#Spooktober 5 – Penny Dreadful

October 5, 2023

One of my favourite tv shows when it comes to the Gothic, with a stunning Eva Green as the mysterious and haunted Vanessa Ives, and a hauntingly intense Rory Kinnear as the Frankenstein Monster (though he would resent the definition). Vanessa’s stance and demeanour has been greatly influential in shaping how the Lady of my novel walks and acts, especially when she calmly keeps walking around while her companions shoot vampires like there’s no tomorrow, and my favourite scene has to be when an otherworldly creature possesses her during a supposedly fake seance. You can see the cast and crew talking about the scene in the featured video.

comics and illustration

Leo Ortolani, Tapum

A un certo punto ci sarà una battuta, in questo fumetto, e riderete. Sappiate che è l’unica. Com’è giusto che sia. Se devo paragonare quest’opera a qualcosa, il confronto più azzeccato è probabilmente lo spettacolo che Marco Paolini trasse dal Sergente nella neve di Rigoni

August 9, 2026 9:00 am

Summertime

Omeros in the Caribbeans

Derek Walcott was a Saint Lucian poet, playwright, and painter, and one of the major voices of Caribbean literature. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992, and his work often explores Caribbean history, identity, colonial inheritance, and the meeting of European and African

August 9, 2026 6:00 am

books and literature

Ioanna Papadopoulou’s The Castaway and the Witch

I had a genuine “oh shit” moment when I read the author’s preface saying this was darker than “Winter Harvest” because – and I absolutely ADORED “Winter Harvest” – that was pitch-black dark. I thought “we’re all going to die”. This maybe has something to

August 8, 2026 9:00 am