Category Archives: Gothic

#WitchWeek2020: The end is nigh!

Posted on November 6, 2020 by Lizzie Ross

If you’re reading this, you’ve lived to tell the tale of Witch Week 2020. When you do, make sure it’s a tale with dark corners, collapsed towers, and horrifying specters. Not to mention lots and lots of shadows. Chris and … Continue reading →

Posted in Gothic, Witch Week | Tagged Treason and plot | 14 Comments

#WitchWeek2020 Day 6: MEXICAN GOTHIC and the Classic Gothic Tale

Posted on November 5, 2020 by Lizzie Ross

Wrangling the specters today is guest blogger Kristen M, who has been blogging at WeBeReading.com for most of twelve years and is the creator of March Magics (which annually celebrates Diana Wynne Jones and Terry Pratchett). She lives in Seattle, loves baking, … Continue reading →

Posted in Gothic, Horror, Witch Week | Tagged Silvia Moreno-Garcia | 11 Comments

#WitchWeek2020 Day 5: Gothic fantasy, with puppets

Posted on November 4, 2020 by Lizzie Ross

Puppet shows! Fun times for all, right? Not in this chilling Newbery Honor book. In 2007, Laura Amy Schlitz had won the Newbery Award for Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village. This 2012 gothic fantasy by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Fantasy, Gothic, Historical fiction, Mystery, Witch Week, YA Lit | Tagged Laura Amy Schlitz, M R James | 8 Comments

#WitchWeek2020 Day 4: M R James and the Gothic Tradition

Posted on November 3, 2020 by Lizzie Ross

In this post, guest blogger Jean takes us to the world of M. R. James, famous for his creepy gothic tales, which have inspired several 20th and 21st century authors. Jean is a librarian blogging at Howling Frog Books who … Continue reading →

Posted in Classic, Fantasy, Gothic, short stories, Witch Week | Tagged M R James | 15 Comments

#WitchWeek2020 Day 3: The Graveyard Book

Posted on November 2, 2020 by Lizzie Ross

“It takes a graveyard to raise a child.” (back cover of The Graveyard Book, US edition) Appropriately for today, the Day of the Dead, we present you with a discussion of this year’s read-along book, a novel set in a cemetery. Four of us–Lory* … Continue reading →

Posted in Gothic, Witch Week | Tagged Ann Radcliffe, Bram Stoker, Charles Dickens, Edith Nesbitt, Horace Walpole, Jane Austen, Joan Aiken, JRR Tolkien, Mary Shelley, Matthew Lewis, Mrs. Gaskell, Neil Gaiman, Rudyard Kipling, Tennessee Williams | 14 Comments

#WitchWeek2020 Day 2: A Gothic Reading of The Betrothed

Posted on November 1, 2020 by Lizzie Ross

Today’s guest blogger, e-Tinkerbell, lives in Italy, so it’s no surprise that she brings this classic Italian novel from the 19th century to our attention. e-Tinkerbell is a high school English teacher who loves literature, history… and shoes. She blogs … Continue reading →

Posted in Classic, Gothic, Romance, Witch Week | Tagged Alessandro Manzoni | 9 Comments

#WitchWeek2020 Day 1: Gothick Dreams

Posted on October 31, 2020 by Lizzie Ross

Happy Halloween to all! My first guest blogger is my co-host, Chris, who blogs as Calmgrove on WordPress, where for eight years he’s been exploring the world of ideas through books by way of reviews and discussions. Today Chris has taken … Continue reading →

Posted in Castles and towers, Gothic, Mystery, Witch Week | Tagged Alexandre Dumas, Ann Radcliffe, Bram Stoker, Charlotte Bronte, Diana Wynne Jones, Edgar Allan Poe, Evelyn Waugh, Hamlet, Horace Walpole, J K Rowling, Jane Austen, Ludwig II, Mervyn Peake, Philip K Dick, Sir Walter Scott, William Beckford | 21 Comments

#WitchWeek2020: Master Post

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Lizzie Ross

Diana Wynne Jones’ Witch Week (1983) is a fantasy set between Halloween and November 5th — Bonfire Night — marking the day in 1604 when Guy Fawkes was caught preparing to blow up Parliament. Six years ago, Lory of Emerald City Book Review used this … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Gothic, Horror, Mystery, Witch Week | Tagged Alessandro Manzoni, Diana Wynne Jones, Laura Amy Schlitz, M R James, Neil Gaiman, Silvia Moreno-Garcia | 7 Comments

Countdown to Witch Week 2020: One week to go

Posted on October 23, 2020 by Lizzie Ross

Actual Halloween may be cancelled this year, but you can celebrate it virtually with us, during Witch Week! Don’t miss out on the fun: Apply your Gothic makeup, put on your best costumes, and settle down for a close reading … Continue reading →

Posted in Gothic, Witch Week | 4 Comments

Cooking up some scary fun

Posted on October 16, 2020 by Lizzie Ross

There’s still time to prep for Witch Week 2020. If you haven’t yet read Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, find a copy and get started. You have two weeks starting … now! For the second musical inspiration, here’s one from … Continue reading →

Posted in Gothic, Witch Week | Leave a comment