Category Archives: Critical thoughts

YA Shapeshifters: The Selkie

Posted on 19th January 2016 by Sam George

The ‘Animal Kinship’ panel at OGOM Company of Wolves included some discussion of the ‘Selkie’ or shapeshifting seal. This elusive creature was discussed in Peter Le Couteur’s paper ‘Sealskins: Finns, Seal Wives, and Mythmaking’. We were rather excited to receive … Continue reading →

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Sexualising the Witch: Magic, Witches & Devils #jrlmagic

Posted on 19th January 2016 by Sam George

The majority of convicted witches in early modern Europe were women, and two female stereotypes became particularly powerful: the alluring young woman, and the dried-up old ‘hag’. Regardless of age, female witches were believed to be in sexual thrall to … Continue reading →

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David Bowie, science, and Gothic absurdity

Posted on 16th January 2016 by William the Bloody

A few more Bowie-related links, here. Science Fiction is, one might say, a rationalising mode of the fantastic; SF motifs feature frequently in Bowie’s work from ‘Space Oddity’ to his penultimate single ‘Blackstar’ (the video of which combines elements of … Continue reading →

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‘Dark Shadows’, Serialisation and Sympathetic Vampires

Posted on 14th January 2016 by firekrank

Decider.com has published an article in its ‘Cult Corner’ entitled ‘”Dark Shadows” attacked Gothic Romance with Pulpy Plots’ which pays homage to the Gothic soap opera ‘Dark Shadows’ (1966-1971). Whilst the article is relatively solid fare – essentially a potted … Continue reading →

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David Bowie, Neil Gaiman, Yoshitaka Amano

Posted on 13th January 2016 by William the Bloody

More on the interaction of David Bowie and fantastic literature. If Bowie’s various personae–the masks and images he was constantly recreating and presenting to an audience–can be seen as texts, then they lie in an intertextual relationship with a story … Continue reading →

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OGOM: YA Fiction and the Gothic

Posted on 12th January 2016 by Sam George

I’ve given a lot of thought to the titles I want to teach on my ‘Generation Dead: YA Fiction and the Gothic’ module but it is hard not to become overwhelmed once you start looking at lists and series. Most … Continue reading →

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Bill Hughes, ‘”But by blood no wolf am I”: Language and Agency, Instinct and Essence – Transcending Antinomies in Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver series’

Posted on 10th January 2016 by William the Bloody

More from me on YA paranormal romance. This time, I’m writing about Maggie Stiefvater’s beautifully written and very moving werewolf romance, Shiver. Shapeshifter fictions, for obvious reasons, allow writers to explore all that is animal and instinctive about human beings … Continue reading →

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Bill Hughes ‘Landscapes of Romance: Generic Boundaries and Epistemological Dialectics in the Paranormal Romance of Julie Kagawa’s The Iron King’

Posted on 10th January 2016 by William the Bloody

This is a draft of my article on Julia Kagawa’s richly allusive YA paranormal romance The Iron King. If you’re taking Sam’s Generation Dead module on YA fiction and the Gothic, or if you’re just interested in Gothic and genre … Continue reading →

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Review of Matthew Bourne’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’

Posted on 10th January 2016 by firekrank

Last night I attended Matthew Bourne’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’ at Sadler’s Wells. Based upon Tchaikovsky’s ballet ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ (first performed in 1890), which in turn was based upon Charles Perrault’s ‘La belle au bois dormant’ (1696) and some aspects from … Continue reading →

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Generation Dead: Young Adult Fiction and the Gothic – Starts Jan 18th

Posted on 10th January 2016 by Sam George

My Young Adult Fiction and the Gothic module ‘Generation Dead’ begins on January 18th. The students are going to be following the blog and attending the workshops described below: All over the country in the world of young adult fiction … Continue reading →

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