Penny Dreadful: dismembering and assembling the Victorian Gothic

Extraordinary Gentlepeople. Illustration by Daniela Attard As part of our ongoing run-up to Halloween, we invited Gothic scholar Conrad Aquilina to dissect Showtime’s popular Gothic panorama Penny Dreadful, aided along by illustrations by Schlock regular Daniela ‘iella’ Attard. by Conrad Aquilina Illustrations by Daniela Attard Nothing quite spells decadence, darkness, madness and excess than the Victorian

Decorum be damned: An Anatomy of Splatstick

As we continue to Get Grisly for the month of Halloween, Krista Bonello Rutter Giappone delves into the horrific-but-hilarious world of ‘splatstick’. Think Looney Tunes, with an extra topping of exposed viscera. * I’ve always felt there are very strong grounds for intersections between horror and comedy – both flirt with the ‘subversive’, both stretch

Publisher Profile | Spectral Press

As part of our horror-friendly coverage for the month of Halloween, we present a publisher profile by Simon Marshall-Smith, who speaks to us about the spooky predilections of his own literary house of horrors: Spectral Press, who have just released the Spectral Book of Horror Stories, edited by fellow Schlock Talker Mark Morris. Spectral Press was

POP CULTURE DESTRUCTION – WITH REGRET I ARISE, FROM THE GRAVE!

Did you know I thought I got rid of the Schlock hivemind? I’m sure you didn’t, but in any case its rumbling as it awoke from its aestivation got to me, and now I’m back at the POP CULTURE DESTRUCTION game. Some new faces get to join the fun – and Schlock-brand podcasts make a

Schlock Talks | Anna Tambour

‘Anna Tambour, Self-portrait, 2014’ Shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award, and recently regaled with a hardback edition courtesy of the inimitable – and Schlock-friendly – Chomu Press, Anna Tambour’s Crandolin was one of Schlock’s favourite novels of the past couple of years. So we just had to track down the author of this culinary-themed picaresque fable,

Schlock Talks Addendum | Anna Tambour & Teodor Reljic

In a Schlock first, author Anna Tambour and the magazine’s co-editor Teodor Reljic talk shop about their latest novels: in Tambour’s case, the sophomore release Crandolin, and Reljic’s debut novel, Two. *  Teodor Reljic: There is a mad energy to Crandolin which almost makes one feel as though it may have been written in one