New Books Network Brit Griffin, "The Haunting of Modesto O’Brien" (Latitude 46, 2025)
Mar 7, 2026
Brit Griffin, novelist who sets gothic tales in northern Ontario, discusses The Haunting of Modesto O’Brien. She traces the book’s origin to Cobalt photos and childhood memory. They explore revenge, male violence and women’s power. Folklore, a land-tied creature, and the haunted mining landscape shape the story. Griffin also teases romantic surprises and her next dark, enchanting novel.
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Childhood Trauma And A Cobalt Photograph Inspired The Story
- Brit Griffin traced the book's origin to a childhood witnessing ritual humiliation and discovering historic Cobalt photographs that conjured Modesto O'Brien.
- The 1967 schoolyard hair-cutting incident and a dapple-gray horse photo combined to seed themes of haunting and revenge.
Male Violence Is Supported By Cultural Imaginaries
- Brit Griffin links pervasive male violence to cultural structures that feed men's fantasies of power and control.
- She argues women's literature should offer imaginative images of female power so women can envision and enact resistance.
Use Gothic Tropes To Reclaim Female Power
- Use gothic horror to create imaginative space for female power by reclaiming archetypes like hag, crone, and witch.
- Griffin suggests amplifying old-timey female imagery in literature to shift fear and empower women.
