Tag: gothic horror
Estella’s Revenge by Barbara Havelocke
Think you know Great Expectations? Think again Raised in the darkness of Satis House where the clocks never tick, the beautiful Estella is bred to hate men and to keep her heart cold as the grave. She knows she doesn’t feel things quite like other people do but is this just the result of her strange upbringing? As she watches the brutal treatment of women around her, … Read More Estella’s Revenge by Barbara Havelocke
+ devil worship, fiction, folklore, gothic, gothic horror, magic, mythology, review, superstition, wales
The Shadow Key by Susan Stokes-Chapman
There’s something mysterious about the village of Penhelyg. Will unlocking its truth bring light or darkness? Meirionydd, 1783. Henry Talbot has been dismissed from his post at a prestigious London hospital. The only job he can find is as a physician in the backwaters of Wales where he can’t speak the language, belief in myth and magic is rife, and the villagers treat him … Read More The Shadow Key by Susan Stokes-Chapman
+ family, female friendship, fiction, Ghost story, gothic, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, grief, haunting, lies, loss, love, marriage, motherhood, psychic, review, secrets, supernatural
The Black Feathers by Rebecca Netley
Where ghosts tread, black feathers fall . . . When Annie marries widower Edward Stonehouse and arrives at Guardbridge, his estate on the Yorkshire moors, she thinks she has finally put darkness behind her. She is mistaken. Edward’s sister, Iris, still lives in the family home. A taxidermist and medium, she urges Annie to watch out for black feathers – claiming that they mark … Read More The Black Feathers by Rebecca Netley
+ fiction, gothic, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, Greek mythology, illegitimacy, jealousy, marriage, mythology, obsession, review, superstition, Victorian Britain
The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell
From the Sunday Times bestselling author comes a gripping tale of obsession, superstition and ambition, set against the atmospheric backdrop of Victorian London. Be careful what you wish for it may just come true. At The Mercury Theatre in London’s West End, rumours are circulating of a curse. It is said that the lead actress Lilith has made a pact with Melpomene, the tragic … Read More The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell
+ gothic, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, Historical fiction, obsession, supernatural, superstition, Victorian Britain
The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell
As the age of the photograph dawns in Victorian Bath, silhouette artist Agnes is struggling to keep her business afloat. Still recovering from a serious illness herself, making enough money to support her elderly mother and her orphaned nephew Cedric has never been easy, but then one of her clients is murdered shortly after sitting for Agnes, and then another, and another… Why is … Read More The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell
+ crime fiction, fiction, folklore, gothic, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, loss, murder, murder mystery, mystery, mythology, obsession, review, Scandi noir, Sweden
Yule Island by Johana Gustawsson translated by David Warriner
Art expert Emma Lindhal is anxious when she’s asked to appraise the antiques in the infamous manor house of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families, on the island of Storholmen, where a young woman was murdered nine years earlier, her killer never found. As she goes about her painstaking work and one shocking discovery yields clues that lead to another, Emma becomes determined to uncover … Read More Yule Island by Johana Gustawsson translated by David Warriner
+ fiction, gothic, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, review, Scotland, Scottish Highlands, superstition, thriller, twins, witchcraft, witches
The Murmurs (Annie Jackson Mysteries #1) by Michael J Malone
On the first morning of her new job at Heartfield House, a care home for the elderly, Annie Jackson wakens from a terrifying dream. And when she arrives at the home, she knows that the first old man she meets is going to die. How she knows this is a terrifying mystery, but it is the start of horrifying premonitions … a rekindling of … Read More The Murmurs (Annie Jackson Mysteries #1) by Michael J Malone
+ abuse, alcoholism, brothers, childhood, domestic noir, family, fantasy, feel-good, female friendship, fiction, folklore, forgiveness, friendship, Ghost story, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, grief, haunting, List, literature, loss, love, music, paranormal, piano, relationships, review, secrets, sisterhood, sisters, slavery, suffragette movement, supernatural, superstition, tradition, whimsical
My Top 4 Books of 2022
It’s approaching the very end of 2022 and it’s time to reflect on my absolute favourite books of the year. Last year it was hard but this year is even harder. There were instant standouts again – about 10 of them but I had to cut it down to four. I have tried to include a mix of genres but failed yet again. I read … Read More My Top 4 Books of 2022
+ abuse, adventure, childhood, crime fiction, Detective novel, family, fiction, friendship, Ghost story, gothic horror, grief, Historical fiction, List, literature, London, loss, love, Magical realism, mental health, motherhood, murder, mystery, police drama, religion, revenge, review, secrets, short stories, short story, sisters, supernatural, thriller, twins
My Top 8 Books of 2022 Part Four
Here are my favourite eight books of the final quarter of 2022. One of these will make it into my top four books of 2022 (I just couldn’t cut it down to three this year). The Parlour Game by Jennifer Renshaw This is the book I have been waiting for! A gothic tale of sinister goings-on, mysterious disappearances, hauntings and macabre artefacts with special powers. … Read More My Top 8 Books of 2022 Part Four
+ alcoholism, anthology, brothers, family, fiction, Ghost story, gothic horror, haunting, marriage, mental health, mental illness, motherhood, mythology, paranormal, postpartum psychosis, review, short stories, short story, sisters, supernatural, superstition, witchcraft
The Haunting Season: Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights by various
Winter, with its unsettling blend of the cosy and the sinister, has long been a popular time for gathering by the bright flame of a candle, or the warm crackling of a fire, and swapping stories of ghosts and strange happenings. Now eight bestselling, award-winning authors – master storytellers of the sinister and the macabre – bring this time-honoured tradition to vivid life in … Read More The Haunting Season: Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights by various
+ brothers, family, fiction, Ghost story, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, grief, haunting, loss, love, paranormal, review, supernatural, superstition, USA
The Haunting of Noyo Bay by L.B. Stimson narrated by Jennifer March
When sixteen-year-old Charlotte Goolsby first encounters the mysterious little boy playing in the cemetery, she assumes he belongs to the minister’s family. However, as sightings of the little boy continue and seemingly go unnoticed by the rest of Keesbury’s residents, Charlotte is forced to confront everything she once believed about life and death. Charlotte finds herself confiding her fears to her father’s shipwright apprentice, … Read More The Haunting of Noyo Bay by L.B. Stimson narrated by Jennifer March
+ alcoholism, brothers, devil worship, feminism, fiction, friendship, Ghost story, Gothic mystery, grief, haunting, literature, paranormal, review, secrets, sisterhood, suffragette movement, supernatural
The Parlour Game by Jennifer Renshaw
Death is only the beginning…. London, 1873. Ivy Granger, an amateur botanist, is plagued by disturbing dreams and faceless whispers. Misunderstood by her father, she fears for her sanity – threatened with the asylum or worse, the hands of a man she loathes. But a stranger at her mother’s funeral reveals Ivy’s world has been a lie, and she could have a different life, … Read More The Parlour Game by Jennifer Renshaw
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