Unthinkable: A Queer Gothic Anthology by Celine Frohn

Unthinkable: A Queer Gothic Anthology Reviews

• 
  Talli Morgan

  This is an excellent anthology! Each story in this collection is compelling, emotional, and at times frankly gut-wrenching. These are stories you'll want to savor; many of them will stay with me (haunt me, even) for a long time.
• 
  lorin ✨

  there’s always something magical about queer anthologies, and this one was no different. i took many, many notes throughout this, including my thoughts on each story:
  
  > loved saint gibson’s introduction, especially p. vi “[These stories will] appeal to those readers who have always had an affinity for the night, found comfort in shadows, or saw themselves reflected in the monster.”
  
  all sweet souls by antonija mežnarić - 4.5 stars, delightfully creepy, loved the main character and how she was self assured and strong willed. Croatian folklore? never read anything in the same vein, but really loved it.
  
  bess and the thrasher bird by arden powell - oh i love merleau so much. riding around the south and shooting slavers and plantation owners, what a setting/character introduction. i loved the way the characters felt so real even in a short story, and the ending was both heartbreaking and heartfelt at the same time. 4 stars.
  
  > i like that the collection went from western gothic to Black gothic, and in just two stories showed the way the theme of the collection transcends cultures
  
  raion kuīn by hunter liguore - i found this pretty mid, i don’t think the characters had much depth and i didn’t feel any kind of connection to the broader story either. 3 stars
  
  vestal by dee holloway - 3.5 i enjoyed this well enough, i think the villain was interesting, especially since it was more micro aggressions than anything cartoonishly overt. i liked the magic system in this too, i wanted to see more of how MCs magic worked. i liked annie as a character, even if she was a bit bland and cookie cutter, but i didn’t feel totally convinced of their relationship.
  
  > i find it interesting that i’ve read four stories so far, and they have all been sapphic. i’m hoping to read some achillean stories as well as trans characters, especially nonbinary people, being monstrous the way the cis characters are seemingly allowed to be.
  
  clutching air by jillian bost - 3 stars, i liked the setting but it didn’t feel contained, and i think the idea would’ve been better executed either as a novella or a full length novel. the first M/M story of the collection so far.
  
  fun at parties by k. blair - 5 stars, perfection, knew what it was and wasn’t bloated with fluff. gave me the same vibes as saint gibson’s a dowry of blood.
  
  the dead space by stewart horn - 5 stars, so good. another M/M story, i liked the inclusion of glasgow as a setting and the monster genuinely creeped me out.
  
  it passed by morning by adriana c. grigore - 2 stars, liked the nonbinary main character but was a bit lost by the setting and thought it needed a lot more worldbuilding, or to have less rigid rules/roles. it had so much potential but sadly didn’t live up to it imo.
  
  the wellkeepers by sydney meeker - 3 stars, didn’t love this a lot, I felt the atmosphere was the best part of the whole thing and it didn’t feel like enough to keep a whole story together. I liked the ‘mystery’ of the two older women, but the main plot didn’t interest me very much.
  
  sea salt and strawberries by solstice lamarre - 5 stars, favourite of the collection. I loved the writing, I loved the timelessness and placelessness of it; this could be set literally anywhere, anytime. I loved the forest god’s character, and the ending made me tear up. Oh I loved it so much.
  
  bodies of water by valentin narziss - 2 stars, again I didn’t like this one very much. i’m realising that a lot of the ocean/sea based stories in this collection aren’t my favourites. I did enjoy the themes of grief, but I felt like we were held at arms length and I didn’t feel much of anything toward it.
  
  reynardine by kallyn hunter - 4.5 stars, a story in the vein of SGJ’s work. the slasher vibes really worked for showing how brutal life is to certain groups of people. i was a bit confused by the fact that the MC is described as pale, but the missing girl was Black. that just sat funny with me, because there was no need to have the violence done to a young Black girl so blatantly. loved that a trans person was so readily accepted by the MC’s guardian though.
  
  reflections by gillian joseph - 4 stars, super spooky. i loved the writing and the fact the author pulled off a genuinely surprising twist in as few pages as they did. i was a tiny bit confused by the ending, but the way the rest of the story came together made me not really mind it in the end.
  
  > i am really loving how much trans rep is in these stories. i like the casual mention of binders and they/them pronouns and the fact these stories aren’t centred around transphobic pain.
  
  in ruins by g. t. korbin - 3 stars, i saw what the author was trying to do, but it didn’t impact me very much. the MC felt very flat, as if she wasn’t even supposed to be a character, just a plot device so the author could talk about art and ownership. i did enjoy the way art was discussed in general though, i just wish the story went a little bit deeper. i also enjoyed that it was set in athens, and didn’t centre the UK/US.
  
  blood play by tabitha o’connell - 3.5 stars, i liked the discussion of kink, especially because it’s so important when discussing queer culture and pride. there were a lot of feminism/consent 101 talk, like ‘communication is key!’ and ‘safe words are a thing’, which i felt were a bit unnecessary. this story definitely felt geared towards a YA audience instead of an adult one, particularly in the writing style. overall it was fine/good, but not my favourite.
  
  > the last story really showed me that i need to learn more about the asexual and aromantic identities. category is usually has great nonfiction, and i believe there’s something available on libby too.
  
  an epitaph, epistolary by m. špoljar - 4.5 stars, this was so beautiful. it touched on mental health, grief, how to love someone and hold space for them even in death, and in the end, moving on. it was bittersweet and incredibly sad, but wonderfully written.
  
  the ghost at haunting’s end by elisabeth r. moore - 3.5 stars, i really liked the ideas and concepts that this story brought up. i didn’t feel particularly connected to the plot, more so the ideas that were involved. the queerness aspect was super minimal, but i did like that there was polyamory mentioned.
  
  q. e. d. by kimberly rei - 2 stars, i think this one went a bit over my head. i don’t really have much to say but the writing was lush, so i want to check out more of the author’s work in future.
  
• 
  Anuja Varghese

  From a monastery in medieval Japan to a hipster bar in Buffalo, this anthology is a journey rife with mystery and longing from beginning to end. Editor Celine Frohn has brought together a diverse collection of evocative stories that reframe the gothic with a queer lens. These are tales of haunted houses and haunted hearts, each story shimmering with its own dark magic. This is an anthology that will leave you shivering - maybe with fear, maybe with desire, or maybe, with a little bit of both.
• 
  Diana

  A bit biased, as I have a story in the collection, but I really enjoyed this assembly. Some serious stand-outs include "Raion Kuin" by Hunter Liguore, Sydney Meeker's "The Wellkeepers," "Bodies of Water" by Valentin Narziss, and "Reflections" from Gillian Joseph. From weird Americana to cyborgs, Mythos-tinged monsters to living statues, there's a Gothic flavor in this anthology for every reader.
• 
  Stephanie Caye

  While I love the theme, I found the collection hit and miss again. I loved a few stories, "Reflections", "Bess and the Thrasher Bird", "The Ghost at Haunting's End." Those I can see myself reading over and over. Others felt somewhat unfinished, like early drafts, or maybe just weren't my cup of tea.