What We're Reading #26

The Ladies of Horror Fiction have some recent reads to share with you today!

Monster, She Wrote by Lisa Kroger & Melanie R. Anderson

Meet the women writers who defied convention to craft some of literature’s strangest tales, from Frankenstein to The Haunting of Hill House and beyond.

Frankenstein was just the beginning: horror stories and other weird fiction wouldn’t exist without the women who created it. From Gothic ghost stories to psychological horror to science fiction, women have been primary architects of speculative literature of all sorts. And their own life stories are as intriguing as their fiction. Everyone knows about Mary Shelley, creator of Frankenstein, who was rumored to keep her late husband’s heart in her desk drawer. But have you heard of Margaret “Mad Madge” Cavendish, who wrote a science-fiction epic 150 years earlier (and liked to wear topless gowns to the theater)? If you know the astounding work of Shirley Jackson, whose novel The Haunting of Hill House was reinvented as a Netflix series, then try the psychological hauntings of Violet Paget, who was openly involved in long-term romantic relationships with women in the Victorian era. You’ll meet celebrated icons (Ann Radcliffe, V. C. Andrews), forgotten wordsmiths (Eli Colter, Ruby Jean Jensen), and today’s vanguard (Helen Oyeyemi). Curated reading lists point you to their most spine-chilling tales.

Part biography, part reader’s guide, the engaging write-ups and detailed reading lists will introduce you to more than a hundred authors and over two hundred of their mysterious and spooky novels, novellas, and stories.

Goodreads | Amazon | Amazon UK

Toni’s Teaser Review

I think that this is a really important book. Women have been a part of the horror genre since the beginning. Whether they were writing Gothic horror or are writing now. Women have been instrumental in shaping the horror genre. This is a very important work that lists the most influential women. If you support women in horror this is a book that you will want on your shelves.

Read Toni’s entire review at The Misadventures of a Reader.

The Last Seance by Agatha Christie

From the Queen of Suspense, an all-new collection of her spookiest and most sinister stories, including one never before published in the U.S.

“Reading a perfectly plotted Agatha Christie is like crunching into a perfect apple: that pure, crisp, absolute satisfaction.”—Tana French, New York Times Bestselling Author

For lovers of the supernatural and the macabre comes this collection of ghostly and chilling stories from legendary mystery writer Agatha Christie. Fantastic psychic visions, specters looming in the shadows, encounters with deities, a man who switches bodies with a cat—be sure to keep the light on whilst reading these tales.

The Last Séance gathers twenty stories, some featuring Christie’s beloved detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, in one haunting compendium that explores all things occult and paranormal, and is an essential omnibus for Christie fans.

Goodreads | Amazon | Amazon UK

Audra’s Teaser Review

Though I’ve read many of her novels, I am a newcomer to Christie’s short stories. She is a consummate storyteller, whether in the long or short form! I so thoroughly enjoyed the spooky atmosphere as well as the variety of different settings, characters, and stories offered here.

Read Audra’s entire review at Goodreads.

Cenote City by Monique Quintana

Lune’s mother cannot stop crying after all the hospitals shut down. She cries and cries and finally she is exiled to the cenote, where her tears endlessly fill the giant sinkhole. She becomes a big tourist attraction. People come from miles to see Marcrina cry into the cenote–part prisoner, part carnival attraction, part saint, Marcrina’s story is one of heartbreak, love, and endurance. This is the story of Lune, of Marcrina, of Lune’s son Nico, and of a strange place called Cenote City, where the world of magic and the dead entwines with daily life in enchanting and unsettling ways. Monique Quintana’s words will pull you under, down to the depths, where tears flow, hearts break, and dreams are reborn every day.

Goodreads | Amazon | Amazon UK

Emily’s Teaser Review

Cenote City is Monique Quintana’s gorgeous debut novella. Her writing is vivid and poetic, and this book was a great introduction to Quintana’s style. I would say this book is speculative fiction / bizarro with some magical realism, horror, and fantasy vibes. It’s a really unique story.

Read Emily’s entire review at Goodreads.

Thanks for joining us today and we hope you found something to add to your tbr list! Please share your recent reads with us in the comments below.