Guest Post: Wicked Women and the Female Gothic, Du Maurier’s ‘Rebecca’ & ‘My Cousin Rachel’

As the sun in the northern hemisphere gains strength, many of us seek the coast. Always geographically close, on this island as I am, the coast I seek is literary: Du Maurier’s sharp and unforgiving coastline, haunted by traumas past and present. Though born in London in 1907, Du Maurier is intrinsically linked to the… Read More Guest Post: Wicked Women and the Female Gothic, Du Maurier’s ‘Rebecca’ & ‘My Cousin Rachel’

Guest Post: ‘Geek Love’, An Intimate Portrait of a Nuclear Family

Before the dust of the departing circus train settles, there is time for a post or two more. June, which was dedicated to the Circus of Horrors (that is, the horror of the circus) certainly lived up to the name. Rather than head into July leaving no trace of the circus behind, I’m bending time… Read More Guest Post: ‘Geek Love’, An Intimate Portrait of a Nuclear Family

Aesthetically Hoarded Guest Post: Witches of Western Art

The Season of the Witch is half over and there is so much yet to explore. Soon I hope to take you on a literary journey of the witch as character, but in the meantime, I have enlisted some help. 𝕬𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖙𝖎𝖈𝖆𝖑𝖑𝖞 𝕳𝖔𝖆𝖗𝖉𝖊𝖉 I could think of no one better to dive deep into the canvas… Read More Aesthetically Hoarded Guest Post: Witches of Western Art

An Unutterable Wretchedness of the Mind: ‘Jane Eyre’

Born in Yorkshire, England, on the 21st of April, 1816, Charlotte Brontë was the third of six Brontë children, and the longest surviving. Along with her younger sisters Emily (1818-1848) and Anne (1820-1849), Charlotte remains a popular author to this day. She completed four novels in her lifetime, three of which she saw published (the… Read More An Unutterable Wretchedness of the Mind: ‘Jane Eyre’

The Gothic History of the Great, American Freakshow

P. T. BARNUM The name Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810-1891) is synonymous with the circus. He is, after all, the Barnum of Barnum & Bailey which, upon merging with Ringling Bros. following the deaths of both Barnum & Bailey, became America’s longest running circus, pitching up for the final time in 2017. On the contemporary popularity… Read More The Gothic History of the Great, American Freakshow

Enamoured with ‘The Love Witch’

If you’re able to overlook the background modern cars, the stickers on the soles of Elaine’s black boots, and Trish’s mobile phone, ‘The Love Witch’ (2016) could easily be mistaken for a psychedelic, Italian giallo horror, or tantalising technicolour melodrama of the 1950s and 60s, to which it pays otherwise flawless homage. Written, directed, composed,… Read More Enamoured with ‘The Love Witch’