“…for in His own mysterious way He has united the white race and the black race in this new continent. By the transgression of the law He proves His o“…for in His own mysterious way He has united the white race and the black race in this new continent. By the transgression of the law He proves His own infallibility: ‘Of one blood have I made all nations of men to dwell upon the whole face of the earth,� is as true today as when given to the inspired writers to be recorded. No man can draw the dividing line between the two races, for they are both of one blood!�
I brought this book home from the library based on the cover and premise, and boy was it an experience!
Published in 1902 by Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins–believed to be America’s “first great female horror writer of color”—OF ONE BLOOD is a blend of genres. It’s fantasy, a murder mystery, and a romance. It’s a ghost story, a tale of rags to riches, and a hotpot of family drama. There’s a journey across the sea, tomb raids, and betrayals.
The story follows a talented Black medical student passing for white in Boston, Massachusetts. He is given an archeological opportunity by a friend to travel to Ethiopia in search of wealth. What he learns when he arrives on the African continent opens his eyes to a rich heritage and history he’s long avoided.
I found this to be an absolutely fascinating look into themes of racial identity, spirituality, science, and history. But good god was there DRAMA!!!!! Some of the twists and scandals had me clutching my pearls, y’all!!! I can only imagine what the readers of the early 20th century thought!
While some readers of today might find this book to be slow with flowery writing (it was published in 1902 after all) I’m personally glad to have read it as a person who loves classic literature and is surprised to have never heard of author Pauline Hopkins (I went down a rabbit hole learning more about this incredible woman)! It’s now a treasured reading experience for my Black History Month!...more
This was a story much more epic in scale than I'd anticipated, and much grander than I had the energy for. TherAngels and demons and vampires! Oh my!
This was a story much more epic in scale than I'd anticipated, and much grander than I had the energy for. There were moments that were a bit confusing, other moments that felt repetitive.
BUT...
I absolutely love Johnny Compton's writing—and loved his writing just as much in his former novel The Spite House—so I will say while this wasn't quite for me (mainly because I wasn't in the mood for horror that took a hard nosedive into fantasy), it may be for you!
Read this if you're a lover of:
-complex storytelling -intricate plots -angels and gods -vampire lore -Afro Latina protagonists -gore and violence (yes please) -dark fantasy with horror elements
(I strongly recommend the audiobook for this one!)...more
“He understood that the ghost existed first and foremost within his own head. That maybe ghosts always haunted minds, not places. If he wanted to take“He understood that the ghost existed first and foremost within his own head. That maybe ghosts always haunted minds, not places. If he wanted to take a shot at it, he’d have to turn the barrel against his own temple.�
I don't know why I put this off as long as I did! I'm late to the party but I've arrived nonetheless and I loved this book! ...more
“The lake is cold, the truth is deep and you have to earn the right to hear such secrets, for the lake speaks most honestly to those willing to drown.“The lake is cold, the truth is deep and you have to earn the right to hear such secrets, for the lake speaks most honestly to those willing to drown.�
Prepare yourselves for a haunting, eerie, sorrowful horror story!
In this book, two prominent perspectives are highlighted out of many. One from a civil-war medic accustomed to the horrors of violence and bloodshed, who encounters the mysteries of Torch Lake and is doomed to pay a high debt after succumbing to its call. The other perspective is from a wanderlust woman, a camp counselor in the present day who is also mystified by the lore of Torch Lake and makes a devastating bargain to right a wrong. Over time, these two perspectives collide and the deep, dark folklore of Torch Lake is unraveled one chapter at a time. Souls beneath the waves, ashes of the dead, deals with the supernatural! Sound fun?
This is a story that begs the question, what lengths would you go, what would you sacrifice, what horrors would you endure, for the sake of those you love? It carries themes of grief, guilt, and unending heartache. In his introduction, author Mark Matthews states that he pulled from Ojibwe folklore, Hindu mythology, and American Civil War history to bring this story to life. He has gifted readers a horror story teeming with dark fantasy, mystery, and deep terrors for those who feel it best to simply “stay out of the water�. To Those Willing to Drown is perfect for the summer. Read this book lakeside if you dare!
(Thanks so much to the author and Wicked Run Press for my gifted review copy of this wonderful book!)...more
“For the period of that time that I knew Mayra well, most of our conversations were electric, tinged with the ferocity of youth; our opinions were mor“For the period of that time that I knew Mayra well, most of our conversations were electric, tinged with the ferocity of youth; our opinions were more than opinions, they were parts of our souls that we guarded like dogs, with raised hackles and widened eyes. But our conversation now was quiet, deliberate, adult.�
A disorienting, soul-stirring, at times claustrophobic story about how our identities are sometimes impacted by friendships and home. This instantly brought up memories of my own girlhood friendships (both sincere and toxic) and the dizzying, exhilarating, wild pathways they led me down....more
“The suspicion flickers at the edge of your mind: maybe there is nothing beyond those windows. Maybe there is only you in this cabin, and beyond it th“The suspicion flickers at the edge of your mind: maybe there is nothing beyond those windows. Maybe there is only you in this cabin, and beyond it the dark. Fear of the dark. Until I came here, I thought that was for children; that you grew out of it. But it never really goes away. It’s always there underneath. The oldest fear of all.�
This was such a chilling ghost story!!! I can’t think of a better setting for isolation horror than the dark, cold Arctic! Definitely going to read more from author Michelle Paver!...more
Ninety year old millionaire Monty Nolan has lived a long, tumultuous life. But he’s not quite ready to give up the ghost and pass quietly into the nigNinety year old millionaire Monty Nolan has lived a long, tumultuous life. But he’s not quite ready to give up the ghost and pass quietly into the night. He’s not ready to face death just yet, and he doesn’t have to. Not when money has bought him more time in the form of a special “insurance policy�. No, Monty is ready to really live, and on the night of Christmas Eve he will be “reborn� and emerge onto the sleepless streets of New York City as a hunter, hungry for life, and thirsty for blood.
This was a compelling, melancholy, and bloody read! In a short number of pages, readers really get to know Monty as a fully developed protagonist, a vampiric Ebenezer Scrooge greedy not for wealth but immortality. Author Marcus Hawke is a vivid storyteller of whom I became a fan ever since I read his gory eco-horror slasher novella The Axe Remembers.
Curl up with this vampiric tale before the winter ends!
(Special thank you to author Marcus Hawke and Hawke Haus Books for my gifted review copy!)...more
"Her car was met on all sides by an impenetrable blackness, as though she had sunk to the ocean's deepest trench, where old things live without time o"Her car was met on all sides by an impenetrable blackness, as though she had sunk to the ocean's deepest trench, where old things live without time or light, in secrecy and in darkness."
This is my second book read from author A.M. Shine (my first being The Creeper) and I think it's safe to say I'm a fan....more
“Christmas eve in the quaint little town of Cliffside; and a good old-fashioned Christmas too. Not one of those miserable remnants of November which a“Christmas eve in the quaint little town of Cliffside; and a good old-fashioned Christmas too. Not one of those miserable remnants of November which are, alas, too common in modern experience of an English Christmas, but a downright hard season, such as our grandfathers love to talk about when they laud the superiority of the ‘good old days�.�
I've finally read all 5 volumes of the Valancourt Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories. The accomplishment feels bittersweet. I've loved reading one volume a year and making it my own personal holiday tradition. Like all the other volumes, I had my favorite stories in this collection:
The Mistletoe Bough by Thomas Haynes Bayley My Brother’s Ghost Story by Amelia Blandford Edwards That Awful Face by Florence Marryat Two Christmas Eves by Howell Davies A Tale of Mystery by Mabel Collins ...more
Nina The Wandering Reader
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