Introduction The Sin-Eater was a Welsh export to America, now so forgotten in Wales and so connected with Appalachia, that most Welsh might now consider it to be an American phenomenon, rather than a part of their own history. The Sin-Eater has their* own chapter in Jane Aaron's Welsh Gothic (Chapter 6) and this is… Continue reading Welsh Gothic Tropes V: The Sin-Eater
IntroductionOne element that recurs throughout Welsh Gothic fiction is ... the death omen. Whether it's a raven being shot and showering the bride-to-be in blood as it plummets down a well ('The Prediction', 1827), or a cow biting off its own teats on a failing farm (Martha, Jac a Sianco, 2004, I kid you not),… Continue reading Welsh Gothic Tropes I: Death Omens
Introduction The vampires of Wales are few and far between, and Aaron only looks at novels featuring vampires set in the Welsh borders. In this post, I start by looking at some of the vampire/vampiric lore in Wales, from Arawn's doomed men of the Hunt to seriously weird tales of vampiric furniture, and then at… Continue reading #AmReading: Wales, Land of the Living Dead III: Welsh Vampire Lore & Vampire Lit (1940s-1997)
My Sleeping Beauty ThemeMy forthcoming paranormal novel, The Crows, is a kind of gender-flipped Sleeping Beauty story, where the [female] protagonist wakes a sentient house from its dormant state, only for it to fall in love with her. It's Sleeping Beauty meets Stephen King's Rose Red, set in a creepy town on the south coast… Continue reading Sleeping Beauty Stories
