you’re unfamiliar, Datlow has put together about ninety different anthologies of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, including The Best Horror of the Year, The Doll Collection, and Children of Lovecraft. Earlier this year, I reviewed a Halloween collection she did with Lisa Morton called Haunted Nights. When I … Continue reading Review of The Devil and the Deep: Horror Stories of the Sea
