tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017393286421862632.post4239898125781957747..comments2023-05-22T05:19:47.354-05:00Comments on Gothicked: Your Favorite GothicsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017393286421862632.post-27305857472934024902010-10-06T17:22:03.784-05:002010-10-06T17:22:03.784-05:00Sara, I like 'Jamaica Inn' (and I love wea...Sara, I like 'Jamaica Inn' (and I love weather and don't mind travel either in the opening of novels!), but I adore 'The House on the Strand.' I remember feeling desolate at the end of that one.<br /><br />I will definitely have to check out 'Sleep, Pale Sister' by Joanne Harris.<br /><br />And a resounding yes!! I believe 'Hunchback' is Gothic. It's weird because I was just thinking about that novel and its Gothic merits a few days ago. I love Victor Hugo's novels. :) My husband loves this one, so I tell him he's a Gothic fan, too-- this after finding out he is an 18th century fan (he loved 'The Libertine' and Johnny Depp in it and wouldn't stop talking about it. I was thrilled, and we've since watched movies and other period pieces together). All of that after saying he's not "really a novel person." muwhahahhaha.<br /><br />What a great list! :) And more to add to my TBR pile. I haven't read 'Perfume' yet either...Gothic Writerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15837005510592192496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017393286421862632.post-86268678785418201862010-10-06T17:19:51.312-05:002010-10-06T17:19:51.312-05:00oops!sorry for the multiple comments, each time I ...oops!sorry for the multiple comments, each time I tried publishing it I was told the URL was too big so I just kept pressing things! sorry!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017393286421862632.post-74755295422013010942010-10-06T17:12:40.408-05:002010-10-06T17:12:40.408-05:00Two of my favourite gothics of all time are Wuther...Two of my favourite gothics of all time are Wuthering Heights + Frankenstein - and Hound of the Baskervilles is a great read too. Since these have already been mentioned, here are some others I am enjoying at the moment: <br /><br />Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier: I love the unrelentingly bleak storyline and Du Maurier’s fabulous descriptions of the Cornish moorlands. I remember listening to a panel of publishers / agents at the World Horror Convention in Brighton last year talking about their pet hates in submitted manuscripts. One of the agents said she was put off by books that opened with the weather or with long descriptive passages of people travelling to their destinations. Jamaica Inn has both and it is one of my favourite opening chapters ever. <br /><br />The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo: Does this count as gothic? Well the architecture sure does! And it is one of my favourite books, oozing with gothic elements. A haunting tale of the destructive power of unrequited love in all its tortured, twisted glory. Victor Hugo’s characters are amazing; I just love the way this book can unnerve me one minute and make me laugh out loud the next.<br /><br />Perfume by Patrick Suskind: Superbly written and chilling; Grenouille is the perfect gothic monster. Focusing so adeptly on the sense of smell really works and makes the whole novel a sensory treat – even the yucky bits. <br /><br />Sleep, Pale Sister by Joanne Harris: Joanne Harris is better known for her books Chocolat, Blackberry Wine, Five Quarters of the Orange etc, but her first two books were gothics – The Evil Seed (a fairly good contemporary vampire story) and Sleep, Pale Sister (a dark, obsessive tale centred around four main characters - an obsessively controlling Victorian painter, the young girl who models for him as a child then becomes his wife, her raffish, blackmailing lover and a grieving brothel keeper hell-bent on revenge.) I loved this book; powerfully written using multiple viewpoints, I found it difficult to put down. <br /><br />Affinity by Sarah Waters: Another laudanum – laden, gas-lit gothic, set against the bleak, oppressive backdrop of a Victorian prison. This novel - about the relationship that develops between a disgraced spiritualist and her prison visitor- is genuinely eerie and beautifully written. The ending should come as no surprise, but I was so wrapped up in the characters that it caught me out completely! I also enjoyed Sarah Water’s The Little Stranger – an excellent gothic haunted house story.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017393286421862632.post-20667693803121091702010-10-06T17:12:03.921-05:002010-10-06T17:12:03.921-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017393286421862632.post-87117409341113266692010-10-06T10:42:36.762-05:002010-10-06T10:42:36.762-05:00My top five (in no particular order and *always* s...My top five (in no particular order and *always* subject to change at the drop of a hat):<br /><br />1. Rebecca (Daphne du Maurier)- What Lisa said...<br /><br />2. The Hound of the Baskervilles (A. C. Doyle)-<br />The wild and lonely English moor, demon hounds, an ancient family curse, secretive servants, mysterious neighbors, escaped convicts, an old and stately manor house, attempted murder...what's not to love??<br /><br />3. The House of Echoes (Barbara Erskine)-<br />Despite Erskine's irksome inability to craft strong female characters, this is quite possibly the spookiest book I've ever read. I cannot read this alone and at night without giving myself a case of the heebie-jeebies.<br /><br />4. Ammie, Come Home (Barbara Michaels)-<br />This is probably my favorite Michaels book out of all the dozens she has written. Yes, it is dated and a little hokey in places, but it delivers in chills and ghostly thrills and is a darn fun book to read on a rainy night in autumn. I love it!<br /><br />5. Wildfire at Midnight (Mary Stewart)-<br />I personally could not compile a list of my favorite gothic novels without including at least one from the queen of romantic suspense. WaM takes place in the 1950's on the Isle of Skye in the Scottish Hebrides. Beautifully described rough mountain terrain, a murder, supressed lovers, and a deranged killer on the loose. In Stewart's deft and talented hands, you've got yourself an intelligent and cozy read.jwade19https://www.blogger.com/profile/12773796298765639646noreply@blogger.com