One of my first introductions to the history of women in the world was through the anti-suffrage propaganda poster 'A Woman's Mind Magnified'. A mind-bendingly offensive insight into the machinations of the political and social elite, this sort of propaganda has always accompanied efforts by marginalised groups to escape the confines into which their entire … Continue reading The Original Goths: Why Women Write Gothic Horror
"The most racking pangs succeeded: a grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth or death. Then these agonies began swiftly to subside, and I came to myself as if out of a great sickness. There was something strange in my sensations, … Continue reading Review: Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
October is a month that I have grown to love. One of the first foundation-rocking disagreements between me and my husband was his determined preference of Halloween over the, clearly superior, shenanigans of the Christmas period. It was a major trial for our 'love across cultures', where my lack of never having participated in any … Continue reading The 10 Best Non-Horror Halloween Reads
"The story that follows is one I never intended to commit to paper. Recently, however, a shock of sorts has prompted me to look back over the most troubling episodes of my life and the lives of the several people I loved best. This is the story of how as a girl of sixteen I … Continue reading Review: The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
"So they went into the basement, a long, white-washed room running the whole length of the house. A window at one end gave onto a coal hole; a little daylight filtered through at an angle from an iron grating in the pavement above. There was a clean, sweet smell of new wood and a tang … Continue reading Review: The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter
"The road to Manderley lay ahead. There was no moon. The sky above our heads was inky black. But the sky on the horizon was not dark at all. It was shot with crimson, like a splash of blood. And the ashes blew towards us with the salt wind from the sea." Every so often, … Continue reading Review: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
A few weeks ago, I had a revelation. Assisting with an advertising campaign for Hitchin British Schools (where I played the role of wife and mother very effectively), I stumbled upon the fabulous Eric T. Moore Books - a seller of secondhand, out-of-print, and antiquarian books. It is an absolute treasure trove. If I hadn't … Continue reading Review: Dracula by Bram Stoker
