Horror Is Universal: “The Ghost of Frankenstein” (1942)

When I first pressed Play on this movie, I really had no idea what to expect. Son of Frankenstein had been a decent, if not perfect, conclusion to the story begun in the 1931 film, and after three movies, the most interesting story possibilities for the Frankensteins and the Creature had already been played out. …

Short Story: “In the Garden of Death”

Seems that I've finished a spooky short story just in time for Halloween! How about that? This is a project that I've been wanting to do for quite a while. It's a follow-up, technically a prequel, to my story "White Saffron." It was loosely inspired by my recent reading of Madeline Miller's Circe, and it …

Today on Project Gutenberg #38

Today on Project Gutenberg, we have... Unbegotten Child by Winston Marks The only thing scarier than being pregnant is being unwillingly pregnant. And the only thing scarier than being unwillingly pregnant is when you have no idea how you got that way. Inexplicable or simply impossible pregnancies have been a trope in fiction for literally …

Today on Project Gutenberg #37

Today on Project Gutenberg, we have... Bracebridge Hall by Washington Irving "How appropriately spooky for late October!" you might say. After all, Irving was the author of "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," two of the spookiest short stories out there. But this isn't quite the Irving that pop culture has made …

Today on Project Gutenberg #36

Today on Project Gutenberg, we have... The Torrent by Vicente Blasco Ibañez Ibañez was a Spanish journalist and novelist who lived from 1867 to 1928. This is another instance where you may not recognize the author by name, but you might be familiar with what he wrote -- or at least the adaptations of what …

Today on Project Gutenberg #35

Today on Project Gutenberg, we have... The Empress Frederick: A Memoir by Anonymous At first I thought this book was about a ruler named Frederick who presented as a woman and used the title of Empress, and I'll admit I was a little disappointed to find that this was not the case. So what have …