Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name refers to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of early Gothic novels.
Corn smut is a plant disease caused by the pathogenic fungus Ustilago maydis. One of several cereal crop pathogens called smut, the fungus forms galls on all above-ground parts of corn species such as maize and teosinte. The infected corn is edible; in Mexico, it is considered a delicacy, called huitlacoche, often eaten as a filling in quesadillas and other tortilla-based dishes, as well as in soups.
Drizzt Do'Urden is a fictional character appearing in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Drizzt was created by author R. A. Salvatore as a supporting character in the Icewind Dale Trilogy. Salvatore created him on a whim when his publisher needed him to replace one of the characters in an early version of the first book, The Crystal Shard. Drizzt has since become a popular heroic character of the Forgotten Realms setting, and has been featured as the main character of a long series of books, starting chronologically with The Dark Elf Trilogy. As an atypical drow, Drizzt has forsaken both the evil ways of his people and their home in the Underdark, in the drow city of Menzoberranzan.
Rebecca is a 1938 Gothic novel written by English author Daphne du Maurier. The novel depicts an unnamed young woman who impetuously marries a wealthy widower, before discovering that both he and his household are haunted by the memory of his late first wife, Rebecca.
A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties. An author may also be referred to as a bestseller if their work often appears in a list. Well-known bestseller lists in the U.S. are published by Publishers Weekly, USA Today, The New York Times, and IndieBound. The New York Times tracks book sales from national and independent bookstores, as well as sales from major internet retailers such as Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.
Catalina Sandino Moreno is a Colombian actress. She shared the Silver Bear with Charlize Theron and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her leading role in Maria Full of Grace (2004). Since 2022, she has starred as Tabitha Matthews in the MGM+ television series From.
Holly Black is an American writer and editor best known for her children's and young adult fiction. Her most recent work is the New York Times bestselling young adult Folk of the Air series. She is also well known for The Spiderwick Chronicles, a series of children's fantasy books she created with writer and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, and her debut trilogy of young adult novels officially called the Modern Faerie Tales. Black has won an Eisner Award, a Lodestar Award, a Nebula Award, and a Newbery Honor.
Chroogomphus vinicolor, commonly known as the wine-cap Chroogomphus or the pine spike, is a species of mushroom in the family Gomphidiaceae. Found in North America and the Dominican Republic, mushrooms grow on the ground under pine trees. Fruit bodies have reddish-brown, shiny caps atop tapered stems. The gills are thick, initially pale orange before turning blackish, and extend a short way down the length of the stem. Although the mushroom is edible, and sold in local markets in Mexico, it is not highly rated. Distinguishing this species from some other similar Chroogomphus species is difficult, as their morphology is similar, and cap coloration is too variable to be a reliable characteristic. C. vinicolor is differentiated from the European C. rutilus and the North American C. ochraceus by the thickness of its cystidial walls.
Neolentinus ponderosus, commonly known as the giant sawgill, or ponderous lentinus, is a species of fungus in the family Gloeophyllaceae. Found in western North America, it was originally described in 1965 as a species of Lentinus by American mycologist Orson K. Miller.
Laricifomes officinalis, also known as agarikon, eburiko, or the quinine conk, is a wood-decay fungus that causes brown heart rot on conifers native to Europe, Asia, and North America, as well as Morocco. This fungus is the only member of the genus Laricifomes, in the order Polyporales. The fruiting bodies grow in large conks on the trunks of trees.
Amanita bisporigera is a deadly poisonous species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. It is commonly known as the eastern destroying angel amanita, the eastern North American destroying angel or just as the destroying angel, although the fungus shares this latter name with three other lethal white Amanita species, A. ocreata, A. verna and A. virosa. The mushroom has a smooth white cap that can reach up to 10 centimetres across and a stipe up to 14 cm tall with a white skirt-like ring near the top. The bulbous stipe base is covered with a membranous sac-like volva. The white gills are free from attachment to the stalk and crowded closely together. As the species name suggests, A. bisporigera typically bears two spores on the basidia, although this characteristic is not immutable. A. bisporigera closely resembles a few other white amanitas, including the equally deadly A. virosa and A. verna.
Agaricus deserticola, commonly known as the gasteroid agaricus, is a species of fungus in the family Agaricaceae. Found only in southwestern and western North America, A. deserticola is adapted for growth in dry or semi-arid habitats. The fruit bodies are secotioid, meaning the spores are not forcibly discharged, and the cap does not fully expand. Unlike other Agaricus species, A. deserticola does not develop true gills, but rather a convoluted and networked system of spore-producing tissue called a gleba. When the partial veil breaks or pulls away from the stem or the cap splits radially, the blackish-brown gleba is exposed, which allows the spores to be dispersed.
Genevieve Valentine is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. Her first novel, Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti, won the Crawford Award for a first fantasy novel, and was shortlisted for the Nebula.
Yoon Ha Lee is an American science fiction and fantasy writer, known for his Machineries of Empire space opera novels and his short fiction. His first novel, Ninefox Gambit, received the 2017 Locus Award for Best First Novel.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a Mexican and Canadian novelist, short story writer, editor, and publisher.
Tiffany D. Jackson is an American author and filmmaker. She writes young adult fiction and makes horror films. She is best known for her NAACP Image Award—nominated debut novel Allegedly.
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2020.
Gods of Jade and Shadow is a historical fantasy novel by Canadian-Mexican novelist Silvia Moreno-Garcia. It was first published in hardcover and ebook by Del Rey Books in July 2019, followed by a trade paperback edition from the same publisher in February 2020. The first British edition was issued in trade paperback by Jo Fletcher Books in February 2020.
Jordan Ifueko is a Nigerian American writer of fantasy and young adult fiction. She is best known for her novel Raybearer, which became a New York Times bestseller, and its sequel, Redemptor. She also writes short stories, which have been published in Strange Horizons.
Caroline Hardaker (1986) is an English poet and novelist. She was born in North East England, and currently lives in Newcastle upon Tyne. Hardaker has published two collections of her poems, Bone Ovation (2017) and Little Quakes Every Day (2017), described by John Clute as exploring "the permanence of Time, of bones, of the past within a fleece of transmutations". She has also published two science fiction/horror novels, Composite Creatures (2021), set in a near future damaged by climate change, and Mothtown (2023), about loneliness, grief and escape to the multiverse.
