Children’s Gothic Reviews

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

To get rid of the parents and allow the hero of this novel to set off on his own, the ever-thorough Neil Gaiman has them butchered in their beds. The boy escapes and ends up in the local cemetery, where, in a charming Jungle Book parallel, he is taken in by the locals – here ghosts, rather than wolves.

Mariah Mundi and the Ghost Diamonds by G P Taylor

Taylor’s strengths are his expansive gothic imagination and startling imagery, but he sometimes gets overwrought (a dancer “rolls on the floor like a Chicago moll”, which adds nothing but confusion).

Tales of Terror from the Black Ship by Chris Priestley

Each story is beautifully told, full of atmosphere and a love for the genre, and each delights Cathy, but Ethan is less sure. Who is this man, and why does he make him feel so young when they are almost the same age? Wonderfully illustrated by David Roberts, this is deliciously spooky.

Rolling like a Chicago moll – Telegraph.