Gothic

[close] Southern Gothic is a genre set in the American south with themes of family lineage, secrets that run as deep as the soil, social issues, ancestry, and sometimes other worldly forces. These stories are beautifully haunting and powerful. They stick with us. Set in backdrops like the antebellum south, swamp lands, dirt road towns, or our current lands filled with stories from the past ready to be unearthed, the elegance of southern gothic literature is unmatched.

[close] Inspired by the Ph.D. Qualifying 50-Book Exam administered to second-year Ph.D. students in the English Department at the University of Pennsylvania, I have created my own version of that daunting task - meaningfully read 50 books across a diverse range of historical periods; generic and formal categories; national and geographic origins; and personal and societal identifications - all from a catalogue of texts spanning more than 1000 years. In the spirit of the exam, I encourage participants to organize their selected 50 works into three broad rubrics according to Genre; Historical Period; and Theme or Theory. Each topic should provide a framework to structure their reading with works that speak to one another. Each of the three rubrics should also include one or two critical, theoretical, or historical works. Keeping with their guidance, all or most of the works from the period chosen should be included in the Historical Period list (i.e., not in the Genre or Theme/Theory lists) to prevent that period's overrepresentation in the challenge as a whole; no more than 20 works from that period should appear on the full list. In other words, at least 30 of the 50 works should be outside of one's designated period of specialization. I want to use this group to make this challenge dynamic. Whether it's weekly discussion posts on specific themes or genres, a support group for those who jumped head-first into the Medieval period, or a deep-dive into the oddities of a specific literary movement or author, an ongoing dialogue is encouraged. The Reading List: https://www.english.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/Ph.D.%20Qualifying%20%252250-Book%2522%20Exam%20Book%20List.pdf For further insights on how to think about Genre, Historical Period, and Theme/Theory when building our your list and rubrics: https://www.english.upenn.edu/graduate/requirements-rules-procedures/first-year-oral-exam

[close] Come for the Castle - Stay for the Terror! 🏰🐺💀🔥 This group is for everyone who loves vampires, werewolves, creatures and spooks. Horror, gothic, classic, fantasy, paranormal, whatever! All genres welcome. We have featured authors throughout the year where we will read about vampires, werewolves and other horror creatures that stalk the earth. We also do book challenges, buddy reads, and we have other fun stuff to do on here. Ritual by Eleonora Fristachi

[close] Welcome to Shine & Shadow. We are a group focused on monthly group reads and discussions. We have 3 group reads per month: 1 'Dark' read, 1 'Light' read, & 1 'World Tour' read. Choose which group read to participate in depending on your mood for the month. Join us and jump into the discussion! Genres enjoyed: General Fiction, Fantasy, Thriller, "Slice of Life", Memoir, Sci-Fi, Dystopian, Queer, Historical Fiction, Horror Genres (typically) not enjoyed: Romance, Young Adult, Self-help, Cookbook, How-To Guide, Ancient Untranslatable Tome Written In Dead Language *In this group we welcome everyone and so wish to keep the group public. However, due to some adult themes discussed in our group reads, we would like to request all members are over the age of 18. If you are found to be under 18, we may remove you from the group.