Charlotte Ahlin, Bustle

Charlotte Ahlin

Bustle

New York, NY, United States

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Recent:
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Past:
  • Bustle

Past articles by Charlotte:

The Literary Origin Of The Werewolf Is Actually Way Less Sexy Than 'Twilight' And 'Teen Wolf' Would Lead You To Believe

The werewolf. A little less popular than their sexy older cousin, the vampire, and perhaps not so scary as the ubiquitous zombie. Nevertheless, werewolves still hold their own as a classic monster of the page and screen. Like the vampire before… → Read More

How Do You Write A Short Story? 11 Easy Tips For Writing Your First One

Today's the day. It's happening. You've decided to write your first short story. Maybe this story idea has been kicking around your head for the last 10 years, or maybe you just googled a list of writing prompts and want to give one a whirl. Perhaps… → Read More

11 Children’s Book Characters That Are Actually Way More Relatable Now That I'm An Adult

Any good "children's" book is really a book for all ages. I mean, sure, I'm not necessarily about to settle down with a glass of chardonnay and a copy of Pat the Bunny, but for the most part, a good book is a good book, regardless of reading level.… → Read More

The New Book To Read, Based On Your Favorite Fall Drink

The rooftop bars have all closed. The denim jackets have returned from their months long hibernation. The drug stores have begun aggressively pedaling skeleton decor. Now that we have, at long last, entered the season of decorative gourds, I know… → Read More

11 Children's Books With Genuinely Terrifying Moments That Probably Gave You Nightmares

Being a child is a frightening ordeal. You are very small, whereas most other things are very large and very difficult to understand (hence why there are so many children's books starring mice). As a child, you are also presented with all manner of… → Read More

11 Book "Rules" That Everyone Should Just Give Up On For Good

Somewhere around kindergarten, most kids were given a lecture on treating books with respect. I don't remember the specifics (I was probably too busy drawing Aristocats fanart), but I do remember growing up with a set of (mostly) unspoken rules… → Read More

The 15 Most Popular Re-Read Books, According To Goodreads

Re-reading can be a bit of a controversial topic among book-lovers. Some people seem to think that you haven't really read a book at all until you've read it at least twice. Others consider re-reading to be a waste of time—why read the same book… → Read More

11 Simple Ways To Get Out Of A Reading Rut & Fall In Love With A New Genre

It happens to the best of us. You wake up one morning to realize, with a sudden start of horror, that you've only been reading 1970's hard sci-fi for the last six months. Or you've been reading nothing but contemporary showbiz autobiographies for a… → Read More

11 Super Sad Short Stories To Read If You Really Need A Good Cry

There are days when you feel down, or overwhelmed by the constant and unceasing stream of pre-apocalyptic news coming at you from all sides. It's a lot. Sometimes, it's nice to unplug with a sweet, inspiring comfort read, a feel-good book that will r… → Read More

11 Dystopian Short Stories You Can Read Online Right Now

You probably already realized that dystopias seem to be everywhere these days: on our bookshelves, on our prestige Hulu TV shows, and, of course, in every waking moment of our lives in America today. Reading dystopian stories can be a great way to in… → Read More

Mice Were Wildly Popular In Children's Books In The '90s — But Why?

While watching An American Tail this past weekend (as you do), and weeping openly over the exploits of young Fievel Mousekewitz and his mouse family, I hit upon a strange realization: the literature of my childhood was full of mice. I mean, yes, in p… → Read More

The Sunset Sea In 'Game Of Thrones' Could Be The Key To Many Of The Mysteries Of The Series

If we know anything about George R.R. Martin, it's that he loves to set up enticing mysteries in the Game of Thrones books and then go several thousand pages without ever mentioning them again. The Sunset Sea is one such mystery. We know that it lies… → Read More

5 Literary Mysteries That Have Never Been Solved But Are Seriously Fascinating

Unexplained disappearances, strange and otherworldly manuscripts, deaths with no known cause — these are the mysteries that have been staples of literary fiction for centuries. But they've also been staples of literary fact: the history of writing is… → Read More

11 Short Stories You Can Read In Under 10 Minutes, But Will Stay With You Forever

Is there anything better than settling down for a languid afternoon of reading your favorite novel cover to cover, perhaps on a park bench or in a field of delightful and very relaxing flowers? No, there isn't. But do you have time to read an entire … → Read More

11 Real-Life Inventions Inspired By Science Fiction Novels

You can roll your eyes all you want at the aliens and spaceships and dimension-hopping shenanigans of classic science fiction. You can deride sci-fi as "genre" writing, and you can choose to read only the realest of "realistic" fiction instead. But i… → Read More

This Feminist Utopia From The 1915 Novel 'Herland' By Charlotte Perkins Gilman Sounds Even Better In The Era Of Trump

We talk a lot about dystopias these days. We're living in a world where The Handmaid's Tale feels less like fiction and more like a dire warning of things to come. And dystopias are important, even when they don't come true — they engage with our cul… → Read More

Rickon Stark Is Probably Still Alive In The 'Game Of Thrones' Books & He Could Change Everything

Whether you know of the Game of Thrones universe through the TV show, the book series, or the endless internet articles scrutinizing every last detail of George R.R. Martin's creation, you've definitely heard of the Stark kids. They're (some of) the … → Read More

11 Fantasy Short Stories You Can Read Online For Free

When we think "fantasy," we usually think big: enormous castles besieged by large dragons, sweeping, multi-generational epics about kingdoms and queendoms, and hefty, hardcover book series that seem to go on forever. Fantasy fiction tends to work wel… → Read More

15 Fantasy Short Stories You Can Read For Free Right Now

When we think "fantasy," we usually think big: enormous castles, multi-generational epics. But the genre's short stories are equally deserving of your time. → Read More

10 Villains In Literature Who Were Apparently Based On Real People

If there is any lesson to be learned from the history of literature, it is surely this: never be friends with a writer. At best, they will eat all your snacks and ignore all your texts. At worst, they will write you into one of their stories... as th… → Read More