Literary classics earn their designation by presenting themes that resonate throughout the ages. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is just such a literary classic. She wrote this short but brilliant tale when she was about 20, while she, her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Lord Byron were on holiday in Switzerland. As the poor weather prevented their outdoor adventures, the three entertained themselves with stories of the “supernatural.” Shelley’s Frankenstein has become a world renowned classic and a staple of Halloween partiers everywhere. And yet, Shelley’s scary […]
Reservation to the Danger Zone
I texted a friend who read this book while I was in the middle of it and said, “Good GOD American Psycho. I have never had such a visceral reaction to a book.” (Note: I had forgotten about the time I threw “Message in a Bottle” across the room because Nicholas Sparks – bleh. But I digress.) This book…this book. I had seen the movie long ago so I thought I was mentally prepared but boy was I wrong. Patrick Bateman’s descent into madness is […]
This review is of dubious value to the forces of Light
Target: Sergei Lukyanenko’s New Watch. Translated by Andrew Bromfield (The Watches pentalogy #5) Profile: Modern Fantasy, Suspense, Horror Sergei Lukyanenko ostensibly drew his Watches series to a conclusion with Last Watch, but almost six years later he released a fifth book. New Watch is a very different kind of novel than its predecessors. It draws inspiration from other contemporary and urban fantasies, most notably the Harry Potter series. There is a greater emphasis on the mechanics of the world’s magic system, answering some questions from previous novels, but shifting […]
An unsettling and creepy selection of macabre short stories with a gothic twist and atmospheric artwork.
Foreboding spirits lurk in the background of these short stories by Emily Carroll. Demons burrow under the skin, a wife seeks revenge from beyond the grave and a young man believes his brother has been replaced by an imposter. These five short gothic stories are fantastically eerie folktales, populated by people consumed by jealousy, fear and loneliness. One of the stories, His Face All Red, first appeared online, and it’s interesting to see it rearranged from its original vertical scrolling incarnation. You can have a read […]