2.5 stars rounded up. I won’t write a proper review. I picked this up purely for diversion after a couple of heavy non-fiction hitters. I’m a huge fan2.5 stars rounded up. I won’t write a proper review. I picked this up purely for diversion after a couple of heavy non-fiction hitters. I’m a huge fan of gothic fiction & Riley Sager delivers just that, so I got what I expected on that score. But I wouldn’t say any part of this book was special in any way. Just a lot of reheated tropes. And I should know, being heavily into fiction classics as well. My least favourite of his books so far. I know it’s unfair to expect more from this type of fiction, but I do because it exists. There was a part about a painting that was interesting and that’s all that stood out for me. Not surprising since I’m a visual artist. If my personal impressions offend you for any reason (because someone is always getting offended) I don’t want to hear it. Just move along, thank you....more
Mostly I kept wondering why I persist in reading contemporary murder suspense stories. They all seem to be churned out of the same factory. But good eMostly I kept wondering why I persist in reading contemporary murder suspense stories. They all seem to be churned out of the same factory. But good enough to switch off my brain for a while. Admittedly I spend most of the time being offended at how stupid and pointless so much of it is. Maybe gives me a fake sense of superiority? Obviously I enjoy them on some level since I keep going back for more! ...more
**spoiler alert** Things start to really take off now. The first two volumes were introducing the professor in the form of a tall dark monster with ho**spoiler alert** Things start to really take off now. The first two volumes were introducing the professor in the form of a tall dark monster with horns neatly dressed and wearing an overcoat, and little Sheeva, a sweet blonde little girl with a turned up nose. The professor must never touch her or she will catch the malediction and become a monster too and he is scrupulous about caring for her as best he can.
The second volume introduces other dark creatures and the strange concept of the “mother�, strange because she is unseen, at the bottom of a crater under a lake, and when she speaks she is unintelligible to the professor, but sounds like a song. I couldn’t make out much of that second book, but you felt it was establishing some key concepts for the series.
Here, Sheeva’s old auntie returns to the forest of the “exterior world� to get the little girl and bring her back to her village. She is accompanied by armoured guards on horseback who repel the professors efforts to save Sheeva with volleys of arrows. We learn this is part of a larger plot overseen by the king and his counsel. A whole world opens up and takes the story to another level, apparently in alternative medieval times. The artwork is beautiful. Very dark when the professor is depicted, and the printing on cheap paper means the images sometimes get blotchy and difficult to read, but a light touch in the linework which is very fine....more
Gruesome, strange, nonsensical, gross, crazy and mostly inappropriate. I totally loved this sophisticated horror manga. The fine pen b&w drawings are Gruesome, strange, nonsensical, gross, crazy and mostly inappropriate. I totally loved this sophisticated horror manga. The fine pen b&w drawings are gorgeous, the horror builds up quickly in each of these short stories where a woman is sexually attracted to a house and another wants to be dissected alive and a bird woman feeds a man his own flesh to help him survive a bad fall and generally really creepy stuff you don’t want to think too closely about happens, but treated artistically comes off brilliantly if you have a dark sense of humour as I do.
Those who know Junji Ito’s works and the artist himself in the afterword claim this book isn’t as strong as some of his previous famous illustrated horror titles, so I’m glad I came to this knowing nothing about him and having nothing to compare it to, so I was able to appreciate this little gem on its own merit. Now I’ve gone ahead and reserved his masterwork Uzumaki or Spiral Into Horror, and it looks like I’ll be in for quite a treat....more
This was deeply satisfying. Set in Czechoslovakia, close to Prague, a place I’ve visited and felt a connection to and know a little bit about in termsThis was deeply satisfying. Set in Czechoslovakia, close to Prague, a place I’ve visited and felt a connection to and know a little bit about in terms of history and culture. 1935. A young psychiatrist who has studied with Carl Jung has developed a theory of the “Devil Aspect�. Basing himself on the theories of his mentor he proposes each individual harbours a devil nature within their subconscious and thinks he knows how to release and contain it and can thus help violently insane criminals regain mental health. That central premise had intrigued me enough to want to read this book, but there are other major elements to this story that make for a rich and satisfying, and necessarily extra dark brew. I’ve written more but must sleep before completing and editing and this is a good start methinks. 4.5 well deserved stars. Most definitely a favourite this year which I will be tempted to revisit.
I should probably mention that the mental patients treated at this asylum are among Europe’s most dangerous serial killers. There is also a parallel ongoing investigation in Prague into the killings and dismemberment of women by the so-called “leather apron killer� who seems to be giving homage or trying to outdo Jack the Ripper. Lots of gory descriptions and violent murders abound. Definitely not a cozy or comforting novel. Consider yourself forewarned. ...more
November 13, 2023: Revisited this wonderful novel about a young girl who is observing her father’s descent into madness and murder at the beginning ofNovember 13, 2023: Revisited this wonderful novel about a young girl who is observing her father’s descent into madness and murder at the beginning of the 20th century. Edmund Stearn, a tyrannical historian, husband and father, believes he is being pursued by a devil revealed to him in a “doom”—a medieval painting in his local church. Maud, as his helper and secretary, finds his hidden journals and reads about his so-called historical research as he becomes convinced he must fight with a devil. She is in love with one of the servants who introduces her to eel “babbing� (fishing) and her first kiss. The fen is one of Maud’s favourite places and she must find ways to prevent her father from draining it. He has reasons of his own to hate the marshes, but Maud is a nature lover and devises plans to thwart his plans. An engrossing novel I’ve now revisited twice on audiobook with the brilliant narration by Juanita McMahon.
January 2020: Loved it! The gothic atmosphere pervades every aspect of this story. From the house itself situated near a fen, or marsh area thousands of years old (the last fen to have survived draining in England, according to the story), where dark spirits are thought to roam, to the abusive authoritarian father figure who barely notices his progeny and insists on mounting his poor suffering wife daily despite her regularly birthing dead or dying babies, there is darkness aplenty here. Thought the telling of a woman's life history, we discover why her father murdered a man with a pickaxe in a seemingly sudden mad rage. Delightful! :-)...more
Ilana (illi69)
>
Books:
gothic-and-horror
(162)
Loading...
