"Four horror fans discover the depths of their own monstrosity in the birthplace of the genre."
July 2024 Book of the Month
This book from the bestselling author of the S.T.A.G.S series, is an absolute gift to English teachers and to literature students studying Gothic novels. It takes core elements from the classic set texts and weaves them into a thoroughly modern and enjoyable metatextual analysis of the horror genre across all media.
We have four intriguing young people, telling their own stories in wonderfully crafted unique voices, giving subtly different perspectives on the unfolding horror story. They withhold secrets from each other, but not from the reader, who gets the full impact of the building tension and developing relationships.
They have been brought together having applied for and won a place on the Young Gothic programme offered by the mysterious Diodati Foundation. They are transported to the same Villa Diodati where four young creatives, Byron, Percy and Mary Shelley and John William Polidori gathered two centuries before.
Hal, Griffin, Eve and Ren are each talented in the literary or performing arts and all are obsessed with horror. Their task is apparently to discover the monsters of this modern age. As the characters bond and get to know each other, they themselves discuss horror archetypes and rules whilst subverting them at the same time. The way the plot weaves historical detail into the modern day is exquisite. Events rise to a truly horrible climax when, on the proverbial dark and stormy night, a body is found. Who indeed are the monsters now?
As per the meta-analysis of the genre, the sequel hook is there and I for one cannot wait to scare myself rigid with the next instalment of this dark and haunting series.
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