#Spooktober 15 – Welsh Gothic

Pairing with last week’s book suggestion and springing from the fact that technically my Main Character is Welsh, here’s another excellent book on spooky stuff from that area.

The book is part of the amazing Gothic Literary Studies series published by the University of Wales Press and they’re a bit pricey, but they’re worth every dime. The author is Jane Aaron, Professor of English at the University of South Wales, who also published an amazing book on XIX-century women’s literature called Nineteenth-Century Women’s Writing in Wales.

This book explores the origin of Gothic, spanning from the end of the XVIII Century till 1997, and then highlights a couple of recurring elements in Welsh folklore: the Wild Hunt, Witches and the Sin-eater.

Contents

Part 1: Haunted by History

1. Cambia Gothica (1780s – 1820s)
2. An Underworld of One’s Own (18302 – 1900s)
3. Haunted Communities (1900s – 1940s)
4. Land of the Living dead (1940s – 1997)

Part 2: Things that go Bump in the Celtic Twilight

1. Witches, Druids, and the Hounds of Annwn
2. The Sin-eater