Author Archives: William the Bloody

About William the Bloody

Cat lover. 18C scholar on the dialogue and novel. Co-convenor OGOM Project

Review: Therapy for a Vampire

Posted on 10th June 2016 by William the Bloody

This new Austrian vampire film, Therapy for a Vampire looks well worth seeing–a subtle comedy with themes of psychoanalysis and the representation of women. A thoughtful review here (thanks to Stacey Abbott for sharing this).

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CFP: Edited collection on iZombie

Posted on 9th June 2016 by William the Bloody

I’ve not seen the TV series iZombie (nor the graphic novel on which it is based) but I’ve heard very enthusiastic reports on this new manifestation of the sympathetic zombie (of which one of our favourites, Daniel Waters’s Generation Dead … 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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Old French Fairy Tales

Posted on 7th June 2016 by William the Bloody

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

Posted on 7th June 2016 by William the Bloody

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

Posted on 6th June 2016 by William the Bloody

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

Posted on 6th June 2016 by William the Bloody

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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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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