Category Archives: Critical thoughts

Folk Horror for Beginners

Posted on 19th June 2016 by Sam George

I am increasingly intrigued by ‘folk horror’ and it was one of the sections in the British Library’s Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination exhibition  that I spent longest pondering over. The BFI’s recent article is a must read therefore, … Continue reading →

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China Miéville: Beatrix Potter, Enid Blyton and the ‘pictureskew’

Posted on 18th June 2016 by William the Bloody

A very interesting essay by China Miéville on the dark side of the picturesque and English landscape in children’s literature.

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Fairy tales and contemporary fiction

Posted on 17th June 2016 by William the Bloody

An interesting article, ‘Follow the breadcrumbs: why fairytales are magic for modern fiction‘, by Lincoln Michel (author of Upright Beasts). It discusses  from a writer’s perspective the opportunities that modern reworkings of fairy tales have as an alternative to straightforward … Continue reading →

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Enter the Gothspeare: Shakespeare and the Witchcraft Trials

Posted on 15th June 2016 by Sam George

Shakespeare’s writing career began as the witch trials reached their peak in the 1580s and 1590s. It is interesting to speculate as to what personal experience or knowledge of the trials he might have had and to make a relationship … Continue reading →

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David Richter, The Progress of Romance

Posted on 13th June 2016 by William the Bloody

I’m reading David Richter’s The Progress of Romance: Literary Historiography and the Gothic Novel–one of the best books on literary theory I’ve read for a long while. It’s an undogmatic approach to the way that literature, and especially literary genres, … Continue reading →

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Genres, Classification, and Adventures in the Library

Posted on 7th June 2016 by William the Bloody

In my explorations of the endless swarming and interbreeding of genres that is contemporary popular fiction, I recently discovered a new species. Among the proliferating subsubsubgenres of paranormal romance and similar breeds, I’ve noticed quite a few that feature libraries … Continue reading →

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Another set of Top Ten Shapeshifters (Part 1)

Posted on 4th June 2016 by William the Bloody

It’s taken me a while to respond to Kaja and Sam’s excellent lists of their top ten shapeshifters (here and here). Here are the first five of my own favourites (not in order of importance). 1. Circe, in Homer, Odyssey … Continue reading →

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Fantasy and dystopia in the Middle East

Posted on 4th June 2016 by William the Bloody

It hardly needs saying that fantastic literature, especially in its dystopian mode, is frequently written as political critique. It is potent way of writing against oppression especially under extremely authoritarian and censorial regimes. This is an excellent essay by Alexandra … Continue reading →

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Marina Warner, ‘Angela Carter: fairy tales, cross-dressing and the mercurial slipperiness of identity’

Posted on 4th June 2016 by William the Bloody

Always fascinating, Marina Warner explores the themes of metamorphosis and identity, fairy tales and cross-dressing in the works of Angela Carter, drawing on the archives at the British Library. Angela Carter, as we have said before, is a writer central … Continue reading →

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British Gothic: Penny Dreadful

Posted on 1st June 2016 by Sam George

Critical Survey is edited by Bryan Loughery and Graham Holderness of the University of Hertfordshire. The journal currently has a very interesting special issue out entitled ‘British Gothic: Penny Dreadful’ (Vol 28. Issue 1, 2016). A list of the essays is … Continue reading →

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