Hello, yes, it’s really me… alive and well* and with new offerings. I shall allow a moment for the shock to wear off…

Over on Instagram I recently asked whether you, dear consumer of multimedia content, preferred when I post under monthly themes or not. The majority vote was for a hybrid – a Dr Frankenstein approach, composed of a bit of this and a bit of that, hopefully resulting in some beautiful type of generally gothic monster!

July has historically been themed ‘Southern Spell’. It is an ode to sunshine in the Gothic, a trip down south to the sweltering southern states of America, and to the effect of geography on horror. In other words, in the past July has been a dedicated exploration of the Southern Gothic subgenre… and truly by total happenstance that is precisely where today’s unexpected, unplanned post is rooted. Southern Gothic literature just tastes best in the unforgiving heat of July, and I am so glad to have picked Carson McCullers’ The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940) up this month, whether by free will or the cogs of unconscious clockwork…

Today, I decided to do something different (as if, at this point, posting here was not ‘something different’ in itself!). I have recorded a mid-read review on audio… I am giving you my voice, unabridged and unscripted. You will hear my thoughts process, slowly, in the silence. You will, hopefully, be encouraged to read or discuss this fine fiction. And, you will experience a rather ironic revelation… there is a moment of lightness and a moment of dark.

𝕸𝖎𝖉-𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉 𝕽𝖊𝖛𝖎𝖊𝖜 𝖔𝖋 ‘𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕳𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖙 𝖎𝖘 𝖆 𝕷𝖔𝖓𝖊𝖑𝖞 𝕳𝖚𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖗’ | 𝕷𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖓 𝕳𝖊𝖗𝖊:

~ And that, fellow spooky nerds, is why I write rather than record. ~

Whether you are yet to or have already experienced ‘The Heart…’: let’s chat McCullers and the Gothic south!
If you want to discuss the awkward intro, outro, or the 7 minutes in between: okay! I.. am… ready?!
If you need, want, or would rather a transcript, please let me know – making content accessible is pretty much my whole intention here, so 1. I am sorry and 2. just give me the word!

Phew, okay – that’s enough for today.
If you’d like to linger on, there’s plenty in the archives. You’ll find past, specifically Southern Gothic reading in:
Southern Gothic Foundations: ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’
Race and Regionalism: ‘Drenched in Light’
The American Civil War: ‘A Rose for Emily’
Between One Cap and One Period: Reading William Faulkner
Into the Abstract: ‘The Paperhanger’.

And, if you would like to contribute to Generally Gothic – an unfunded labour of love and lunacy, which apparently now involves talking to myself in the vague direction of my phone – you can do so here, in the form of virtual coffee. I’d thank you for doing me a kindness, but either way, I appreciate y’all! 🖤

*Okay, I’m a little snotty… If you heard me sniffling, I apologise!