Review: Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw | Sally Skellington Takes Narrative Reigns
Warnings: Mentions of emotional abuse, past captivity under an abuser, and intense self-doubt.
Themes: Gothic continuasions/retellings, found family arcs, healthy husband-wife partnership, and redemption.
With my pinky out, I take a long, dramatic sip of black murkweed tea (and by that, I mean my decaf coffee topped with pumpkin spice creamer and caramel macchiato cold foam…) and turn page after page of Long Live The Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw, devouring as much Sally Skellington lore as I can.
Wrapped in a gorgeously dark, whimsical atelier cover designed by Soyoung Kim, this 2022 release gives us a stitched heroine with a crown and the spotlight she has deserved for thirty years.
Before diving into the details: as a long-time The Nightmare Before Christmas fan, the great news right out of the gate is that you don’t need encyclopedia-level knowledge of the film to dive straight into this book. Prior knowledge adds nostalgic charm, and those who do will grin at mentions of familiar faces like the Clown with the Tear-Away Face, the Vampire Prince, and Lock, Shock, and Barrel, and will pick up on the relationship cues and quirks between Jack and Sally much faster. Yet the setting, lore, and characters are thoroughly reintroduced, so this novel avoids becoming a parade of fan service and instead becomes an accessible, standalone mystery that sends a newlywed Queen beyond the safety of her graveyard home to save her people and find herself. If you’re looking for a fairytale fantasy soaked in gothic, dark imagery, with beautiful, atmospheric, classic prose, sensory details, and internal narration that fuels Sally’s dreaminess, this book delivers.
Now, if you’re a Burton fan, brew yourself a cup of smooth chamomile tea with a honey stirrer, cuddle up with a patchwork quilt, and rest your head on your loved one’s shoulder as you read this genuine literature that feels authentic to the screen.
Sally has long existed in the cultural imagination as the quiet, stitched-together heroine in the margins of The Nightmare Before Christmas. She acts as a cautious voice of reason trailing behind Jack’s bony, theatrical wake.
However, Ernshaw has handed Sally the narrative reins and an unexpectedly tender journey that completely reframes who she is. By the end, my heart was sobbing with resonance and emotional gravity. This isn’t a run-of-the-mill “hero versus villain” showdown; it’s the story of a familiar supporting character who goes from abused outcast to beloved soul, stepping out of the shadows to uncover her identity and found family.
Dearest Sally Skellington finally, truly, resonates as a resilient Disney heroine in this 300-page novel.
P.S. And — yes! For every curious soul who stared at those iconic carved holiday tree doors from the film and wondered what lay beside Halloween and Christmas, we finally get our passports stamped. We get a look into the sweet, lace-draped, cupid-riddled village that is the pure delight of Valentine's Day town, and the newly discovered, lavender-fueled scape of Dream Town.
P.P.S. Don’t miss out on the rest of this story — this is the first book in a trilogy!
Hardcover Amazon
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