“For those still reading—do you have a rag to bite?—I want to make note of some context. Ghosts and mediums and alternate histories aside, “The Spirit Bares Its Teeth” was inspired by Victorian England’s sordid history of labeling certain people “ill” or “other” to justify cruelty against them. Threats of violence enforced strict social norms, often targeting women, queer and disabled people, and other marginalized folks. I have included another note about these realities at the end of the book, including some that this book does not cover. True history is often much more heartbreaking than any horror novel can depict.
So, if nothing else, I hope this story means something to you. I hope the scalpel is kind to you. I hope your sutures heal clean. You deserve that much; we all do. Yours, Andrew.”
Andrew Joseph White, a New York Times Bestselling Author, published the book “The Spirit Bares Its Teeth” in 2023. With that, Silas’ story was told.
“The Spirit Bares Its Teeth” is a book about an autistic transgender boy named Silas, in England during the 1800’s. This story is told through the eyes of Silas about his experiences in being deemed ‘ill’. The more he gets himself into, the worse life is for him, but his goal is to find the truth of the Braxton’s house whether he lives, or dies trying.
The start of the book opens up with Silas at his older brother’s wedding, struggling with the clothing he’s wearing and the amount of people surrounding him. With these feelings he runs off to his brother where he is helped through things. “George has not been able to face me since, he knows what he did.”
We then cut to a night with Silas, where he is getting dressed in male clothing to go to a speaker’s meeting, to hopefully be mistaken for the new boy joining the group because women are not allowed to interact with the dead or they will be mistaken for having ‘The Veil Sickness,’ a ‘sickness’ that plagues violet-eyed women. Once he is found out to not be who he said he was, he is sent to a place called Braxton’s House: a place where sick violet-eyed women are sent to learn to be the perfect housewife and obey their husbands. Through the disappearances within, and mystery of Braxton’s House, Silas takes it upon himself to find out.
Through the story you are taken on a roller coaster of emotions and thoughts about what it means to be a man, dysphoria and 1800 surgical procedures. A wild ride of a book with the right amount of gore and psychological horror mixed into the pot before you take a drink.
The book has amazing reviews, even becoming an instant New York Time Bestseller after its release along with being my favorite book of all time.
So after all this, are you interested in taking a sip of the drink in the pot?
