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Graphic Novel Review: Mary Shelley Presents: Tales of the Supernatural Vol. 1 by Nancy Holder, art by Amelia Woo

cover for Mary Shelley Presents Vol. 1

Mary Shelley Presents: Tales of the Supernatural Vol. 1 by Nancy Holder, art by Amelia Woo (available only through Kymera Press)

Kymera Press, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-9965558-0-7

Available: Hardcover, trade paperback

 

Mary Shelley Presents: Tales of the Supernatural #1 is the first in a series from Kymera Press adapting stories by Victorian-era women writers of supernatural fiction. With a foreword by Lisa Morton, who just published her own anthology of Victorian women’s supernatural fiction, followed by Isabelle Banks’ poem “Haunted”, this first volume adapts “The Old Nurse’s Tale” by Elizabeth Gaskell, “Man-Size in Marble” by Edith Nesbit, “The Case of Sir Alister Moeran” by Margaret Strickland, and “Monsieur Maurice” by Amelia B. Edwards.  Each story is preceded by a short introductory paragraph from the publisher and the author, Nancy Holder, and then introduced by a spectral Mary Shelley, accompanied by her Creature. These authors have written some wonderful, chilling stories , but they do get wordy for an impatient, modern audience. Holder’s adaptations slim the stories down while preserving the quality of the storytelling, and Amelia Woo’s gorgeous color illustrations are a perfect accompaniment. The brilliant ghosts, period clothes, and detail in darkened woods and cemeteries pull the reader right in. Each adaptation is followed by the full text of the story. As someone with poor eyesight I could have wished the text was a little larger, but some of the original stories are very long– it took skill and collaborative effort to be able to successfully adapt them.

This is a great way to introduce readers to some excellent women writers who, until very recently, had not received recognition for their supernatural fiction, as well as a treat for those of us already familiar with these authors, who would love to see them gain a larger audience.  I’m hoping we won’t have to wait too long for volume 2. Highly recommended for ages 12+.

 

 

Editor’s note: In the interests of full disclosure, I backed the Kickstarter for this book.

 

 

 

 

Posted on August 12, 2020 by , Reply

Book Review: Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror & Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kroger and Melanie R. Anderson

Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror & Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kroger and Melanie R. Anderson.

Quirk Books, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1683691389

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook

 

For anyone claiming to be a horror fan, this is an essential. Women have long been a force in horror and speculative fiction, yet the majority of readers are only familiar with Shirley Jackson, Mary Shelley, and a few others.  Yet, there are dozens more, and it’s doubtful most horror readers are aware of them, much less tried one of the tales by the authors highlighted by Kroger and Anderson.
While I’m somewhat embarrassed to not recognize many of the names in this book, I’m also thrilled by it. After meeting Lisa Kroger, I was wowed by the breadth of the insight both authors had into the importance of women writers in the horror canon.

“Mad Madge” Margaret Cavendish took 1666 by storm (that’s a long time before Frankenstein was written). She was a storm herself, described here as a “Kardashian” of her times (yet one who had a purpose). Her The Blazing World was a science fiction tour de force. In the nineteenth century, Elizabeth Gaskell won the admiration of Charles Dickens and spurred a unique relationship with him. Her ghost tales changed views at the time, while she took societal ills head on– rare for women to do successfully at that time. Amelia Edwards predated Indiana Jones by more than a century, and unlike the famed iconic figure, was real. This lady lived adventures that would have made Indy blush– and then there was her writing. For all her wild excursions, she became a power in quiet horror in the world of Victorian ghost tales. Many others follow, but they’re best discovered while reading the book.  The authors here have captured the stories of each writer as a person first, then as a writer. Kroger and Anderson know their material, yet steer clear of academic jargon. They have penned a highly readable book that one could tear through in a single sitting, although it’s unlikely that that will happen. Most readers will stop from time to time and check libraries, used bookstores and online sources for the stories of the writers detailed within.

This is a treasure trove of amazing tidbits and histories of women who shaped the genre as we know it. From pure adventure to Gothic romance, from science fiction to all-out horror, Kroger and Anderson school the reader on what’s crucial to filling in the holes in readers’ learning about what makes horror what horror truly is. Dive in and enjoy– you’ll want to track down these authors’ works before you even finish reading. Five stars isn’t enough here– this book is crucial, essential to the history of the genre for any true horror fan (as well as or fans of women who bucked the system and challenged what was accepted). You will NOT be disappointed. My interview with the authors will be posted on Monster Librarian soon. Check it out– these two women know their histories and explain it well. They’ve hooked me. Highly, highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by David Simms

Editor’s note: As has been noted in the past, many reference books on horror authors include relatively few women. Librarians and academics focused on related topics will want to consider this as a complement to other biographical reference books on authors of horror and supernatural fiction. 

Posted on August 30, 2019 by , 1 comment

Guest Post by Paula Cappa: The Literary Ladies of Horror’s Haunted Mountain

It may not be February, but October is just as good a time (if not a better one) to recognize women in horror, especially women writers. Paula Cappa, author of the supernatural novels The Dazzling Darkness and Night Sea Journey (both reviewed here), gives us her take on women writers in the genre from the beginnings of their journey until the present day. Love quiet horror? Visit her blog to discover what classic story she’s presenting as her Tuesday Tale of Terror. Really. It’s awesome.

Want another take on women writers in the horror genre? Check out this post by Colleen Wanglund, which includes a fantastic list of contemporary women writers and recommended titles.

The Literary Ladies of Horror’s Haunted Mountain

By Paula Cappa

If there is ever a time to hear a night-shriek, it is October, a month that welcomes readers to the dark mountain of the horror genre. Listen to the hallowed voices, their devouring muscular growls and hot stinging hisses. Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, author of MaddAddam, says “Some may look skeptically at ‘horror’ as a subliterary genre, but in fact, horror is one of the most literary of all forms.”

The literary ladies at the summit are as ghoul-haunted as the gentlemen claiming Haunted Mountain as their territory with their persistent footprints and pulsing voices. Their names are familiar: Poe, Hoffman, James, Blackwood, LeFanu, Lovecraft, Stoker, King, Koontz, Herbert, Straub, Saul, Strieber, Bradbury, Barker, Campbell– the list goes on.

With women so under-represented, one would think the only woman writing horror in the early years was Mary Shelley, setting up ropes and spikes, blazing a wide path up horror’s haunted mountain with Frankenstein in 1818. But look closely at the mountain, and you’ll find the distinctive footprints of Ann Radcliffe, who tore open supernatural paths with The Mysteries of Udolpho as early as 1794. Radcliffe’s writing of suspense about castles and dark villains influenced Dumas, Scott, and Hugo. Mary Elizabeth Braddon, author of Eveline’s Visitant, wrote eighty novels and volumes of short stories during the 1800s, and was known as the Queen of Sensation. The little-known and much-overlooked Margaret Oliphant scaled the rocky mountainside with a heady ghost story, “The Secret Chamber.

By 1865, Amelia Edwards’  The Phantom Coach cut popular tracks across the haunted mountain. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky cleared the way for future women writers with her collection of nightmare tales, The Ensouled Violin, as did Elizabeth Gaskell with The Poor Clare, which deals with a family evil curse, complete with witches and ghosts. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, written at the turn of the century, became the earliest feminist literature to expose 19th century attitudes against women’s mental health, in less than 6000 words. I like to think of Charlotte as the Wallerina, dancing up the haunted mountain.

Gothic writers like Edith Wharton (Afterward) and Mary Wilkins (Collected Ghost Stories) remain treasures.  V.C. Andrews, Shirley Jackson, Daphne du Maurier, Mary Sinclair, Rosemary Timperley, Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart, Joan Aiken, Phyllis Whitney, and Barbara Michaels, all were prolific writers on horror’s haunted mountain during the 20th century, and some are still writing today. Then, of course, there’s Anne Rice, with her newest release The Wolves of MidWinter. This queen of the damned has practically established a private driveway up the haunted mountain, with more than thirty enormously successful novels of vampires, angels, demons, spirits, wolves, and witches.

Horror’s haunted mountain, traveled by women writers from Ann Radcliffe to Anne Rice, is still being trailblazed by fresh talents, writers of gothic, ghost, supernatural, traditional, and dark horror: Alexandra Sokoloff, The Unseen; Barbara Erskine, House of Echoes; Caitlin R. Kiernan, The Drowning Girl; Chesya Burke, Dark Faith; Elizabeth Massie, Hell Gate; Gemma Files, The Worm in Every Heart; Joyce Carol Oates, The Accursed; Kelley Armstrong, Bitten; Linda D. Addison, How to Recognize a Demon Has Become Your Friend; M.J. Rose, Seduction; Melanie Tem, Slain in the Spirit; Nancy Baker, Kiss of the Vampire; Nancy Holder, Dead in Winter; Poppy Z. Brite, Drawing Blood; Rose Earhart, Salem’s Ghost; Susan Hill, The Woman in Black; too many more to list.

What about the short story? Look to Billie Sue Mosiman, with 150 short stories to her credit. Her “Quiet Room” is about a ruthless evil killer, written in “quiet horror” fashion. For collections, try authors Kaaron Warren’s Dead Sea Fruit, Carole Lanham’s The Whisper Jar, and Fran Friel’s Mama’s Boy and Other Dark Tales.

Men may continue to dominate horror’s haunted mountain, just as women continue to be fierce climbers with hawkish voices. But story is story; writers are writers. What does gender matter in art? In the words of Virginia Woolf: “It is fatal for anyone who writes to think of their sex. It is fatal to be a man or woman pure and simple; one must be woman-manly or man-womanly.” Oh wait, I forgot one more ghostly title for you: Virginia Woolf’s A Haunted House.

Bio:

Paula Cappa is a published short story author, novelist, and freelance copy editor. Her short fiction has appeared in SmokeLong Quarterly, Every Day Fiction, Fiction365, Twilight Times Ezine, and in anthologies Human Writes Literary Journal, and Mystery Time. Cappa’s writing career began as a freelance journalist for newspapers in New York and Connecticut. Her debut novel Night Sea Journey, A Tale of the Supernatural launched in 2012. The Dazzling Darkness, her second novel, won the Gothic Readers Book Club Choice Award for outstanding fiction. She writes a weekly fiction blog about classic short stories, Reading Fiction,Tales of Terror, on her Web site http://paulacappa.wordpress.com/

 

Posted on October 3, 2013 by , 1 comment