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Book Review: Ink Vine by Elizabeth Broadbent

Cover art for Ink Vine by Elizabeth Broadbent

Ink Vine by Elizabeth Broadbent

Undertaker Books, 2024

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8218408091

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

Buy:  Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com

 

The horror novella can be a powerful entity. When handled properly, it’s a gut punch, a blade twist to the heart, and a mind screw, all at the same time. Elizabeth Broadbent has penned one of those stories here in Ink Vine, a sapphic horror tale that is deeper and more dangerous than the swamp she created within. At 118 pages it hits hard, building an effective setting in a South Carolina that reeks of the dank water, humidity, and scent of the trees which smother visitors who dare to enter. The story is a strong character study with a taut element of horror, yet is so much more.

 

Emmy is suffocating in her wasteland of a small town, hoping to one day escape. She eschews working in the local chicken plant to dance in the local strip club. She holds onto her core values and refuses to reduce herself to what others have done. Her home life is toxic, with her mother berating her for her choices, her sister just existing in their double-wide trailer, and her brother, who also has little hope of escaping town.

 

The world of Lower Congaree offers nothing to Emmy except dread, and dreams that will never come to fruition. The filth of the town, both literal and in human form, stifles her, yet she refuses to accept her lot in life. She’ll use the dancing to get out of the hell that plagues everyone around her.

 

The warning to stay out of the swamp echoes in her thoughts, but one day she breaks free and wanders deep. She meets Zara, a beautiful mystery who entrances her. Who is she, and why does she reside deep within the strange world far removed from society? Emmy begins to fall, realizing how poisonous her surroundings truly are, and wakes up changed. She can’t stop thinking about the swamp — and Zara — somehow aware of both the dangers and allure of the strange world.

 

Broadbent paints the words into a gorgeous setting and places her broken characters within, a juxtaposition between a dying town and the vibrant but dangerous swamp Emmy has been warned about all her life. The dark fantasy/horror that comes to life between the covers seethes with life, conflict, and dark threads, that threaten to pull Emmy’s world into the depths. Ink Vine is an entertaining, quick read that begs to be savored slowly.

 

Recommended reading, and a fine new author to watch.

Posted on January 13, 2026 by , Reply

Graphic Novel Review: When I Arrived at the Castle by Emily Carroll

Cover art for When I Arrived at the Castle by Emily Carroll

When I Arrived at the Castle by Emily Carroll

Silver Sprocket, 2024 (previously published by Koyama Press in 2019)

ISBN-13: 9798886200409

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy:    Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

 

On a dark and stormy night, a cat woman arrives at the mysterious Countess’ castle on an unspoken mission. The Countess mentions that this attractive visitor is not the first to come on this mighty errand. She is offered a warm bath after being out in the rain for so long, for which she accepts, and this is interrupted by loud knocks on the door. The cat woman ventures out to search out her prey, peeking through a keyhole, where she sees the Countess shedding her skin. When the Countess catches her at the door, a violent and erotically driven confrontation happens between the noblewoman and the cat.

 

I appreciate Carroll’s attention to Gothic literature tropes in her sequential art. The structure of the story flows in such a way that the eyes do not have time to rest most of the time. The frenetic pace blends with the reader’s sense of unease as the cat woman explores the castle and is dragged along the halls by the Countess, and when the final battle ensues.

 

Something else I enjoy about Carroll’s work is her use of color, as she uses the most bold selection almost as another character itself. In the case of When I Arrived at the Castle, she uses black, white, and red. The red acts as solid backgrounds, text bubbles, the text itself, outlines of various figures, doors, flooring, skin, blood, and more. Spending a few minutes exploring the red in the pages was an interesting exercise in reading images without words.

 

If you are looking for a standalone Gothic horror graphic novel for your collection, you can’t go wrong with When I Arrived at the Castle. If you have not picked up Carroll’s Through the Woods, I encourage you to do that, as well. Recommended.

 

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on June 1, 2024 by , Reply

Book Review: The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska

The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska

Sourcebooks Fire, 2022

ISBN-13: 978-1728209753

Available: Hardcover, paperback, audiobook, Kindle edition.

Buy:   Bookshop.org   |  Amazon.com

 

 

The Midnight Girls takes place in a fantasy kingdom based on the Kingdom of Poland at the end of the 18th century, which was torn apart by wars with Russia, Lithuania, and Poland.

 

Three sister witches terrorize the forest, each with a servant girl who desperately wants to please them. Black Jaga’s servant is Zosia, with the power of Midnight. Red Jaga’s servant is Marynka, with the power of Midday. White Jaga’s servant is Beata, with the power of Morning. The girls compete to seize the hearts of princes for their witches. Zosia, hidden away, is most successful. Marynka is desperately in competition with her as she is punished when she fails and receives affection when she succeeds. Beata quietly claims the spoils while Marynka is distracted. The descriptions of the servant girls’ powers and especially of their literally ripping hearts out of people”s bodies were really hard for me to read.

 

All three girls are sent to the city during Karnaval season to claim the pure heart of Prince Josef, a source of powerful magic when eaten. In their competition, Marynka and Zosia inadvertantly keep saving the prince in order to gain the opportunity to claim his heart. It would be funny but it is deadly serious. In spite of their antipathy, they develop a close connection. Zosia plans to run away after taking this last heart and asks Marynka to come with her.

 

Prince Josef wants his kingdom to rebel and fight the tsarina of Rusja in order to preserve Lechija’s national identity and freedom from its oppressors, while the king is tired of fighting and willing to make concessions. His life is complicated by the return to court of Kajetan, his closest friend, who supported his family and turned against him on the battlefield. Both Zosia and Marynka and Josef and Kajetan harbor strong and contradictory feelings for one another. Josef and Kajetan’s story had unexplored potential. Marynka and Zosia feel more like they are characters from a folktale, and as one would expect in a folktale, are relatively one-dimensional. Their rivalry and romance are the primary focus of the story, so the political situation Josef and Kajetan were navigating, while intriguing, didn’t get much attention. The Midnight Girls has a similar feel in places to Katherine Arden’s.The Bear and the Nightingale, but that book balances these elements better.

 

This was a clever premise with great world building, and it wasn’t an easy book to read. Regardless of their home environment or your investment in the story, these girls really are monsters. They don’t try to justify their actions. It is really something that Jasinska has humanized them.

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on August 12, 2023 by , Reply
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