MONSTER, SHE WROTE

THE WOMEN WHO PIONEERED HORROR & SPECULATIVE FICTION.  This handsomely-designed hardcover by Lisa Kroger and Melanie R. Anderson examines the history and works of female authors who helped create and shape horror fiction from it's very beginnings to the present day.  From founding mothers Ann Radcliffe, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley & Margaret "Mad Madge" Cavendish through Edith Wharton, Margaret Oliphant & Elizabeth Gaskell to Shirley Jackson, Daphne du Maurier, Anne Rice & Angela Carter.  The authors' lives are delved into as well as their works including a reading list for each author as to what is "not to be missed".  The book also features lovely illustrations by Natalya Balnova.  I just love the dedication:  "To all the girls who still sleep with the lights on, but read the scary stories anyway."  The authors also co-host the KNOW FEAR podcast which focuses on horror in popular culture.