Title: Monster, She Wrote
Authors: Lisa Kröger & Melanie R. Anderson
Type: Nonfiction
Genre: Feminism, Horror
Publisher: Quirk Books
(Penguin Random House Canada)
Date published: September 17, 2019

A physical copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Weird fiction wouldn’t exist without the women who created it. Meet the female authors who defied convention to craft some of literature’s strangest tales. And find out why their own stories are equally intriguing.

Everyone knows about Mary Shelley, creator of Frankenstein; but have you heard of Margaret Cavendish, who wrote a science-fiction epic 150 years earlier? Have you read the psychological hauntings of Violet Paget, who was openly involved in long-term romantic relationships with women in the Victorian era? Or the stories of Gertrude Barrows Bennett, whose writing influenced H.P. Lovecraft? Monster, She Wrote shares the stories of women past and present who invented horror, speculative, and weird fiction and made it great. You’ll meet celebrated icons (Ann Radcliffe, V.C. Andrews), forgotten wordsmiths (Eli Coltor, Ruby Jean Jensen), and today’s vanguard (Helen Oyeyemi). And each profile includes a curated reading list so you can seek out the spine-chilling tales that interest you the most.

⤖ My Review ⬻

Monster, She Wrote was a great read! While reading the intro, I remember laughing a few times and just overall enjoying Kröger and Anderson’s writing and sense of humour. I also love that they dedicated time to research female horror writers and compiling everything into this book! I love the horror genre as well as feminism, and really appreciate how this book combines the two. Also, isn’t that cover just great! It’s so photogenic and just great for October! I can’t wait to take spooky photos with it.

Some of the writers mentioned in this book I already knew about, like Mary Shelley, and some I hadn’t heard about until I picked up Monster, She Wrote. Even the authors I knew about, I learned new facts about, so that was great. I also really liked how the book was categorized and how it was organized overall. I definitely recommend this one and wanted to put it out there that Kröger and Anderson have a podcast about horror called Know Fear (and it’s perfect to start in October if you ask me)!

⤖ About the Authors ⬻

Lisa Kröger is a writer who lives on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where she enjoys a life of reading, writing, and scaring the wits out of her husband, who doesn’t fully understand her love for all things horror. Sometimes she uses her Ph.D. in Gothic literature to teach, but mostly she uses it to write horror stories–and to raise two of her own little monsters, her sons. Follow her newest work on Facebook and Twitter. Member of the Horror Writer’s Association. She’s also a host on the Know Fear podcast, a biweekly cast that dissects the horror genre. Visit the Know Fear website for more details. www.knowfearcast.com

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Melanie R. Anderson is an assistant professor of English at Delta State University in Cleveland, MS. Her book Spectrality in the Novels of Toni Morrison (Tennessee Press, 2013) was a winner of the 2014 South Central MLA Book Prize. She co-hosts the Know Fear Podcast (knowfearcast.com).

⤖ Purchase the Book ⬻

⤖ Let’s Chat ⬻

THANK YOU FOR READING MY REVIEW! HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK? WHAT DID YOU THINK? AND IF YOU HAVEN’T READ IT YET, DO YOU WANT TO, OR NOT? HOW COME? LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS!