The Marriage of Gothic Romance with DARKEST, BLEAKEST, MOST FRIGHTENING HORROR.

I'm just repeating this post because it's so timely! My novel, The House on Blackstone Moor is out and the sequel will be out very shortly.

Now, this post originally discussed gothic romance with dark horror.

As a matter of fact there is a warning about the horror level in the next book (due out this summer)!

(THE WARNING IS AT THE END OF THIS POST)!

Here's the post:

That's right. You read it correctly--with DARKEST, BLEAKEST, MOST FRIGHTENING HORROR.

I'm not speaking of the great gothic horror novels of the past. I'm talking Jane Eyre with vampires, okay?!

So the question is boys and girls, can these two narratives be happily married and produce successful novels?


I think they can!


I happen (aside from my husband) to be in love with the gothic narrative!
And here’s why:


"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive and for a while I could not enter, for the way was barred to me..."

Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier

***

“They used to hang men at Four Turnings in the old days. Not any more, though…”

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne DuMaurier

***

“There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been
wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but
since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold
winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre and a rain so
penetrating, that further out-door exercise was now out of the question...”

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

***

“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the
autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the
heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a
singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself,
as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the
melancholy…”

Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe

***

The gothic narrative is to my mind the greatest narrative ever written. We are from those very first lines pulled into another world—one that is distinctly and irrevocably different from our own.


Perhaps we read those lines and sensing the danger we might find within this world wonder if we should continue!


But those of us, who enjoy the thrill of the unknown especially when there is the possibility of serious danger, will happily proceed!


These authors write of dark dreams, of sadness and of death and of love too, but even in those novels that depict love there is often mystery and frightening evil as well.


I think books define who we are, when I was a young girl I was drawn to these books with their haunting narrative.


I don’t know why, nor do I know why as a pre-teen I was addicted to the morose prose of Edgar Allan Poe to the point where my parents called me Edgarina!


“Her writing is morbid.” My mother admitted worryingly to my eighth grade teacher.


“Let it come out!”


They did and it did!


I still am in love with this narrative and I always will be, not to imitate it but to redefine it in my own way.


My favorite fiction to read and to write is horror. Not paranormal romance as interesting as it may be, but utter inescapable, heart-throbbing, toe-curling, chills-down-your-back-horror!


And horror is terrifying or they would not call it horror!


Madness, obsession, devil worship—vampirism—these are the themes I use in my writing because they are part of the great and grim world of horror, because in the last analysis if it doesn’t scare the living daylights out of us, it isn’t horror.


And if there is dark horror in my first novel in THE BLACKSTONE VAMPIRE SERIES, wait until you read what the second, Unholy Testament is like. That will be released this summer.


You won't believe the darkness in that book, I can tell you!
I have Satanic sacrifices, orgies, devil worship (lots), and dare I say it--flesh eating vampires!

Well no one's perfect, right?

I mean it's dark, it's so dark that you might need to read it sparingly. But inasmuch as it is the confession of a demon, you will also be moved for he has penned this confession to the woman he loves!

Watch for updates on this and my author blog:



http://carolegillofficialauthor.blogspot.co.uk/

Download The House on Blackstone Moor For Free JUNE 14 - 16!

I'm one of the authors participating in the Great Indie Authors Readers Event.

From June 14th - June 16th you can get my book FREE!

http://www.amazon.com/House-Blackstone-Moor-Vampires-ebook/dp/B00804XJBA/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339595085&sr=1-1

Blurb:

"They say my father was mad, so corrupted by evil and tainted by sin that he did what he did. I came home to find them all dead; their throats savagely cut. My sisters only five and eight were gone as well as my brother who was twelve. My mother too lay butchered in her marriage bed. The bed her children were born in…"

 Young Rose Baines discovers the savage murders of her family by her mad, incestuous father.

She is plunged into a nightmare of hell and is incarcerated in two madhouses after which she is helped to obtain a position as governess at Blackstone House.

 The house is located on haunted moorland. Nothing is as it seems for Blackstone House and its inhabitants have hideous secrets. There is unimaginable horror there but there is love too--love that comes at a terrible price.

 The story is as haunting as it is terrifying and will remain with the reader long after its disturbing tale has been told.

 From Amazon Reviews:

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It is one of the best vampire/demon stories I have ever read and I look forward to reading her next incarnation.
Lisa McCourt Hollar

A highly recommended read.
Michelle Wright

The amount of twists and turns this book takes will leave your head spinning and guessing until the end...epic journey
Lee Pletzers

The moods of great works such as Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, even Dickens (a la Oliver Twist and David Copperfield) surface throughout. Carole Gill presents great narrative, well-drawn characters, and has a marvelous ear for dialogue.
DK Trellis

It has been quite a while since I have read a paranormal love story mixed with horror, and this is one that should not be missed!
For the Love of Film and Novels

This story is beyond what one could imagine a nightmare of demons, vampires, and more. A must read for any one wanting more of a edgy tale.
BJ Gaskill Inside BJ’s Head

A real page turner. Carole Gill is a gifted author keeping the reader intrigued until the end...
Lisa Burnett

The sheer magnificence of the Gothic scenes and language; the characters playing off each other, every one bidding for his or her time to shine; the blending of the physical with the psyche; and the age old battle between good and evil, but with a whole new twist added to the evil, makes this a must read, don't put it down masterpiece. 
Robert Nelson

The House on Blackstone Moor never relinquishes its spellbinding hold on its readership; from the first sentence to the last, a beguiling work of fiction, leaving the reader wistfully anticipating a sequel.
Quinn Cullen

I like stories with class -this is one of them. Don't let the categorization as "gothic romance" or "gothic horror" fool you. If any of this is not your cup of tea, try it anyway. There's much more to this story than meets the eye.
Natalie Guillaumier-Owens "book-lover"

I read The House on Blackstone Moor in two days and from the beginning I was hooked!
My Cozy Corner Book Reviews

`The House on Blackstone Moor' blew me away. This book is so intensely dark and twisted and will take you on a journey that will change you forever.
C. Scarlett

I was really surprised at how well written this book is. It was spooky and creepy right from the beginning
Natasha

The House on Blackstone Moor is a wonderfully written gothic romance that fans of Carole Gill's other works will surely appreciate as will fans of dark gothic romances and paranormal romance.
Stephanie Ward

This is a terrifying and evil filled book. Rose endures so much pain her 19 years of life that most don't experience in a lifetime. Full of demons , spirits , fallen angels , and Satan himself
Crystal Trent Dotson

I would recommend the book to those who like gothic horror, vampires and evil men. There is also a sequel in the works which will focus on Eco, the very evil demi-demon, the guy you love to hate!
Spot (Stacey Turner)

Fast-paced tale that takes the protagonist through the depth of depravity and tragedy, into insanity, recovery and apparent salvation, until her salvation turns into another kind of hell
Thomas D. Cooke

The twists and turns came at me from out of no where, i never saw them coming, and that just added to the beauty of this book. i would recommend this story to everyone, even if you dont think its your type of book, try it, i promise you'll fall in love with it as i did!!!
Donna West

This is truly an outstanding horror tale that provokes deeper thought even as it scares you out of your wits.
Laurie Jenkins

What Carole Gill has achieved with this Gothic novel is to transport the reader into the time-warped plight of a heroine whose sense of doom underlies a dark journey through twisted depravity and tangled horrors.
Lori Lopez

This is a book for people that like me love the paranormal seeing combined with a good historical story. I loved to read how this two elements were combined, they worked so well together. This is by far one om my favourite books this year.
Annabel Blootshofd

It's haunting and scary and the ending will totally blow you away!
Natasha


The book over all is of the subtle kind of horror, nothing gratuitous or gory - until all hell breaks loose near the end, which I won't reveal.
Rebecca Treadway

I for one found this gloriously gothic, refreshingly brutal, honestly horrific and a great read. I look forward to the sequel.
Taliesin Meets the Vampires

~*~      

Read it now! It is part of the 4-book series,

THE BLACKSTONE VAMPIRES.

The next, Unholy Testament will be out later this summer!

Vampire Children, a Strange and Haunting Allure!

Claudia, the child vampire in Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire is, in my opinion, the most haunting character I have ever seen portrayed in film or fiction.

She is a child that will not age, she is like an angel, but being vampiric, she is also a demon, for a monster dwells within that doll-like child, and it is that much more frightening because she looks angelic.

Her story is sad and so poignant. But I am not focusing on that. I am, instead, thinking about the portrayl of other child vampires.

I have two in my novel, The House on Blackstone Moor. They are different than Claudia, having perished during the witch hysteria that seized 16th Century France when they were raised from the dead.

And as the point is made throughout my novel, whether they be raised or created, no two vampires come back the same. That brief sojourn through hell affects each differently.

That's my take on vampire fiction. But truly, whether they come back monsterous or not, they are, because they are children, haunting.

It is so troubling. These tragic monsters, condemned to exist forever undead. Forever that is unless they are, somehow, destroyed.

And what of their memories and feelings. Do they know fear? Can they know fear? Mine do, they greatly fear the vampire destroyers for they have seen the horrific carnage left in the wake of a destroyer attack. Being undead does not mean they are not, sometimes, afraid.

Yet they have pleasure too. They enjoy sleeping for instance. They so like to dream, my Ada and Simon.

But what do they dream of? Do they dream of their living lives and also of their terrible deaths? Do they dream of hell? Do they see in their dreams Satan's own demons reaching out to draw them back?

Do they dream of an impossiblitly, a way to regain their living lives, or do they just exist from one eternal moment to the next as best they can?

And when the fierce thirst strikes, what then? Can they pretend to not feel it or do they not bother and rush headlong out in search of their sustenance?

That is their reality. Truth is truth after all, even to one who is a child and is also, sadly, a vampire.

Can We Pity The Damned?

Just going to make the focus of this question general. It refers to both The House on Blackstone Moor as well as the sequel, Unholy Testament.

A lot of dark things come out of the first book. Human beings and demons alike are shown to be capable of great evil, of horrific violence and the worst sins imaginable.

Louis was referred to by one of the books' reviewers as a Byronic hero. Perhaps he is. After all, he's  damned through no fault of his own yet he has a moral code he exists by, despite the fact that it ensures absolutely nothing will come of it. Louis Darton because of his father's support of Lucifer knows what his destiny is. As he says:

I am what I am... no promise of heaven awaits me. I have too much  freedom and no restraint…”

Think about it! How would we behave if there was no reason to live a decent and honorable life? Would we live principled lives if nothing we did counted, if there was no punishment ever?

Can those creatures (whatever they are) vampires, fallen angels, demon spawn, be the object of our pity ever? Should we try to see how it all began for them? Why it was and how they came to be what they are?

I probe these questions in the first book as well as the second. And this probing and pondering has led me to some very surprising conclusions--or questions. And let me say, I don't always know the answer!
But I do know something. I think  this debate all hinges on one word: 'pity.'

And that leads me to one surprising conclusion: which is, I think, I can have more pity in my heart for a vampire or a marauding werewolf on the loose than I can for an unrepentent entirely human serial killer.

What about you? What do you think?