We’ve had a busy week here at Speculative Chic! From guest authors and cover reveals, podcasts and books galore, plus a sharing of formative favorites, both old and new, it’s time to get caught up on what you missed with our regular Weekly Roundup!
Monday
Our special guest for MFT this week is Jeremy C. Shipp, our featured author for February’s Book Club with his gothic horror The Atrocities. We’re so excited to have him stop by and share some of his genre favorites. Whether it’s the imagery of silent horror cinema, a doglike creature that permeates dreams, and a madcap portal fantasy podcast, there’s something for everyone here!
Tuesday
Congratulations to our very own Venessa Giunta — we’ve got the cover reveal for her next offering in the Soul Cavern series, Visci. With an exciting blurb and awesome bio of cover artist Sylvia Frost, celebrate the upcoming release with us here.
Nicole reviews the second book in the Empress Game series, Rhonda Mason‘s Cloak of War, in preparation for knocking out the third book in the trilogy as part of her 2020 Resolution. After covering the first book, we’re back into the intergalactic imperial realm of the Sakien Empire with the empress games over, but more adventures and conflicts for exiled princess Kayla Reinumon. Intrigued? Enter the arena here.
Wednesday
Lane reviews the BBC podcast The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, an update of the same-titled work by H.P. Lovecraft. Featuring necromancy and old magic, biological destiny and cannibalism, plus scores of monsters and weirdness galore, how does the podcast pull off this balancing act? The answers are here.
Thursday
Nicole slides in with another book review, proving she’s more than off and running on her Resolution! Covering Sara Wolf‘s Find Me Their Bones, this is the second offering in the Bring Me Their Hearts YA fantasy series. Picking up with the ramifications of betrayal and dealing with imprisonment by the king of Cavanos, heroine Zera has a lot on her plate. How does part two serve it up? Find out here.
Friday
Sherry starts a special series, What If, which “takes a piece of speculative fiction and examines why it is so good, but also what could have made it better.” First up on the block is Margaret Atwood‘s Oryx and Crake, a “last human on earth” genre blender of a story; while being classified as literary fiction, it’s sci fi with romance tossed in for good measure. What works and what doesn’t in this national bestseller? Read on and see.
We also have author Matt Betts as our special guest for Blast from the Past, where Matt is sharing “those foundational favorites, the works that shaped us, that we find ourselves returning to again and again.” Celebrating his many works, including his latest release White Anvil: Sasquatch Onslaught, take a stroll down memory lane with a love letter to everyone’s favorite mystery-solving Great Dane thwarting supernatural (or not) evil-doers. Ride along in the Mystery Machine here.
Book Club
If Jeremy C. Shipp‘s My Favorite Things post wasn’t a fabulous enough reminder, let’s say it loud and clear: his book, The Atrocities, is our February Book Club pick, and Kristina‘s leading the discussion on February 28th! It’s a gothic horror story with freaky statues and a hedge maze, a haunted-or-not house, and the eccentric characters that dwell within. We’re looking forward to what you have to say on the 28th! And also get ready for March with Kendra‘s pick by Cate Glass, An Illusion of Thieves. We also have the picks for April, May, and June up and running here, so get excited, and we’ll see you for our upcoming discussion soon.
Matt Betts’s Blast from the Past post got me reminiscing about my own introduction to the horror genre — and it was through two major animated kid-friendly properties: Scooby Doo and The Real Ghostbusters. Without these shows, I never would have learned that not only is it ok to be scared, but that sometimes, it’s a lot of fun. I got interested in the spooky histories and myths of old, and studied a wide array of ghosts, demons, and monsters, all thanks to these cartoons! And the thing is, if I hadn’t watched these shows first, I never would have gotten into reading horror at all. Both shows were my gateway to the genre as a whole, and I’m so thankful, because otherwise I probably would have avoided giving anything scary the time of day. What about all of you? Have you watched these shows growing up? Did they make a lasting impact on you? Feel free to comment, and we’ll see you next week!
My response when I imagine a world without horror fiction.
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