Category: gothic

Paper Ghosts

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

by Sarah Addison Allen

Paper Ghosts is a multigenerational ghost story, complete with a haunted house and a town witch.

The story opens in the 1970s with Willamina Wester. After her mother abandons her, Willamina is raised by her grandmother, a solitary woman in Hen Town. Grandmother Wester knows EVERYTHING, and she isn’t above using what she knows to blackmail others into doing her bidding. She has her granddaughter’s whole future mapped out, right down to the husband she’s picked for poor Willamina. Willamina, however, wants nothing more than to escape the confines of the Wester house. Before long, the choices she makes push her grandmother to murder.

The story then jumps ahead to the present day. Willamina, now called Mim, lives alone in her rambling haunted mansion, which is exactly how she likes it. That changes when her son Tug and granddaughter Bailey move in. Bailey, it turns out, has the same “gift” as her grandmother, though she doesn’t yet know its full extent. As a young child, Bailey is precocious, innocent and cheerful, at least until Mim starts interfering in her life and manipulating her friend group. Even so, Bailey adores her Grandma Mim and only wants to be loved by her.

The story then jumps ahead once more, this time to Bailey’s high school years. By now, her life is beginning to follow the same tragic path as her grandmother’s.

Overall, this novel is a quick read, and I was immediately entertained by both the plot and the writing. My one frustration was the jumps in time, which felt abrupt. That’s a little ironic, since the author describes Hen Town as a place where time moves more slowly, and even the town clock runs one minute longer every hour.

What I liked most was the premise. I loved the idea of women being trapped by their past, and of the “sins of the mother” being passed down to the daughter, or in this case, the granddaughter. I also appreciated the message about not letting your last name define your destiny. If anything, I wanted more. I would have loved to read Grandmother Wester’s backstory, see Willamina’s story fleshed out further, and have the gaps in Bailey’s life filled in.

All in all, it was an enjoyable read, even though I found the ending a bit of a disappointment.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the copy.

The Eye of Goliath

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by Diego Muzzio

This review contains spoilers!

I was first drawn to this novel because it was described as being like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I also saw something of a much darker Piranesi in it, with flashes of Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. And who doesn’t love a spooky psychological gothic mystery set in an asylum and an abandoned lighthouse?
This is a story within a story. Our protagonist, Dr. Edward Pierce, is haunted and traumatized by his experiences in the war. He even carries a frightful souvenir: a piece of shrapnel still lodged in his head, which he calls “the metallic rat.” It causes crippling headaches, and with them a morphine addiction.
At the sanatorium, Dr. Pierce takes on a new patient, David Bradley. Bradley is an engineer who was sent to an abandoned lighthouse off the coast of Argentina to repair its lantern. Bad weather leaves him stranded there, and he becomes haunted by, and then obsessed with, the last lighthouse keeper, Evans. Evans murdered his own family and was sent to the lighthouse because no one else would take the job. Bradley keeps a journal during his time on the island, and it charts his mental deterioration. Is he really being haunted by Evans’s ghost and stalked by a black albatross?
Bradley is eventually rescued, but his mind is shattered. He is mute and almost catatonic, and he “swims” across the floor until he is too exhausted to go on.
Dr. Pierce becomes obsessed with the journal and reads it several times. He devises a treatment that reenacts a scene from the trenches of the Western Front so that Bradley can face his hell head-on. [Spoiler] We learn that Bradley committed a murder himself, and that his guilt helped drive his breakdown at the lighthouse.
Meanwhile, Dr. Pierce’s obsession with his patient seems, to me, to be a way of distracting himself from his own PTSD. He is also a very proud man who uses his patients, his controversial therapies and his writing to define who he is.
I found this novel propulsive and provocative. It is poetically horrific in its portrayal of madness and the horrific repercussions the experience of war can bring. It would be an effective novel for study in high school, both for its themes and the author’s style.

Thank you to Pushkin Press and Netgalley for the copy.

A Fate Worse Than Drowning

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by Sarah L. Hawthorn

It’s the 1860s, and your parents have promised you to an abusive tyrant of a man. You refuse him, so he sets his sights on your little sister instead. What do you do? Well, Eleanor was willing to make a deal with the devil to protect her sister, Caroline (Liney). The terms? She killed a lighthouse keeper, and now she must lure ships onto the rocks so the devil can claim their souls as his own. The only trouble is that the man Eleanor killed now haunts the lighthouse and, unfortunately for her, has become something like the voice of her conscience.

Liney has no idea what bargain her sister has struck. She lives a lonely, isolated life, missing the comforts of her old home. Not that she isn’t grateful to be safe, but still. Then one morning a young woman washes up on the beach, the survivor of a shipwreck Eleanor caused, and Liney does more than befriend her. Needless to say, this complicates Ellie’s deal with the devil.

I enjoyed this gothic, ghostly love story. The dynamic between the sisters was compelling to follow throughout, and the relationship between Ellie and the ghost of the man she murdered evolves in surprising ways. And although I didn’t really empathize with any of the characters, the ending still left me sad.

A wonderfully atmospheric read for a cold, rainy day!

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the copy.

Bone of my Bone

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by Johanna van Veen

Johanna Van Veen has quickly become one of my favourite authors, so when the opportunity to review her newest novel, Bone of My Bone, landed in my lap, I absolutely jumped out of my skin. An image that is more appropriate than you might think.

Bone of My Bone follows two women thrown together by the chaos of war. Sister Ursula is a young nun who has fled her convent to escape an invading horde of soldiers, carrying with her a tremendous weight of guilt for having abandoned her fellow sisters. Elsebeth is a brave, scrappy peasant girl who is running from the very same army. Their paths cross at a pivotal moment: just as Sister Ursula is about to be violated, Elsebeth steps in and saves her. From there, the two decide to travel together, and it isn’t long before their journey takes a fateful turn.

Along the way, they encounter a dying man in possession of something extraordinary: a holy relic, the skull of a saint. Legend holds that if the skull is reunited with the rest of the saint’s remains, the one who does so will be granted a wish. Naturally, Ursula and Elsebeth take the skull and set off to do exactly that, though each woman is driven by her own deeply personal reasons. Standing in their way is a necromancer who is stalking them across the countryside, desperate to claim the relic for himself.

This novel is such an entertaining read. It weaves together elements of German folklore, atmospheric dread, body horror, and a genuinely lovely love story. Van Veen’s writing is both gruesome and vivid, in description and in theme. She doesn’t shy away from the inhumanity of war, the selfishness of those who wage it, and the particular brutality that women are subjected to in the midst of it. And yet, through all of that darkness, something tender takes root. The romance between Ursula and Elsebeth is soft and authentic, and it earns every moment.

Set in Bavaria during the Thirty Years’ War, this one is an absolute must read if you love sapphic romances, folk horror, and stories that don’t flinch from the ugliness of history while still finding beauty within it.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the copy.

House of Splinters

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by Laura Purcell

Laura Purcell is one of my favourite authors when it comes to Gothic Victorian literature. I am always riveted by her storytelling; it is incredibly atmospheric with regard to the creep factor. House of Splinters is a prequel to her acclaimed “The Silent Companions”. Truth be told, I enjoyed House of Splinters a wee bit more.

In this novel, we return to the creepy Bridge estate. After the death of her father-in-law, Belinda and her husband, Wilfred, arrive for the funeral and to claim their inheritance. Soon after their arrival, Belinda encounters one of the silent companions: two-dimensional, life-sized wooden figures that resemble deceased family members and appear unexpectedly throughout the house.

With unsettling memories of her last stay (after the birth of her son Freddie), a very pregnant Belinda is already on edge, so with the appearance of the “silent companions” and Freddie’s peculiar behaviour, Belinda gives birth, almost losing her own life and the life of her baby daughter.

As the novel progresses, Belinda learns of the dark history surrounding the Bridge, including murder and witchcraft. A history that her husband does not want to discuss. However, with the arrival of a brother-in-law, Nathan, whom she knew very little about, and the increasingly disturbing behaviour of her son, and bizarre noises, Belinda begins to wonder if she is losing her mind. Thankfully, she finds comfort in her newly acquainted brother-in-law, who confirms her misgivings about the home.

House of Splinters was everything I was expecting—quick, engaging, and riddled with suspense.

Thank you to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for the copy

Wolf Worm

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by T. Kingfisher

Since the death of her father, Sonia Wilson has had to put aside her beloved profession of being a scientific illustrator and become an art teacher. With only a few friends and an oppressive headmistress, she seeks employment elsewhere…but there aren’t a lot of positions available, because she is, after all, a woman in the late 1800s.  So when the reclusive scientist Dr. Hadler hires her to illustrate his work of bugs, worms and squiggly, squirming critters, she willingly obliges. 

After trekking through the woods with creepy Mr. Phelps, who offered to chaperone her and narrate the nightmarish folktales of devils and blood thieves you would meet in the woods, she arrives at Dr. Hadler’s North Carolina mansion….wonderfully creepy, atmospheric.

Sonia soon realizes that the doctor’s work is rather odd and that the artist before her disappeared under mysterious circumstances, compounded by the fact that the animals in the area are behaving rather creepily, she begins to regret her decision to work. Also, what is with the creepy shed on the property, a place that the doctor brings live chickens and keeps under lock and key? 

The story is narrated by Sonia, whose voice is so personable and funny (which is wonderfully juxtaposed against the creepy atmosphere). I really wanted to be her friend and, over a bottle of wine, hear all about her experience. Just a heads up, if you don’t like bugs and blood, this novel may not be for you. Kingfisher is quite graphic in her descriptions. 

Except for a few parts that seemed somewhat redundant (especially when Sonia is questioning the reality of a horror she saw), the novel is humorous, suspenseful, and everything I expected from the author.

…oh, and I absolutely loved the Kents. 

This is an great Southern Gothic to add to you audio book list.

I listened to the audio of this novel. Mary Robinette Kowal is the narrator, and she is absolutely wonderful. She is very effective with voices, accents, and intonation of emotion. I would definitely listen to other audiobooks she narrates. 

Thank you to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the copies. 

You’ll be able to buy Wolf Worm at the end of May. 

Nowhere Burning

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by Catriona Ward

Full disclosure, Catriona Ward’s writing is a favourite of mine; she could rewrite the ingredients of a cereal box, and I’d love it. So I was fully expecting to love this new novel of hers, and I did. Although it isn’t my favourite novel of hers, it was still a good, creepy, suspenseful, mystery, thriller, and horror novel.

The novel unfolds through multiple perspectives and timelines, with the estate of Nowhere serving as the central, unifying “character” of sorts.

Leif Winham, a renowned actor, retreats from a life of glamour to his secluded estate, Nowhere. He leads an isolated and enigmatic existence, prompting neighbors to view him as an eccentric recluse while remaining intrigued by both his lifestyle and the estate itself.

Tom, a documentarian, is driven to investigate Nowhere and the mythology that surrounds both the estate and its founder.

Riley, a young girl, experiences significant trauma after being orphaned and placed in the care of a cruel, abusive guardian referred to as ‘cousin.’ Both Riley and her younger brother suffer under this individual, ultimately compelling Riley to make the difficult decision to escape with her brother. The only refuge she can imagine is Nowhere, a place described to her by a girl named Noon, who visits her at night. Noon explains that Nowhere is a place ‘in the mountains under the stars where everyone gets love and respect,’ and provides Riley with written directions to this sanctuary for children like her can find a home.

I found each of these three perspectives equally enthralling, and when Ward expertly weaves the storyline together, the novel becomes an impressive, intricate piece of storytelling. 

I really enjoyed this novel, as I knew I would. It is deeply suspenseful, and I found the characters well-developed and interesting. I wanted to know their motivations, their backstories, and eventually how their lives unfold.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Publishing for the book

Nowhere Burning will be available February 24th.

Grace

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A. M. Shine

Grace is my first encounter with author A M Shine. Rooted in traditional Irish folklore, this Irish Gothic Horror novel is set on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. The novel opens with a prologue in which Declan desperately tries to save his wife, Chrissy, and his daughter, Grace, from an unseen terror pursuing them. We then quickly move forward to Grace on a tour boat, braving rough seas to reach an island the captain is clearly reluctant to visit—not only because it is perpetually cloaked in dense, ominous fog, but also because he refers to it as “LaVelle’s Island.” Just a few days before, Grace had been working in her antiquarian bookstore, sharing wine with her friend Carrie, when she received a call from a priest in Croaghnakeela informing her of her biological mother’s death. Grace always knew she was adopted, but she knew nothing about her origins. Driven by curiosity and a need for closure, she returns to her birthplace.

When she arrives, her life will be forever changed. You see, the island has been plagued by an unnatural evil, a force that is responsible for the disappearance of children, but has lain dormant for years, that is, until the death of Grace’s mother, Chrissy. 

The chapters focus on individual characters, gradually revealing the islanders’ histories and their encounters with evil. As the story unfolds, readers piece together the mysteries of Valentine Lavalle, the young priest’s role, Grace’s significance, and the fog’s prevalence.

The novel is grisly, unsettling, and rich in Irish mythology. I thoroughly enjoyed it; the plot twist at the end was truly wicked, especially after everything we readers have endured. 

To be honest,  I would have really liked Grace to have a bigger role in the novel. The fact that she owned a rare and old bookstore made me believe she would use the tomes at hand to try to solve the island’s mystery. Instead, we get Father O’Malley as the main character, who pieces together the bits of information he gets from the island’s inhabitants. Also, I prefer a simmer before a full boil when it comes to horror and mystery novels. Grace is a novel that throws you right into the violent horror that is responsible for all the death and destruction. The novel then mostly concentrates on its origin, which is fine. 

Grace will be out in February.

A solid three stars. I look forward to reading more from A M Shine. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Head of Zeus Bloomsbury for the copy.

The Devil in Oxford

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Jess Armstrong

The Devil in Oxford is the third novel in the Ruby Vaughn Mystery series. Full disclosure, I have not read the first two. The novel can be read as a stand alone, however as I read, I couldn’t help but feel as though I would have enjoyed it more if I knew some of the backstory that was referenced such as how did she and her love interest Ruen meet, her history with the solicitor, how did she come about living with Mr. Owen (my favourite character by the way.
Ruby Vaughn is a “disgraced heiress” who has a penchant for attracting both the supernatural and mystery. Armstrong, through her characterization of Ruby, both indirectly and directly, successfully portrays her as a strong-willed, intelligent, and precocious woman who wonderfully does not “know her place”. Ruby lives with an eccentric, charming old man, their housekeeper, Mrs Penrose, and, of course, a cat. Mr Owen owns a rare book shop where he and Ruby work… a rare book shop, my dream location (and my dream job, if I’m being honest), so this fact may have contributed to my affection for the book.
The novel starts with Ruby playing tennis with her good friend Leona, during which she notices Leona acting peculiar. When called out, Leona skirts the issue. Ruby then returns home to find that Mr Owen has procured tickets to an intriguing exhibition of “curious” oddities and artefacts. Where, of course, a bloody crime ensues, Ruby’s love interest arrives, and Lenore may or may not be a suspect. Poor Ruby has a lot to navigate in this novel: her personal life, solving a crime, and discovering the true character of the people most important to her… thank goodness she has her cat, Fialla, as support.

I really liked this novel. I liked Ruby; she was spunky, stubborn, and confident when it came to solving mysteries, but not so confident in her personal life… like most of us. I loved Mr Owen and his grandfatherly nature. I especially loved the setting; as soon as you mention a rare book store in an academic setting, I’m hooked. I did, however, miss not being “present” to witness the spark that set fire to the slow burn that is the central romance.  So I’m definitely going to seek out and read the first two. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the Copy

The Wretched and Undone

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By J. E. Weiner

My favourite genre lately has been Victorian Gothic. However, I have also enjoyed a good Southern Gothic novel on occasion, and The Wretched and Undone is another I can add to my list.

Polish Immigrants Marcin and Agnieska Anderwald make their way to Texas to build a new life. The frontier obviously is not for the weak, and sure enough, the Anderwald family suffers hardship of war, poverty and death. Marcin eventually has to leave Agnieska and the children on the homestead and travel to Camp Verde to make money using his carpentry skills, abandoning his emotionally fragile wife in the meantime. At Camp Verde, Marcin is indirectly responsible for the death of a soldier who causes a vengeful ghost who promises to haunt the Alderson family over generations.

This novel isn’t just filled with spirits and vengefulness; it also features an array of fascinating characters, including two camel handlers from Egypt and a muster of peacocks and peahens whose cacophonous cries serve as wards against threat. 

I enjoyed the plot and characters presented in this novel, and Weiner’s writing craft is engaging and masterful.

Trigger warnings of drowning of a child, hangings, and torture. 

Thank you to HTF Publishing and Netgalley for the copy.

What Feasts At Night (Sworn Soldier Series #2)

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by T. Kingfisher

As a huge fan of the first book in the Sworn Soldier series, What Moves the Dead, I was so excited to read this second novella and see what adventures befall Alex Easton after their nightmarish experience at the Usher Estate (review here). 
Alex and their loyal, albeit grumpy valet Angus return home to Gallacia, specifically to the family hunting lodge. They are motivated mostly by their new friend Mrs Potter (whom we met in the previous novella) ‘s desire to study the mushrooms indigenous to the Gallacian mountains. 
What was hoped to be a leisurely and restful vacation is anything but. First of all, the caretaker of the lodge has unexpectedly died a mysterious death. No one in the village, especially the caretaker’s daughter, wishes to talk about the circumstances of his death…but his death is clouded by superstition and terror. As well, Alex is plagued by a recurring nightmare of a ghoulish woman who sits on their chest and steals their breath. This nightmare conveniently plays into the local superstition of the moroi.
Not one for superstition, Alex, Angus, and Mrs Potter (who is a woman of science, after all) are determined to come to a more logical understanding of Alex’s nightmares, which turns out to be more difficult than they first believed.
I so enjoy Kingfisher’s writing. I especially like the Sworn Soldier series (so far), which are both charming yet horrifying at the same time. A delightful combination!

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Publishing for the copy!

Victorian Psycho

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by Virgina Feito

Okay, I’ll admit, I found this novel disturbingly entertaining. If you’re squeamish about blood, body horror, and violence towards children and adults, this book is not for you. It’s a darkly funny, gory, and disturbing read, with not a single sympathetic character in sight. Yet, I was so engrossed in the depravity of the characters, particularly our main character, Winifred Notty, that I couldn’t put it down, finishing it in a single day.

Basically, poor Nanny Notty suffered a traumatic childhood, which could be seen as a contributing factor towards her psychopathy; however, I felt as though she was also a creature of nature and not purely nurture. Winifred finds work as a nanny in a wealthy household where the children are as horrendous as the children. The plot is somewhat limited, and I believe it basically exists to develop the characters in such a way that makes us, the reader, not at all sad to see them die. It is written from Winifred’s point of view, and her thoughts are amusing because she is such a wry, condescending character.

Theme? Basically, it’s a story of a poor, underprivileged woman who gets a chance to exact rage and resentment against the societal group that has historically repressed and abused her, and her revenge is gloriously bloody.

Apparently this novel is being made into a movie!

Thank you to Netgalley and Liveright/Norton for the copy.

My Darling Dreadful Thing

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by Johanna Van Veen

What a wonderfully gothic tragic love story! I may have found a new favourite author to add to my list. Johanna Van Veen is a master at creating atmosphere. Creepy, sad and at times ominous. Our protagonist, Roos, has had a tragic life. Roos has been made to participate in her abusive mother’s seances since she was a child and showed a connection to the spirit world. She would have likely continued this life if it hadn’t been for a beautiful young widow, Agnes, who participated in a seance one evening. Agnes and Roos quickly find a connection to each other because they share one extraordinary thing in common…they both possess spirit companions. Agnes invites Roos to come and live with her in the decrepit, haunting estate left to her by her husband. Shortly after her arrival,  Roos realized there is more to the estate than first meets the eye. Her spirit companion can feel it too, and soon, strange noises and smells make Roos curious to find what or who else lurks in the hallways of her new home. What she finds is more than disturbing to both her and us, the reader.