The Twelve Books of Christmas: Part Twelve

My twelfth book of Christmas is not actually published until February, but it can be pre-ordered now – and arrive in time for Valentine’s Day, so there’s another holiday covered. You’re welcome.

Following on from the success of Colonial Horrors, I have assembled another anthology of pioneering horror stories, this time from female authors. More Deadly than the Male includes a story by Mary Shelley, of course, but there are some surprises as well. When she was not writing about the March family in Little Women and its sequels, Louisa May Alcott took time out to write one of the first mummy tales. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote several ghost stories, one of which is also in the collection. British readers of a certain age will remember Edith Nesbit’s classic The Railway Children with affection, but may not be aware of her extensive horror output. There are also obscure names like Vernon Lee (Violet Paget, adopting a male nom-de-plume in order to be take seriously) and forgotten ones like Alice Rea.

The publication date is well chosen, since February 2019 will be the tenth annual Women in Horror Month, while March is Women’s History Month. All of the ladies in this collection led surprising and inspiring lives: some were remarkable only for the fact that they made their mark in the male-dominated world of literature, while others achieved far more.

Most surprising of all, perhaps, is the claim made in a BBC online article that at the height of the 19th-century fashion for horror stories, more than 70% of published tales were written by women. They often brought a psychological dread to their horror, as well as some social commentary: Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-Paper” is a vivid portrait of psychological disintegration on the one hand, and on the other a savage indictment of the so-called “rest cure” – effectively a form of solitary imprisonment which kept women from embarrassing their families, under the guise of paternalistic concern for the delicate nature of the “weaker sex.”

Here are extracts from some early reviews:

“Davis (Colonial Horrors) has done thoughtful literary excavation, and the stories he has selected are a trove of fantastic gems.”
– Publisher’s Weekly

“An incredible collection of lesser-known ghost stories from female writers of the 18th and 19th centuries.”
– Goodreads

…and here is a link to the book’s page on the Pegasus Books web site.

This concludes my twelve books of Christmas. Thank you for reading, and I hope you have found something interesting – and perhaps some  inspiration for a last-minute gift – among them. Links to various online retailers can be found on the My Books page, but if you find them at a brick-and-mortar store, your purchase will help them as well as helping me.

Merry Christmas to all, or the compliments of whichever season you celebrate at this time of year. May 2019 be a year in which unity triumphs over division, compassion over hate, and understanding over fear. And may it be a year in which more people discover, or rediscover, the joy of reading.

Click here for Part One: Colonial Horrors.

Click here for Part Two: Nazi Moonbase.

Click here for Part Three: Werewolves – A Hunter’s Guide.

Click here for Part Four: Theseus and the Minotaur.

Click here for Part Five: The New Hero, vol. 1.

Click here for Part Six: Knights Templar – A Secret History.

Click here for Part Seven: The Lion and the Aardvark.

Click here for Part Eight: Thor – Viking God of Thunder.

Click here for Part Nine: Tales of the Frozen City.

Click here for Part Ten: Blood and Honor.

Click here for Part Eleven: The Dirge of Reason.

 

Colonial Horrors: Denver Life Interview and Appearances

Hanna Smith of Denver Life magazine recently interviewed me about Colonial Horrors. You can find the interview here.

I’ll be at The Bookies bookstore in Denver on October 29th for a reading and signing. It’s at 4315 E Mississippi Ave, a block east of South Colorado Boulevard: I’ll be there from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

Halloween night I will be reading and signing at Denver’s famous Tattered Cover bookstore in LoDo. The address is 1628 16th Street (at Wynkoop), and I will be there from 7:00 pm.

I will be updating this post with more information, link, and reviews as they become available.

If you aren’t in Denver, you can find the book at your favorite bookstore or e-tailer. I have posted some links on the My Books page.

 

Colonial Horrors: Goodreads Giveaway!

I’m looking forward to the release of my anthology Colonial Horrors in October. Between now and Halloween, I’ll be posting details of promotional events, including some readings and appearances that I will be doing in the Denver area. The first, though, is global: a Goodreads giveaway where you can win one of three copies that are up for grabs.

 

Here’s the publisher’s blurb for the book:

The most spine-tingling suspense stories from the colonial era—including Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, James Fenimore Cooper, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry James, and H. P. Lovecraft—are presented anew to the contemporary reader.

This stunning anthology of classic colonial suspense fiction plunges deep into the native soil from which American horror literature first sprang. While European writers of the Gothic and bizarre evoked ruined castles and crumbling abbeys, their American counterparts looked back to the Colonial era’s stifling religion and its dark and threatening woods.

Today the best-known tale of Colonial horror is Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” although Irving’s story is probably best-known today from various movie versions it has inspired. Colonial horror tales of other prominent American authors—Nathaniel Hawthorne and James Fenimore Cooper among them—are overshadowed by their bestsellers and are difficult to find in modern libraries. Many other pioneers of American horror fiction are presented afresh in this breathtaking volume for today’s reading public.

Some will have heard the names of Increase and Cotton Mather in association with the Salem witch trials, but will not have sought out their contemporary accounts of what were viewed as supernatural events. By bringing these writers to the attention of the contemporary reader, the book will help bring their names—and their work—back from the dead. Featuring stories by Cotton Mather, Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, James Fenimore Cooper, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry James, H. P. Lovecraft, and many more.

The book was inspired by the success of the TV show Sleepy Hollow – now canceled, alas – and my involvement with Colonial Gothic, Rogue games’ tabletop roleplaying game of adventure, horror, and conspiracy at the dawn of American history. As I read more about the period, I found a whole body of literature – some famous, some long forgotten – and discovered the native soil of American horror fiction.

Publisher Pegasus Books has done a bang-up job of design and production, creating a book that I’m very proud of. Here are a few more links:

Colonial Horrors at Pegasus Books
Amazon
Amazon.co.uk
Barnes & Noble
Waterstone’s
Books-A-Million
Goodreads