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S. Elizabeth

Goodreads Author


Born
May 12

Website

Twitter

Genre
Art

Member Since
August 2011

URL


S. Elizabeth is a Florida-based writer specializing in art, the macabre, and the supernatural.

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S. Elizabeth The Art of Darkness: A Treasury of the Morbid, Melancholic and Macabre is inspired by a lifetime's worth of obsession with the dark and what can be fo…moreThe Art of Darkness: A Treasury of the Morbid, Melancholic and Macabre is inspired by a lifetime's worth of obsession with the dark and what can be found seething in the shadows when we stop being too frightened to peek. Or when we embrace these fears and anxieties, and we peer into the void, anyway!

When I was a child, I loved things all fairy and "flowerdy" (my 5 year old term for heaps of blossoms and blooms). think I was a cottage core early adopter, hee hee! I was terrified of ugly, scary, angry, wild things: Lou Ferrigno as the Incredible Hulk; the feral alien otherworldly vibe of my cousin's freaky KISS posters, and honestly, as silly as it sounds, George Hamilton as some vampire guy in a film called Love at First Bite scared the shit out of me! And I think that was meant to be a comedy! And Scooby Doo? Man, that gave me nightmares.

But somewhere along the way, that panic and fright regarding the bloodsuckers and monsters from outer space began to give way to fascination, and whereas I would once hide my face behind a pillow when something scary was happening, I now began to feel the itchy urge to peek. As I grew older, the fascination with fearsome things slowly turned into an obsession, and, much like a nerdy vampire creep myself, I began to gobble up and devour every bit of frightening or creepy media that came my way.

From literature and film, to music and art, from that time forward, I was hungry for all things unearthly and strange, ghastly and ghostly, gruesome and grotesque. I also grew up in a household with a mother who was an astrologer, who had tarot cards tucked into every nook and cranny, and mysterious artworks hung on every wall. All of her relationships, whether friends or romantic entanglements, were with bohemian weirdos and heavily tinged with magic and mysticism.

My former stepfather for a long time ran a small rare occult book business; I worked with him for a spell many years ago, and it was an incredible experience. Just me and these beautiful old books full of magic and witchcraft and demonology all day long! For a bookworm introvert with a penchant for the esoteric and obscure, that was as close to paradise that I will ever get! These interests and inclinations festered and blossomed and grew alongside me, inside me, over the years and are now what inform and inspire my writing, most of which can be found at my blog Unquiet Things, where I ramble about art, music, fashion, perfume, anxiety, and grief–particularly as these subjects intersect with horror, the supernatural, and death.

There's A LOT of art there. Art is another longtime fascination of mine. These two obsessions—art and darkness—became so deeply entwined for me over time that to celebrate them in a book seemed like the most obvious thing in the world.(less)
Average rating: 4.13 · 816 ratings · 152 reviews · 4 distinct worksSimilar authors
The Art of the Occult: A Vi...

4.19 avg rating — 495 ratings2 editions
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The Art of Darkness: A Trea...

3.96 avg rating — 229 ratings3 editions
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The Art of Fantasy: A Visua...

4.26 avg rating — 92 ratings — published 2022 — 3 editions
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The Art of the Unknown: A V...

0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings2 editions
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* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

The Art of Darkness promo photos

An image of the front cover of The Art of Darkness, a beautifully illustrated tome of darkly artistic themes, surrounded by autumnal flowers.

When I had an idea for some promotional photos for The Art of Darkness, I immediately knew the perfect creative human for the job: photographer of artful, vivid floral still-lifes, Alyssa Thorne.

One of my very favorite things is to work closely with a beloved artist whose work I adore and together, we endeavor to bring a weird vision or dream to life. Granted, my input is minimal and vague and pro Read more of this blog post »
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Published on August 26, 2022 08:47
The Art of the Occult: A Vi...
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S. Elizabeth has read
Sing Backwards and Weep by Mark Lanegan
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Mark Lanegan's voice sounded like two stones rubbing together, like gargoyles fucking. It was one of the most beautiful sounds in rock music, and I loved listening to it—he was a gorgeous, devastating musician. But. Jesus Christ. I finished this book ...more
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Watching Evil Dead by Josh Malerman
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Josh Malerman spends an entire book asking a question that has been plaguing him: What does an author deserve? He's just published Bird Box, the success is beginning, and he's wrestling with what that means, what he's owed for the work. Over one nigh ...more
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Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan
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Molka by Monika Kim
Molka
by Monika Kim (Goodreads Author)
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Molka scandals in Korea are real. Hidden cameras in bathrooms, intimate videos spread without consent, women's privacy invaded and weaponized while the men who perpetrate these crimes often face minimal consequences. Monika Kim takes this horrifying ...more
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Body Count by Codie Crowley
Body Count
by Codie Crowley (Goodreads Author)
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Sundae was a child when she and her mother fled her abusive father and ended up at a motel in Wildwood, where a monster in the pool offered her three wishes in exchange for a price she couldn't yet comprehend (and that also he conveniently forgot to ...more
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Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino
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by Marisa Kashino (Goodreads Author)
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Molka by Monika Kim
Molka
by Monika Kim (Goodreads Author)
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Molka scandals in Korea are real. Hidden cameras in bathrooms, intimate videos spread without consent, women's privacy invaded and weaponized while the men who perpetrate these crimes often face minimal consequences. Monika Kim takes this horrifying ...more
S. Elizabeth rated a book really liked it
Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward
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 Suffering from starvation and abuse under their guardian, Cousin, Riley and her frail younger brother Oliver run away in the dead of night, seeking refuge at Nowhere—a burnt-out ranch in the Rocky Mountains where feral runaway children have supposed ...more
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Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
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In 1532, María grows up stifled in Santo Domingo de la Calzada, a girl who knows her own mind but is trapped by circumstance between being a prize or a pawn. When a beautiful stranger offers her escape, she vows to have no regrets. In 1827 London, Ch ...more
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The Vacancy in Room 10 by Seraphina Nova Glass
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Cass manages the Sycamores, a dumpy, run-down motel converted into apartments, blackmailing cheating men to supplement her rent after her boyfriend dumped her for someone younger. Anna moves into her dead husband's studio at the same building complex ...more
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“Is not this world an illusion? And yet it fools everybody.”
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message 1: by Tara

Tara Just a thanks for the lovely review of my book!


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