Charlotte Ahlin is a writer, actor, artist, and born-and-bred New Yorker. She recently graduated from Oberlin College with a degree in Creative Writing. Now that she’s out in the so-called real world, she’s thrilled to be writing articles for Bustle, working as Associate Artistic Director for Fat Knight Theatre, crafting plays and drawing pictures.
Latest Articles
The 13 Creepiest Fictional Characters Of All Time
Fictional characters can inspire us. They can encourage us to be our best selves. Or they can just give us the ever-loving creeps. For every Hermione Granger or Bilbo Baggins or Lizzie Bennet, there's also a clown in a sewer grate just waiting to eat…
By Charlotte Ahlin
15 Slightly Embarrassing Habits That Every Single Book-Lover Has
Every book-lover loves books in their own particular way. Some book-lovers are intensely neat and orderly about their books, shelving them in a specific order and never dog-earring a single page. Others simply love their books until they dissolve in …
By Charlotte Ahlin
15 Breathtaking Passages From Philip Pullman's New Book
At long last, Philip Pullman returns to us with volume one of The Book of Dust, a companion trilogy to his much beloved His Dark Materials. I, for one, was a little nervous to read it. The Golden Compass was such a defining part of my childhood. My f…
By Charlotte Ahlin
The New 'Golden Compass' Book Is Here & Lyra Fans Will Want To Read It ASAP
It's easy to feel wary of prequels and prologues, particularly when the story in question is as widely beloved as The Golden Compass. But with his first installment of The Book of Dust, out Oct. 19, Philip Pullman proves that there is still a wealth …
By Charlotte Ahlin
10 Classic Books That Were Scandalous AF When They First Came Out
When we think of scandalous books, we probably think of Fifty Shades of Grey, or maybe of some very uptight parents campaigning to have Harry Potter pulled from the shelves. But the history of scandalous reading material is long and sordid, and a lot…
By Charlotte Ahlin
13 Super Creepy Facts About Your Favorite Authors
Look. You can write all the horror stories you want. But until you have sex with your married boyfriend on your own mother's grave, you will never, ever be as goth as Mary Shelley. The life of a writer can be lonely and strange and sometimes even dow…
By Charlotte Ahlin
21 Breathtaking Quotes From Man Booker Winner 'Lincoln In The Bardo'
American author George Saunders has won the 2017 Man Booker Prize for Lincoln in the Bardo, an exploration of grief, the afterlife, and American History. Saunders is best known for his acclaimed short stories, and Lincoln in the Bardo is his first fu…
By Charlotte Ahlin
10 Books That Sound Pretentious, But Are Actually Really Good
The word "pretentious" conjures a certain image. Specifically, the image of that one guy from your junior year creative writing class, who had the word "funeral" tattooed on his forearm and wrote about how cheating on his girlfriend made him sad. Pre…
By Charlotte Ahlin
13 Literary Monsters Who Weren't All That Bad
Pennywise. Dracula. The Gruffalo. Literature is full of monsters. From the terrifying creatures of Ancient Greece to the indescribable horrors of H.P. Lovecraft to the sexy vampires of our modern age, human beings have always been fascinated by the i…
By Charlotte Ahlin
Finally, An Explanation For The Super Weird Seasons In 'Game Of Thrones'
There is so much plot in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, so many mysteries and character arcs and secret Targaryen babies, that many of us have essentially forgotten the premise of this fantasy world. But there is one major thing that se…
By Charlotte Ahlin
12 Ways You Could Be Getting More Out Of Your Public Library
When you think about it, it's fairly miraculous that public libraries exist. I mean, can you imagine if such an idea was proposed today? A public institution where absolutely anyone can obtain books and knowledge for free Supported by tax payers? Lud…
By Charlotte Ahlin
10 Of The Most Hated Characters In Books, From Heathcliff To Umbridge
Nothing's better than finding a literary character who you love... except for maybe finding a literary character who you hate with the unbridled passion of a thousand fiery suns. I mean, sure, there are some characters out there who you might find de…
By Charlotte Ahlin
11 Of The Most Instagrammable Book Shops In The World
Any book lover will proudly tell you that it's what's inside the book that counts. But let's all be honest with ourselves... books are also very pretty. Books are attractive. Books are beautiful. And a good book shop is a work of art. We may claim no…
By Charlotte Ahlin
What To Read If You Already Miss The Hot, Sticky Days Of Summer
Well, fall is here, with its pumpkins and its sweaters and its various hot beverages. Our movie theaters are full of Stephen King and our internet listicles are full of Halloween costume ideas. Kids are going back to school. Birds are flying south. A…
By Charlotte Ahlin
13 Underrated Horror Novels That Will Keep You Up All Night Long
When we're talking about spooky books (especially during October, the spookiest of months), several titles and authors seem to come up time and time again. Stephen King. Shirley Jackson. The Goosebumps series. That one kids' book with the story about…
By Charlotte Ahlin
The Best Part Of '90s Reading? For Me, It Was Magic Tree House
OK, you can agree with me that The '90s were a pretty wild time in children's literature. We had Goosebumps, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and those truly traumatizing Animorph covers. Or, if you wanted something cuddlier and a little less horri…
By Charlotte Ahlin
11 Bookish Gifts To Give The Reader In Your Life (Or Keep For Yourself)
All you really need to be a true book-lover is a love of books. Reading, when you get right down to it, is a fairly simple activity: you sit and stare at thin slices of wood with ink squiggles printed on them, and you hallucinate vividly. Yet somehow…
By Charlotte Ahlin
13 Stephen King-Themed Accessories To Spook Up Your Vibe
I don't know if you've heard of this Stephen King guy, but he seems to be doing pretty well for himself. Between the new adaptions of It, The Dark Tower, Gerald's Game, and several other King novels, popular King homages like Stranger Things, and the…
By Charlotte Ahlin
What To Read Next, Based On Your Favorite 'Game of Thrones' Character
If there's one thing that everyone can agree upon when it comes to Game of Thrones, it's that Game of Thrones has a lot of characters—and that's before you even get into all the characters in A Song of Ice and Fire (we miss you, Lady Stoneheart). Par…
By Charlotte Ahlin
The One Classic Book For Your Myers-Briggs Type
Want to know who you should date? Where you should live? Which books you should read? Take the Myers-Briggs personality test. It's an infallible frighteningly accurate assessment of your very being. If you're feeling a little overwhelmed by the seemi…
By Charlotte Ahlin
