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The Sandman by E.T.A. Hoffman

Posted on February 4, 2012
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Reason for Reading:
  • This short story was required reading in one of my classes this semester.

I also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

A tale of madness, deceit and murder, The Sandman has spawned countless adaptations and informs much of modern horror.

My Review:

There is absolutely no reason for people to avoid reading this story.  First of all, it’s short – about 30 pages (and the ones I read were TINY pages).  Secondly, it’s so. freaking. amazing.  Seriously! Read it!  Now I’ll tell you why.

For my Seminar in European Literature this semester we are studying the “uncanny” – what the word means, how to define it ourselves, how it’s defined in stories, and we’re reading all sorts of fantastic things like Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Freud’s essays, and other various fantastic, “uncanny” stories.  Our class this semester started out with a bang – namely The Sandman by E.T.A. Hoffman.  You are familiar with Hoffman, although you might not realize it.  That famous Nutcracker story that graces the ballet stage every Christmas? Yup. He wrote that story.

So now that you’ve sat back and said “Oh! That guy!”, let me introduce you to the wonders of The Sandman.  When you read this story (and you will, won’t you?) I want you to think about the following things:

What is the reality in the book?

Just how creepy are dolls??

What about the story really made your hair stand on end?

Written in epistolary style, The Sandman grows in intensity, the story taking strange twists and turns until coming to an amazing, horrifying climax.  I seriously shivered typing that while I recalled it.  I wish there was a way to make my words literally compel you to shift away from this review and go find a copy, but there isn’t… or is there? Go read it! (Here’s a lovely link to it!)

Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what these bloggers say!

Things Mean A Lot

Vishy’s Blog

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Dracula by Bram Stoker

Posted on January 3, 2012
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Reason for Reading:
  • It’s Dracula. I mean, seriously… I had to read it.

I also  recommend:

  • The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Summary from GoodReads:

The aristocratic vampire that haunts the Transylvanian countryside has captivated readers’ imaginations since it was first published in 1897. Hindle asserts that Dracula depicts an embattled man’s struggle to recover his “deepest sense of himself as a man”, making it the “ultimate terror myth”.

My Review:

It’s not often my 17 year old brother tells me I have to read a book.  So when he does, I put it on the short list.

I’ve had Dracula on my list for a while though.  I thought it’d be a fun read after reading Frankenstein earlier this year, but Frankenstein did a number on me (it was not nearly as gripping as I had hoped it would be) so Dracula got put to the back burner.  I should have known better.

First of all – for those of you who have not experienced Dracula yet – it’s an epistolary novel.  Yup, all letters.  These letters grow in intensity as the story progresses, making the book somewhat unique, especially when compared to other vampire novels.

I grew up reading Anne Rice novels – none of this wimpy sparkling-vampire stuff for me.  I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer (bonus points if you can name the season in which the good Count shows up there!), I enjoy a good, thrilling story that has me wanting to leave the lights on, and Dracula gave me everything I was looking for and more.  Y’all, I actually dreamed of spider-like men crawling up my walls.  It was awesome.

Reading Dracula is kicking off a year of intense exploring of a genre I’ve always shied away from.  Horror.  I figured I had to kick the year off with a review of a class horror and fully plan to explore the genre more in 2012.  It should be interesting – especially if this is the type of novel from which inspiration is taken.

Check out these reviews!

A Literary Odyssey

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The Resurrection by Mike Duran

Posted on December 26, 2011
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Reason for Reading:
  • This was a finalist for the 2011 INSPY awards.

I also  recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

In the graveyard overlooking the city of Stonetree, a petrified oak broods. It’s a monstrous thing, not just because of its size, but because of who was murdered there. When Ruby Case limped into church that spring morning, she was not thinking about haunted trees. Mother of two young boys and wife to a backslidden believer, she faithfully prays for God’s visitation upon the city. Yet when she inexplicably raises a boy from the dead, Ruby gets more than she bargained for. The resurrection creates uproar in the quiet coastal town, turning Ruby into both a celebrity and a scapegoat. When Reverend Ian Clark joins Ruby in a search for answers it leads to a collision with unspeakable darkness. Together, they quickly realize that Ruby woke more than a dead boy, and the secrets she unleashed now threaten to destroy them all. Can they overcome their own brokenness before they become victims of an insidious evil?

My Review:

Yet another of the books nominated for the 2011 INSPY awards, and one that definitely kept me reading until the end.

When I was in college (the first time around), we lived in a town that experienced quite a bit of spiritual warfare.  There were strange things that would happen, quite a few stories drifting around, and even a tragedy which made the national news.  It was a place that always had me feeling as if it was dark outside, even when the light was there, and a place that saw some things happen to me which have remained with me (in not a good way) since.

I don’t know how much of that was all spiritual warfare, and how much was just plain bad luck, but this book brought to mind a lot of these events, making it a difficult read for me.  The story was a fascinating one – a young woman, upon visiting a funeral, touches the boy who should not have died, and he comes back to life.  The way the family has to deal with the aftereffects, the church’s method of handling things, and the town’s history all end up knitting together to create an interesting story – but also a story that needed a bit of polish to make it really good.

For example – if you are going to name your book after an event like a resurrection, I think the story really needs to center more around that specific event, rather than just using it as a catalyst for something else that’s going on.  I never quite understood WHY the resurrection happened, even though I understand why everything else was happening.  This is a big pet peeve for me – using a name or an event or a disability/illness as a hook into a story about something else.  Although it wasn’t quite that bad with The Resurrection, I still was left a bit bewildered.

The Resurrection did not win the INSPY awards this year, but I think Mike Duran has the potential to write something that, in the future, will give that award a run for its figurative money.  Overall, The Resurrection made me think, provided me with a good story, and also opened my eyes to this author and the potential he has for future books.

 

Check out these reviews!

Writing for Christ

Live Simply, Simply Love

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The Doll: The Lost Short Stories by Daphne du Maurier

Posted on November 23, 2011
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Reason for Reading:
  • I fell in love with Daphne du Maurier’s writing after reading Rebecca

I also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

Before she wrote Rebecca, the novel that would cement her reputation as a twentieth-century literary giant, a young Daphne du Maurier penned short fiction in which she explored the images, themes, and concerns that informed her later work. Originally published in periodicals during the early 1930s, many of these stories never found their way into print again . . . until now.

Tales of human frailty and obsession, and of romance gone tragically awry, the thirteen stories in The Doll showcase an exciting budding talent before she went on to write one of the most beloved novels of all time. In these pages, a waterlogged notebook washes ashore revealing a dark story of jealousy and obsession, a vicar coaches a young couple divided by class issues, and an older man falls perilously in love with a much younger woman—with each tale demonstrating du Maurier’s extraordinary storytelling gifts and her deep understanding of human nature

My Review:

I don’t know which short story to gush about in this review.  From the creepy, ick factor of the book’s title story, The Doll, to the heartbreaking loss experienced in East Wind, to the funny, but bittersweet tale of Frustration… I could go on and on.

I think one story though really got to me.  I loved them all for their tragic, gothic-like settings, stories and people.. but there is one story that is all letters that move from the thrilling moments of a new, forbidden love to the eventual falling away of the same.  This is a repeated theme in these short stories – there’s no hugely romantic gestures, just simple, every day life laid bare and man’s shortcomings exposed in all sorts of heartbreaking detail.

I know, however, that this is one of the best collections of short stories I’ve read.  I can say this because this tiny little book inspires me to try my own hand at short stories, even though they’ll be no where near as perfect as du Maurier’s.  Still.. these stories have shown me the endless possibilities that can be reached with just a few pages of story – and how much wealth there is in a backstory and future that are left untold.

About the Author

  • Information regarding Daphne du Maurier:
(From GoodReads) – In many ways the life of Daphne du Maurier resembles that of a fairy tale. Born into a family with a rich artistic and historical background, the daughter of a famous actor-manager, she was indulged as a child and grew up enjoying enormous freedom from financial and parental restraint. She spent her youth sailing boats, travelling on the Continent with friends, and writing stories. A prestigious publishing house accepted her first novel when she was in her early twenties, and its publication brought her not only fame but the attentions of a handsome soldier, Major (later Lieutenant-General Sir) Frederick Browning, who married her.Her subsequent novels became bestsellers, earning her enormous wealth and fame. While Alfred Hitchcock’s film based upon her novel proceeded to make her one of the best-known authors in the world, she enjoyed the life of a fairy princess in a mansion in Cornwall called Menabilly, which served as the model for Manderley in Rebecca.

For more reviews on The Doll by Daphne du Maurier, please follow the book tour.

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The Legacy by Katherine Webb

Posted on October 14, 2011
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Reason for Reading:
  • The cover, the summary and the reviews.

I also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

When they were children, Erica Calcott and her sister, Beth, spent their summer holidays at Storton Manor. Now, following the death of their grandmother, they have returned to the grand, imposing house in Wiltshire, England. Unable to stem the tide of childhood memories that arise as she sorts through her grandmother’s belongings, Erica thinks back to the summer her cousin Henry vanished mysteriously from the estate, an event that tore their family to pieces. It is time, she believes, to lay the past to rest, bring her sister some peace, and finally solve the mystery of her cousin’s disappearance.

But sifting through remnants of a bygone time is bringing a secret family history to light—one that stretches back over a century, to a beautiful society heiress in Oklahoma, a haunting, savage land across the ocean. And as past and present converge, Erica and Beth must come to terms with two shocking acts of betrayal . . . and the heartbreaking legacy they left behind.

My Review:

Just a few minutes after picking up The Legacy by Katherine Webb, II felt a familiar feeling come over me.  I relaxed, my mind went a little hazy and I got a little shiver down my back.  All those signs together signal to me that I’m about to enjoy a story filled with mystery,  surrounded by a dark feeling that marks the perfect type of fall read.

The Legacy is yet another book I’ve been introduced to this year that is that perfect type of fall read – the one that begs you to cuddle up beneath a blanket with a warm cup of tea and just lose yourself in the story.  So I lost myself in it.  For hours I read, even to the point of walking around with my nose in the book to do mundane things like get another cup of tea or grab the mail.

All that said, was it a perfect story?  Well.. no, there could have been a few changes.  I felt as if it drug on needlessly in parts and that it was a bit over the top drama-wise, but it wasn’t a game breaker for me.  I still wanted to know the end.  I also felt the ending was.. a bit far-fetched, but it worked for the story that Web was telling.

I will say the descriptions of the house grounds were beautiful and the idea of a traveling family one that fascinated me.    Overall, this was a book filled with some interesting ideas, some well-played out and others needing a bit of work, but it was an overall worthwhile read, especially if you, like me, are looking for those perfect reads for the season.

About the Author

  • Information regarding Katherine Webb:

For more reviews on The Legacy byKatherine Webb, please follow the book tour.

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Killing Season by Priscilla Royal

Posted on October 6, 2011
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Reason for Reading:
  • Medieval mystery – I couldn’t resist (plus the cover photo is amazing!)

I also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

Baron Herbert’s return from crusade should have been a joyous occasion. Instead, he grows increasingly morose, withdraws from his family, and refuses to share his wife’s bed. When his sons begin to die in strange accidents, some ask whether Herbert harbors a dark sin for which God has cursed him. The baron suddenly sends for Sir Hugh of Wynethorpe, begging his friend to bring spiritual and secular healers but giving little explanation for the request. Worried about Herbert’s descent into melancholy and the tragic deaths, Sir Hugh persuades his sister, Prioress Eleanor of Tyndal Priory, to accompany him as well as a respected physician, Master Gamel. Although he is pleased when the prioress brings her healer, Sister Anne, he is dismayed to find Brother Thomas included, a man he has reason to despise. Perhaps there is a malign presence at this storm-blasted castle, oddly named Doux et Dur. Tensions spark among family members and soon between those who came to help. Death’s scythe harvests more victims, and it is not long before Ecclesiastes’ grim words seem all too apt: there is a season for everything under heaven, including a time to kill.But is there also a time to heal?

My Review:

I love it when I pick up a book that is, say, 8th in a series, and fall madly in love with it.  Why?  Because that means I have 7 more to enjoy before the 9th comes out!

Priscilla Royal might just be one of my new favorite authors.  The Killing Season set the mood so incredibly perfectly and boasted such a thrilling cast of characters that I fell madly and deeply in love with them before I was even 2 chapters in.

And the story wasn’t shabby either!

Gothic mysteries, to me, involve big, creepy castles, lots of rain and mist, thrilling, ghostlike mysteries and generally make me want to curl up on my sofa with a hot cup of tea, under my blanket, and shiver while I read the book.  That happened during the reading of The Killing Season.

The story opens with a cold journey to a castle and a cast of characters already comfortable with one another from previous stories – but that did not take from the book, especially as I had not read the previous books in the series.  I was introduced gently to them and never once felt lost of bewildered.  The setting was a medieval one and immediately my imagination filled with the clothing, the craggy surroundings and the looming castle ahead through the mists.  And then – tragedy strikes.

I just shivered writing that.

This was a historical mystery unlike anything I’ve read before.  If I had the money right now I’d be purchasing every book in the series, this one was that good.  Read it, immerse yourself in Priscilla Royal’s writing.  I promise you will not be disappointed.

Check out these reviews!

Genre Go Round

[ 2 Replies ]

The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian

Posted on September 30, 2011
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Reason for Reading:
  • Huge, huge fan of Chris Bohjalian’s books.

I also recommend:

  • The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
  • Room by Emma Donoghue

Summary from GoodReads:

Chip and Emily Linton wanted to escape a nightmare. Months before, Chip had ditched the jet he piloted into Lake Champlain after both its engines failed. His decision led to disaster: More than three dozen passengers died and Linton himself had lapsed into a PSTD response that verges on insanity. Now, he, his wife, and twin 10-year-old daughters have escaped, or so they think, to a decrepit Victorian mansion in New Hampshire’s sleepy White Mountains. Before long, however, the house and neighborhood around it become scenes of threatening paranormal visitations and the family is thrust into a realm where uncertainty is the only norm.

My Review:

I’m not usually a ghost-story type of girl, but when Chris Bohjalian puts a book out, I read it.

The Night Strangers is the story of a man who is not Captain Sully, of the infamous Hudson River Plane Landing.  It’s the story of Chip, a man who attempted a water landing in a plane he was piloting and subsequently lost the bulk of the passengers and crew on board.

What is unique about this book is the tools Bohjalian uses to tell the story.  Each character in Chip’s family has a voice, but Chip’s voice is in the 2nd person.  Bohjalian makes you, the reader, his voice.  He puts you in Chips shoes.  The result?  Mindblowingly messed-up.

Witchcraft, alchemy, ghosts, mental disorders, strained family relationships, loss, grief, hope, survival – it all exists within the pages of The Night Strangers.  I was unable to put this one down and just gripped onto the sides of my Kindle, desperately reading to find out what happens next.

For fans of Bohjalian’s psychological thrillers, you won’t want to miss this one.  Put it on your list – like me, you won’t regret it.

 

Check out these reviews!

Tell Me a Story

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The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan

Posted on September 23, 2011
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Reason for Reading:
  • I’ve heard talk that this is a “literary horror” book.  Always a term that fascinates me.

I recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

Meet Jake. A bit on the elderly side (he turns 201 in March), but you’d never suspect it. Nonstop sex and exercise will do that for you—and a diet with lots of animal protein. Jake is a werewolf, and after the unfortunate and violent death of his one contemporary, he is now the last of his species. Although he is physically healthy, Jake is deeply distraught and lonely.

Jake’s depression has carried him to the point where he is actually contemplating suicide—even if it means terminating a legend thousands of years old. It would seem to be easy enough for him to end everything. But for very different reasons there are two dangerous groups pursuing him who will stop at nothing to keep him alive.

Here is a powerful, definitive new version of the werewolf legend—mesmerising and incredibly sexy. In Jake, Glen Duncan has given us a werewolf for the twenty-first century—a man whose deeds can only be described as monstrous but who is in some magical way deeply human.

One of the most original, audacious, and terrifying novels in years.

My Review:

I have a bone to pick with this book.  I want to know why books described as “literary horror” need to contain some of the most crude, disturbing, disgusting, grossly graphic acts of sexual perversion.  Why?  It’s not needed and over and over I found myself pulling away from the book and putting it down, thoroughly disgusted both with what I was reading and myself for actually reading it.

This book was not enjoyable.  It’s a shame as well, because it had elements of the gothic feeling that I love and the story was a fascinating one, once one muddled through all the filth surrounding it.  That filth was so incredibly distracting though it makes it hard to say anything else about the book.

This is one that’s talked about a lot online.  The title is catching and people are bound to talk about a title, a book subject and a binding like this (the edges of the pages are trimmed with red, imitating blood).  It’s very much one you want to check out before buying, especially if you are squeamish and prudish like me about graphic sexual acts.

Check these reviews!

Bookie Monster

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The Poisoned House by Michael Ford

Posted on August 28, 2011
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Reason for Reading:
  • I’ve been wanting to read more ghost stories, this one showed up as available and I snagged it!

I also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

The year is 1856, and orphan Abigail Tamper lives below stairs in Greave Hall, a crumbling manor house in London. Lord Greave is plagued by madness, and with his son Samuel away fighting in the Crimea, the running of Greave Hall is left to Mrs Cotton, the tyrannical housekeeper. The only solace for the beleaguered staff is to frighten Mrs Cotton by pretending the house is haunted.

So when a real ghost makes an appearance – that of her beloved mother – no one is more surprised than Abi. But the spirit has a revelation that threatens to destroy Abi’s already fragile existence: she was murdered, and by someone under their very own roof. With Samuel returned to England badly wounded, it’s up to Abi to nurse him back to health, while trying to discover the identity of the killer in their midst. As the chilling truth dawns, Abi’s world is turned upside down.

My Review:

I have a love/hate relationship with ghost stories.  I love the thrill I get from reading them, and I hate the “over the shoulder” compulsion I get.  I do not like spooky things, so I read The Poisoned House by the light of the day.

What I got was pure entertainment.  No, the story wasn’t really anything knew and I guessed at the outcome about 1/3rd of the way through the book, but still – I wanted to read because I was being entertained, spooked and it felt good.  I loved the atmosphere of the house, the cast of characters and the Cinderella feel that Abi had.

So while the book really didn’t have much that I could go on and on about, it did provide me with a fun few hours of enjoyment and, really, isn’t that what you want from a good ghost story?

Check these reviews!

Letters Inside Out

I <3 Reading

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The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson

Posted on August 19, 2011
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Reason for Reading:
  • I’m a huge fan of gothic mysteries.

I also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

When Eve falls for the secretive, charming Dom, their whirlwind relationship leads them to purchase Les Genevriers, an abandoned house in a rural hamlet in the south of France. As the beautiful Provence summer turns to autumn, Eve finds it impossible to ignore the mysteries that haunt both her lover and the run-down old house, in particular the mysterious disappearance of his beautiful first wife, Rachel. Whilst Eve tries to untangle the secrets surrounding Rachel’s last recorded days, Les Genevriers itself seems to come alive. As strange events begin to occur with frightening regularity, Eve’s voice becomes intertwined with that of Benedicte Lincel, a girl who lived in the house decades before. As the tangled skeins of the house’s history begin to unravel, the tension grows between Dom and Eve. In a page-turning race, Eve must fight to discover the fates of both Benedicte and Rachel, before Les Genevriers’ dark history has a chance to repeat itself.

My Review:

I finished reading this book a few hours ago and I am still battling the chills it brought to life.  Holy smokes, this one blew me away.

I’m a huge fan of Kate Morton, I loved Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and so it was inevitable that I’d pick up The Lantern, gothic romantic mystery? Yes please!

I have to say, I was intrigued enough for the first half of the book to keep reading. I, like Eve, needed to know the secrets.  I was confused by the narrative but quickly got used to it and appreciated that I didn’t have to read long before going back to the other story.

Then, something magical happened.  I started jumping at every little noise, looking over my shoulder at the slightest breeze of air touching it and whimpering with needing to know exactly what was going on.

I’ve read a lot of books with psychological torture, but I have to say  - I think an event in this book about takes the cake.  I won’t say anymore about it, but .. yeah, you’ll know when you read it.

If you love books that just tingle with mystery, sweeping, beautiful descriptions of homes fallen into disrepair and ruin, filled with mystery, ghosts and more then The Lantern is a must-read.

 

About the Author

 

For more reviews on The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson, please follow the book tour.

[ 6 Replies ]