Well, well, well, if it isn’t another reading wrap up. It was a great month for horror and sci-fi. It was also my birthday and I celebrated the only way I know how – by buying far too many books. Keep scrolling to see what I got (it’s an obscenely long list). But first off, here is everything I read in February.
Possessed: A Lost Novel of the Occult by Rosalie and Edward Synton
Written in three parts from the perspective of a husband’s friend, a husband and his mother-in-law, this is a story of a jealous and overbearing mother who will do anything to keep her daughter from living an independent life, including dabbling in the occult…
I got a copy of Possessed through the British Library’s Tales of the Weird book subscription. I love the editor introductions to these books as they give so much context to the stories, introduce talented authors who usually aren’t widely known, and provide a glimpse into the curation of the series, which seems a lengthy but rewarding process. While I did really enjoy Possessed, my favourite part of the book by far was the introduction by Johnny Mains. His passion not only for the novel itself but the time it was set in is so palpable, it was hard not to get swept away with it.
But back to the novel itself – Possessed was a thoroughly entertaining read, and as it was written at a time when absolutely everyone was obsessed with ghosts and the occult, it had a gorgeously spooky vibe. I could picture the mother-in-law so vividly in my mind, particularly the way she spoke and her mannerisms when things didn’t go her way. While the third part of the novel dragged a little as so much of the plot was revealed in the first two-thirds, and the daughter character was a bit of a wet noodle, I had a really fun time – especially the part where the husband’s friend wished he was a woman so it was more socially acceptable for him to slap the evil mother-in-law. Perfection.
Itch! by Gemma Amor
Josie is recovering from a traumatic childhood and the breakdown of an awful relationship when she comes across a corpse. As her village prepares for its annual festival, she is determined to figure out whodunnit ‘all whilst battling a growing infestation of her mind . . . and her flesh.’
I got this novel through the Abominable Book Club. As I guessed the twist within the first few chapters I wasn’t particularly motivated to read on, especially as the pacing was unnecessarily slow at times. Amor’s writing style was overall quite solid, but I didn’t like many of the characters, particularly Josie. It just wasn’t for me.
It Used to be Witches: Under the Spell of Queer Cinema by Ryan Gilbey
It Used to be Witches is a blend of memoir, interviews with queer filmmakers, film criticism and queer history written by Ryan Gilbey, a revered film journalist. With a focus on indie titles and experimental film, this book jumps between Gilbey’s personal movie-watching experiences to the impact queer filmmakers have had on both LGBTQ+ culture and cinema as a whole.
This was such an unexpectedly unique read. From the unusual structure of the book to the plethora of micro-budget queer films listed in every chapter, It Used to be Witches blew me away, quite frankly. I’m relatively new to reading film criticism, but I think even those familiar with the genre would find this a unique take – Gilbey somehow flowed from recounting feelings of shame for being queer yet not queer enough, to diving into fascinating anecdotes like Greta Garbo’s final movie appearance in gay porn. How he managed to construct the whole thing and make it work is too much for my tiny brain to handle.
One aspect of the book that I found both interesting and exhausting was that Gilbey seemed to take on the opinions of each filmmaker he interviewed, as if he felt they were all more of an authority on queerness and queer cinema than he was. Again, this to me drew on a sense of shame, which gave me just as much an insight into Gilbey as it did the people he spoke with.
As you can expect, my movie watchlist has now grown. A lot.
Aerth by Deborah Tomkins
This is the story of Magnus’ life, from his birth all the way to his twilight years. Magnus lives on Aerth, a planet going through an Ice Age. As a young boy he is desperate to leave his family’s farm and explore what life has to offer, and when a twin planet going through global warming called Urth is discovered, he decides he has to become an astronaut to witness it with his own eyes. This speculative science fiction novella is a love letter to human nature, in all its beautifully hopeful and disgustingly pessimistic glory.
I adored this book so, so, so much. I read the majority of it in one sitting on a rainy Sunday and, while short, it packs so much in about the human experience. It’s also beautifully written, some parts almost like poetry, yet it’s not overly flowery.
I don’t want to say too much more about this novella because it is so short and I really recommend going in blind, but I’ve never read a book that has made me feel so excited to be alive while also wishing all human beings would cease to exist immediately. This is an important, life-affirming and soul-crushing story – I have no idea how Tomkins managed to do all of that in so few pages.
Aerth felt like ‘proper’ science fiction to me, like the 1950s Wyndham novels I adored in my twenties. If you take anything from this reading wrap up, please heed my advice and get yourself a copy of Aerth.
The Dead of Winter: Ten Classic Tales for Chilling Nights edited by Cecily Gayford
This little book contains ten wintry, Christmassy horror short stories full of curses, murderers, ghostly ghouls and more.
What a wonderful collection to end the month on, and most of them genuinely creeped me out. My favourites were by Algernon Blackwood and Lennox Robinson, and surprisingly my least favourite was Arthur Conan Doyle’s. Lots of creepy vibes and lots and lots of fun. This book would be best experienced read aloud by candlelight…
Big Bonus Birthday Haul Bonanza
For my birthday I got an absolutely epic haul of books, some gifted and some bought with money and vouchers I received as gifts (I went to the five-storey Foyles in London as well as Books-on-Sea in Southend and basically went fucking nuts). Here is everything I grabbed with my greedy little mitts.
Fiction
- Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward
- The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk
- Love, Leda by Mark Hyatt
- These Our Monsters (short story collection)
- Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico
- Look at the Lights, My Love by Annie Ernaux
- Texasville by Larry McMurtry
- Tales of the Tattooed edited by John Miller
- The Wayfarer’s Weird edited by Weird Walk
- Randall’s Round by Eleanor Scott
- Eerie East Anglia edited by Edward Parnell
- The Horned God edited by Michael Wheatley
Non fiction
- Around the Writer’s Block by Rosanne Bane
- Lincoln by Gore Vidal
- A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit
- The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
- How to Build a Haunted House by Caitlin Blackwell Baines
- Resisting Militarism by Chris Rossdale
Now that I’m looking at the entire list written down, it seems a bit excessive.
Like puppies? Keep reading!
In April I’m going to be running 10km in Brighton for a wonderful charity called the Cinnamon Trust.
The Cinnamon Trust is the national charity for older people, the terminally ill and their pets. They provide hands-on assistance to pet owners across the country when any aspect of the day-to-day care of their pets poses a problem, as well as the provision of lifelong care for pets who outlive their owners.
I currently volunteer with them, walking two Yorkshire Terriers, Millie and Ruby, for their elderly owner who is no longer able to.
If you’re able to donate a little something, please follow the link below to be taken to my fundraising page. Thank you for reading!
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