I am not sure what to make of this one. I really enjoyed The Boys in the Valley which was my first introduction to Philip Fracassi but I have more mixed feelings towards this one.

Firstly, I am a bit confused by the title. This book does not really feel like a gothic to me. The setting and set up is much more in the pulpy realm and I think this left me quite confused as to what to expect when reading. The haunted artifact is definitely a feature of 80s pulp and as that is what the center of this story is. The modern setting and more open environment does not really have the classic claustrophobia of a gothic. Yes there is some bleeding of history into the present and there is a definite decent into madness, but I think the setting really threw me off the gothic feel.

The second negative here for me is a classic author trope of writing about authors. This always comes across as somewhat self-indulgent, and this story is no exception to that. It may just be me but it is not a trope I particularly enjoy.

That being said, there is some decent tension in the story. I found the central character both unlikeable but engaging, which is tough act to pull off. The spiral into madness is well dealt with and the book kept an element of fun all the way through. More pulpy than gothic, this is still worth a read.