{"id":1194,"date":"2014-03-10T17:36:46","date_gmt":"2014-03-10T17:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stoneskin.wpengine.com\/?p=1194"},"modified":"2014-03-10T17:36:46","modified_gmt":"2014-03-10T17:36:46","slug":"inside-the-new-gothic-sean-logan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stoneskinpress.com\/index.php\/inside-the-new-gothic-sean-logan\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the New Gothic: Sean Logan"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Gothic is the most enduring literary tradition in history but in recent years friendly ghosts and vegetarian vampires threaten its foundations. The New Gothic<\/a><\/em> is a collection of short stories which revisits to the core archetypes of the Gothic, the rambling, secret-filled building, the stranger seeking answers, the black-hearted tyrant, and reminds us not to embrace but to fear the darkness.<\/p>\n

In \u2018Viola\u2019s Second Husband\u2019, Sean Logan shows the deterioration of a grandfather through the eyes of his grandson but as the man gets weaker, the titular Viola seems more full of life than ever.<\/p>\n

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I glanced over at my grandfather. His head was lowered, and he was concentrating on his plate, \"\"stabbing glumly at the meat. I wanted to say something, to him or to her, to come to his defense, admonish her for being so insensitive, maybe even make a joke that would make him laugh and shrug off all the weight that made his shoulders stoop. But I didn\u2019t. I didn\u2019t dare say anything. I finished my meal in silence and went upstairs to bed. Grandpa read me another chapter, and I pretended to sleep. I tried not to cry. I think I succeeded. He turned out the light when he left, and, eventually, I slept for real.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2666<\/em><\/p>\n

Something pulled me out of my dreams. It was dark, and I was overwhelmingly and unreasonably afraid. I listened carefully and looked around the shadowy room with dread. I felt a cold, feverish prickling on my skin and a queasiness in my bowels. I saw and heard nothing, and my heart began to slow, but something still felt out of sorts. I bolstered my courage and crawled out of bed. I hadn\u2019t brought slippers, and my feet were cold on the wooden floorboards. It had been chilly in the evening, and the temperature had dropped considerably since then. I could see the silvery wisps of my breath.<\/em><\/p>\n

I crossed the room and opened the door to the hallway. The idea of seeking comfort from Viola was absurd, but her room was right there, and I was apprehensive about going downstairs. Her door was open. I stepped inside. It seemed brighter in there than it was in my room. Perhaps the moon was on her side of the sky. I saw at once that her bed was empty. I glanced around the room to make sure she was not crouched in a shadowed corner. It was the first time I had been in her room. There were shelves from floor to ceiling along two of the walls. They were filled with books and jars and small unfamiliar plants. I also noticed, up on the top shelf, a lidded ceramic jar, white with a blue floral pattern. It struck me as something that would contain someone\u2019s remains, though I don\u2019t know where I would have gotten that notion…<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

For the rest, get The New Gothic<\/em><\/a> from Stone Skin Press.<\/p>\n

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\"\"Sean Logan\u2019s stories have appeared in more than thirty publications and can be found most recently in Black Static<\/em>, Supernatural Tales<\/em>, Postscripts to Darkness<\/em>, Dark Visions<\/em>, and Once Upon an Apocalypse<\/em>. He lives just north of San Francisco in a little house with a big, scary rottweiler that will run and hide at the first sign of trouble.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Gothic is the most enduring literary tradition in history but in recent years friendly ghosts and vegetarian vampires threaten its foundations. The New Gothic is a collection of short stories which revisits to the core archetypes of the Gothic,…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more ›<\/a><\/div>\n

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