Reading a book is usually a passive experience. The author dictates everything, from the description of the characters and their behavior to the sequence of events. But there is one kind of story that shifts the power dramatically, giving the…

Margaret Atwood is a Canadian author and poet. She was born in Ontario in 1939 and didn’t start school until she was 12 years old. From the young age of six, she began writing poetry, and by 16 she realized…

Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life was sold to me as “the most depressing book you’ll ever read.” The New Yorker labels it ‘dark and disturbing,’ and The Guardian called it both ‘traumatic’ and a tale of ‘relentless suffering.’ If you…

Fantasy novels are frequently filled with evil wizards, dark powers, black knights and hellish monsters. This genre explores the dark side of nature—our lust for power, need for revenge, our weakness in the face of despair or temptation. So, in…

Once upon a time, fairy tales were not just for children. Before the Victorians and Disney sanitized them for younger audiences, they were often dark, raunchy and bloodthirsty. Most fairy tales spring from ancient oral traditions; some may even date…

Frank Herbert’s 1965 book Dune is one the most influential novels of the 20th century. It shaped the contemporary science-fiction genre and impacted various forms of art and entertainment. The story set in a futuristic interstellar society touches on many…

Stephen King is one of the world’s most prolific writers. He has written over eighty novels and shows no sign of slowing down. Born in Maine in 1947, many attribute his fascination with the horror genre to a tragic incident…

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is a foundational text of the dystopian genre that has been prompting readers to question the world around them for almost 90 years. For those who enjoyed the book, here are ten other major…

Stories of reanimated corpses have circulated for centuries, but it wasn’t until George Romero’s classic 1968 film Night of the Living Dead that zombies became a staple of horror fiction. Horror tropes play on our most primordial fears, so it’s…

Crescent City (House of Earth and Blood) is a sucker-punch of a fantasy novel. I loved the book for the murder mystery and the slow-burn romance between Bryce and Hunt. Sarah J. Maas is the queen of witty banter and…