I just spent the past month reading a scary story or poem for each day of October! This ambitious task was part of a reading challenge created by Dr. Sam Hirst, founder of Romancing the Gothic. I had such a great time last year participating in Sam’s inaugural #AGhostADay challenge, that I was thrilled when they announced they were doing a new challenge this October. While last year’s stories were mainly tales of revenants and hauntings, this year Sam broadened the focus to include as wide a variety of scary stories as possible. Subjects ranged from variations on classic vampires, werewolves, witches, and demons to more unique horrors like infectious fungi, primeval animals, and portals to other dimensions. You can see the full reading list of thirty-one stories for #AScareDay here. And check out the #AScareADay hashtag on (the platform formerly known as) Twitter or the #AScareADay feed on BlueSky to follow the discussion. Continue reading #AScareADay Reading Challenge Reflections
My Cousin Rachel Review—More Daphne du Maurier
I’ve loved Daphne du Maurier ever since I read and reviewed her most famous novel, Rebecca, during the first year of this blog. Since then, I’ve read a few of her other works, including Jamaica Inn and the short story “The Birds.” But none of her other works have had as powerful an impact as I felt while reading Rebecca. Nothing, that is, until I saw the 2017 film adaptation of My Cousin Rachel starring Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin. Ever since seeing it in theaters, I’ve been meaning to go back and read du Maurier’s novel of the same name. I finally had the opportunity, thanks to starting a new book club focused on books that have been famously adapted. And now having read it, I can say that My Cousin Rachel is joining Rebecca as one of my favorite Gothic novels of the twentieth century. Continue reading My Cousin Rachel Review—More Daphne du Maurier
Unique Halloween Costumes Inspired by Gothic Literature
Tired of wearing the same costumes as everyone else? Why not show off your literary knowledge and find something unique by plumbing the depths of Gothic literature! Of course, Count Draculas and Frankenstein’s monsters are common enough costumes, though usually based more on the film adaptations than their source texts. But there are plenty of other monsters, apparitions, and dramatic characters to be found within the genre. Here are a few ideas I’ve come up with: Continue reading Unique Halloween Costumes Inspired by Gothic Literature
Review of Starling House—Kentucky Gothic
Opal has been dreaming of Starling House, but the house seems to have dreams of its own… Starling House by Alix E. Harrow is a brilliant Gothic fantasy which came out earlier this month. With a sentient house, a cursed family, and long-buried secrets rising to the surface, this book puts Kentucky Gothic on the map. Continue reading Review of Starling House—Kentucky Gothic
Review of Wrath Becomes Her—Gothic Golems
“I am retribution!” is the battle cry of Vera the golem in Aden Polydoros’s brilliant new young adult novel Wrath Becomes Her, which comes out tomorrow, October 10. I’ve been impressed with Polydoros’s ability to seamlessly blend Jewish culture and folklore with the Gothic ever since reading his debut, The City Beautiful, a couple of years ago. But he takes this to a whole new level in Wrath Becomes Her, creating the kind of book I really wish I could have read as a teen. Continue reading Review of Wrath Becomes Her—Gothic Golems
Review of The Widow of Rose House—Romance and Haunted Homes
Victorian romance and haunted houses—I’m always on the lookout for books that combine two of my favorite things like this, and have just found one that does so extraordinarily well! The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller is a delightful Gothic romance that came out back in 2019. It fit so perfectly in my wheelhouse, that I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more books by this author in the future. Continue reading Review of The Widow of Rose House—Romance and Haunted Homes
Review of Never Whistle at Night—Indiginous Horror
From “wendigos” to “Indian burial grounds,” the folklore and tragic history of North America’s indigenous populations has frequently been mined for inspiration and twisted to suit the purposes of horror authors writing outside of their own cultures. In recent years, however, we’ve seen a real rise in the number of indigenous voices within the horror scene telling their own stories. A new collection of short horror stories celebrates this surge of Native American writers: Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology, edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. This anthology, which contains twenty-six stories plus a foreword by Stephen Graham Jones, came out just last week, in plenty of time for spooky season. Continue reading Review of Never Whistle at Night—Indiginous Horror
Gothic Tropes: The Cursed Wanderer
“I pass, like night, from land to land…” I mentioned the cursed wanderer in my recent post on Nautical Gothic, so I wanted to examine the concept here in a bit more detail. This is a character archetype that finds its way into many Gothic works both new and classic, either in the form of a villain, a tragic side character, or an antihero. The cursed wanderer is an outcast from society, usually immortal or otherwise supernatural, and never establishes roots but rather is compelled to wander from place to place as the consequence for some past sin. Continue reading Gothic Tropes: The Cursed Wanderer
Review of The Last Heir to Blackwood Library
When Ivy Radcliffe suddenly inherits a country estate with a grand and ancient library from an unknown relative, it seems like a dream come true. But that dream slowly turns into a nightmare as the library’s dark secrets come to light. This is the premise of Hester Fox’s Gothic fantasy novel The Last Heir to Blackwood Library, which came out back in April. Continue reading Review of The Last Heir to Blackwood Library
Review of Silver Nitrate—Cursed Films
Don’t play with magic you don’t understand. You’d think this would be common sense by now, but there’s always some skeptic willing to treat mystic rituals like a game—to their own detriment. Montserrat and Tristán learn this lesson the hard way in Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s latest horror novel Silver Nitrate, which came out last month. Continue reading Review of Silver Nitrate—Cursed Films