January 1, 2015 – December 31, 2015
The gothic genre has caused terror, wonder and excitement for the last 250 years, spanning from the novel Castle Otranto in 1764 to the modern children’s book Goth Girl this genre follows many different avenues. I’m using Google’s definition of gothic fiction:
Gothic fiction (sometimes referred to as Gothic horror) is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance.
This is a reading challenge, with the option to participate in read-a-longs. The challenge will run from January 1st to December 31st 2015, you can sign up at any time and don’t need to select your books ahead of schedule.
I want readers to experience the gothic genre in many or any form they wish, from the classic gothic novels such as Lewis’ The Monk, Bronte’s Wuthering Heights (see here for inspiration); modern works such as Carter’s The Magic Toyshop, or Water’s The Little Stranger (here), to short stories, poetry, graphic novels and YA/children’s literature. There are many choices available to suit all tastes.
This challenge has two parts, firstly the simple reading challenge where you set your level of books:
- Challenge 1: 5 Books
- Challenge 2: 10 Books
- Challenge 3: 20 books
Add an extra challenge to make your choices more diverse with:
- POC (people of colour) gothic fiction
- Span the genres (read gothic fiction from a range of genres, eg. classic, YA, graphic novel, plays)
- Across the centuries (read one 18, 19, 20, 21st century book)
I’m also planning a series if read-a-longs, if you are joining the challenge you don’t have to participate in these, if you want to participate in these you don’t have to join the challenge and of course no one has to sign up to read all of these books. I’ve set these out to include a variety of text types, periods of time and authors and also to vary the amount read each month.
January: Castle Otranto, Walpole, 1764 (where it all began)
February: ‘The Old Nurse’s Story’, Elizabeth Gaskell (short story can be found here)
March: Rebecca, Daphne du |Maurier
April: Anna Dressed in Blood, Kendare Blake (POC writer/YA)
May: A Street Car Named Desire, Tennesse Williams (Play/Southern Gothic)
June: Author Focus: Edgar Allen Poe (poems, short stories or novels)
July: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Seth Grahame- Smith (Parody)
August: Bitten, Kelley Armstrong (some light holiday reading)
September: My Sword Hand is Singing, Marcus Sedwick (YA)
October: Let the Right One In, John Ajvide Lindqvist (Sweeden/GLBT)
November: Lady Audley’s Secret, Mary Elizabeth Braddon
December: Graphic Novels in the gothic genre
This reading challenge is hosted by Books Under the Bed. For more information and to sign-up, please see this post.
