ClimbingSky

Why Baseball, Books, and the Grateful Dead matter

Horror/Gothic Fiction

Book Reviews

  • Why We Read Horror

    I have been thinking a lot about why we love and read Ghost Stories, Horror Novels, etc. Here are a few ideas I have come up with: The Thrill of the Safe Scare or “Why fear feels good” Meeting the Monster Within or “How Horror is a mirror to the human psyche” Fear as Connection Read more

  • SHORT STORY REVIEW: “The Birds” by Daphne Du Maurier

    In August of 1961, I was 16-months old, and lived just between Santa Cruz and Capitola, California. On August 18th of that year in the middle of the night there was an invasion of sooty shearwaters. Apparently confused by the dense fog the birds “invaded” the town, slamming into houses, cars, and stores. Windows were Read more

  • SHORT STORY REVIEW: “Harry” by Rosemary Timperley

    Rosemary Timperley (1920-1988) wrote novels, screen plays, and short stories. She is probably best known for her ghost stories which are frequently anthologized. “Harry” is one of her best ghost stories. The story follows Mrs. James, who adopts a baby girl named Christine. At age five, Christine begins talking to an imaginary friend named Harry, Read more

  • Victorian Technologies in Dracula

    On my rereading of the novel Dracula this year (that I posted about yesterday) one of the details that caught my attention was that Jonathan Harker references having a Kodak. This was a detail I had not noticed before. Since I was listening to an audiobook recording of Stoker’s classic, I double-checked when I got Read more

  • SHORT STORY REVIEW: “The Fourth Man” by Agatha Christie

    During the Month of October, I will again be reviewing Gothic and Horror fiction here at ClimbingSky. I begin this month of reviews with an unexpected surprise from the “Queen of Mystery” herself, Agatha Christie. When you begin a Christie short story, you naturally expect to find yourself reading a detective mystery of some kind. Read more

  • SHORT STORY REVIEW: “Canon Albric’s Scrap-Book” by M.R. James

    Montague Rhodes James (1862-1936) was a renowned English scholar and author. He made significant contributions to medieval studies and served in prestigious academic roles at Cambridge and Eton. While his scholarly work is still respected, he is most famous for his ghost stories which he published as M.R. James. According to Wikipedia, these ghost tales Read more

  • The Traveling Vampire Show by Richard Laymon

    For my last Horror Book Review for October, I am reviewing a book that I am actually a little bit sheepish to admit that I enjoyed, The Traveling Vampire Show by Richard Laymon. I am sheepish because it is the kind of book that almost anyone would, or probably should, find offensive. It is gory, Read more

  • Powers of Darkness by Bram Stoker & Valdimar Ásmundsson

    In 2017, right after it was published, I read the book Powers of Darkness. Powers of Darkness is a Icelandic adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula from 1899. It was published anonymously in a newspaper and credited to Stoker and an unidentified author. While it shares the same main character, it differs significantly from the original, adding new characters Read more

  • The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

    I am currently working through Stephen King’s The Shining. It is a book I have started before but have never gotten very far into. I am giving it another try right now because I will be spending Thanksgiving this year in Estes Park and at the Stanley Hotel. The Stanley is the real-life inspiration for Read more

  • Gothic vs. Horror

    Trying to define the difference between Gothic and Horror is difficult. Ann Radcliffe once said, ‘Whereas terror is a feeling of dread that takes place before an event happens, horror is a feeling of revulsion or disgust after the event has happened.’ The usual way to look at the difference is that Horror seeks to provoke Read more