FAVORITE DARK FANTASY/HORROR BOOKS OF 2021

You Let Me In by Camilla Bruce

A mystery about a writer who narrates her imagined or not relationship with the faeries amidst an insidiously abusive upbringing. Loved it because this is some of the best and creepiest depictions of faeries I've read in a while.

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

Four young Indigenous men pay for an elk hunt gone horribly wrong as the spirit of a young mother elk twists up into a diabolical and malevolent entity that stalks the men and destroys them by using their own weaknesses against them. Terrifying and heartrending.

Bunny by Mona Awad

A dark academia of sorts. A young woman is menaced by a click of cuddlecore girls at a small and fancy college. The first half of the story is a WTF nightmare. The second half is poignant and beautiful.

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

A Romeo and Juliet theme set in 1920s Shanghai? Genius. Starring a ruthless Juliet and a gangster Romeo, the story also features a gruesome monster straight out of Lovecraft.

White is For Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

A haunted house book about legacy. A young woman and her twin brother live in a house infected by their ancestors, a house that becomes particularly unfriendly to anyone who isn't white. There is a bone-chilling mannequin scene and apparitions that made my skin crawl.

Black Light by Elizabeth Hand

I recently re-read this dark fantasy about a girl who ends up confronting a dark version of the Greek god Dionysius in the persona of  one of her actress mom's infamous friends. Like her story The Erl King, this one is eerie and lushly entertaining.

The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle

Set in contemporary Ireland, this is a tale about a family who are prone to strange accidents at a certain time of the year as the teenage protagonist tries to figure out the mystery of a strange, forgotten girl who keeps showing up in photographs.

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White

This author excels at anti-heroines and Elizabeth is no exception. She is an orphan who is selfish and desperate, forges a grotesque alliance with the ruthless (and psychotic) son of the Frankenstein family.

White Fox by Sara Faring

Set on a contemporary but fictional island, this story is about twin sisters, daughters of privilege, who seek to discover what happened to their missing mother, an actress with a mysterious and possibly supernatural origin. 

GodChild by Kaori Yuki

This is a manga, set in Victorian England, about a cold-hearted young man who solves occult mysteries and his mysterious butler/bodyguard. The hero's nemesis is his older brother and this manga is seriously Gothic.

THE STRANGE MYTHOLOGY OF BEARS

Arctolatry-bear worship

Bears may have been the first animals worshiped in the Paleolithic era, as evidenced by ocher-painted bear skulls arranged in Neandertal shrines, signifying the oldest human/animal relationship. If you've ever seen a brown bear walking upright, it's uncannily human-like in its stride. Bears were terrifying and shamanic figures in prehistoric times. They appear in numerous guises as gods, in fairy tales as heroes. In American Indigenous folklore, they are the king of the beasts, wise and moral. Inuit hunters learned patience from the polar bear, Tuurngasuk, the Great Spirit who devours the shaman and returns him whole and powerful and ready to aid his people.

In Ainu myth, bears are sacred. A young bear is captured and treated like a king for a year, before being sacrificed. In Korea, Ungnyeo is a bear who wanted to be human and was made so by a god. In Hindu mythology, Jambavana is the king of bears, created to assist the god Brahma.

There are many bear goddesses throughout the world. Dea Arturio is the Celtic bear goddess. The bear is the sacred animal of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. In Greece, young girls would wear bear masks and act predatory in order to honor Artemis. The bear was also Ursa Major, the constellation, to the Greeks, named after the huntress Callisto, who was cursed into bear form by a jealous Zeus. In many ancient cultures, the bear is considered a Mother, a deity of resurrection and birth, of protection.

Ildiko is a Hungarian bear goddess. Mielikki is Finnish, and both are associated with forests. In Finnish folklore, bears seek to reincarnate through women, so women must keep away from a bear's funeral feast. The bear, the king of the forest, was never called by name, but referenced through euphemisms such as The Honey Eater, Golden Light Foot, The Fur Robed Forest Friend. Norse berserkers wore only bearskins into battle because the bear was sacred to Odin.

In fairy tales,, bears are creatures of wisdom and savagery. In East of the Sun, West of the Moon, the bear befriends two sisters and helps them on their quests. Eventually it is revealed he is a cursed human. When one of the sisters falls in love with him, he transforms into a man. Goldilocks and the Three Bears is about a girl who colonizes the house of three bears and has the nerve to complain about everything.

In Fiction, Phillip Pullman's Iorek Byrnison is a standout, a polar bear in The Golden Compass who is a scarred, alcoholic warrior. /Who doesn't love Baloo, the mentor, from The Jungle Book? There is Bluebear from Walter Moers The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear. Katherine Arden's The Bear and The Nightingale has Medved, the evil bear. On a gentler note, we have the intrepid immigrant Paddington Bear. And, of course Winnie-the-Pooh. 

Bears have been revered by many cultures throughout history, and mostly as a mother. They are the true queen of the beasts.

TIME OF THE DARK BY BARBARA HAMBLY

 

THE TIME OF THE DARK series, published in 1981, is one of my favorite fantasy series. Here's why:

Gil, a student of Medieval history, dreams of a strange world haunted by monstrous, shifting creatures called The Dark. She also dreams of the prince and the wizard trying to save this dream kingdom. When the wizard shows up in her kitchen one night, Gil--along with a motorbike-riding young man named Rudy--are dragged into a world in which they quickly need to learn how to survive, with swords and magic. It sounds cliche, but Hambly creates such fantastic, realistic characters, while vividly painting a world you could believe she visited. The devil's in the exquisite details. It's a dark, gorgeous,and intensely human story. Gil and Rudy's journeys are harrowing--he becomes an apprentice wizard and she becomes a soldier, nascent abilities made irrelevant in their modern lives--but they also find family in this terrifying and beautiful world.

THE CHARACTERS make the story. Ingold is the wizard, an old war veteran turned magic user who was a red-headed troublemaker in his youth. Minalde is the young queen and mother of the kingdom's infant heir and she's a Snow White who has to transform into a ruler, fast. Alwir, handsome and raven-haired, a warrior and an aristocrat, is her older brother and becomes a memorable villain. Ice Falcon is a cold-hearted young soldier from the White Raiders,a nomadic people who terrorize the borders.

AUTHOR'S HISTORY: Hambly has a Masters in Medieval History and it shows. She's also written about a band of mercenaries and a group of wizards, set in the same world, as well as a separate series about a free man of color who solves mysteries and another series about Victorian vampires.

WHY I LOVE IT: The interesting characters, pungent details, and tense plot.

FAV SCENES:

When Gil discovers Ingold the wizard sitting in her kitchen and offers him a beer, which he graciously accepts, figuring out how to open the can.

Rudy, learning how to control his latent magical abilities, tries to hide from the White Raiders by appearing as a dung beetle. The White Raiders instantly spot him, and, later, Ingold asks Rudy when has he ever seen a dung beetle in that world.

If you're looking for something to replace Game of Thrones, this rich, dark, portal fantasy is for you.

WHY IT'S SO GOOD TO BE BAD: WRITING THE FEMALE ANTIHERO

'Trickster dwells in the realm of shadow, but perhaps that is for our salvation.' C.G. Jung 

The antihero. The trickster. Why are they so appealing? They toe the line between good and bad, but never commit any atrocities that would turn them into the villain. The outcome for them is usually redemption--but not always--and victories come at a cost that's bittersweet. Antiheroes aren't the White Hats, the knights in shining armor. They surprise and delight and sometimes disappoint in delicious ways. They're spiky, unreliable, always have a trick up their sleeve, and we never know what direction they're going to take. The female antihero isn't afraid to walk in the shadows, to do what must be done, and never considers herself to be the hero. She likes that she can be bad and people expect it of her. Or she's flawed and has no desire to be perfect. Being morally ambiguous, she can surprise us. Antiheroines have been dismissed as Bad Girls, but they're more than that. They're not heroes by any means, and would scorn being called one. They aren't in the story for the glory--they're in it for the mayhem. But, occasionally, instead of spiraling towards self-destruction, these ladies can rocket into a crazy noble orbit.

Antiheroism used to seem solely a male domain, but folklore and mythology are peppered with female tricksters: Morgan le Fay, Circe, Lilith, Kali, Hecate, The Morrigan, the Kumiho. And it seems female tricksters are a lot scarier than their male counterparts. These ladies control dark magic and the elements of night or nature. They rule in the world of tempests and moonlight and are often associated with death.

Classic literature brought another Renaissance of trickster girls. The most infamous are Becky Sharp in William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair; Emma Bovary in Madame Bovary; Catherine Earnshaw from Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights; Emma Woodhouse from Emma by Jane Austen; Estella Havisham from Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. They are all young, supremely selfish, and devious. The characters who encounter them often regret doing so. But these ladies are fighting against the limitations of their eras, when women were considered useless and frivolous. They aren't going to settle for what society demands.

Some of my favorite antiheroes in books and film:

    

    Harley Quinn (DC Comics)

    Villanelle (Killing Eve)

    Faith Lehane (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

    Beth Harmon (The Queen's Gambit)

    Lada Dragwyla (And I Darken by Kiersten White)

    Jude Duarte (The Cruel Prince by Holly Black)

                                         Jame Kencyr (Godstalk by P.C. Hodgell)

   

 Mia Corvere (NeverNight by Jay Kristoff)

  Morgaine (The Book of Morgaine by C.J. Cherryh)

  Miranda (Maledicte by Lane Robins)

We need more female antiheroes, more tricksters from people of color, women and girls whose venture into chaos shakes things up. Who are your favorites?

HOW TO KEEP YOUR SANITY AS A WRITER

Here are a few things that help me to avoid the depths of despair:

NEVER forget why you write: Because you LOVE it.

INSPIRATION. This is the driving force. What gave you the IDEA? Another book? Pinterest images? Films? TV series? A song? Revisit what inspired you. For me, my inspiring idea usually becomes the book's THEME.

IMAGINATION. You have to feed your brain dragon. As above--books, films, TV series, magazines, music.

READ. Read writers you love so that you REMEMBER WHY you love to write. But also read books outside your comfort zone. Expand your interests. There are compelling non-fiction books. There are exquisitely realistic fiction books.

BLOGS. Visit blogs about writing for strategy. Visit author blogs for advice.

SELF-PUBLISH. Remember self-publishing and small presses are an option. Make sure you invest in the two most important aspects of your book--a professional EDITOR and a gorgeous COVER. Then you need to invest in a marketing campaign.

FUTURE PROJECTS. always have a list of books you're looking forward to writing. This means you'll finish the story you began and you'll already have a few plot lines and characters for future fun.

SUPPORT. Connect to other writers via social media or writing groups.

TAKE A BREAK. Take a nap. Take a walk. Get some tasks done. Get away from the story so that you can THINK about the story.

JOURNAL. Keep a journal of future ideas. This keeps your creative fires burning. Write down everything. Cool character names. Weird little sentences. Fabulous words. Gorgeous descriptions.

That's it! Happy writing:)

YOU SHOULD SEE ME IN A CROWN: WRITING A QUEEN

 

Real queens' lives were chained to womanly duties and a future hinged on producing a male heir. So, writers of fictional queens probably don't want to follow the real-life rule book. Here are ten things a bad-ass queen does:

1.POLITICAL NAVIGATOR: Diplomacy. Monarchs deal with ambassadors and emissaries from other lands, as well as local leaders, guild lords, and the common people.

2.COMMANDER OF ARMED FORCES: She doesn't have to actually lead an army into battle, but she should know tactics, geography, strategies. Keep in mind she'll also have fleets, whether on the sea or in the air. (You know, airships).

3.PROTECTOR OF THE PEOPLE: She's the one in charge of disputes, local and foreign. Her word is law, unless she has a body of fellow politicians to advise her. Or keep her in check.

4.HEAD OF STATE: The Law. The queen decides who goes to prison. Who is executed or released. What laws are passed.

5.MISTRESS OF SPIES: The spymaster should report to her. Your queen can also be a conniving force if she is wed to a king and mingles with other royals, which brings us to . . .

6.SOCIAL BUTTERFLY: She'll attend events that will solidify alliances. Balls and celebrations. She'll circulate only with those she's interested in. She can love this role or dread it.

7.SPIRITUAL FIGUREHEAD: Whatever religion is most prevalent in the realm--that'll be hers. She should be attending church/stepping into temples/performing rituals in the forest. She doesn't need to keep her spirituality a secret unless you want her to.

8.FASHIONISTA: She'll be inspiring fashions. So will her companions. Even kings are considered fashion plates, with the court echoing their rulers' wardrobes.

9.MISTRESS OF THE HOUSEHOLD: Mostly, your queen will be in charge of the staff who run the staff. But she'll know where all the secret places are, the hidden passages, concealed rooms, and oubliettes.

10.SPORTSWOMAN: Horseback riding, croquet, tennis, hunting. Whatever gets a queen out of the castle.

So give your fictional queen her duties. Present her with obstacles and goals that will enrich her character and drive the plot.

10 DYNAMICS OF CHARACTER

 

I find these 10 rules helpful when I'm creating characters. Even if I don't use half the stuff that I journal, having these little bits and pieces helps with plot development, as well as character development.

1.HOBBIES: What does you character like to do in their idle time? Study butterflies? Play Scrabble? Listen to obscure music? Collect mouse skeletons? 

2.HISTORY: Scatter a few memories throughout. Preferably significant memories that made your character who they are. Landmarks that shaped them. Did her mom teach her how to use a Polaroid and now she's a photographer? Did he once run over a toad with his bicycle? On purpose? Accident? If, on purpose, he's a budding serial killer. If, by accident, maybe he becomes a herpetologist. Did she witness something terrible near a row of lilacs and now the fragrance of lilacs sends her into a downward spiral? 

3.HABITS: Gestures and dialogue. Does he use a certain slang? Does she scratch her nose when she's laying? Does he crochet while he's thinking over a case he's trying to solve? Give your character at least one habit out of type (but not too many, or they'll appear twitchy.)

4.DESIRES: What the character wants. What do they yearn for? Does she want a beautiful cottage by the ocean? Does he want to rule a kingdom on Mars? Does she dream of becoming an author of a mythical atlas? It has to be something that will change their lives. Something they're willing to sacrifice everything for.

5.ACTIONS: Is your character a hero or a villain? A trickster or an anti-hero? What path do you want this character to follow? Succeed or fail? Be solitary or have friends? His actions must always strive toward your ultimate goal for this character. She has to take action in every scene she's in. This ishow she carries the story, how she swims forward against the obstacles flung at her. She has to cross that bridge of teeth. He has to steal that rare book written by his grandfather.

6.LIKES: What are your character's favorite things? Mint jelly? Men in powdered wigs? Charlotte's Web? Peacock blue lipstick? Give them likes and dislikes.

7.ECCENTRICITIES: Strange habits, weird thoughts, odd things that have happened to your character throughout their history. He only reads leather bound books. She picks her teeth with peacock quills.

8.SECRETS: Everyone loves a good secret. It doesn't always have to be a tragic one. But a character's secret can result in a grand betrayal or an unexpected alliance. He lived in a haunted house when he was young. She grows poison plants. He's a doppelganger searching for his missing original.

9.OBJECTS/CLOTHING: What they own. What they like to wear. Set decoration. A Margaret Keane painting of one of those big-eyed kids. A maple leaf with a name inked on it in gold. A corset embroidered with blue doves. A naga-handled kris dagger.

10.FAMILY/FRIENDS: The people who surround your character. Your character's support system. These can be actual family and found family, who are usually friends. They can follow the roles of advisors, allies, adversaries, troublemakers, comrades-in-arms, sibling substitutes, parent substitutes, etc; These are the people who reflect your character's strengths and weaknesses.

10 Scary Books Halloween 2020

I've included some classics, non-fiction,YA, mystery, and dark fantasy for this year's Halloween Reads Post:)

1.The White People and Other Stories by Arthur Machen

A classic of eerie horror. The title story is told to one man by another, and concerns a green book, the journal of a girl whose nanny had a connection with malevolent spirit folk. That nanny's influence might have sent the girl spiraling into madness. The Great God Pan is another disturbing tale with lovely bits of mythic darkness.

2.The Call by Peadar O'Guilin

This was YA horror? Set in contemporary Ireland, it's a Hunger Games with Very Bad Faery Folk, the type that make living skin suits out of the teenagers they hunt for five minutes in faeryland. If you survive, you win. Very few survive. Death is preferable.

3.The World of Lore: Dreadful Places by Aaron Mahnke

An entertaining collection of urban legends and haunted places examined by Mahnke, whose podcast of the same name is also fascinating. There are two other books in this collection--Wicked Mortals and Monstrous Creatures.

4.Never-Contented Things by Sarah Porter

Ksenia has to save her foster sibling Josh from Prince and his tribe, glamorous creatures disguised as teenagers, who lure young people into a mirror world to feed off of their emotions. Ksenia plays along with these soul-sucking creatures until she can find a way out--and the sacrifice she must make is heartbreaking. Also, the never-contented things are creepy.

5.Coldheart Canyon by Clive Barker

An action star's plastic surgery leaves him disfigured, so he isolates himself by purchasing a mansion once owned by a Romanian actress who may have been a witch. He soon learns she and her disciples never left. The ghosts are disturbing, a crossbreeding of the phantoms of Hollywoood stars and the wraiths of a menagerie of exotic beasts kept by the witch.

6.Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Alex is given a free ride to Yale University because she can see the dead. She becomes an apprentice to Darlington, the young man who teaches her the ways of Lethe House, which polices the Houses of the Veil--the secret societies like Skull and Bones, who actually practice magic. The ghosts are terrifying, as is Alex's stumbling alone through this world when she loses Darlington.

7.HeartBeast by Tanith Lee

A werewolf story. Like all of Lee's writing, it's strange, lyrical, elegant, and brutal. Daniel, a beautiful young adventurer, becomes the victim of a horrific curse while traveling the world in what seems to be the early 19th century. and then he comes home . . . Striking imagery and fascinating characters.

8.A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

A reality show is following a teenager who is soon to be exorcised. The events are told in flashback by her sister, now a writer haunted by what took place. It's a chilling and absolutely disturbing story of what might be a demonic possession or horrific episodes of schizophrenia.

9.In The Woods by Tana French

A pair of Irish detectives investigate the terrible murder of a young girl in the woods--the same woods where one of the detectives, as a child, became lost with two of his friends. He was the only one who returned. His friends were never found. and he has chilling flashbacks of an antlered man. Saturated with bits of what could potentially be supernatural--or not--it's a story of a damaged man determined to find justice for a murdered child.

10.The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan

A contemporary dark fairy tale/ghost story about a young woman named India, who suffers from schizophrenia, and whose relationship with a mysterious hitchhiker--who might be either a werewolf or a mermaid--leads to tragedy for one, and healing for the other

10 Classics That Aren't Boring

 

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Poor girl tells off rich gentleman. rich gentleman is brooding and has a dark secret. Jane is fierce. Rochester is a moody playboy. It's a Gothic tale with lovely dialogue that sizzles with innuendo. Jane Eyre herself is a changeling creature, challenging Rochester's dominion.

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

A gorgeous rendering of historical France. It's the swashbuckling tale of young d'Artagnan, who wishes to join the Musketeers, an elite group of guardsmen. The Three Musketeers are noble rogues. The villain is unforgettable--Milady de Winter. Though an aristocrat, Dumas's grandmother was an enslaved woman of African descent, and he served in the military, which lends this tale an interesting history.

Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier

Mary Yellan is sent to live with her aunt. When she arrives at her aunt's inn,she meets her aunt's brutal husband and his young rogue of a brother, Jem. She realizes her uncle is in charge of a gang of wreckers, who deliberately cause shipwrecks to drown and rob the crew. Things get grimly Gothic from there.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Perhaps one of the first horror tales written by a woman. the monster, a reanimated corpse, is described by his creator, Doctor Frankenstein, as beautiful--before the monster escapes into the world to wreak havoc because he's bitter about being rejected by his young creator. Some scenes from the monster's POV are terrifying.

A House in the Country by Jose Donoso

The Venturas are a wealthy South American family whose lives are touched with elements of magic realism. The adults are distant. The children are the main characters and exist in a realm of their own, one that disturbingly mirrors that of the adults. they are oppressed by the brutal, cruel servants. It's a political allegory, but also a beautifully written tale, where even dandelion fluff becomes sinister.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

A Gothic romance set on the British moors, a ghost story as well. Heathcliff is fascinating at first, described as a changeling when he's brought to live with young Catherine Earnshaw's family. they grow up together, but Catherine becomes less fey, and more drawn to the real world, as Heathcliff twists into someone monstrous due to mistreatment and bitterness. It's a tale scattered with bits of the supernatural.

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

A surreal fable about Macon Dead, a young man growing up amidst an eccentric cast of characters with fabulous names (First Corinthians, Guitar, Hagar). Macon 'Milkman' searches for identity and his longing to fly is symbolic of his life.

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea by Yukio Mishima

A disturbing tale with gorgeous prose, the story follows the intelligent, but delinquent teen Noboru in the early 1960s and his obsession with his elegant mother's sailor boyfriend. The themes of honor and glory provoke a downward spiral for the teen protagonist and a grim fate for the sailor.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

With a young hero named Pip attempting to succeed in grim Victorian London, and Estella, a girl raised by a bitter woman left at the altar (a girl raised solely to destroy boys), this is a coming of age fairy tale with a cast of eccentric characters, told from the hero's POV.

One Thousand and One Nights (Various translations)

A lovely collection of Middle Eastern fairy tales (any edition illustrated by Maxfield Parrish is a must-have). The framing device concerns Scheherazade, the bride of a ruler who kills his wives. She's attempting to distract him to hold off her death by telling stories. This is the origin of Aladdin, Ali Baba, and Sinbad the sailor, among others. It's also a great example of foreshadowing and thematic patterning, a story within a story.

10 Television Fantasy Series Characters You Need to Meet (2020)

Emma Larsimon (Marianne) A horror writer who returns to her hometown which is being haunted by her creation, a malevolent witch. Brave and flawed, Emma is uniquely French, and was once a teen troublemaker. 

Wei Wuxian (Untamed) A rule-breaker in an immaculate society of magical cultivators, he's a trickster on his way to becoming a dark anti-hero.

Rosa Steenwijk (Ares). Shes a biracial young woman with a chip on her shoulder, who might throw away her humanity to be among the wealthy elite in a secret society.

Ava Silva (Warrior Nun) An orphaned girl raised from the dead, she definitely has that Buffy vibe, European style.

Jo Yeong (The King: Eternal Monarch) He's the captain of the king's guard, his unbreakable sword, loyal to a fault, stoic and movie-star glam, a stern demeanor only made more charming when he meets his goofy doppelganger in a mirror world.

Anansi (American Gods) A tempestuous trickster god who speaks with an angry poetry and dresses like a vaudevillian gentleman. He speaks the funniest lines and the harshest truths.

Klaus Hargreeves (The Umbrella Academy) A walking id with a heart of gold, he has a serious power--he can see and speak with the dead. 

The Weeping Monk (Cursed) Brooding and on the wrong side of the narrative, he's a mystery shrouded in a hood and hunting down faery folk.

Mrs. Coulter (His Dark Materials) Her familiar is a golden ape. Despite her sophistication, she has a feral side that is terrifying when she's angry.

Yennifer (the Witcher) A sorceress whose rise to mercenary is brutal but fascinating, the facets of her character both strong and compassionate.

(Images courtesy of Netflix)

ENSEMBLE CASTS

A group of heroes on a quest. A gang of young criminals preparing to pull off a heist. A circle of friends confronted by a horrifying evil. A family discovering secrets either devastating or delightful. A gathering of suspects, one of whom committed a murder.
   For a writer, an ensemble cast is a challenge (and a whole lot of fun). Depending on the genre, the characters can be quick, eccentric sketches or fully developed. Ensembles are no easy feat. You don't want an upstart in the ensemble to usurp the protagonist or the antagonist. They serve as mirrors. A protagonist surrounded by fully realized characters who offer another view of your hero (or villain), actually make primary characters shine, bring out the best (or worst) in them, reflect strengths and weaknesses.

   A collection of characters shouldn't be a challenge to the reader, but a fabulous discovery. An ensemble is a breeding ground for amusing or heartbreaking conflict, shattering betrayals, astonishing reversals, secrets, love, hate. While the reader must be invested in your main character (so make them interesting, the one who experiences most of the above), an even divide of attention for the cast is acceptable, as long as there aren't too many people. Each cast member should have a story arc that gracefully syncs with the protagonist's.
   Back stories are fun ways to keep characters interesting. Even though you probably won't use half of what you invent for your ensemble, a back story creates a unique person and can even trigger key elements in your plot. I keep a journal for every book I write, and fill it with place names, turns of phrase, sketches, character stories, letters, biographies, etc;
   For fantasy writers, ensembles turn us into ringmasters, because we really need to keep the three-ring acts moving and not let anyone outshine the main character. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is a classic combo of characters, all with grudges against each other and back stories that are legendary because they're all connected to legends. Each of Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows criminal gang has a story that explains how they've been damaged in some fashion at such young ages. And Game of Thrones has kings and queens, upstarts and commoners, all battling one another for one thing.

   Everyone considers themselves the hero of the saga.
   There are other ensemble tropes: A group of friends are confronted by evil, usually in the form of a monster. Stephen King's collection of friends in It, for instance, grow up with psychological trauma caused by the monster and their own childhoods. The Pevensey family from C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia have the horrors of World War II to deal with before they step into a fantasy world where they each follow their own path. The Narnia books can also be considered a family ensemble. This trope plays out in mystery stories and in horror, as well, when a family has to deal with secrets and betrayals that will end them or make them stronger.
   Combining ensemble tropes is popular in fantasy. A murder mystery and a fantasy? Jay Kristoff's NeverNight, set at a school for young assassins, or Seanan Mcguire's Every Heart a Doorway, which takes place at an academy for young people who've been to other worlds, are fantastic examples of mixing ensemble tropes. Horror fantasy? Stephen King's Dark Tower series has horror elements surrounding a fabulous cast on a fantastical quest. And Barbara Hambly's Time of the Dark series has two people finding themselves in a different world, surrounded by a cast of characters at war with one another and Alien-like horrors.

What does an ensemble cast offer?
1) Diverse personalities to bring out unique elements in your main character or antagonist
2) Individual character arcs that help drive plot
3) Complications/help sources for the protagonist
4) More characters to root for. (Or fear).
5) A bounty of secrets, betrayals, love, humor.
6) Other characters who see the protagonist in different ways and help to make the hero more three-dimensional.

Ensembles are a fantastic way to create a complex world for your main character, keeping you from stereotypes and cardboard settings.

10 Favorite Scary Books 2019

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

A horror film director's daughter suicides and a young journalist tries to figure out why, accompanied by 2 quirky proteges. Did something supernatural occur? Or was it just weird reality?

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
What do you get when you cross Buffy the Vampire Slayer with The Babadook? This awesome LGBTQ horror novel with a twist.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
I just reread this and forgot how creepy and beautiful a story it is, with Frankenstein's monster a figure of tragic neglect.

The Creeping by Alexandra Sirowy
A scary, contemporary tale about a once popular girl who has undergone a childhood trauma in the woods and a geeky boy who's one of the most likable boy-as-a-friend-becomes-a-romance I've ever read.

The Good Demon by Jimmy Cajoleas
Chilling story of a teen girl's isolation in a southern town. The demon isn't as demonic as what waits at the heart of the woods in this creepy, atmospheric tale.

The House by Christina Lauren
A possessive house raises an orphaned boy. Then a girl comes along and the house gets jealous. And whatever it is, it can effect her even when she's not there.

Alabaster by Caitlin R. Kiernan
A tough, mysterious girl fights disturbing monsters in this anthology by a master of horror.

Reigning Cats and Dogs by Tanith Lee
Steampunk horror, with a romance between two young people trapped in a Victorian life of drudgery, elevated when each becomes possessed by the Egyptian gods Bastet and Anubis.


Casquette Girls by Alys Arden
A unique and entertaining vampire story set in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans. The heroine and her friends are likable, the vampires gorgeous and scary.

The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers
Weird and intriguing. Percy Shelley and other poets are persecuted by a terrifying muse who is actually a monster form ancient mythology. Original and astonishing.

The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice
A lyrical, mythical, and horrifying story of vampires, starring a charming monster. Fascinating characters and historical settings.

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
An anthology of beautifully told, vivid tales of fairy tale horror.

10 TERRIFYING CREATURES FROM CHILDREN'S LITERATURE

While creating some monsters for my latest book, I thought about what terrified me, and most of what did were monsters from childhood stories. Here are some classics that gave me the willies.

The Wheelers (Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum)
Half man, half bicycle, these nightmares make the flying monkeys look downright adorable in comparison. Watch the film Return to Oz if you have any desire to see these horrors in the flesh.

Princess Langwidere (Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum)
Yet another Oz creature, memorable because of her vain and psychotic desire to collect the heads of young girls to use as her own, a sort of mix-and-match. She kept the heads on shelves in her walk-in-closet. Like hats.


The Scissor Man (German nursery rhyme)
This vicious tailor is portrayed in some illustrated editions as an elongated, grinning fiend with scissor for hands. Beware, all thumbsuckers, Edward Scissorhands he is not.

Jadis, The White Witch (The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis)
Seductive and icy (and played to perfection in the film by Tilda Swinton), this power-hungry witch is portrayed in one chilling illustration with a knife in one hand, preparing to stab Aslan the lion, bound and beaten and tied to a slab. I was nine when I opened this book for the first time to that illustration and hastily returned this book to the library shelf.

Tinkerbell (Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie)
This tiny, pretty fairy terrifying? She was a murderous, treacherous bit of jealousy who tries to get the lost boys to kill Wendy and almost betrays Peter Pan. I always imagined her with sharp teeth.

Jabberwocky (Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll)
A nonsense poem about a monster read by Alice. John Tenniel's nightmarish illustration of this thing has it looking like a cross between a giant catfish and a frog, with big teeth and sharp claws. And it's wearing a vest.

It (A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle)
Okay, not the clown. Described as a giant, muscular brain, It is an intellect that only wants to rule and, if you've read the story, I'm sure you still fell a bit of unease whenever you see an anatomical model of a brain.

The Sea Witch (The Little Mermaid by Hands Christian Andersen)
slimy polypi, grass snakes,toads, and large, swampy breasts are the terms used to describe this hideous witch of the sea, who cruelly fools a little mermaid into giving up her voice and eventually her life.

Shlamoofs (The Neverending Story by Michael Ende)
Butterfly clowns. Yes. Butterfly clowns. comical, yet terrifying, as is the case with most clowns, and adding butterfly wings doesn't making them any less skincrawly.

Gollum (The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien)
Grotesque, vicious, pathetic, insane, he is the creep in the dark.



And that's it, boy sand girls. what do you remember as terrifying in your storybooks?

Quiet Heroines

   Among the ranks of kick-ass heroines armed with martial arts, swords, and revolvers are the women and girls who are descendants of Jane Austen's female protagonists and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Like Nancy Drew, they use smarts, and, like Alice in Wonderland, they use curiosity to negotiate their stories.
   Here are some of my favorite bookish heroines:

Ariane in Moonwise by Greer Ilene Gilman 
Set in the contemporary British Isles, this lyrical tale is about Ariane, a gawky girl who must navigate a faery-haunted woods nearby to rescue her best friend. Language is the primary weapon here, and it is used beautifully.

Kate in The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope
In this Elizabethan fantasy, Kate, a handmaiden to the the exiled Princess Elizabeth, must use her wits to solve the mystery of a child's disappearance and rescue an arrogant boy she's reluctantly grown fond of from the faeries.

Eddi in War for the Oaks by Emma Bull
In contemporary Minneapolis, Eddi, a young musician, can see what she shouldn't. Like Kate, she must outwit the queen of an ancient race to save those she cares about.

Jenny Waynest in Dragonbane by Barbara Hambly
This woman and mother is a half-taught mage and a female version of those wizards in fantasy novels. She is the center of the story, not her be-spectacled dragonslaying husband. Jenny finds another way to defeat a dragon.

Jane in The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee
In the future, sheltered Jane falls in love with a beautiful boy who happens to be an automaton. She must wage a futile battle against the establishment with a little help from her friends.

Wendy in Winterlong by Elizabeth Hand
In yet another future, Wendy, struggling with mental illness, makes her way across a broken chemical-damaged landscape, seeking her possessed twin brother. Her only weapon is her intellect and the poison within her.

Blue in The Raven Boys series by Maggie Stiefvater
Young Blue is a thoughtful, introverted girl raised by witchy women. Her friends are a group of unique boys. It is Blue who holds them together so none of them face some truly nasty characters alone.

While the quiet heroine might sometimes use magic or other special abilities, she rarely takes up arms. She uses her wits. Despite having a touch of the introvert, she establishes loyal friendships due to her curiosity and compassion for others. And, although it sometimes seems as if she'd rather curl up with a good book and a cup of tea, she will forge onward, against dragons, faery queens, and corrupt governments, fearless.
  

11 Fantasy Books For Young Adults

Here are some excellent fantasy books that could be considered crossover YA. All of them our favorites of mine:)

The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee
In a decadent future, a privileged girl falls in love with a beautiful boy, who happens to be a robot. A poignant tale about what makes a soul.

The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope
In Elizabethan England, a brave young woman must rescue a bitter young man from his suicidal pact with the faeries, depicted here as a strange, beautiful, and primitive race


A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
With its multi-dimensional Londons and trickster hero, Kell, this imaginative series has charismatic protagonists and intriguing villains. Lila is a friend to Kell and a thief to be reckoned with. Add to the mix a decadent prince who is Kell's friend and an inventive magical system.

Archon by Sabrina Benulis
A Gothic fantasy set in a college for witches in a rain-soaked future. Angels, demons, djinn, and rebel priests become problems for troubled student Angela Mathers, who must maneuver through a terrifying landscape to save her soul. For anyone who wondered what a Slytherin college might be like.

Rusalka by C.J. Cherryh
In old Russia, a young rogue named Pyetr is friends with Sasha, a young wizard. On the run, the two stay with an old wizard, and encounter a magical, perilous world. Most perilous is a strange girl who claims to be the wizard's daughter, who was murdered some time ago...A fabulous series based on Russian folk tales.

Godstalk by P.C. Hodgell
An anti-heroine who is a trickster and a killer when she needs to be. Set in a haunted, Gothic, maze-like city, amidst a college of thieves, this is a dark fantasy with complex characters and friendships and a villain named Bane, who is both seductive and horrifying, and perhaps related to Jame. For anyone who liked Sarah Maas's Throne of Glass series.

The Hound and the Falcon by Judith Tarr
The Elf Alfred has been raised as monk and a young man, but must journey into the Medieval world of knights and holy wars. With an excellent blend of history and fantasy involving King Richard, the Fair Folk, and Constantinople, it's epic fantasy with a fascinating protagonist who has to make agonizing choices.

Time of the Dark by Barbara Hambly
A scholarly young woman and a biker-gang young man from the wrong side of town are thrown into a Medieval, Game of Thrones world where survival is key. Their only guide is a tricky old wizard (one of the best wizards written). Gil and Rudy must negotiate feudal battles, a race of wizards, and terrifying, carnivorous creatures called The Dark.

Moonwise by Greer Ilene Gilman
Ariane and Sylvie are best friends. When Ariane arrives to visit her friend in the woods somewhere in contemporary Great Britain, she learns that Sylvie has been lured away into the otherworld by trickster folk. Ariane follows to retrieve her friend. With lush, almost Shakespearean prose, this is a tale to get lost in.

Maledicte by Lane Robins
Miranda is a thief who has traded her soul to a dark divinity so that she might rescue her lover. But not all is as it seems, including Miranda herself, who takes to disguising herself as a male aristocrat to negotiate the decadent court that might have corrupted the man she loves. And to exact her murderous revenge.

The Bordertown series by Terri Windling and other authors
An anthology of stories about a future where Faerie has returned and the border between Faerie and mortals has become an urban refuge for runaways seeking magic. With its punk elves, artists, musicians, and desperate kids, and a cast of eccentric regulars, this is a brilliant series.

11 YA Fantasy Books You Should Read (If You've Never Read YA Fantasy)

If you think YA fantasy is all about supernatural love triangles and dystopian futures, you'd be doing yourself a disservice. There's some fine fantasy in the YA section. Here are 11 of my favorites:


The Raven Boys (Blue Lily, Lily Blue, The Dream Thieves, The Raven King) series by Maggie Stiefvater
     Five young people are on a quest in the rural south for a legendary Welsh king. The adults are interesting and add layers to the teen characters. The villains are fantastic and wholly original. In fact, everything about this story is pretty much weird and original, the protagonists journeys both fun and poignant.


The Hallowmere series by Tiffany Trent
     Set during the 1800s in America after the Civil War, this fantasy is about a group of young women who have been targeted by the malevolent faery folk. The faery prince, the villain, is seductive and terrifying, not the typical romantic antagonist. Each book features a different heroine and her struggle against these creatures. Unfortunately, this series was cut short by its publisher, but there are still 6 books: In the Serpent's Coils, By Venom's Sweet Sting, Between Golden Jaws, Maiden of the Wolf, Queen of the Masquerade, and Oracle of the Morrigan.

Servants of the Storm by Delilah S. Dawson
     Truly creepy and set in the contemporary south after a hurricane--which turns out to be a horrifying entity served by demons and other monsters that creep about in the ruined city. The heroine tries to save a dead friend's soul while discovering this underworld with another friend and a charming boy with a sinister secret.

The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman
     A race of good witches, martial and intelligent polar bears, animal familiars, and a tough young heroine and a hero who sacrifices for her make this an original fantasy for all ages.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
     A romance between an angel and a demon, but not what you think. The angels are a martial race who have tried to conquer what they feel as the inferior people--the Chimerae. Karou is a young woman living in Prague, raised by benevolent, if monstrous, Chimerae. When she meets Akiva, the angel, an ancient connection is revealed between them.

Tales of Beauty and Madness (Nameless, Wayfarer, Kin) by Lili St. Crow
     There are darker shades of Once Upon a time in this fantasy series set in a contemporary world that has seen a magical apocalypse. The series is about a friendship between three girls who are Cinderella, Snow White, and Red Riding Hood. Yes, there are boys, but they don't matter as much as the girls' fierce support of one another.

The Winter Prince by Elizabeth E. Wein
     A different and disturbing take on King Arthur, centering around Medraut, King Artos's eldest bastard son. His half-brother, Lleu, is their father's favorite. Artos's sister--Medraut's mother--is a truly unsettling villain. Themes of abuse and twisted family dynamics add new dimension to this myth, made all the darker because it's told from the anti-hero Medraut's point-of-view.

White Cat by Holly Black
     Cassiel is a curse worker,a  young man in this contemporary fantasy who lives, gypsy-like, in an alternative world of almost gangster-like magic. Curse work has some truly horrifying consequences and Cassiel might have to betray his family to save a girl he loves.

The Dark Angel Trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce
     Set in another world, on the moon, this strange and beautiful fantasy is about a girl named Aeriel who is stolen away, with her beautiful best friend, by one of the feared dark angels--heartless and lovely creatures who steal human girls to make their wives. He takes Aeriel as his servant because she isn't beautiful. His wives are all phantoms--he's a vampire. but Aeriel learns he's also captive to an evil witch.

The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause
     Zoe is losing her mother to cancer. She's targeted by a feral and strange young man named Simon--whose enemy, a creature that pretends to be an innocent little boy, stalks him. It's an exquisite tale of defeating monsters and an acceptance of what it means to live and let go of those you love.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
     This has shades of steampunk, set in a sort of Victorian world with shades of a Vermeer painting, with a dark anti-hero not expected in YA. Kaz is a teenage crime lord who must assemble a crew of young criminals to pull off a heist that might be impossible. Each character has a stake in this heist and failure means something different to each of them. The best scenes are when the young criminals are together, at odds, or saving one another.