The wacky misadventures of Anne Brontë's ghost on Long Island

We know it's past Halloween already, but InsideHook mentions the 'ghost' of 'Anne Brontë? trapped on Long Island.

Perhaps the most unlikely combination of literary ghost and haunted location is that of Anne Brontë, who was seen on Long Island in 1961. That juxtaposition is less bizarre than it initially seems when you learn that the Long Island house in question contained a staircase from a building where Brontë had worked during her lifetime. Still, the idea of Anne Brontë’s ghost having wacky misadventures on Long Island is an elevator pitch waiting to happen — even if it’s a far cry from all things Gothic. (Tobias Carroll)

Coincidentally, AnneBrontë.org also discusses 'The Strange Tale Of Charlotte Brontë’s Ghost'.

AuthorLink interviews Silvia Moreno-Garcia about her novel Mexican Gothic.

AUTHORLINK: Wonderful. The Gothic genre is a unique niche that is experiencing a revival. We love how your book is a mix of psychological suspense, horror, and romance – although it doesn’t fit squarely in this category for a few reasons.

Can you tell us a bit about the ideologies behind the classification of ‘Gothic’?

MORENO-GARCIA: Gothic fiction is, in its broadest sense, romantic fiction with a prevailing atmosphere of suspense or terror. By romantic it means it derives from the Romantic artistic movement, not that it must be a love story. Its emphasis on melodrama and big feelings is what marks the Gothic.  Gothic novels encompass a wide spectrum of works and have recurring tropes that make them identifiable to readers (dark castles, virginal heroines, Byronic men, etc).

Gothic fiction has been classified as Female Gothic or Male Gothic. The Female Gothic does not have supernatural elements and the emphasis is on the heroine achieving a happy outcome and establishing a relationship with the hero. Jane Eyre is a good example of this. The Male Gothic has supernatural elements, take place in an uncaring universe, and features explicit elements such as graphic violence or rape. The Monk is a good example of this type of novel.

Gothic is interesting precisely because it’s a liminal genre that is constantly bumping against borders. (Anna Roins)

CBR recommends the 1943 film I Walked with a Zombie as one of '8 Ritualistic Horror Movies to Watch After Spell'.

I Walked With A Zombie

An old-school horror flick from 1947 [sic], I Walked With A Zombie loosely retells the story of the classic novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, but throws Voodoo and zombies into the mix. The RKO-produced oldie depicts a nurse who travels to the Caribbean to help the wife of a sugar plantation owner who has been reportedly acting strangely.

Initially panned when first released, the classic horror movie is now regarded as one of the best zombie films of all time and has influenced countless other movies throughout the years. While I Walked With a Zombie's depiction of female sexuality and race may be far from progressive, the fact that subjects like these were heavily acknowledged in a film from the 1940s at all is incredible in itself. (Jon Mendelsohn)

Hindustan Times reviews the new Netflix miniseries The Queen's Gambit.

My old English professors would describe it as a bildungsroman, and I can almost picture some of them gleefully dissecting its feminist themes and literary influences. In the fine tradition of stories such as Jane Eyre and Harry Potter, The Queen’s Gambit is also about an orphan — a chess prodigy named Beth Harmon. The series tells her story from the age of eight to 22, as she evolves from an abandoned misfit into one of the greatest champions the world of chess has ever seen. (Rohan Naahar)

TuttoTek (Italy) recommends reading Jane Eyre in November.

Jane Eyre | Libri da leggere a novembre

Novembre è un periodo che per molti può risultare cupo, e questo mese vogliamo farvi rimanere in un’ambientazione cupa perché i titoli che vi consigliamo non hanno bisogno di nessun aiuto per risaltare. Con Jane Eyre, classico intramontabile di Charlotte Brontë, rimaniamo infatti nelle selvagge brughiere inglesi e incontriamo Jane,  una bambina che, orfana di entrambi i genitori, va a vivere con gli zii, dove subisce continue angherie dai suoi parenti. Dopo un periodo in un collegio, dove sarà prima studentessa e poi insegnante, Jane arriva a Thornfield Hall, dove lavorerà come istitutrice della piccola Adele,  figlia adottiva del burbero Mister Rochester. 

Jane Eyre è senza dubbio una pietra miliare della letteratura inglese, ma non è solo la sua importanza a rendere questo libro una lettura obbligatoria: la bellezza di Jane, così forte e sensibile allo stesso tempo, e la scrittura della Brontë saranno un piacevole accompagnamento al vostro mese. (Eleonora Fioravanti) (Translation)

Finally, singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor shared a video of herself singing Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights during her Halloween party.

From our Halloween kitchen disco after party - just a usual story of a ghost trying to persuade her old lover to let her in through the window, here’s Wuthering Heights pic.twitter.com/LRv9X44ds5

— Sophie Ellis-Bextor (@SophieEB) November 1, 2020