The first time I approached my language students with some Gothic texts I was nicely surprised with their positive reactions. For me the Gothic has always been my hidden place, my dark secret, something that only belonged to me and that I only really showed during Halloween.

Over the years I...

THE CHILDHOOD FEARS THAT MADE ME

I remember the frightening thought of being inside my mother's womb but I don’t remember being afraid of the dark as a child, at least not in the sense that someone that age should be afraid of. I wasn't scared of the monster under the bed either, maybe...

When Tracy Fahey sent me a signed and dedicated copy of her Unheimlich Manoeuvres In The Dark (2020) with the words: To my dear friend and fellow Gothicist Alicia, I felt like a child with new shoes, as we say in Spain. As someone who pays attention to detail, the book came with a dedicated...

THE MISINTERPRETATION OF THE ZOMBIE

From all the monsters in Gothic literature, my least favourite one is the zombie. Unlike the vampire, you couldn’t have a conversation with a zombie. They are slow, clumsy and although they seem to lack a real purpose, for some reason they are after your...

“DANGEROUS" BOOKS YOU SHOULD READ

Books, books, books. They come in all shapes and sizes, just like people. And just as happens with people, some we love, some we hate, but none of them leaves us indifferent. And just like relationships with people, books always leave an imprint on us....

THE GOTHIC HERO'S JOURNEY

Despite the huge efforts that society puts in selling us the fairy tale of “happiness comes in a specific order of events”, most of us are on a never ending quest where life happens in anything but a straight line. We always seem to be dissatisfied with our...