Is anyone reading any good gothics these days? I have to admit, I've taken a little break after reading those 2 I reviewed a little while back.

If you count this one, I just finished listening to Angelique's Descent on audio. Awesome!

I'm hoping to pick up another gothic soon after I finished the 2 books I'm reading now.

I love reading Gothics but they are hard to come by. At the moment I don't have the money to buy all the ones I'd like on eBay. I'm trying to make a study of them, especially ones from the 50s-70s, even the trash. The reason for this is that I've heard all the bad press and I'd like to experience the trash before I can give my judgment. I have come across some really bad ones in the past, but they were written after the said period of mass production and poor plotting. I recently came across some older mysteries from the same period and there are some Gothic elements to them. I'm heading over to write some reviews.

(07-01-2009 03:11 PM)coramunroe Wrote:  Is anyone reading any good gothics these days? I have to admit, I've taken a little break after reading those 2 I reviewed a little while back.

If you count this one, I just finished listening to Angelique's Descent on audio. Awesome!

I'm hoping to pick up another gothic soon after I finished the 2 books I'm reading now.

I am going to start reading Isabel Stewart Way's "The House on Sky High Road". This is a Belmont Gothic that has a copyright of 1970 (I can smell the cigarette smoke now ).

Tonight looks to be a dark and stormy night so it's quite a good atmosphere to relax and read a nice Gothic romance!

Dark and stormy nights are the best time to read these books!

reading "provenance house" by elizabeth st clair
so far so good

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reading "provenance house" by elizabeth st clair
so far so good

[quote='coramunroe' pid='1520' dateline='1246475500']
If you count this one, I just finished listening to Angelique's Descent on audio. Awesome!



As in Dark Shadows' Angelique?!

I haven't read it; I didn't care for the character--no, i HATED her character, to be honest. LOL Admittedly, it's been 10 years or more since I've seen DS, but still... I do still enjoy good fan fiction, when I think of looking for it. I'm a julia fan, btw.

On topic now, I'm reading Clara Reeve, by Leonie Hargrave. So far, it is excellent! It's very much like reading a true Victorian novel. I can tell already that this will be a keeper.

At present I'm midway through The Dark Tower by Josephine Edgar. So far it's an interesting story, well written (and very reminiscent of V. Holt) but at this point I have not encountered, with any certainty, the eponymous edifice. There have been several houses so far, and I suppose the latest one must be the dark tower, although it's a hunting lodge in Italy (during the summer -- bah).

As is so often the case with books marketed as "gothic suspense", I find myself caught up in a yarn which, if engrossing, has very little "gothic" about it. It is only mildly suspenseful, and if not for the author's excellent skill with character I would have put it down by now. If it turns out better by the end, I'll post a review.

Any other Josephine Edgar readers on board? Curious about your opinions.

(12-20-2009 02:35 AM)Penfeather Wrote:  At present I'm midway through The Dark Tower by Josephine Edgar. So far it's an interesting story, well written (and very reminiscent of V. Holt) but at this point I have not encountered, with any certainty, the eponymous edifice. There have been several houses so far, and I suppose the latest one must be the dark tower, although it's a hunting lodge in Italy (during the summer -- bah).

As is so often the case with books marketed as "gothic suspense", I find myself caught up in a yarn which, if engrossing, has very little "gothic" about it. It is only mildly suspenseful, and if not for the author's excellent skill with character I would have put it down by now. If it turns out better by the end, I'll post a review.

Any other Josephine Edgar readers on board? Curious about your opinions.

I remember reading this book a while back, before I started writing reviews for this forum, so I can only remember the cover and a little of the plot. I remember liking it, and it reminded me of Victoria Holt and Mary Stewart. But, as you say, the gothic atmosphere was not all there.

"The Silent Walls" by Mary Linn Roby and "The Laughing Ghost" by Dorothy Eden. Anne Maybury is my favorite.

Julian's House by Judith Hawkes. Excellent haunted house thriller published in the early 90s.