Category Archives: Books and Articles

Generation Dead news

If you don’t know, Daniel Waters‘s Generation Dead and its sequels, Kiss of Life and Passing Strange are wonderful YA novels about teenagers who return from the dead and struggle to find autonomy and love. They’re brilliantly written, full of wit … Continue reading

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Shapeshifters and Werecats

I’m still compiling my own top-ten shapeshifters in response to Sam’s and Kaja’s lists, but I came across this paranormal romance about a werecat, and I am very tempted: https://www.amazon.com/Cats-Tale-Melissa-Snark-ebook/dp/B00IVPYACA?ie=UTF8&redirect=true&tag=indautlan-20

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The Gothic influence of Snow White’s Evil Queen

The website Tor.com has published a very interesting article, ‘Ayesha, White as Snow: H. Rider Haggard’s She and Walt Disney’s Evil Queen’. As the title suggests, the author of the piece, Gilbert Colon, looks at the similarities between Haggard’s eponymous protagonist and … Continue reading

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Ancient Werewolf Known as ‘Old Stinker’ Sparks Folk Panic in UK

Who would have thought it there is now a real life folk panic in Yorkshire following the sightings of ‘Old Stinker’ an eight foot werewolf spotted in the Wolds. Kaja has already posted on this and commented on the myth that … Continue reading

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YA Fiction and Style

Too many YA novels, more so, I suspect, in the very commercial realm of paranormal romance, are let down by their style–even among the most interesting and complex ones. Too often, these fictions are narrated in the first person and … Continue reading

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Review: Katherine Langrish, Seven Miles of Steel Thistles

Nicholas Lezard in The Guardian reviews here a collection of essays on the fairy tale, Seven Miles of Steel Thistles, by the folklorist Katherine Langrish. It sounds a fascinating book, covering tales from the English ‘Mr Fox’, Irish tales (her title … Continue reading

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Open Graves, Open Minds Book – Out in Paperback on 1st June!!

The paperback of the Open Graves, Open Minds vampire book arrived in the MUP offices today! You can pre-order it now on Amazon priced at a very reasonable 15.99 (due 1st June).   Very exciting! If you are teaching the gothic, … Continue reading

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Shakespearian YA

Continuing the theme of adaptation of classic plots, here are five reworkings of Shakespeare as YA fiction. A couple of them are cast in the genre of paranormal romance, but they all look worth reading.

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Adaptation Again! Neverland and Wonderland

Literature is a fluctuating web of reinvention, translation, and reworking, of plots and genres. Classic literary fictions can be adapted as well as myths and folklore; here’s a review of five YA variations on Peter Pan and the Alice books, … Continue reading

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A Dark Reading List for Your Inner Teen Goth

Exactly what it sounds like; a diverse and intriguing list of recommendations by Alison Nastasi, including Anne Rice, Edward Gorey, Neil Gaiman, and Sade.

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