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Rachel Gillig’s “One Dark Window” offers a young adult fantasy with a unique magic system and the perfect gothic atmosphere. 

Gillig gained popularity as an author following the release of “One Dark Window” in 2022. A teacher and a writer, Gillig grew up in California and earned her degree in Literary Criticism and Theory from UC Davis. 

“One Dark Window” takes place in the kingdom of Blunder, a small land that’s been cut off from the rest of the world for centuries. What separates Blunder from the world? A dense fog filled with dark magic and creatures, similar to the Fold in Shadow and Bone. The novel focuses on Elspeth, a young woman who literally has a Nightmare living inside her head. 

The world-building throughout the novel was wonderfully done, giving readers information about the world while still leaving a mystery to be solved. Gillig’s strongest skill as a writer is her ability to create a haunting gothic atmosphere. 

The Gothic genre often calls to mind classic writers like Mary Shelley, Shirley Jackson, and Robert Louis Stevenson rather than 21st century authors. With “One Dark Window,” Gillig demonstrates that contemporary fantasy can still capture the same eerie charm that defined those earlier works.

As someone who reads a lot of fantasy, most magic systems within the genre today feel repetitive—magic based on elements or mythology, with an unloved teen coming into an unparalleled magic. However, “One Dark Window” departs from the fantasy formula, clouding the genre.

In Blunder, magic comes from a deck of cards, called Providence Cards. Each Providence Card gives the user a different power, but not without a price. Take the Golden Egg card, which grants great wealth to the user. However, overuse of the card slowly twists the user’s desires, leaving them consumed by insatiable greed. Each card also comes with an eerie nursery rhyme warning of its cost, which was both creative and deeply unsettling. The only way to clear the fog surrounding the kingdom is to gather one of every Providence Card.

One card in particular drives the central conflict of the novel: the Nightmare card. When Elspeth first touches a Nightmare card as a child, she absorbs a presence—the voice and consciousness of the Nightmare, which immediately takes up residence in her thoughts. Through their connection, the Nightmare lives through her as a protector, sarcastic companion, and growing force of inner conflict. The Nightmare is a violent, witty guide, and is undoubtedly my favorite part of the book.

As for the other characters, I thought they fell flat when compared to someone as complex as the Nightmare. Much of Elspeth’s interest as a character is tied to the Nightmare and the ways she must hide her magic from the world. Ravyn, Elspeth’s counterpart and potential love interest, struggles with balancing his secret mission to gather the Providence Cards with his public loyalty to the King, creating a conflict that ultimately feels more surface-level than the novel’s darker elements.

Lastly, the plot and pacing begin to drag in the middle of the novel, with many of the central conflicts starting to feel repetitive rather than suspenseful. In the final chapters, however, Gillig rebuilds the momentum, pulling the story together in a conclusion that had me speed-reading to see how it would end.

For fans of Gillig’s gothic writing, I recommend reading her newest release, “A Knight and the Moth.” The novel focuses on Sybil, who possesses a magical power to see the future through a process of drowning and resurrection. Sybil serves the Abbess of Aisling Cathedral and belongs to a group known as the Diviners, women who share her gift of prophetic visions. “A Knight and the Moth” offers the same richly gothic world that Gillig excels at creating, blending dark magic, mystery, and faith into another atmospheric fantasy.

Rating: 4/5 Spinnaker Sails

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