--- product_id: 288620521 title: "Plain Bad Heroines: The extraordinary new gothic novel and work of LGBT literary fiction" price: "€ 25.04" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.pt/products/288620521-plain-bad-heroines-the-extraordinary-new-gothic-novel-and-work store_origin: PT region: Portugal --- # Dual timeline: 1902 & 2014 Meta-horror film set & queer romance 640 pages immersive gothic saga Plain Bad Heroines: The extraordinary new gothic novel and work of LGBT literary fiction **Price:** € 25.04 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Summary > 📖 Unlock the curse, the romance, and the mystery — don’t miss the queer gothic phenomenon everyone’s whispering about! ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Plain Bad Heroines: The extraordinary new gothic novel and work of LGBT literary fiction - **How much does it cost?** € 25.04 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.pt](https://www.desertcart.pt/products/288620521-plain-bad-heroines-the-extraordinary-new-gothic-novel-and-work) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - • **Epic Gothic Length:** Dive deep into 640 pages of atmospheric, multi-layered storytelling that keeps you hooked from start to finish. - • **Queer Cult Classic:** Celebrate a gloriously queer, sapphic romance wrapped in a chilling curse and dark humor that resonates with millennial sensibilities. - • **Meta-Horror & Satire:** Enjoy a clever mix of gothic horror and Hollywood satire, perfect for readers who crave wit alongside spine-tingling suspense. - • **Award-Winning Acclaim:** Join thousands of readers captivated by a 4.1-star bestseller praised by top authors and major publications alike. - • **Time-Bending Narrative:** Experience a gripping dual timeline that masterfully blends early 20th-century tragedy with modern-day Hollywood intrigue. ## Overview Plain Bad Heroines is a 640-page gothic novel by Emily M. Danforth that intertwines a sapphic love story and a deadly curse at a girls’ boarding school in 1902 with a modern-day film production. Celebrated for its sly humor, atmospheric tension, and queer literary depth, it’s a multi-layered narrative blending horror, romance, and Hollywood satire, earning rave reviews and a devoted millennial following. ## Description ‘Brimming from start to finish with sly humour and gothic mischief’ SARAH WATERS ‘Beguilingly clever, very sexy and seriously frightening’ GUARDIAN ‘Atmospheric, sexy, creepy…totally addictive’ KATE DAVIES, author of In At The Deep End ‘A gloriously over-the-top queer romp’ I PAPER _________________________________________________________________ ‘It’s a terrible story and one way to tell it is this: two girls in love and a fog of wasps cursed the place forever after…’ BROOKHANTS SCHOOL FOR GIRLS: Infamous site of a series of tragic deaths over a hundred years ago. Soon to be the subject of a controversial horror movie about the rumoured ‘Brookhants curse’: In the early 1900’s, Brookhants students Flo and Clara fell madly in love, brought together by their obsession for a scandalous memoir. A few months later they were found dead in the woods, after a horrific wasp attack, the book lying next to their intertwined bodies. Three more grisly deaths followed before the school was forced to close. Now, the school’s doors are open once more. But as the crew of glamorous young actresses assemble to start filming, past and present begin to blur. And soon it’s impossible to tell quite where the curse ends and Hollywood begins… ____________________________________________________________________ ‘Buzzing with wickedness…sly, wry and dangerous to know’ Rosie Garland ‘Ingenious, jaw-dropping…a queer roar and it's terrifying and it's a goddamned triumph ’ Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World ‘Wears its brilliance lightly…it's dark, sweet, and addictive. Simply one of the best books I've read in the last decade’ Joe Hill, New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman ‘A hot amalgamation of gothic horror and Hollywood satire, it’s draped with depth but bursting with life’ Washington Post ‘A deviously delicious cake’ O, THE OPRAH MAGAZINE Review: Five Star Read - A sapphic campus mystery chunkster of a novel. Plain Bad Heroines is exactly the kind of novel that I needed in my life. The dual timeline story focuses on the deaths of two young girls at Brookhants School for Girls and the impact of that event throughout the proceeding years. We focus on the lives of the teachers in the school at that time along with the actors playing those parts in a movie interpretation during modern day. However, curious things start happening on set which suggests that the Brookhants curse is still ongoing. Plain Bad Heroines was a beast of a novel and I flipping loved it. I loved the story within a story and the voices where so distinct and I felt completely immersed in the novel. It highlights the historical attitude to lesbian relationships and the institutions that tried to keep girls separate. It was just so multilayered and even though it was 640 pages long I kind of felt like I wanted more. For a novel to leave your feeling that way you know it is something good. Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M Danforth is available now. Review: Atmospheric story with some creepy moments - Plain Bad Heroines first caught my eye with that stunning and very eye-catching cover — and the premise of a gothic horror really intrigued me too! The story changes between 1902 and 2014. In 1902, two young students, Flo and Clara, are students at The Brookhants School for Girls. They become obsessed with Mary MacLane, a young author of a memoir — even starting their own fan club, The Plain Bad Heroine Society. Unfortunately, both girls are killed by an angry swarm of yellow jackets (or wasps), and more victims die soon after in strange circumstances. Fast-forward to 2014, and a book exploring the school's history is now going to be made into a horror film. The book's author, Merritt Emmons, is thrown together on set with the two stars: celebrity actor and 'it girl' Harper Harper as Flo and former child star Audrey Wells as Clara. I read this as both an eBook (given to me by the publisher) and as an audiobook (purchased myself). I really loved the audiobook narrator, Xe Sands — she did a fantastic job and really gave life to the characters! The narrator throughout the book has a very tongue-in-cheek style of humour, which I thought Xe captured well, and when reading the eBook I definitely heard the story in her voice. I loved all of the main characters in this book, from both historical settings and modern day. I think I most felt sorry for Alex, the partner of Brookhants School's headmistress in 1902. She seems to be most affected by the curse, and I think she deserved better! The relationship between Merritt, Harper and Flo were intriguing, being intertwined and a little messy. It felt like all three were a little out of their depth. Harper particularly gives an interesting commentary on the cult of celebrity and social media, with her every move tweeted and Instagrammed for everyone to see and comment on. However, the book is really long at 623 pages, and I felt that it could have been cut shorter. The ending especially was a bit of a disappointment for me — it felt like it was building to a big crescendo which never happened. I was also a little confused by what happened and what was going on at the end, which was a shame as the rest of the book is incredibly well-written, with vivid scenes and incredibly atmospheric. While this is supposed to be a horror, I was left feeling dissatisfied and unsure how much of the goings on were real and how many were imagined. Overall, I did enjoy Plain Bad Heroines and it's one that I think I would go back to in a few years time. I'm not sure I'd refer to it as a horror, but it's certainly an atmospheric story that pulled me in with all the mystery and goings on. The narrator of the story is also interesting with lots of pop culture references and humour that kept me interested throughout. (Also, I only found out afterwards when I finished the book that Mary MacLane's I Await the Devil's Coming is a real book, not fictional, and that 'yellowjackets' are actually wasps, or perhaps hornets. Maybe this will spare somebody some confusion!) ## Features - New Store Stock ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | 408,121 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 340 in Classic Horror 822 in Contemporary Horror 2,447 in Horror Thrillers | | Customer Reviews | 4.1 out of 5 stars 1,371 Reviews | ## Images ![Plain Bad Heroines: The extraordinary new gothic novel and work of LGBT literary fiction - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71W8ubBQGcL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Five Star Read *by L***Y on 4 September 2022* A sapphic campus mystery chunkster of a novel. Plain Bad Heroines is exactly the kind of novel that I needed in my life. The dual timeline story focuses on the deaths of two young girls at Brookhants School for Girls and the impact of that event throughout the proceeding years. We focus on the lives of the teachers in the school at that time along with the actors playing those parts in a movie interpretation during modern day. However, curious things start happening on set which suggests that the Brookhants curse is still ongoing. Plain Bad Heroines was a beast of a novel and I flipping loved it. I loved the story within a story and the voices where so distinct and I felt completely immersed in the novel. It highlights the historical attitude to lesbian relationships and the institutions that tried to keep girls separate. It was just so multilayered and even though it was 640 pages long I kind of felt like I wanted more. For a novel to leave your feeling that way you know it is something good. Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M Danforth is available now. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Atmospheric story with some creepy moments *by L***I on 21 April 2022* Plain Bad Heroines first caught my eye with that stunning and very eye-catching cover — and the premise of a gothic horror really intrigued me too! The story changes between 1902 and 2014. In 1902, two young students, Flo and Clara, are students at The Brookhants School for Girls. They become obsessed with Mary MacLane, a young author of a memoir — even starting their own fan club, The Plain Bad Heroine Society. Unfortunately, both girls are killed by an angry swarm of yellow jackets (or wasps), and more victims die soon after in strange circumstances. Fast-forward to 2014, and a book exploring the school's history is now going to be made into a horror film. The book's author, Merritt Emmons, is thrown together on set with the two stars: celebrity actor and 'it girl' Harper Harper as Flo and former child star Audrey Wells as Clara. I read this as both an eBook (given to me by the publisher) and as an audiobook (purchased myself). I really loved the audiobook narrator, Xe Sands — she did a fantastic job and really gave life to the characters! The narrator throughout the book has a very tongue-in-cheek style of humour, which I thought Xe captured well, and when reading the eBook I definitely heard the story in her voice. I loved all of the main characters in this book, from both historical settings and modern day. I think I most felt sorry for Alex, the partner of Brookhants School's headmistress in 1902. She seems to be most affected by the curse, and I think she deserved better! The relationship between Merritt, Harper and Flo were intriguing, being intertwined and a little messy. It felt like all three were a little out of their depth. Harper particularly gives an interesting commentary on the cult of celebrity and social media, with her every move tweeted and Instagrammed for everyone to see and comment on. However, the book is really long at 623 pages, and I felt that it could have been cut shorter. The ending especially was a bit of a disappointment for me — it felt like it was building to a big crescendo which never happened. I was also a little confused by what happened and what was going on at the end, which was a shame as the rest of the book is incredibly well-written, with vivid scenes and incredibly atmospheric. While this is supposed to be a horror, I was left feeling dissatisfied and unsure how much of the goings on were real and how many were imagined. Overall, I did enjoy Plain Bad Heroines and it's one that I think I would go back to in a few years time. I'm not sure I'd refer to it as a horror, but it's certainly an atmospheric story that pulled me in with all the mystery and goings on. The narrator of the story is also interesting with lots of pop culture references and humour that kept me interested throughout. (Also, I only found out afterwards when I finished the book that Mary MacLane's I Await the Devil's Coming is a real book, not fictional, and that 'yellowjackets' are actually wasps, or perhaps hornets. Maybe this will spare somebody some confusion!) ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Shining meets Girls LGBT Highschool highjinks *by J***T on 19 September 2021* Very much enjoyed this mix - kept me guessing whether it was revenge or ghost story or both - loved the characters and interaction and goth mood....stylish! --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.pt/products/288620521-plain-bad-heroines-the-extraordinary-new-gothic-novel-and-work](https://www.desertcart.pt/products/288620521-plain-bad-heroines-the-extraordinary-new-gothic-novel-and-work) --- *Product available on Desertcart Portugal* *Store origin: PT* *Last updated: 2026-09-17*