Monthly Archives: June 2016

Old French Fairy Tales

The Public Domain Review is a brilliant resource, full of all kinds of texts freely available on line, many of them very beautiful. Here, you can view a 1920 translation of Old French Fairy Tales by the Comtesse de Segur, … Continue reading

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Joyce Carol Oates, Peter Straub, and the New Horror

I must confess I’m not a great fan of horror. But this excellent essay by Terrence Rafferty on a new wave of subtle and ambiguous literary horror does make me want to explore some of the writers here. Joyce Carol … Continue reading

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Monkey Tales: Apes and Monkeys in Asian Art, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 14 Jun 2016-30 Oct 2016

Number one of Sam’s favourite shapeshifters is Monkey, the character from the Chinese epic Journey to the West which was made into a children’s TV series in Japan in the 1970s. By an uncanny coincidence, 2016 is the Year of … Continue reading

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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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The Unheimlich Manoeuvre : Uncanny Short Stories Out Soon

Here are the details of a new book by Tracy Fahey who will be a big part of the OGOM Books of Blood project next year. Looking forward to working with you Tracy! THE UNHEIMLICH MANOEUVRE A collection by Tracy … Continue reading

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Another set of Top Ten Shapeshifters (Part 1)

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

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’

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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Gail Carriger

Gail Carriger writes fiction which is a lively fusion of steampunk with paranormal romance, notably the Parasol Protectorate and Custard Protocol series. She has set up a new website; I’ve added it to the links visible on the Blog page. … Continue reading

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International Gothic Association: website changes

The International Gothic Association (IGA) is redesigning its website and Kathleen Hudson, the site’s designer, has circulated this invitation to contribute: Hello everyone! We are in the process of building a new website for the International Gothic Association, and hope … Continue reading

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