Gothic Tales of Haunted Futures

This follow up anthology to the award-winning Gothic Tales of Haunted Love pays homage to the gothic fiction that was popular in the 18th and 19th centuries and preceded modern horror fiction. These stories were more like a mystery, often involved the supernatural and were set in dark castles or medieval ruins.

Beiko has delivered in her goal: “…to play with the foundational theme of ‘love outside of the mortal coil,’ with a healthy dose of ghosts, apparitions, monsters, and the living people who haunt each other for the sake of love (or something more sinister).” The 20 expertly crafted pieces curated here vary in style, tone, and subject but always play with both the genre and reader’s expectations in creative ways. For example, the tale excerpted above, “Until One Day” (story and art by Merissa Mayhew), uses a traditional graphic novel format and seems at first to be a typical, suspenseful gothic setup: a 19th century setting, haunted pendant, and unrequited love. The fresh take is that, in this tale, the heroine happens to be lesbian.
Other stories take us in a variety of often previously under-explored directions. In future-Edo Japan, two lovers cross paths after fifty years apart. A social media influencer is stalked by a specter her online audience can't see. Trans vampires' lives intertwine in cyber-goth Paris. A space station’s chaplain falls in love with the ship's AI, and many more.

The consistently beautiful artwork represents a variety of styles, from realistic, psychedelic, cartoon-like, to graphical, depending on the setting, style and tone of the tale, and is often dark but occasionally vibrant and compelling. The resulting mix of dark turns and happy endings leaves readers on their toes, never knowing what to expect.

S. M. Beiko is a Winnipeg-based author of award-winning teen fantasy fiction. Her titles include The Lake and the Library, Scion of the Fox and The Brilliant Dark. She has worked in the book and comic publishing industries since 2010 as an editor, graphic designer, and publisher. Beiko is also the artist and writer behind the award-nominated Webtoon, Krampus is My Boyfriend!

Gothic Tales of Haunted Futures will be well-received by young adult fans of graphic fiction, diverse voices and Sci-Fi/fantasy.