Gothic fiction

And when that truth arrives, it does so with the force of a nightmare, a vision of torture in the age of Louis XIV, and the final moments of one of France's most infamous poisoners, the Marquis de Brinvilliers.

This is Doyle at his most Gothic, blending historical fact with supernatural suggestion, and reminding us that sometimes the past leaves marks that never fade.

It's a story of objects that remember, dreams that reveal, and justice delivered in the cruelest fashion imaginable.

So settle in as we open the pages of this eerie tale.

Original short-form stories of the supernatural, the monstrous, and the unknown.

Today's story is Tom and Ava by Emma Houdary, who previously brought us Bleakmore, A Gothic Tale, and Timelines.

This time, she has woven a gut-wrenching tale that will linger with you long after its end.

So let's get started.

Really weirdly, I don't think about genre too much when I start a book.

I have produced gothic fiction because I'm just that kind of spooky bitch.

I took a gothic literature course in university, which changed my life and very much just put that lens on me.

Um, I would say I'm more kind of like inspired by particular writers, which produces a shift in what I'm producing.

It's more like, well, what's happening to the what's the what are the not to be a Marxist? What are the material conditions that are underpinning these huge economic and technological changes and who's made expendable by these technologies and these these kind of micro economies?

And so that might be a good transition to the last question I had for you, which is that both Orpheus Builds a Girl and Carrie and Crow, and even to a certain extent, that earlier essay, Electric Dreams, sort of all deal with the nature of ownership or control over women's bodies, or in the case of Electric Dreams, something approximating a woman's body and kind of by implication, control of their autonomy as well.

Do you find that you're drawn to that as a specific, I am seeking to kind of write in this theme for a particular reason? Or is it similar to your non-intentional desire to write gothic fiction, but that's kind of just what comes out of what you're writing? Is it a purposeful thing you're engaging in through these different publications? Or has it just been something that's sort of been constantly on your mind, given the fact that it's sort of always relevant in society? Yeah, unfortunately.

Especially as of late.

And so the book opens with her doing a lecture on that idea of, of AI and new frontier.

But in her own heart of hearts, she's writing, like, little Gothic stories, and that's where her heart really truly belongs.

And I do feel like-

That's where our hearts should all belong.

Well, Hales brought his immense talent for atmospheric world building to radio with a play called Lord Dracula.

OK, classic Gothic horror.

Exactly.

And what is brilliant about this is how he utilizes the auditory medium to construct Gothic architecture.

How so? Think about television.

Building a sprawling, terrifying Transylvanian castle on screen is wildly expensive.

He's kind of like a version, like a version of him where it's like, he's all black with glowing green eyes.

And like, there's this like, uh, ogre thing that's like hammering into a corpse and there's fire and chains and like, looks super like Gothic and, um, really dark and i was like way creepier than i expected i was like okay i thought this was gonna be super campy like this actually might be like kind of sick and then it goes into like the the fairy forest thing and i'm like oh there's the camp okay

yeah yeah exactly exactly

there it is

There's, like, sculptures that look like sculptures until they start moving, and then you realize they're, like, it's actually a person, and then there's columns, and they're, like, immaculately carved, and there's just a lot of this really, like, interesting, like, gothic... stuff going on.

Yeah.

And fantasy, like a Gothic fantasy, uh, design aesthetic going on.

That is incredible.

My pronouns are she, her, ella.

And I have an amazing special guest with me on the podcast to talk about Gothic literature with Latina culture.

Would you like to introduce yourself?

Hello, everyone.

I was in a huge reading slump and it was the book that pulled me out of it.

I just absolutely adored it.

So I was really excited to get to connect with you and talk Gothic literature.

So my first question is, what is your background and what drew you to Gothic fiction?

She was not at all afraid.

As they drew near the end of their journey, her impatience for a sight of the abbey, for some time suspended by his conversation on subjects very different, returned in full force, and every bend in the road was expected with solemn awe to afford a glimpse of its massy walls of grey stone, rising amidst a grove of ancient oaks, with the last beams of the sun playing in beautiful splendour on its high Gothic windows.

But so low did the building stand that she found herself passing through the great gates of the lodge into the very grounds of Northanger, without having discerned even an antique chimney.

She knew not that she had any right to be surprised, but there was a something in this mode of approach which she certainly had not expected.

The furniture was in all the profusion and elegance of modern taste.

The fireplace, where she had expected the ample width and ponderous carving of former times, was contracted to a rumford, with slaps of plain, though handsome marble, and ornaments over it of the prettiest English china.

The windows, to which she looked with peculiar dependence, from having heard the general talk of his preserving them in their Gothic form with reverential care, were yet less what her fancy had portrayed.

To be sure, the pointed arch was preserved, the form of them was Gothic, they might even be casements, but every pane was so large, so clear, so light.