Bizenghast by M. Alice Legrow

"When a young girl moves to the forgotten town of Bizenghast, she uncovers a terrifying collection of lost souls that leads her to the brink of insanity. One thing becomes painfully clear: The residents of Bizenghast are just dying to come home.

A finalist in TOKYOPOP's Rising Stars of Manga competition, M. Alice Legrow has crafted an unforgettable Gothic drama that will leave readers haunted long after the last page is turned."

So this is a short book, but seeing as how I got my wisdom teeth taken out this weekend I think it's justified. I'm also working my way through a 500-page book, which hopefully will be done soonish. Anyway, I'm not really usually a manga person, but I have a weird soft spot for gothic stuff so I was cool with the book. And it was blatantly gothic: realism was enthusiastically thrown aside to favor the traditional gothic storyline. Along with that came the pretty cool illustrations: elaborate costumes, creepy and/or spooky characters, traditionally derelict mausoleums, et cetera. Eyelashes, weird keys, and ethereal fairy-like people were heavily favored too. The story wasn't exactly inspired (though I'm only into the first one, so who knows), but the interesting style was enough to keep me reading through the short novel. I might just get the next couple, who knows. I think I'd recommend it to a manga reader; have a look at Kettleson, in that section.