Preview of Dark Side of the Con 2

Who’s ready for Round 2 of a three-day gothic party? Last year, I attended the very first Dark Side of the Con, a dark alternative convention in New Jersey, hosted by VampireFreaks. This week, Dark Side is back and it’s darker than ever. The biggest difference this year is that VampireFreaks split with Jeff Mach after the latter was accused of a number of problematic behaviors earlier this year—so now Dark Side will be run solely by Jet and his VF team. Another big difference is that this year, I’m doing a bunch of panels! The convention is this weekend, March 16-18, at the Radisson Hotel in Piscataway, NJ. You can find more information and buy tickets at the Dark Side of the Con website. For a preview of the panels I’ll be running and the other aspects of the con that I’m looking forward to, read on!

Dark Side of the Con 2 banner

I’ll be on four different panels at this year’s Dark Side of the Con. If you like the type of content that I post on this site, then you definitely don’t want to miss my first two panels! On Friday at 7:45pm I’m doing a panel called “The Literary Roots of Goth,” in which I’ll take you through the history of the Gothic literary movement. The next morning at 11:00am, I’m getting a little more in depth with “Gender & Sexuality in Gothic Literature.” This panel will explore the complicated relationship that this genre has had with gender and sexuality since its inception, and the way that these themes play out in individual works and the genre as a whole. For something a little more lighthearted, I’ll be moderating a “Vampires vs. Zombies” debate on Saturday at 5:00pm, in which writers MJ Brad and Tamsin Silver will argue over the merits of their preferred supernatural entity in pop culture. Lastly, you can catch me on Sunday at noon on a panel about “Corporate Goth.” There will even be some great panels at Dark Side that don’t feature me. I’m particularly excited for the “Paranormal” panel, which will be led by the Morris-Jumel Mansion’s professional paranormal investigator, Vincent Carbone.

There are a whole bunch of amazing bands that are going to be at the convention. This year, for real, I am finally going to see Ego Likeness. I keep saying that every time they’re at the same convention I am, yet somehow it never works out. This time, though, they’re a top priority. I’m also excited to get a second chance to see Xentrifuge. I was supposed to see them over the summer when they were performing in New York City but things didn’t work out, so I definitely want to catch them at Dark Side. There’s also an electro-goth-rock band called Spider Lilies, whom I had never heard of before but whose music sounds right up my alley, so I’ll definitely have to check them out! And of course, there are a few of my old favorites like Psyche Corporation and The Long Losts.

One of the dance nights from last year’s Dark Side of the Con

Apart from panels and performances, there are a lot of other things that will be going on over the weekend. Central to Dark Side of the Con are the DJed dance nights. Friday night, there’s two different dance parties going on: Cybertron, where the DJs from this well-known NYC club night will be spinning industrial, synthpop, and electro; and The Black Shamrock Ball, where a number of other DJs will be spinning goth, post-punk, and new wave. On Saturday night, DJs Jet and Swabby will be spinning emo, pop-punk, and 2000’s alternative for my new favorite dance event, The Black Parade. They will also be bringing back the Villains Ball and costume contest from last year. If you’re looking for me after midnight, I’ll probably be at one of these dance parties.

Will I see you at Dark Side of the Con? Are you coming to my panels? What events are you most excited for? Let me know in the comments!

Review of Clockmaker—A Steampunk Spinoff

In most good books, there’s always that fascinating side character that you wish you could learn more about, even though you know they’re not the focus of the story. That’s how I felt about Captain Melek, the mysterious female airship captain who features briefly in Ghost Machine by Kristen Brand, which I reviewed on this site just over a year ago.  Lucky for me, my wish came true! Kristen Brand just released a new spinoff novel all about Captain Melek and her crew.  Clockmaker: A Gothic Steampunk Novel comes out today, March 5, and is available on Amazon. Continue reading Review of Clockmaker—A Steampunk Spinoff

The Gothic Library Now Has Ads

You may have noticed that there’s a new ad banner in the sidebar. The Gothic Library has been a project of passion for over two and a half years, but it has come time for me to monetize. Hosting paid ads will help me to pay for the upkeep of the blog and justify the amount of time I spend each week to bring you quality content.
The companies that advertise on this site will be carefully hand-selected by me and will be curated to match the interests of my readers. Currently, you’ll see an ad on the sidebar for Skullflow—a skull-themed shop for all of your spooky needs, from clothing and accessories to home decor. If that sounds up your alley, feel free to give them some love.
If you want to get in touch about advertising on this site, you can send me an email at thegothiclibraryblog@gmail.com.
If you want to support The Gothic Library even more, you can always buy books through my Indiebound affiliate links.
Thank you all for your support!

Review of The Hunted: Encore–A Vampire Musical

Remember the musical episode of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer? What if you could have a whole show like that? The Hunted: Encore is an indie-made musical web series about a team of vampire hunters living in New York City. The show is one of many spin-offs from the long-running web series The Hunted, but the first to take the musical approach. Producer Ned Donovan stars as a somewhat clueless newbie hunter who teams up with a badass vampire-slaying veteran played by Megan Dorn. Together, they crush villains and make allies while singing and dancing their way through original songs with music composed by Marcus Thorne Bagala. The minute I heard the words “vampire” and “musical” in the same sentence, they had my attention. The Hunted: Encore Season 2 poster Continue reading Review of The Hunted: Encore–A Vampire Musical

You Can Now Donate to Support the Site!

Do you love the work I do here on The Gothic Library? You can help keep it going by sending secure donations through Paypal. For the last two and a half years, this blog has been purely a project of passion. I spend quite a few hours every week working to bring you thoughtful and informative content, and I remain committed to the idea of providing information about the wonderful world of dark and gothic literature to the public for free.  However, I will never say no to a bit of monetary support! Donations will help me to pay for the upkeep of this website and to justify the amount of hours I spend on non-paying work each week.

You can find my Paypal “Donate” button on my About The Gothic Library page and at the very bottom of my sidebar. You can also find it right here:



Dogs in Gothic and Horror Literature

Man’s best friend can also be his worst nightmare.… Most of us love dogs. They make great pets, as they can be playful, affectionate, and truly loyal companions. But when you remember that they are descended from wolves, you can’t help recognizing that, somewhere deep inside, even the most precious puppy retains a bit of the wild animal, a bit of the predator. And it is this aspect that makes dogs such a popular subject in horror literature. As we just passed from the Year of the Rooster to the Year of the Dog on Friday, according to the Chinese zodiac, I figured this would be an especially appropriate time to celebrate the creepiest canines in horror. Continue reading Dogs in Gothic and Horror Literature

Female Friendships in Gothic Literature

With Valentine’s Day coming up, it feels like we’re getting constantly hit in the face with commercialized images of heteronormative romantic love. It’s enough to make anyone feel a little disenchanted, but I’ve always loved the holiday. For me, Valentine’s Day is about more than just purchasing materialistic expressions of affection for your significant other. It’s about celebrating love in all its forms. And, personally, some of the most important relationships in my life are my friendships with other women. Growing up, my female friends and I always took this time of year as an opportunity to send each other flowers, give out chocolate, and be extra vocal with our love and support. That’s why this Valentine’s Day, I want to take a moment to celebrate some of my favorite female friendships in Gothic literature. Continue reading Female Friendships in Gothic Literature

African-American Writers of Gothic Literature

February is Black History Month, which we observe in the U.S. by celebrating the lives and achievements of African-Americans throughout the country’s history. In this vein, I wanted to highlight some of the black writers—particularly female writers—who have made significant contributions to the Gothic genre. The Gothic is generally regarded as a Eurocentric genre, created by upper class Englishmen in their extravagant estates and adopted by those who wished to imitate them. But like any good genre, the Gothic is adaptive. Its elements have been co-opted by American writers of urban horror, such as Edgar Allan Poe, and transformed into the unique subgenre of Southern Gothic by the country’s more rural authors. It is no surprise, then, that the black literary community has embraced the Gothic as well, though usually in forms less immediately recognizable than your typical tales of women in nightgowns fleeing from monsters in a castle. Read on for a list of prominent black authors who have incorporated the Gothic into their works. Continue reading African-American Writers of Gothic Literature

The Guns Above—A Feminist Steampunk Military Drama

The Guns Above by Robyn Bennis is the humorous, female-led steampunk military drama you didn’t know was missing from your life. This debut novel, which came out last May, tells the story of Josette Dupre, Garnia’s first female airship captain, and her fight to keep her position, her ship, and her crew. The book gives an intimate and unromantic look at the harsh realities of war, while also managing to be an uplifting tale about trust, leadership, and unlikely friendship. Continue reading The Guns Above—A Feminist Steampunk Military Drama

Fiction as a Window to Witchcraft: Insights from Chapters and Charms

I have some really exciting news: my twin sister just launched her own blog! Carly has been one of the biggest supporters of The Gothic Library since the beginning, frequently suggesting topics, correcting typos, and offering moral support over the years. Now it’s time for me to return the favor. Her new website, Chapters and Charms, combines her love of books with her passion for Wicca and witchcraft. As I figured these topics might be of interest to readers of The Gothic Library, I asked Carly to come do a guest post. Read on to learn about how gothic fiction influenced Carly’s path to Wicca:

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Many things in my life were introduced to me first through books. Witchcraft/modern paganism was no exception. The genres birthed by the Gothic tradition—paranormal romance, monster fiction, mystery, horror—are rife with references to mythology, magic ritual, and even specific pagan practices like Wicca. Although these depictions may take great creative license, conflating fantasy and fact, they nonetheless piqued my interest and set me on the right track to begin my own research into the subject.

Just as monsters like vampires and werewolves began to figure as protagonists of their own stories instead as the villains (thanks largely to authors like Anne Rice), witches, too, were cast in a more relatable and humanized light around the turn of the millennium. I remember reading YA fiction like The Secret Circle by L.J. Smith (author of the popular Vampire Diaries series) and the Twitches novels by H. B. Gilmour and Randi Reisfeld (later adapted to film with Tia and Tamera Mowry playing the twin witches) that depict folk magic and rituals in detail. To this day, whenever I see the herb marjoram, I think of the scene from Twitches where the twins use it as a substitution for another herb in a spell and end up talking to the dead instead of time-traveling (or vice versa, my memory is fuzzy). While the magic depicted in these fantasy stories is usually way more dramatic and flashy than what real life practitioners mean when we say “witchcraft,” there is an element of precision, creativity, accessibility, and taking control of your own fate that is shared, which drew me to learn more about it.

These books taught me words like coven and grimoire, but it was actually a Scooby Doo movie that introduced me to the word Wicca and set the stage for my dedication to that religion years later. In Scooby Doo! And the Witch’s Ghost, the gang go to New England to solve a mystery for a horror writer, and in the process, meet a young Wiccan woman named Thorn, who falls under suspicion for her witchy ways. Though the film propagates some misinformation (such as retroactively calling women burned at the stake for witchcraft Wiccans, when Wicca is actually a religion founded in the 1950s), it introduced the concept to mainstream children’s entertainment. Scooby Doo may seem a little far removed from gothic lit, but it is inspired by the whodunit genre popularized by gothic authors like Edgar Allen Poe and draws from the ghost stories and spooky settings common in the genre.

So, you can see why fiction (especially gothic-rooted fiction) and witchcraft have always been closely related for me. They both bring magic into my life: fiction through escapism and the chance to explore new worlds and experiences, witchcraft through little rituals that bring my spirituality into my everyday life and which help me manifest my dreams into reality. That is why I started my blog, Chapters and Charms. Book blog meets witch blog as I alternate between reviews/author profiles and witchy tips or spells. Sometimes I even write about witchy books. If any of this sounds up your alley, you can check it out at chaptersandcharms.com. I’m also on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.

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Carly is the author of Chapters and Charms. She has been practicing solitary wicca since 2009, infusing her practice with her Jewish heritage, imagination, and intuition. She has also been a book blogger since 2014, and launched her solo blog, Chapters and Charms, earlier this month.