Module 14: (November 29-December 5)Noyes, D. (ed.). (2004). Gothic! Ten Original Dark Tales. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.
Summary: This book features ten short stories written in the “gothic” style of genre for teens. Some of the stories follow all the same tropes and plot lines of classic gothic literature, while others take the stories and set them in currently creepy stories. Several of the stories have very unexpected endings, and will give the reader thrills and chills. Other stories are beautiful and mysterious, while a couple are absolutely hilarious as they lovingly mock the genre.
My Impressions: I have always loved gothic literature, even though it can be a bit formulaic at times, and this book was a really fun read, though it would have been even more fun to read it around Halloween! Scariest story (also my pick for most unexpected ending): “Morgan Roehmar’s Boys,” weirdest (in a cool way) story: “Watch and Wake,” and funniest story: “Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Nameless House of the Night of Dread Desire” (the title alone is hilarious!). I haven’t read stuff by all of these authors, but I want to now!
Reviews: “The slightly generic cover design and forthrightly generic title of this collection may lead many readers to expect shrieking heroines, dreary castles, lurking vampires, and other tropes of the gothic tradition. They wouldn't be wrong, but they wouldn't be exactly right, either. Sure, many of these original tales…ape the vocabulary of the genre ("necromancer," "escritoire") and play with its abundant clichés (a house has as many "curses as it has spiders and silverfish"). But the maidens in peril still have to do their homework; twisted events are as likely to transpire in American suburbs as in dreary castles; vampires whine about the garlic in the spaghetti sauce and then attack their babysitters. Ideal for high-school literature classes studying Shelley or Stoker (Gaiman's smirking contribution, which toys with genre definitions, would work particularly well in the classroom), this collection also provides an excellent opportunity to introduce fans of Koontz, Rice, and King to some of the most imaginative exponents of YA dark fantasy.”—Jennifer Mattson, American Library Association, Booklist http://www.amazon.com/gp/
Library Use: This book would be great to either feature with other short story collections, or to talk about in a book talk around Halloween, along with other classic “gothic” tales from Poe, Shelley, Stoker, and the Bronte sisters, and maybe even some of the current authors writing books in this genre. It might also be nice to include some of the other books written by the authors of the short stories so if a kid found they liked that author’s style, they could check out the other things they have written as well.
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