Monster, She Wrote Lib/E: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction

Satisfy your craving for extraordinary authors and exceptional fiction: Meet the women writers who defied convention to craft some of literature's strangest tales, from Frankenstein to The Haunting of Hill House and beyond. Frankenstein was just the beginning: horror stories and other weird fiction wouldn't exist without the women who created it. From Gothic ghost stories to psychological horror to science fiction, women have been primary architects of speculative literature of all sorts. And their own life stories are as intriguing as their fiction. Everyone knows about Mary Shelley, creator of Frankenstein, who was rumored to keep her late husband's heart in her desk drawer. But have you heard of Margaret "Mad Madge" Cavendish, who wrote a science-fiction epic 150 years earlier--and who liked to wear topless gowns to the theater? If you know the astounding work of Shirley Jackson, whose novel The Haunting of Hill House was reinvented as a Netflix series, then try the psychological hauntings of Violet Paget, who was openly involved in long-term romantic relationships with women in the Victorian era. You'll meet celebrated icons, such as Ann Radcliffe, V. C. Andrews; forgotten wordsmiths Eli Coltor and Ruby Jean Jensen; and today's vanguard, Helen Oyeyemi. Curated reading lists point you to their most spine-chilling tales. Part biography, part reader's guide, the engaging write-ups and detailed reading lists will introduce you to more than a hundred authors and over two hundred of their mysterious and spooky novels, novellas, and stories.

About the Author :
Lisa Kröger holds a PhD in English. Her short fiction has appeared in Cemetery Dance magazine and Lost Highways: Dark Fictions from the Road. She's an adjunct instructor of English at the University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast. She co-hosts The Know Fear Podcast. Melanie R. Anderson is an assistant professor of English at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi. Her academic publication Spectrality in the Novels of Toni Morrison (University of Tennessee Press, 2013) was a winner of the 2014 South Central MLA Book Prize. She holds a PhD in American literature. Lisa and Melanie cohost The Know Fear Cast, a biweekly podcast discussing horror in popular culture (KnowFearCast.com). Erin Bennett is an Earphones Award-winning narrator and a stage actress who played Carlie Roberts in the BBC radio drama Torchwood: Submission. She can be heard on several video games. Regional theater appearances include the Intiman, Pasadena Playhouse, Arizona Theatre Company, A Noise Within, Laguna Playhouse, and the Getty Villa. She trained at Boston University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Review :
"[A] superb little directory...Each entry is an informative treatise on what she wrote, her lasting influence, and how she touches the horror we know and love today...[with] suggestions for related works, movies, and TV series." -- "Booklist (starred review)" "A perfect way to find your next spooky story." -- "Tulsa World" "Highly readable, relatable, and edifying, librarians and horror readers will find it useful and entertaining." -- "Locus" "Inspired...also in how it illuminates the often unusual lives of the women who crafted these dark worlds." -- "BookPage" "Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson deserve a standing ovation." -- "New York Times Book Review" "Presented in a breezy, conversational style that makes it easy to gobble up whole sections at a time." -- "Cemetery Dance" "The curatorial quality of a literary anthology, the historical rigor of an academic text, and the pleasure of a picture book." -- "Tor.com" "Unique, fascinating, informative...an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, community, college, and university library." -- "Midwest Book Review" "Will reawaken readers' admiration for established virtuosos of literary terror and inspire curiosity in lesser-known specialists in fictitious fear." -- "Publishers Weekly" "Your necronomicon for all women writing horror." -- "BookRiot"