Author: Mary Kay Brayer

‘Tis the season for giving, regardless of what faith you celebrate–okay maybe not REGARDLESS, but whether you’re going to Midnight Mass lighting the Menorah… it’s ALWAYS Halloween time.

The gifts on this list all have to do with horror and literature, and they’ve been curated by your Virgil, me, Mary Kay McBrayer. Normally, The Fright Stuff is Book Riot’s newsletter on the latest and greatest in bookish horror, but this is a special holiday issue: below you’ll find a list of treats fit for the Naughty horror lover’s never-ending bag of crap.

Behold, the gifts!

A Christmas Carol Tea Towel Set–Even on Christmas, the Ghost of Jacob Marley is terrifying. Not to mention all of your past mistakes, what you’re missing out on, and the future your actions might lead to… these towels will remind you to choose wisely against Scrooge-ing every time you wash and dry your Jaggery hands.

Nightmare before Christmas Wreath–I couldn’t resist including at least ONE Nightmare Before Christmas allusion–and what better than this scary Christmas wreath? You can put it up at Halloween and leave it up till the New Year! But you know it’s bad luck to leave up decorations into January… who am I kidding? I’ll absolutely be the one on the block who leaves her Halloween/Christmas decorations up year-round.

Jacob Marley & Ebenezer Scrooge Marionettes – Okay, so this would be ACTUALLY horrifying to open as a gift, but the craftsmanship is truly impeccable.

Krampus Christmas Cards – This vintage Victorian Christmas card features Santa’s foil, Krampus. And check out that scheming little girl in the bottom right corner! You’ll definitely get your Holiday Cards’ List’s attention with this note!

The Shining Holiday Card – Nothing like an allusion to Stephen King’s The Shining to make everyone want to stay in the room and curl up with a good book….

Nosferatu Head Plant Holder – If you’re gonna grow succulents, you got to do it in the skull of Nosferatu–it just seems like they all NEED MORE SUNLIGHT (see what I did there?)!

Page Anchor – I lovvvve this concept–have you ever been reading a book but ALSO your nails are wet? Or you you need to have your hands free for some other, less important task? This page anchor does essentially the same thing as a cookbook holder, but it’s less unwieldy, and it comes in BLACK. Like to match my cold, dead heart which is black and dead!

Also, Paper Source has a TON of novelty gifts, like….

Hand Finger Puppet – This hand finger puppet is exactly what it sound like. It reminds me of Thing from The Addams Family, but MORE uncanny. I would TRIP if I saw this in a giftbox.

Y’all have fun at all your holiday parties… and if you’re not, you can always tie a fire hose around your waist and jump off the roof. I’m just kidding–DON’T DO THAT. You are not John McClain.

Until next time, I’m Mary Kay, and I’ve been your Virgil through this shopping circle of hell. You can follow me on Instagram or Twitter, and pleeeease let me know of other bookish horror gifts that come across your desk!

Your Virgil,

Mary Kay

One of my favorite moments on my podcast was when we were closing out an episode and I said, “When shall we three meet again?” and my co-host said, “In thunder, lightning, or in rain?” and the third said, “ALL HAIL MACBETH.”

Obviously, this is a reference to the Weird Sisters of Shakespeare’s tragedy, the Scottish play, and I would like to go on record to say that even though I have had warts on my elbow, I have had them removed, and I thereby reinstate my status as MAIDEN. Not matron. Not crone. MAIDEN, y’all. Also, for the record, the Weird Sisters have never looked weirder than in Justin Kurzel’s film adaptation. See?

That said, there’s just no spookier season than autumn, right, when all the witch lore surfaces. I’m Mary Kay, your Virgil, and in this week’s edition of The Fright Stuff, Book Riot’s newsletter about the latest and greatest in horror, I’ll be guiding you through the circle of hell about witches and witchcraft, specifically.

Ear worm: “Season of the Witch” Lana Del Rey cover, originally performed by Donovan.

Fresh Hells: (FKA new releases)

The Magical Writing Grimoire by Lisa Marie Basile

So, Lisa Marie Basile, founder of Luna Luna Magazine and online community, divides that space into LIGHT and DARK, but her newest book is “part guided journaling practice” and “part interactive magical grimoire.” It’s not horror per se, but it is about witches, about how to manifest your dreams into reality.  If you’re into this idea, check out Basile’s book, Light Magic for Dark Times, too. And although these books might be horror-adjacent, the content on Luna Luna definitely delves into the scary.

Toil & Trouble by Augusten Burroughs

All in a tone befitting the other memoirs of Augusten Burroughs, this book of nonfiction chronicles the narrator’s trials to reconcile his powers with descending of a long line of witches. His mom said it was all okay, and he believed her. For a while.

 

 

The Remaking by Clay McLeod Chapman

I’ve told y’all about this book before, but it really bears repeating on a theme like this one. Chapman’s novel chronicles the urban legend of a witch and her daughter who were burned at the stake… and they are very particular about their reputations. When their story gets retold irresponsibly, it does not go well for the storyteller–this book is the ULTIMATE campfire story because, well, its curse is contagious.

Crypt Keepers: (FKA horror from the backlist)

“The Revenge of Hannah Kemhuff” by Alice Walker, in her collection of short stories, In Love and Trouble. 

I LOVED teaching this short story by the inimitable Alice Walker. Not only is she a force of nature, but this story in particular has a deep loathing toward race relations in the Jim Crow south, and the subsequent victory is the most delicious thing. You’re going to love it.

 

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

Sunny is an American albino girl living in Nigeria, and when she realizes she has magical powers, she joins up with other “free spirits” to defeat a career criminal who also knows magic. This is a fun YA book that uses witchcraft for good.

 

 

Voodoo Dreams by Jewell Parker Rhodes

If you want to know more about Marie Laveau, the character played by Angela Bassett on American Horror Story: Coven, then you should check out this novel IMMEDIATELY. Laveau is worshipped and feared by all races, beautiful, immortal, and truly cast perfectly in the ageless beauty of Angela Bassett.

 

I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Condé

This novel features Tituba, perhaps one of the most famous individual witches at Salem, West Indian slave and alleged witch. It expands on what is historically known about this infamous figure, imagining the life of a woman whose full story has been all but ignored.

 

News:

Want to see places and artifacts dedicated to the history of witches? Look here.

What happens when Angela Carter gets summoned at a seance? Read this here to find out.

Don’t forget to cast your vote for the Goodreads best books of 2019! Choose wisely in the horror section….

Speaking of Goodreads, check out this article where Carmen Maria Machado discusses her new, horrific memoir.

And congratulations to Gabino Iglesias for winning the Wonderland Award for his horror noir novel Coyote Songs.

Y’all got to see this Renaissance werewolf art.

I’m Mary Kay, and I have been your MAIDEN Weird Sister and guide through this circle of hell. Happy Thanksgiving, and until next week, you can follow me on Instagram or Twitter, and definitely do get up with me if you have recommendations or special requests!

Your Virgil,

Mary Kay

Raise your hand if you agree that the best line in We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson is, “I wonder if I could eat a child if I had the chance.” Be honest.

I know I’m not alone in getting excited about all the nut-so recipes involved in the over-eating during the holidays… I know this because once, while we were waiting in my Grandmama’s southern formal dining room for her to pull something out of the oven that she wouldn’t let us help with, I asked my dad and first cousin, “In a survival situation, who at this table would you eat first?” All of us clapped eyes on the baby at the end of the table.

Of course we’re joking. Of course we are. But I WILL go full Merricat Blackwood if you threaten to send me to bed without my dinner. That said, I thought that with the holidays’ approach, a great theme for this week’s newsletter would be Horror Cookbooks. I’m Mary Kay McBrayer, and you’re in The Fright Stuff, Book Riot’s newsletter about the latest and greatest in horror. I’ll be your Virgil through this edible circle of hell. Y’all steer clear of that chocolate river with the drainage pipes… oh, who am I kidding, that would be THE MOST EPIC WAY TO DIE. Augustus Gloop is my Patronus.

Earworm: “Pure Imagination” performed by Gene Wilder… because the world tastes good because the candy man thinks it shouuuuuuld!

Fresh Hells (FKA “New Releases,” pffft):

Necronomnomnom: Recipes and Rites from the Lore of H.P. Lovecraft by Mike Slater

For everyone who loves Lovecraftian horror, Mike Slater has compiled this master cookbook, the Necronomnomnom. Each recipe is accompanied by detailed, horrific illustrations, as well as marginal notes which are seemingly written in by hand, after the fact…

Little Kitchen of Horrors: Hideously Delicious Recipes That Disgust and Delight by Ali Vega

If you remember going to haunted houses as a kid and sticking your hand into a bowl of “eyeballs” or “guts,” well… I have a sneaking suspicion that this cookbook was behind those gags. (Pun intended.) It contains recipes for “Crispy Fried Mice,” “Bulging Cake Eyeballs,” and “Juicy Bat Wings.” If you want to get your kid to cook, but they’re only interested in nasty stuff, this book is the perfect read for you.

Crypt Keepers:

Deceptive Desserts: A Lady’s Guide to Baking Bad by Christine McConnell

You might know Christine McConnell as the Instagram personality, or from her Netflix show The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell, but even if you don’t, you’ll love this cookbook of horror themed desserts. (I’ve tried a few of these recipes, and while hers become works of art worthy of being bronzed and put in a museum, mine were merely delicious and spooky.) You’ll learn everything from a Bridezilla wedding cake to Cinderella’s pumpkin pie carriage. Oh! And if you love the book, which you will, check out From the Mind of Christine McConnell, her YouTube channel!

The African-American Ritual Cookbook by Lilith Dorsey

Though this cookbook is not specifically designed to scare, Lilith Dorsey, its author, is a practitioner of several spiritualities than have been known to strike fear into the hearts of their oppressors. These recipes invoke the beliefs of New Orleans Voodoo, Santeria, and Haitian Voodoo with rituals for “love, money healing, protection, luck and more.”

 

The Lucretia Borgia Cookbook: Favorite Recipes of Infamous People by Dorothy Blinder

If you’re fascinated with the eating habits of infamous people, you need this book as much as I do! I mean, how can anyone help but wonder what John Dillinger’s favorite dessert is/was… or Rasputin’s preferences?

 

 

News:

Want to know what Hamlet’s food symbolized in the famous tragedy? You do.

For Thanksgiving, would you perhaps like to make a demogorgonzola tartlet? Or maybe some hot buttered redrum? Head on over to The Homicidal Homemaker–she’s SO cool.

Have you voted in the Goodreads Choice Awards for 2019? Be sure you make a wise selection in the horror category!

Disney+ has a lot of horror for children streaming. Here’s a list. And you KNOW Don’t Look Under the Bed is on there!

Calling back to The Fright Stuff newsletter about Folk Horror, Robert Eggers lets us know if it’s The Witch or The VVitch.

And, in case you’re as obsessed with Eggers as I am (no, no, I’m super chill. It’s cool. I don’t have some of his hair at home), you can look forward to this film short, which is adapted from Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart.”

And speaking of Lovecraft (from the Necronomnomnom, above), we have updates on Jordan Peele and JJ Abrams’ produced Lovecraft Country.

Last note on film adaptations: Stephen King is not fazed by low box office numbers of Doctor Sleep.

And in case you’re still hungry for more horror hors d’oeuvres (say that out loud, I dare you), check out this Book Riot post about Funny Cookbooks.

I’m Mary Kay, and I have been your spirit guide through this realm of deadly food. Until next week, you can follow me on Instagram or Twitter, and definitely do get up with me if you have recommendations or special requests!

Your Virgil,

Mary Kay

‘Tis the season for overeating! Particularly when stress-eating because you’re trying not to say what you’re thinking in front of your family members. (I mean, who among us has not answered the question “When are YOU gonna get married?” with a table flip and a shriek of, “I’M MARRIED TO THE STRUGGLE, AUNT VICKI!” No? It’s a regional thing? It’s just me? Moving right along.)

In the spirit of upcoming Thanksgiving, this newsletter focuses on familial hauntings. I’m defining both terms pretty vaguely because as we all know, family takes all forms, and, well, so do hauntings.

Granted, not all ghost appearances from family members are scary. This email is Book Riot’s weekly newsletter of the latest and greatest in horror, though… sooo… all of these selections should scare you. I’m Mary Kay, and I’ll be your Virgil through this ring of hell, family hauntings.

Ear worm: “Elevators” by Outkast… me and you, your mama and your cousin, too, rollin’ down the strip on Vogues, comin’ up, slammin’ Cadillac doors…

Fresh Hells (FKA New Releases)

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

If you’re unfamiliar with new master of horror, Carmen Maria Machado, well, this memoir of an abusive lesbian relationship is a good place to get to know her. She tells the story through literary tropes that give the story a surreal and haunting slant. If you’ve read her book Her Body and Other Parties, though, you’re unlikely to forget her writing… and this book is no exception.

Crypt-Keepers

The Good House by Tananarive Due

The Toussaint family’s house in Sacajawea, Washington, is known as “The Good House” for all the good work of Marie Toussaint, the protagonist’s grandmother. But when Angela returns to the house after her son’s death there… she’s not sure if she’s being haunted or if the terrifying entity that Marie battles in the novel’s opening pages is still there. Or, did Marie herself curse the whole place?

 

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

If you’re a sucker for the Gothic, like I am, you’re going to love this novel. In rural, post-war England, Dr. Faraday is called to the decadent Hundreds Hall mansion near where he grew up, and where the ghosts inside are much more familiar than he anticipated.

 

 

“No Name Woman” by Maxine Hong Kingston, in her collection of essays Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts.

This is certainly one of the most unsettling stories of familial hauntings that I’ve ever read–I’ve taught it multiple times, and its last lines never fail to give me full body chills. The essay begins with the narrator’s mother telling a boogeyman coming-of-age story. Her aunt, whom the family has chosen to forget because she got pregnant out of the institution of marriage, drowned herself and her newborn in the family’s Chinese village. The narrator, a Chinese-American girl in California in the 1960s, unpacks the brief horror story in new contexts… but she is certain that her aunt, the Drowned Ghost, haunts them all. It’s terrifying and important, and you have to read it right away.

Beloved by Toni Morrison

I know I pitch this novel every chance I get, but there’s a reason that this book won the Pulitzer–it. is. everything. I mean, in theory, the ghost of your little girl haunting you, or even coming back to life, should be a happy story. Right…? You HAVE to read this one. You HAVE TO. And feel free to email me and thank me when it changes your life forever.

 

News:

Dun dah dah dun! The brand new cover of the new master of horror Grady Hendricks’ forthcoming book, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires is here!

Here’s an exclusive excerpt from the book, too, because that’s what we’re really thirsty for….

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An intolerably hot wind screamed off the harbor and filled the air with the hiss of bamboo leaves. The air felt heavy and thick and Patricia wondered if it might be making everyone restless. The live oaks whipped their branches in circles overhead. The lone streetlight at the end of the driveway cast a slender silver cone that made the night around it blacker, and Patricia felt exposed.

[S]he ran for the front door and slammed it behind her, pushing it hard against the wind, and shot the deadbolt home…

The wind rattled the kitchen windows and she didn’t want to be alone downstairs anymore.

She went up and knocked gently on Korey’s door while pushing it open. The lights were out and the room was dark, which confused Patricia. Why on earth was Korey asleep so early? The hall light spilled across Korey’s bed. It was empty.

“Korey?” Patricia said into the darkness.

“Mom,” Korey said from the shadows by her closet, her voice low and even. “There’s a man on the roof.”

Cold water flooded Patricia’s veins. She stepped out of the hall light and into Korey’s bedroom, standing to one side of the door.

“Where?” she whispered.

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For fans of The Haunting of Hill House, director Mike Flanagan’s giving us a little new information through iHorror about the second season, The Haunting of Bly Manor….

Looking to take your family out of its own haunted mansion? Here’s a list of the 11 most-haunted hotels, including the one that inspired Stephen King to write The Shining.

Spiritualism came about largely from mothers trying to contact their sons who were lost in the Great War, but before that, Victorian ghosts were shy… so spiritualists gave them megaphones.

This might be more “fantasy” than horror, but when we’re talking about dragons and mad kings and razing of land and people for the hell of it… well, there’s a fine line. George RR Martin says he won’t write HBO’s Targaryen prequel until he’s finished The Winds of Winter. 

Check out this post on how to build a haunted house. Yikes.

Want to know how much America’s first banned book ticked off the Plymouth Puritans? It’s Thanksgiving: you’re welcome.

And for more haunted house stories, read this Book Riot post!

Y’all come on and follow me through more circles of hell on IG @marykaymcbrayer and TW @mkmcbrayer, and definitely, absolutely, please send me any horror news that I may have missed. Until next week…

Your Virgil,

Mary Kay

Día de Muertos has just passed–pardon the pun–and in observance of this Mexican tradition of celebrating one’s ancestors, this week’s newsletter is full of Latinx authors of horror.

Note: I’m not just including authors who are Mexican, but Latinx as a whole. And if you’re wondering what that means, you don’t have to ask. I really appreciate David Bowles’ Twitter thread, here, that spells out the terminology for those of us who want to be sensitive but don’t want to be insensitive in the asking!

Another note: Día de Muertos is not a horrific holiday. It’s based on the pre-Hispanic “commemoration of deceased loved ones that is practiced by some Latin American indigenous populations,” and it is not based on fear, but rather respect. (For more details on Día de Muertos, please read this incredible article about Disney Pixar’s Coco and the folkloric responsibility of the movie.)

However, The Fright Stuff, the newsletter that you’re reading right now, IS based on fear. We talk about all the fresh hells of the reading experience, from the greatest to the LATEst (see what I did there?), and in a cohesion of these concepts, this week, we’re gonna pay homage to our favorite Latinx authors of horror. I’m Mary Kay, and I’ll be your Virgil, or in the case of today’s afterlife, maybe your alebrije?

Fresh Hells: (FKA New Releases)

Coyote Songs by Gabino Iglesias

A little boy fishing with his dad in the Rio Grande seems innocuous enough, but even the descriptions of cleaning the prehistoric gar that might be a ghost in the first two pages are so literally visceral that you know it’s gonna be some ferocity up ahead. The boy’s story melts into that of a vengeful spirit, a woman who offers colonizers’ blood to the Mother of Chaos, and a man taking his children across the border toward the Virgin Mary. And if you like this novel, you should get in on his other horror/crime novel, Zero Saints, which features a criminal on the lam AND a Santeria priestess.

Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin

This collection of uncanny short horror stories is sure to leave you feeling disturbed–especially the titular piece. But whether she takes us to the gas station field full of abandoned brides or to the apartment of the man whose daughter suddenly appears in very good health after eating her pets, you’ll read in abhorrence, eyes wide open on the edge of your seat, to learn not only why but what? And if you like this collection, next you’ll want to read her former book Fever Dream and pre-order her forthcoming science fiction horror work, Little Eyes. (By the way, all of these were originally published in Spanish, so if you are a native Spanish speaker, you don’t have to wait for the latter one!)

Crypt Keepers: (FKA great reads from the backlist)

Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo

Though this novel is often described as more surreal than horror, I feel like surrealism is DEFINITELY a subgenre of horror, and that’s just a clever way to market toward people who “don’t like” horror. Anyway, what else would you call it when a man fulfills his mother’s dying wish of making a pilgrimage to his father’s hometown, only to find it a literal ghost town populated by spectral figures? I think that’s horror. Surrealist horror, sure, but still horror. And that’s what happens in this novel… it’s a classic.

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

I couldn’t oversell this collection of stories if I wanted to–they’re feminist horrors, all. My first favorite, “The Husband Stitch” retells the urban legend of The Girl with the Green Ribbon from the perspective of the one who wears the ribbon. All of the stories are amazing, though, including “Inventory,” which lists a woman’s sexual encounters before, during, and after the plague that ends humankind. It’s a must read for every horror fan.

Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel García Márquez

You may have read his more famous works like 100 Years of Solitude or Love in the Time of Cholera, and you may think, Mary Kay, this is not a horror author. Not so. This novel retells the story of real-life twelve-year-old Saint, Sierva Maria. When she is bitten by a rabid dog, but exhibits no real symptoms, her largely absent father hires every healer–both medical and faith–to try to cure her. When they can’t cure her of the disease she potentially does not have, he decides she must be possessed, and he takes her to a convent. Where her exorcist falls in love with her. Oh, it’s horror. It’s REAL horror. You’re gonna love it.

Santa Muerte by Cynthia Pelayo

If you’re looking for some YA horror written by a Latinx author, Santa Muerte is the series (two parts in!) that you should get into. Pelayo’s main character, Ariana Molina sorts through complicated issues with her FBI agent father, the drug cartel with a vendetta against him, and the black magic cult of Santa Muerte. It’s great.

Ear Worm: “La Bruja” by Lila Downs. The ultimate Mexican folk song about witch kidnapping and flying through the night!

News:

Our favorite magazine about horror, FANGORIA, now gives its subscribers access to all its online content.

Have you ever wonder about the origins of the Ouija board? Of course you have.

What about the demogorgon’s origins? Want to know about those? Of course you do.

Did you know that Willem Defoe loves horror research freaks like us… and Robert Eggers?

Check out the history (as defined by Merriam-Webster) of these 8 Halloween Words.

Y’all come on and follow me through more circles of hell on IG @marykaymcbrayer and TW @mkmcbrayer , and definitely, absolutely, please send me any horror news that I may have missed. Until next week…

Your Virgil,

Mary Kay

Do you remember Marion Cotillard saying “Pain is in the mind” when she walked through your dream in a red sequin evening gown in Inception? Did you practice Aaliyah’s walk from Queen of the Damned in front of your mirror? Were you ever obsessed with Lady Macbeth? When someone tells you that you’re dressed like a bride of Dracula do you smile and say, “Thank you so much, I was questioning this lipstick before I left the house, and that just made my day!” Because, yes, you are wearing oxblood lipstick in the middle of the day, in front of God and everyone.

I’m Mary Kay, your Virgil, and if you answered yes to any of those questions, you might belong in this specific ring of hell, the Sexy Spooky. Welcome to The Fright Stuff, Book Riot’s weekly newsletter about the latest and greatest in horror. After all, Halloween, according to Mean Girls, is an excuse to wear lingerie in public. (Not that we need an excuse, am I right?)

Ear Worm: “Hot Knife” by Fiona Apple–arguably the sexiest, spookiest love song I’ve ever heard… plus, how dope is it that she plays the timpani in her own music video, which is directed by P.T. Anderson of There Will Be Blood (I want to be her friend SO BAD.)?

Fresh Hells: (FKA New Releases)

Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu edited by Carmen Maria Machado

Technically, this novella (published in serial) is the first published vampire text. Their mythology has been around MUCH longer than that, of course, but Carmen Maria Machado edited this version, and that changes things. While Carmilla has always been a lesbian romance, like so much classic literature, one can ignore the overtures due to the propriety of the time period in which they were written. Machado does not let that happen. In addition to fleshing out the story itself with myriad footnotes, she supplies clarification as to the nature of the protagonists’ relationship. This edit maintains the same kind of gritty urban legend tone as her collection of short stories, Her Body and Other Parties.

Tender: Stories by Sofia Samatar

This collection is divided into two parts, “Tender Bodies” and “Tender Landscapes.” The weird tales talk about the fragility of bodies in settings as vast as medieval Egypt to the stars, AND this collection was recommended as a must-read by the author above, Carmen Maria Machado. If you like Tender, then you should try Samatar’s Monster Portraits, next. (That one even has illustrations by her brother, tattoo artist Del Samatar, and it’s GORGEOUS.)

“Our Town’s Monster” in the collection, Growing Things by Paul Tremblay

Granted, although all of the stories in this collection are horrifying–or at least deeply unsettling–“Our Town’s Monster” is the one that will have you laughing and gasping in terror as the swamp/marsh monster attacks a couple who has just moved into a house nearby. The other stories in this collection will leave you unraveling them for days, as well, like the spooky sexy, “Something about Birds” or sort of (I mean, kind of, at first) “The Teacher.”

Crypt Keepers: (well-beloved reads that are still on-theme)

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

I can already tell I’m gonna catch hell for this one, but if you don’t get the burlesque comedy of this macabre novel… well, you aren’t really the best audience for the freak show. This book really packs a punch, it’s full of sex in a way that is not really SEXY per se so much as INTERESTING, which, let’s be honest, we who love to read horror want you to keep that perfect intimate moment crap to yourself! The premise of this novel is that a sideshow couple want to create their own sideshow, so they take powerful drugs to ensure that their children will all have anomalous bodies and odd powers. From there (yes, that is the starting point), things quickly spiral out of control. If you do like freak show horror, definitely check out “The Mermaid in the Tree” by Timothy Schaffert, as well.

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

Name an ’80s baby that didn’t experience their sexual awakening at the vampire Armand seducing their human sacrifice to succumb to the coven’s will at the Théâtre des Vampires. Or at the very least one who didn’t read a little more quickly when Lestat seduces Louis into immortality. If you haven’t yet read this new-and-improved vampire novel, now is the time. And if you like Anne Rice’s horror, but you want MORE sexy, try her erotic novel series, The Sleeping Beauty Quartet, which retells the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale for a much more adult audience.

I know you’re probably thinking, why so many vampires? Think about the O.G., Dracula: he was tall, darkly mysterious, rich, powerful, and his teeth were so white and straight and pointed… and unlike other sexual monsters, vampires require consent: they have to be invited in. Want to know who your vampire soulmate is? Yes, you do. 

The Swan Gondola by Timothy Schaffert

Ooh, y’all, if you haven’t read this, you got to get on it right away! This novel isn’t a book of straight-up horror so much as it has a horror attitude, if that makes sense, the way that stories full of whimsy and magic often slide into the macabre. When the handsome ventriloquist crashes the balloon he stole from Omaha’s World Fair at the turn of the century, and ghosts start showing up, and his dummy talks, and he falls in love with a Vaudeville actress, it has the elements of both the burlesque and the Gothic. It’s fantastic.

And if you want a bonus rec/reminder, definitely check out Robert Levy’s novella, Anais Nin at the Grand Guignol. 

News:

Victor Hugo (author of Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Miserables) was kind of slutty? But in a fun way. I think.

In case you want to buy Jane Austen’s chronicle of outrageously horrifying dental procedures, you can do that.

Jared Harris and Lee Pace will star in the 10-episode adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s sci-fi series, Foundations. 

Speaking of adaptations, the Netflix original film Wounds is killing it, and it’s based on the novella The Visible Filth by Nathan Ballingrud.

This Irish whiskey bar has a first edition of Bram Stoker’s Dracula on display!

Need inspiration for your literary Halloween costume? Look no further.

Spooky Empire is this very weekend. Y’all go see Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell and Mia Farrow and Elvira, and ME.

Also… everyone is changing their Twitter names to something spooky and Halloween-themed… what’s yours? (Mine’s Merricat McBrayer, hehe.)

I hope you’ve enjoyed this prowl through the spooky scary. Y’all come on and follow me through more circles on IG @marykaymcbrayer and TW @mkmcbrayer , and definitely, absolutely, please send me any horror news that I may have missed. Until next week…

Your Virgil,

Mary Kay

It’s time I came clean to you, dear reader, about the trifecta of shit I can’t handle: number one on the list is Evil Kids.

I’ll be the first to admit that all children are feral children, kids are chaotic neutral and we teach them to be good or evil, et cetera, but in the world of books, when there’s a kid, and they’re evil… well. I bust out the wall like the Kool Aid man. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some badass little kids, the ones who negotiate with you for an extra cookie, but when it comes to horror… kids? Fuckin’ nu uh.

I’m Mary Kay McBrayer, true crime author and horror movie podcaster, and most importantly, your Virgil through Book Riot’s weekly horror newsletter, The Fright Stuff. If you, like me, are terrified of evil children, you’re in the fright circle of hell.

Fresh Hells: (FKA new releases)

Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin

Hooookay, so this one is terrifying. Translated from the Spanish, this novel reads exactly like it sounds: it’s surrealist horror at its very core. When Amanda moves with her family to a new town, she discovers something wrong with her neighbor’s son only because, in fragmented, purposefully disorienting prose, his mother tells on him. The reader spends most of the book on the edge of her seat, wondering what exactly is wrong with David… is he a ghost? a changeling? just a creepy little boy? I’ve been recommending this book to anyone who will listen… not only because I need someone to bond with over my fear of evil kids.

If you like Fever Dream, you should also check out her book of essays that released earlier this year, Mouthful of Birds. Plus, she has a new-to-English book coming out in the spring! (Don’t worry: I won’t let it get past you.)

I Am Behind You by John Ajvide Lindqvist

You likely remember this author from his novel and its film adaptation, Let the Right One In, and although I’d argue this one is less viscerally upsetting than the one about the child vampire in Sweden, I Am Behind You does carry on the motif of the evil kid. Something is up with Molly. When an entire campsite wakes up in a landscape of… well… basically NOTHING, we get the sense that this little girl knows more than she lets on… and that maybe she’s responsible.

The Quelling by Barbara Barrow

This book has not one, but TWO evil kids in it: the novel traces the sisters from the violent crime they commit as pre-adolescents through their mental health residency. “The Quelling” references a particularly bizarre therapy that (without giving too much away) also alludes to the trope of the evil child. We get the story from both sisters’ perspectives, as well as their doctor’s, and two direct-care workers, which shows both their unreliability and their confirmation biases. This novel is so unsettling… you’re gonna love it.

Crypt-Keepers: (well-beloved reads that are still on-theme)

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Y’all already probably know that I reference this novel any time I’m able–it’s a true masterpiece from the late, great Toni Morrison. Though it’s based on the true story of a fugitive slave, this book brings a baby ghost back. Don’t worry, I’m not spoiling the book: the first line is, “124 was spiteful. Full of a baby’s venom.” Why is she so angry? Look, if you haven’t read this book yet, I don’t know what you have been doing with your life. I really don’t. GET. ON. IT.

Ear Worm: “La Llorona” by Chavela Vargas (This rendition of the song is from Julie Taymor’s film Frida, based on the life of Mexican folk-surrealist painter, Frida Kahlo, but the myth of La Llorona is a terrifying one of a drowned ghost and family annihilator. And how fitting for her to torment children in this newsletter featuring children as tormentors…)

News: 

You can win a trip to see the premiere of Doctor Sleep, the latest chapter in Stephen King’s The Shining series.

So, this is more of a news-to-me situation than an actual news situation, but did you know that the original Jack-o-Lanterns were carved from turnips or beets, and that they were HORRIFIC? Check out this post about the Irish folklore to prove me right.

Seven years ago, Donald Ray Pollock hoped there would be someone gutsy enough to adapt his novel, The Devil All the Time into a film. Now, it’s happening. (Slated to release in 2020.)

Want to hear about the history of the maligned first line, “It was a Dark and Stormy Night?” Click here.

Do you want to sleep in the Addams Family Mansion? You do.

Clive Owen will star in a limited series adaptation based on Stephen King’s novel, Lisey’s Story. All eight episodes will be written by King.

Speaking of Kids in Horror, visit the Halloween Museum in Salem, MA that devotes itself to McDonald’s role in the development of Halloween!

The Haunting of Hill House, Netflix’s series inspired by Shirley Jackson’s novel of the same name, is now available on Blu-Ray.

LeVar Burton reads Carmen Maria Machado’s short story “Blur.”

Augusten Burroughs’ new memoir is about his life as a witch.

Will I see you at Spooky Empire in Tampa, FL, this Samhain? (But seriously… are you coming to see me? THIS OUR SPOT! Hollaaaaa!)

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this horrorscape of evil children and fresh hells. Y’all come on and follow me through more circles on IG @marykaymcbrayer and TW @mkmcbrayer , and definitely, absolutely, please send me any horror news that I may have missed. Until next week…

Your Virgil,

Mary Kay

Can you recount the Ancient Egyptian curse that Evelyn reads aloud from the Book of the Dead in The Mummy? Do you remember that in Evil Dead, the Necronomicon was bound in human skin? Did you wonder what the binding process was for The Book of the Beast in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and if it was the same for The Witch? 

I’m Mary Kay, your Virgil, and if you answered yes to any of those questions, you might belong in this specific ring of hell: books about horror movies. Welcome to The Fright Stuff, Book Riot’s weekly newsletter about the latest and greatest in horror. This week, we focus on the cinematic, in one way or another.

Ear Worm: “Gimme Some More” by Busta Rhymes (It’s not every day one of the most skillful rappers in the game samples the score of the film that started the slasher subgenre….)

Fresh Hells: (FKA new releases)

The Remaking by Clay McLeod Chapman

In light of all the remakes and reboots happening in the film industry right now, Clay McLeod Chapman’s novel, The Remaking talks about the phenomenon that horror lovers love most, the cursed film. The book takes a revolving perspective, starting with a metaphorical campfire story about the witch exiled from the town, and her fatherless child. The story goes that the mother was burned at the stake, and then her daughter jumped on the pyre with her. The protagonist, Amber, is first cast as the daughter in a low-budget 1970s drive-in feature, and like many child stars, she never fully recovers from it. Amber, however, lives in the shadow of a different kind: this witch doesn’t want her story misrepresented, not even by the sexy new director who insists on casting Amber as the witch in the early 2000s reboot. This movie is perfect for the Halloween season, when all the world’s most beloved franchises get stretched a little further.

Anais Nin at the Grand Guignol by Robert Levy

This novella is a fun, sexy, macabre spin on the works of renowned author Anais Nin. When the show at the famous morality theater, the Grand Guignol, goes more realistic, more devilish, than ever before, the fictional representation of Anais (as a character) has to save the life of the woman with whom she is infatuated, not to mention her own. Granted, this book doesn’t talk about film specifically, but rather live theater, which produces a very interesting dynamic among audience members as tacit participants, especially in The Grand Guignol, a theater full of sex and murder, and not always in that order.

How to Survive a Horror Movie by Seth Grahame-Smith

This book is a short, handbook-style manual on how to survive typical horror movie scenarios. It starts with a few personality-quiz type questions to determine if, first, you are in fact in a horror movie, and from there, it produces your survival rates. It’s not a scary book, but it does talk about your shot at living through all the movies that do scare you. Plus, it’s written by Seth Grahame-Smith, executive producer of It (Chapters I & II) and Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, among other horror films, so he would know!

Screaming for Pleasure: How Horror Makes You Happy and Healthy by S.A. Bradley

Part memoir and part film criticism, Bradley talks about living in a fundamentalist household, preparing for the apocalypse, and the apocalypse not happening. He then dives deep into the crevasse of scary movies and how they affected his childhood, and adulthood. This book is perfect for those either very well-versed in horror film or interested in becoming more familiar with it. He examines motifs of horror movies, their evolution and new applications, and uses his personal experiences with them to analyze them.

The Crypt-Keepers (FKA, backlist of on-theme reads):

She-Wolf: A Cultural History of Female Werewolves edited by Hannah Priest

Though not every representation identified in this book is from film or television–many are from folklore, books, and fairy tales–this collection does very closely examine the trope of the female werewolf and what she represents. It features essays by big names and up-and-comers alike, and Barbara Creed weighs in on Ginger Snaps!

Let Me Clear My Throat by Elena Passarello

This book of essays focuses entirely on memes of the human voice, and while many of them are from film, not all of them are from horror movies. The entire first section, though, is entitled “Screaming Memes,” and if you aren’t yet in love with Marlon Brando via Stanley Kowalski’s STELLA scream, you will be after you read this collection! Want to know why all the screams in old Hollywood movies sound the same? Want to know what a ventriloquist dummy thinks about when he’s ordering his own voice? Want to know why the castrati singers are so sexy? Passarello explains. (Trust me: you want this book.)

Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film by Carol J. Clover

This is THE. ONE. The book about women represented in horror films–and slashers in particular, that pioneered the way into our critical subgenre. Not only is it a really important book of theory, but it’s FUN. The language is accessible, but the ideas are complex. Don’t believe me that it’s a must-read? Carol J. Clover is the one who coined the term, “Final Girl.”

Horror Noire 

As you may have noticed, most of the books above are written by men, and nearly all of them are written by white authors. To balance the scales a little, I recommend watching Shudder’s documentary, Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror, about Black representation in horror film. And once you realize that you love it, read around on Graveyard Shift Sisters, the blog that “purges the Black female horror fan from the margins.” There’s a lot of juicy stuff on there about minorities in horror film. Ashlee Blackwell, executive producer of Horror Noire founded the blog–and ya girl wrote about Midsommar for her!

Other news:

You’ve Been Poisoned Tea Cup and Saucer is a dope allusion to Shirley Jackson, plus look at this craftsmanship!

A new Dracula graphic novel will adhere to Bram Stoker’s plot but use Bela Lugosi’s likeness as the titular role.

Margaret Atwood’s sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments was short listed for the Booker Prize before it was officially released.

And of course, don’t forget to pick up your copies of The Remaking and Anais Nin at the Grand Guignol–hot off the press!

That’s all for this week. Y’all be sure to follow me and my bullshit on TW: @mkmcbrayer and IG: @marykaymcbrayer … and always let me know if there’s a bit of horror that I missed!

Your Virgil,

Mary Kay

I bid you welcome. Right here, this is The Fright Stuff, the den of all the scary shit, from the clown with the tear-away face to the woman in the attic… but mostly books, cursed books, books with covers made of human skin, et cetera. I’m Mary Kay, and I’ll be your Virgil.

This week’s earworm is “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac.

The Freshest Hells (FKA New Releases… but LBH, abandon all hope, ye who enter here):

 Monster, She Wrote by Lisa Kroger and Melanie Anderson is basically your necronomicon for all women writing horror. If you’re looking for recommendations, this is your desired circle of hell. There will be your obvious pioneers, like Mary Shelley and Shirley Jackson, and you’ll learn about other amazing women whose writing has been buried alive. Essentially, if you’re looking for all the women who were written out of your canon of horror, you’re in the fright place. Bonus: even if you learn nothing–which I seriously doubt possible–you have some damn delightful illustrations. (See if you can spot your favorite horror author’s monster!)

A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill is a novel that you really can’t miss if you love family curses, literary horror, and scandal. I couldn’t put it down–I literally sat down with it after opening my mail and did not get up for hours I got so enchanted! Plus, it references all of your favorite Lovecraftian stories while wending its own narrative. Even the narrative perspective is novel, telling the family’s story from before the protagonist’s birth. It’s an origin story of sorts… but more complex. You’re gonna love it.

Other fresh hells: 

HOLD THE PRESS. A24, the film production studio, now has a book imprint. Of its first three volumes (released on Monday, 9/30 with a limited run of 2000), one of them has detailed directorial notes and sketches from Robert Eggers on his film The Witch, AND it comes with writing from Carmen Maria Machado. This first run sold out in a matter of minutes, but you can pre-order the next edition here. SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY, am I right?

Rest in peace, Sid Haig, beloved actor of the horror genre!

Check out these People Pot Pies. Not Sweeney Todd, exactly… better.

And while we’re on the food train, there’s a Nightmare Before Christmas themed cereal coming out… I just hope the prize at the bottom of the box isn’t a shrunken head.

And, did you know that Disney world is hosting a Nightmare Before Christmas themed Halloween bash?

The new season of American Horror Story has begun: 1984.

You can now stream Ari Aster’s Midsommar online.

Torture of the week is FOLK HORROR:

While the definition of folk horror is subjective, just like any genre boundaries, a consistent motif is obsession with ritual, in particular European or pagan ritual. For film reference, think of David Bruckner’s The Ritual or the aforementioned Ari Aster’s Midsommar. I also argue that Robert Eggers’ film The Witch is folk horror because although it’s set in New England, the characters are all British, as are their traditions and obsessions. (By the way… did you see the interview with Ari Aster and Robert Eggers in this quarter’s Fangoria? Talk about wanting to be a fly on the wall!)

Here are a few books that really exemplify folk horror as I understand it:

Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi

Speaking of family and hereditary traits, if you missed Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi, you’re in for a treat (see what I did there?). This novel wends its nonchronological narrative around the mythos of gingerbread from fairy tales. It’s a truly amazing, horrifying retelling of a family from a nation whose literal existence is disputed, but that is referenced as a “nightmare country” by those who know. It utilizes folklore from England, Scotland, and Wales, like changelings, witches, poison, and magic gingerbread, but it also weaves in the politics of immigration, intergenerational relationships, and love.

Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss

I had two close friends recommend this book to me in the same week, so I went out, bought it, and had finished it within 48 hours. It’s an amazing folk horror novel about a teenage girl whose father is obsessed with lifestyles during the Bronze Age of northern England. He takes his family on their family vacation to team up with an anthropology class who reenacts life as it happened then. As happens with people obsessed with rituals of bygone barbaric eras, the experience quickly flies off the rails. This book is amazing, and you should read it as soon as you’re able.

Carmilla edit by Carmen Maria Machado (original author Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu)

If you know Dracula, you should know Carmilla, too, since she was his predecessor. Though originally published in serial form in 19th century France, this new edit by Carmen Maria Machado brings the story to life with footnotes, backstory, and mythos surrounding the actual novel’s writing as well. In case you missed it, Carmilla is a beautiful girl whose carriage crashes in front of the castle of another beautiful girl, a lonely girl who lives with her father and nurse. A love affair blooms between them, but Carmilla’s aversion to churches and all the rituals of Christianity create supernatural problems between the lovers. It’s absolutely a book you cannot miss. (If for no other reason than its decadent illustrations!)

As always and forevermore, probably, you can find me and my bullshit at my author page, or on Book Riot. And follow me on social media! (TW: @mkmcbrayer , IG: @marykaymcbrayer )

Happy autumn, everyone.

Your Virgil,

Mary Kay

I bid you welcome. Welcome to the prototype of The Fright Stuff weekly newsletter. I’m Mary Kay, and I’ll be your Virgil. This time we journey through the backlist of the horror inferno. If you’re like me (and I assume that everyone is), you consider September 20 WELL INTO Halloween season. Kind of like 5:12 is WELL INTO happy hour. Let’s be honest, though, it’s never NOT Halloween season. From April 1 to September 24 it is summer, and Halloween is year-round. If you’re behind the time of the season, or if you just want to make sure you’re primed for horror, you’re in the right place.

Below, I’ve compiled a list of the top six books to scare the literal shit out of you. (I know that sounds like an overstatement, but I can’t be the only one who, when she gets actually scared, runs to the bathroom to poop. There’s no way I’m the only one affected with that natural selection fail. Quit playing. Be honest. Just don’t take the book with you to the bathroom. Or maybe do… one-stop shopping, if you will.)

As a bonus, I’ll be supplying you with a soundtrack each week, just one song, to accompany your horror shows…

Ear worm of the week:

“Time of the Season” by the Zombies

The List:

Beloved by Toni Morrison

I recommended this book by the late, Great Soul, Toni Morrison, to a literary friend of mine, and he was ill with me because I didn’t tell him it was horror. I said, “Well. It’s about slavery, so… I don’t know what else you needed to know.” In retrospect, I could have told him that there’s a child murder, a spiteful baby ghost, and a narrative of the Middle Passage. This novel is truly one of the most haunting, gripping things I’ve ever read, and I recommend it to everyone I can: I really can’t ever oversell it. I mean, there’s a reason why she won the Nobel Prize.

Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel García Márquez

You’ve likely heard of Gabo before, and you probably know him for his magical realism, but this short novel is the epitome of his themes and motifs, plus a demon. The novel takes place in the 1770s in coastal Colombia, with a 12-year-old girl’s birthday and a bite on her ankle from a rabid dog. Her father spends months with professionals and faith healers trying to cure her rabies, and just when he has run out of options, someone suggests that Sierva Maria is actually possessed. Don’t worry: it gets worse.

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

Honestly, this book is so visceral in the most literal way that I’ve started it three separate times, and I have yet to make it through. A band of mean men join together to bounty hunt and essentially raise hell in the wild west. It’s a tale full of gore and violence during a time of essentially genocide against Native Americans. I’ve tried to read it at Thanksgiving for the past several years because it seems like the appropriate time to set the record straight, but honestly, it is just too atrocious.

The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg

I was assigned this novel in college, and I really underestimated its scariness. On his birthday, our protagonist makes a new friend, reading a Bible written in red, who tells him that he is among the Elite, or those souls predestined to go to heaven. Looking for peace of mind, our protagonist believes him. This novel essentially answers the question of what happens when there are no consequences for your actions… and what do you do when you suddenly realize, after all your sinning, that you actually ARE responsible for all your actions?

“No Name Woman” by Maxine Hong Kingston

This essay is one in the collection called Woman Warrior, but this one in particular makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up every time I reach its conclusion. As an adult, Maxine looks back on the boogeyman story that her mother told her, of the Aunt who got pregnant out of wedlock and drowned herself and her child in the village’s well, and whom, as a punishment, her family has sworn to never mention. The drowned ghost, according to the Chinese, is a spiteful ghost.

Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston

Let me be clear: it’s only the second half of this book that will scare you, and that’s not even the point of this text. It’s supposed to be (and is) an ethnography of folklore among Black people in the American south. The first half is full of “lies,” as Hurston calls the oral traditions, but the second half details her indoctrination and practice under several hoodoo doctors in New Orleans. It’s scary because it’s unknown–even as she tells certain horrific rituals in detail, Hurston says of others, it’s a secret. It leaves the reader to wonder: if you COULD tell me about love spells and revenge curses, what kinds of horrors CAN’T you tell me?

Fresh Hells:

And speaking of the backlist of horror… did you see that Nickelodeon has released its new trailer for the reboot of Are You Afraid of the Dark? I was never a REAL member of the Midnight Society (mostly because I don’t want to shit in the woods anymore), BUT I do remember watching it through my fingers as a child. Y’ALL. Remember when that girl got trapped in the painting?! That was my JAM. She should have known sooner–what art teacher ENCOURAGES you to only use one brush? Ignorance.

And enjoy that new release of We Have Always Lived in the Castle on Netflix… maybe have a cup of coffee sweetened from this pot.

And in case you need a dose of true crime in your cauldron, Quibi (a new mobile device streaming service) will host Murder House Flip, which is exactly what it sounds like: it’s a home improvement show for houses in which someone has been killed. Good thing the episodes are short…?

As always and forevermore, probably, you can find me and my bullshit at my author page, or on Book Riot. And follow me on social media! (TW: @mkmcbrayer , IG: @marykaymcbrayer )

Your Virgil,

Mary Kay