Tag Archives: Holly Black
Vampire criticism: Slayage and Angel; Holly Black’s Coldtown
Angel, the tormented ‘vampire with a soul’, was, through his love affair with Buffy in Joss Whedon’s TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997‒2003), one significant archetype of the romantic vampire of paranormal romance. Whedon then developed his character further … Continue reading
Gothic Times 26 October 2019
In the opening decades of the twenty-first century, with Trump in the White House and Brexit on the horizon, Angela Carter’s famous assertion of 1974 that ‘we live in Gothic times’ has never been more apt. But from the eighteenth … Continue reading
Posted in Conferences, OGOM Research
Tagged fairies, Gothic Times, Holly Black, mummies
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The Northern YA Literary Festival: Holly Black, Samantha Shannon, Alwyn Hamilton
The Northern YA Literary Festival is hosted by the University of Central Lancashire at Preston, 24 March 2018. This looks a great event: the wonderful Holly Black (probably my favourite author in YA paranormal romance) being interviewed by Samantha Shannon … Continue reading
Posted in Events
Tagged Alwyn Hamilton, Fantasy, Feminism, Holly Black, Paranormal romance, publishing, Samantha Shannon, YA literature
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The Cuckoo in the Nest: Changelings in YA Literature
‘Changelings. The eagerness of FAIRIES to possess themselves of human children is one of the oldest parts of the fairy beliefs and is a specific form of FAIRY THEFT. Mentions of the thefts of babies are to be found in … Continue reading
Gargoyles and Temptation
This is a fascinating piece from the always-wonderful Folklore Thursday on the history and significance of gargoyles. It begins and ends with the presence of these ambivalent creatures in popular culture, from a childhood memory of the animated series Gargoyles … Continue reading
Posted in Critical thoughts
Tagged architecture, Folklore, gargoyles, Holly Black, Paranormal romance
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Generation Dead: Consuming the Vampire – Holly Black’s ‘The Coldest Girl in Coldtown’
At the end of the lecture on Sedgwick, I told the group that in many ways Holly Black’s The Coldest Girl in Coldtown (2013) was the opposite to the Sedgwick text, My Swordhand is Singing (discussed here). This meant that … Continue reading
Holly Black interview
Holly Black, for me, is one of the very best writers of YA paranormal romance. She is the author of the powerful vampire dystopia novel The Coldest Girl in Coldtown (which is on the Generation Dead module), of the Curse … Continue reading
Are You Afraid of Fairies?
Though quite old, this article on the British Library, ‘Are you afraid of fairies? You should be’, is pretty marvellous. I have to admit, I like my fairies dark. (Holly Black, I’m looking at you. I still remember the first … Continue reading
Posted in Books and Articles
Tagged Dark Fairies, Faeries, fairies, Fey, Gothic, Holly Black, Tithe
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The Artistic Troll
I love studying the Gothic. I love exploring the twisted realms of the imagination. I love the creatures hidden in the pages of books that follow me home at night. (I can live with the shadows on my walls transforming … Continue reading
Posted in Critical thoughts, Fun stuff
Tagged aesthetics, ecoGothic, Faeries, Folklore, Folktales, Gothic novels, Holly Black, landscape, Neil Gaiman, Nordic, painting, Scandinavia, Trolls
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Value and Ideology in YA Fiction
When studying popular culture (that created for younger people in particular), the question of value inevitably appears. YA fiction is often seen as not worthy of serious regard, particularly if it’s ‘genre’ fiction such as paranormal romance (gritty realism is … Continue reading
Posted in Critical thoughts
Tagged dystopia, Film, Genre, Holly Black, ideology, Julie Kagawa, literary value, Marcus Sedgwick, Paranormal romance, Vampires, YA Fiction
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