{"id":19556,"date":"2025-02-12T07:00:04","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T12:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=19556"},"modified":"2025-02-05T22:33:43","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T03:33:43","slug":"review-victorian-psycho","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-victorian-psycho\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"19557\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-victorian-psycho\/victorian-psycho\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/victorian-psycho.png?fit=658%2C1000&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"658,1000\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"victorian-psycho\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;cover of Victorian Psycho&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/victorian-psycho.png?fit=658%2C1000&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignright wp-image-19557 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/victorian-psycho.png?resize=230%2C350&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"cover of Victorian Psycho\" width=\"230\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/victorian-psycho.png?resize=230%2C350&amp;ssl=1 230w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/victorian-psycho.png?w=658&amp;ssl=1 658w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 230px) 85vw, 230px\" \/><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong><em>Victorian Psycho<\/em>\u00a0by Virginia Feito\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Liveright (February 2025)\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Reviewed by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HaleyNewlin22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Haley Newlin<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em>Victorian Psycho<\/em>\u00a0is soon to be a feature film from the horror fan-favorite A24, starring Margaret Qualley (<em>The Substance<\/em>). I heard the news before picking up Virginia Feito\u2019s psychological and gothic horror debut, so I enjoyed envisioning Qualley as the bloodthirsty Ensor governess, Winifred Notty. This read was one of those rare instances where every responsibility of life feels like an interruption. I could not get back to it quickly enough. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Ensor House consists of dark oak and heavy drapes. Walls lined with frowning, disapproving men, and oh how Notty would love to carve them up. Ensor House\u2019s brown churchyard rots with decayed vegetation. It reminds me of the manors in\u00a0<em>The Haunting of Hill House<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>The Fall of the House of Usher<\/em>,\u00a0which is an appreciated nod to the genre, and creates an anticipatory, palpable sense of dread that makes this an unputdownable read.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">There\u2019s an aching darkness within Notty who struggles to diffuse violent compulsions to harm children, start fires, and set devastating traps. Notty tends to her charges, Andrew and Drusilla. Reports for dinner each evening. And she also takes advantage of the wandering eyes of Mr. Pounds to advance her revenge. Her razor-sharp charisma and quick wit, even in the bloodiest of moments, reminds me of the likeable villains like Pearl from Ti West\u2019s film of the same name, and Patrick Bateman in\u00a0<em>American Psycho<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Notty is the unreliable narrator trope at its most unhinged. She resists an oppressive time and the faulty system in a bold, laugh-out-loud way that you can\u2019t help but root for. Feito gives readers a psycho killer and yet, amongst the classism and manipulative, toxic men, the question remains: who is the true monster here?<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">I would\u2019ve preferred visiting Notty\u2019s childhood in flashbacks, instead of receiving all this detail in a series of reflections throughout the novel. In my opinion, this would\u2019ve made these shocking reveals all the more unsettling. I\u2019m eager to see how they portray Notty\u2019s upbringing in the movie adaptation. Still, Notty\u2019s character comes together to form this unforgettable force that rivals some of horror fiction\u2019s most \u201cwicked\u201d women.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">For fans of gothic horror who enjoy Daphne Du Maurier and Shirley Jackson, and who love the menacing, maniacal female protagonist in books like CJ Leeds\u2019 <em>Maeve Fly<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Victorian Psycho\u00a0by Virginia Feito\u00a0 Liveright (February 2025)\u00a0 Reviewed by\u00a0Haley Newlin Victorian Psycho\u00a0is soon to be a feature film from the horror fan-favorite A24, starring Margaret Qualley (The Substance). I heard the news before picking up Virginia Feito\u2019s psychological and gothic horror debut, so I enjoyed envisioning Qualley as the bloodthirsty Ensor governess, Winifred Notty. This &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-victorian-psycho\/\" class=\"more-link button bg-gold white\">Continue Reading!<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Review: Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[80],"tags":[2299,79,3344,3345],"class_list":["post-19556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-haley-newlin","tag-reviews","tag-victorian-psycho","tag-virginia-feito"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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