The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a Victorian era set paranormal gothic horror story, with lots of period medical horror. In a historical London the veil between the living and dead has thinned, and is accessible through various supernatural objects that can be used as a tether to the other side. A powerful and secretive spirit society, the finishing school come sanitarium treating violet eyed girls with ‘veil sickness’, and an Autistic trans main character meet in this ghostly and gripping novel. 

I absolutely love gothic horror, particularly Victorian gothic horror. This book was gothic, spooky, gory and soooo gripping, I couldn’t put it down towards the end. I will admit this book took me a little bit to get into, but once I had I was away. The way the veil and spirits were portrayed was incredibly interesting, with a secretive society to boot! (We love a secretive society, especially when they revolve around ghosts) This society however represented the patriarchal oppression of women and LGBTQIA+ folks in the era. The ‘veil sickness’, an illness only experienced by women who are able to see ghosts and interact with the veil — with the violet eyes to show it — was a neat and impactful parallel to ‘hysteria’. The way the Doctors, & Speakers Society, both created and encouraged this diagnosis, and then carried out horrific ‘treatments’ really did well to show the medical manipulation and level of control that was had over those diagnosed with ‘hysteria’. 

The biggest draw for me with this book, after it being a Victorian gothic horror, was that it has an Autistic main character, Silas. Silas is also trans, and queer, and this is explored in the book, and is a pivotal element to the culmination of the story. For me, the way Silas’ autism was expressed, shown, and experienced through his inner monologue in this book was brilliant. This book explores the autistic experience of masking, and of being forced to suppress autistic traits, stimming, self regulation, special interests and how anchoring these interests can be especially in times of stress or uncertainty, communication differences, and the feeling of having those who suppressed you grow a little voice within you that feeds their motives even when they’re not there — and how to imperative it is to quash that, or violently remove it.

The horror elements in this book were wonderful, the medical gore had me wincing into the book at points, afraid to look. I love the detail that was given to this gore, and the context meant it was meaningful, and not just a cheap horror trick. The horror of this book not only rests in the spirits and paranormal veil, but in the men and patriarchy that are staunchly stomping through each scene they encounter. I just love a horror where the monsters aren’t the true evil. 

Pick this up if you like books with Autistic or LGBTQIA+ characters, Victorian Horror, Medical Horror, Boarding Schools, Paranormal & Ghosts, or if you have a F*ck the Patriarchy sticker on absolutely anything.