Laird Koenig: The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane

I just ran into this novel in my local library. Apparently, though, it received some fame from a movie based on it in which Jodie Foster plays the little girl (1976). The book was published in 1974 (and I think the year before in German), and it is definitely of the Gothic Horror and Gothic Romance genres.

In this novel, the little girl, Rynn, is home all alone. What happened to her mother and father? Rynn must fend for herself as a thirteen year old (if she really is thirteen) and keep nosy people-- like Mrs. Hallet and her son Frank-- out of the house and away from the basement. She does this in ingenious and frightening ways.

Characterization: 4/5 [The little girl is well described. I could definitely see her portrayed by Jodie Foster-- who can be so serious. Mario, her boyfriend, is also a round character. I am going to have to check the movie out when I can.]

Plot: 5/5 [The plot is thick with suspense and an almost surreal quality. It keeps moving, dragging you relentlessly along, and there is a nice twist at the end.]

Atmosphere/spooky elements: 5/5 [The novel opens on Halloween night; ironically, the girl is unaware of this, though she is creepy herself. Her Halloween visitor is a pedophile (not something I will soon forget). She is all alone. To add to that, there is a mouse she keeps as a pet as well as chanting along with a record in a foreign language. Murder and mayhem occurs. I also have to warn that if you are fond of pet mice or rats, you won't like one part of the story. With all the creepy happenings in here, I think this novel will be with me for a while.]

Literary: 5/5 [If you like Emily Dickinson, you will enjoy this novel. The girl's father is a famous poet, and she often talks about his poetry and others' poetry or recites passages aloud. Koenig also has something to say about adults and children in society and what their roles are, and perhaps, should be.]

Romance? Yes, there is a sweet love story in here, and then there is the creepy stuff.


Rating: 4+ stars   ****+

I highly recommend this one-- maybe even for one of your Halloween reads this year. It is creative and at the very least, unsettling.


The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane

and

Joe R. Lansdale: Mucho Mojo

Last week, a reader commented on a love for Southern Gothic Novels, so I thought I'd review one I read recently. Mucho Mojo is the second in the much acclaimed Hap Collins and Leonard Pine series by Texas author, Joe R. Lansdale. I picked it up in the library after having read a standalone by Lansdale and going "wow." I later read that many fans think this novel is the best in the series. I guess I'll just have to read others to find out.

Hap is a white trash sort of guy from Texas who is down on his luck. His friend, Leonard, is a flashy dressing, homosexual black man. They make an unlikely pair  as friends; in their spare time, they run into mysteries and trouble. When the novel opens, Leonard has inherited his Uncle Chester's house and some money. He finds out he has inherited more when he makes a gruesome find in the house. Hap and Leonard must solve a mystery and clear Chester's name. The title of the novel refers to a bottle tree that is in Uncle Chester's yard; this tree is supposed to keep evil away. It's a spooky little detail that makes the novel stand out.

This little novel is suspenseful, creepy, funny, politically incorrect, philosophical, and intelligent. Lansdale's characters are not afraid to take on race, religion, and sexuality. I found myself laughing out loud often, but Lansdale has the gift of making you laugh and then making you get mighty serious with the turn of the page. There is a complicated, smart love story in the novel as well. The ending of this one is haunting, and it's just about perfect all around. I picked up another in the series at a thrift store recently, and I will be reading it soon.

Characterization: 5/5 [I love both Hap and Leonard; in fact, I like them so much that I can't figure out who I would want to play them, but I'd love to see the movie(s). Other characters are well drawn, too.]

Plot: 4/5 [The plot moves pretty steadily, and I guess I want to say that no one writes quite like Joe R. Lansdale-- at least no author I know of yet. He's good at plot twists and at not choosing the happy option all the time. His plots mirror life in that way.]

Atmosphere/spooky elements: 4/5 [The bottle tree is spooky as are some of the collected items that Uncle Chester leaves behind, not to mention the skeletons that make their appearance in the novel. This one had me thinking about the dark side of humanity by the time it was done.]

Literary? 4/5 [This novel is smartly written, but it doesn't get high and mighty. Lansdale tackles race, sexism, religion, and other issues with a deft touch and often with bawdy, adult language. His style is decidedly, gloriously Southern.]

Romance? Yes... but it's not all happy go lucky.


Rating: 4+ stars    ****+

I highly recommend this one. If you want to fall in love with two new characters and with a novel series that has a Southern Gothic feel to it, try these out. Don't you just love that cover with the orange, yellow, and black and the Gothic script?

Dorothy Macardle: Dark Enchantment

This novel, another early Gothic published in 1953, is by the author of The Uninvited, Dorothy Macardle. I have looked for a low cost copy of that novel (also a play) for some time and have not found it, but it's a cult horror/spooky classic. I stumbled upon this one in a thrift store and decided to give it a go.

Anyway, in this novel, the heroine, Juliet Cunningham, has just left a dismal teaching school and is traveling with her father, Frith Cunningham-- love that name!-- , a movie director and alcoholic. Juliet is anemic and in poor health; her fragility is focused upon heavily in the opening chapters of the novel. She and her father travel to a small village in France where she begins to regain her strength. Juliet decides to stay there to live-- to learn to fend for herself. Her mother is out of the picture with a lover which is of course a big scandal.

After Juliet is left alone by her father, strange things begin happening. Witches and one-eyed gypsies make their appearances, and the tarot cards read doom. Whom can Juliet trust? Is the man she loves, Michael Faulkner, trustworthy?

Characterization: 3/5 [I pictured Juliet as a thin blond, but she wasn't described well enough for my taste other than being tiny and frail. Her father I saw in my mind's eye as Sean Connery. I couldn't envision Michael Faulkner. I like to see my hero and heroine!]

Plot: 2/5 [This novel just sort of meandered; I read for 71 pages, waiting for the scary or the good story line, but it just wasn't there-- just drinking, wandering around bazaars, and that's about it. Great plot stuff might have appeared later, but I didn't feel like reading 170+ more pages to find it.]

Atmosphere/creepy elements: 2/5 [The only creepy thing in the first 71 pages was a one-eyed gypsy woman-- still gorgeous of course-- who lived in the woods. Seriously.]

Literary elements: 3/5 [The writing is not bad; the story is just boring at best. There is information about gypsies and their history that is intriguing.]

Romance? Yes... it was slowly developing.


Rating: 2+ stars    **+

I do not recommend this one. This novel must be a weak one for Macardle from what I have heard of her other novel/play as mentioned earlier in the review. Comparing this work to one of Mary Stewart's from the same era shows the shortcomings of the novel: no scariness, suspense, or even the tiniest hint of dread.

Dark Enchantment

Mary Stewart: Wildfire at Midnight

In Wildfire at Midnight, published in 1956, Stewart weaves a Gothic novel full of mystery, menace, and suspense.  Gianetta Brook needs to get away from it all, and she chooses Scottish Isle of Skye as her getaway. Little does she know that her ex-husband, Nicholas Drury is also vacationing there. She is also unaware until she meets some of the people she is staying with that there has been a brutal murder on one of the mountains, Blaven, there.

A full cast of characters makes this an intriguing and likable novel from the outset. When two climbers go missing, spooky threats are made, storms pound the Isle, and other murders are discovered, the tension rises. Who is the murderer? Can Gianetta even trust her ex-husband?

Plot: 5/5 [The pace moves quickly, and the novel doesn't get bogged down by too much lengthy description. The reader is there in the mountains with the panoramic views, but the action moves along well.]

Characterization: 4/5 [I had a little trouble keeping the many characters straight for the first 100 pages or so, but overall, Stewart does a nice job of painting the main characters and many secondary ones. I could see Gianetta as Maggie Gyllenhaal and Nicholas as Clive Owen. Mr. Hay I pictured as Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Marsha Maling played by Marcia Cross. Roderick brought Robert Redford (when he was younger) to mind.]

Atmosphere/spooky elements: 4/5 [It took a while for these elements to build, but the murder, when Gianetta hears about it, is shocking, and the theories about it are even more shocking. I got a chill thinking about the fire and about the true intent of the murderer. Other chills and thrills follow; this novel reads especially well in gray, stormy weather like we've been having these past few days.]

Literary? 5/5 [Yes, references to pop icons as well as to current events are sprinkled throughout along with philosophy and other tidbits from history and art.]

Romance? Yes, of several types. Stewart definitely tests the bounds of conventionality for the time with portrayals of divorce, promiscuity, and borderline lesbianism, but she does it in context of the London jet set of the time.


4+ stars  ****+

** I recommend this one. It just might be my favorite of the Mary Stewart novels I have read thus far, in fact. It has the feeling of a Gothic, of a whodunnit and of a cozy mystery with an edge.

Good Gothic Reading Weather/Your Gothic Novels List

It's great Gothic Novel reading weather today-- rain and gray skies. Do you enjoy your Gothic Novels more when the weather is gloomy, or does it matter?

I'm also wondering what you have on your Gothic Novel reading list for the upcoming month(s)?

These novels are on my list and in my to be read stack (in my Gothic Novel box) at home:

Mariana by Susanna Kearsley

The Stone Maiden by Velda Johnston

Masquerade in Venice by Velda Johnston

The House of a Thousand Lanterns by Victoria Holt (a re-read, but it's been a while)

The Eye Stones by Harriet Esmond

The Magic Cottage by James Herbert

Don't Look Behind You by Margaret Erskine

Silversword by Phyllis A. Whitney (a re-read after fifteen years or more)

The Changeling by Philippa Carr (to see how Gothic this one is)

Ghost Story by Peter Straub

... and many others.

How about you? What's on your Gothic Novel reading list for the coming months (if anything)?

Susanna Kearsley: The Shadowy Horses

This was my second foray into Kearsley's work after having read Named of the Dragon. The Shadowy Horses was published in 1997, so it falls into the category of newer Gothic Novels. It is one written "in the tradition of Barbara Michaels" according to its cover. The cover reminds me of some of Michaels' recent book covers.

Verity Grey finds herself in Scotland for an archaeological dig. A boy with psychic abilities has seen a ghostly sentinel in the area, and the head of the dig, Peter Quinnell, believes the lost Roman Ninth Legion is there. Other characters include the handsome David Fortune, Verity's old lover Adrian, the disliked Brian McMorran and his friendly wife Jeannie, and the lovely Fabia, to name a few.

Mysteries abound about the ruins and the tower, potsherds, and coins that are found there. On top of these puzzles, ghostly horses ride at night, and Verity herself experiences the sentinel's presence. What danger awaits them all? Are unearthly or human forces trying to make the team leave the excavations?

Characterization: 4/5 [The characterization is nicely done for the most part. Each character seems real and round. Verity Grey-- love that name!- I pictured as Jennifer Love Hewitt, and David Fortune would be played by someone like Colin Firth. Peter Quinnell might be portrayed by Anthony Hopkins.]

Plot: 3/5 [It must just be me, but this novel did not pick up or take off for me until around page 120. I stuck with it because of the good bits here and there, but Kearsley's plotting is, well, plodding, to me. I think she could use more slight cliffhanger chapter endings and other devices to keep readers' interest early on in the novel. Perhaps I am the only reader of this opinion, though, as others seem to rave about her work.]

Atmosphere/spooky elements: 4/5 [Things didn't feel spooky to me either really until that late point in the novel. Kearsley's atmosphere falls flat for a while even with the ghostly devices, but at least they are there. I did get a chill a few times in reading post page 120. I just wonder why it took so long for things to heat up.]

Literary: 5/5 [Yes, the poetry alone that is quoted as well as the numbering of the sections in the novel by horse numbers (First Horse, for example, with a bit of poetry and so on, much like Stewart's Nine Coaches Waiting has chapters numbered by coaches) is wonderful. The section headings make me think of doom, Apocalypse, etc. The novel is also rich with history of Scotland and of the Romans.]

Romance? Yes, and Kearsley manages to make it a bit suspenseful and interesting.


Rating: 4 stars  ****

** I recommend this one, and I see hints of Barbara Michaels, but to me, Kearsley doesn't build the type of spooky atmosphere that grips me and holds me, propelling me through the pages. It took me about about two weeks to finish it where most Michaels' novels and other favorite Gothics were about three days. :) I am sure most would recommend it, and it is fairly lengthy at over 350 pages-- one of those novels you can savor.

Quickie 48 Hour Contest Winner/ New Autumn Contest

Kristen is the winner of this contest! She was also the only reader who entered. So, I guess this means the blog is not ready for quick contests yet. :)

Congratulations, Kristen! I'll be mailing your novels to you this week. Thanks again for entering...

The next contest starts now and will run through October 1st at 12am. It is the Autumn Contest in honor of, well, the start of Autumn-- the season of the Gothic Novel, in my opinion! I'll make this one easy; just post any comment between now and the cut off date, and you will be entered into the drawing hat to win a nice copy of Anya Seton's Dragonwyck and a random Gothic Novel of my choice.

So, there's just one step to enter this one: comment on any post between now and October 1st.

Happy weekend, all! :)