A Hideous Bit Of Morbidity

by Colavito, Jason

• ISBN13: 9780786439683
• ISBN10: 0786439688
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-09-30
• Publisher: McFarland Publishing

Summary

Horror fiction stormed the bestseller lists with classics like Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist, setting the stage for Stephen King's worldwide popularity, but the genre has literary roots going back centuries. This collection provides insight into the way classic horror texts were received, interpreted and discussed by the first generations to experience them, ideas that continue to define the way modern society views horror. Each reprinted article, review or critical essay is prefaced with an introduction and explanatory notes to frame the work in its historical context. The book also includes an overview of horror criticism, publication timeline, and period photographs and illustrations.

Author Biography

Jason Colavito is the author or editor of three books on topics including science and horror, H.P. Lovecraft, and horror criticism. He is also a frequent contributor to Skeptic magazine, and has earned praise from Archaeology magazine for his online resource Lost Civilizations Uncovered for debunking claims of fringe archaeology. Colavito currently works as an editor and writer based in Albany, New York

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
A Note on the Text	p. 11
Fear, Terror, and the Supernatural	p. 13
On the Words for "Fear" in Certain Languages: A Study in Linguistic Psychology	p. 13
Excerpt from On the Sublime and Beautiful	p. 18
On the Pleasure of Writing Dismal Stories, Exciting Surprize and Horror	p. 22
Excerpt from "The Prodigal and His Brother"	p. 25
The Dread of the Supernatural The Spectator	p. 27
Gothic Horror	p. 31
The Gothics and Their Successors	p. 37
Excerpt from The Supernatural in Romantic Fiction	p. 37
Excerpt from "On Gothic Superstition"	p. 41
Excerpt from a Review of Literary Hours	p. 47
Introductory Dialogue to Tales of Terror	p. 50
Excerpt from "The Revival of Romance"	p. 53
The School of Terror	p. 58
Fiction in the Romantic Movement	p. 59
Excerpt from "Mrs. Ann Radcliffe"	p. 60
Excerpt from "Fragments of an Unpublished Manuscript"	p. 65
Letter to William Godwin	p. 66
Introduction to Ghost Stories	p. 67
A Tale for a Chimney-Corner	p. 68
Excerpt from "A Letter from Geneva"	p. 77
Remarks on Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus	p. 79
Excerpt from a Review of Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus	p. 93
Excerpt from a Review of Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus	p. 94
Review of Presumption; or the Fate of Frankenstein	p. 97
Excerpt from "Mrs. Shelley"	p. 99
Letter Denying Authorship of The Vampire	p. 103
Excerpt from "Ellis, Acton, and Currer Bell"	p. 105
Poe and His Successors	p. 108
Excerpt from "Later German Romanticism"	p. 108
The Origins of Hawthorne and Poe	p. 110
Edgar Allan Poe	p. 122
Excerpt from "Edgar Allan Poe"	p. 126
Review of The Raven and Other Poems	p. 129
Poe: Lack of Substance	p. 132
Poe's Fixing of the Short-Story Form	p. 138
Fitz-James O'Brien	p. 144
Excerpt from "The Mid-Century in America"	p. 145
Maupassant and Poe	p. 148
Advertisement for Tales of Soldiers and Civilians	p. 152
Excerpt from "Ambrose Bierce: An Appraisal"	p. 152
Bierce: Satire, Romance, Philosophy	p. 158
Excerpt from "The Short Story"	p. 160
Excerpt from "Concerning Irvin Cobb"	p. 161
Monsters of the Gilded Age	p. 164
The Physiology of "Penny Awfuls"	p. 164
Review of The Purcell Papers by J. Sheridan Le Fanu	p. 182
Excerpt from "Concerning Tea"	p. 183
Excerpt from "The New Gallery"	p. 185
The Religion of Robert Louis Stevenson	p. 187
Review of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde	p. 194
Excerpt from "Novelists' Law"	p. 195
The Secret Out	p. 196
Excerpt from "Richard Mansfield"	p. 199
Excerpt from "R. L. Stevenson"	p. 200
Excerpt from "Our Library List"	p. 200
Review of Dracula	p. 201
Supped Full with Horrors	p. 202
Review of Dracula	p. 204
Excerpt from "Open Questions: Talks with Correspondents"	p. 204
Excerpt from Human Sexuality	p. 205
Letter to Julian Hawthorne	p. 206
Excerpt from Modern Vampirism	p. 207
Frankenstein	p. 208
Fin de Siecle Science, Detection, and Terror	p. 209
Excerpt from "Fictions of the Future"	p. 209
Review of The Island of Dr. Moreau	p. 211
Review of The Invisible Man	p. 214
Excerpt from "Love, War and Pseudo-science"	p. 215
Mr. Wells's War of the Worlds	p. 215
Review of The War of the Worlds	p. 218
Excerpt from The Technique of the Mystery Story	p. 219
Review of My Friend the Murderer	p. 220
Excerpt from "Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles"	p. 221
Curiosity and Horror in the Theatre	p. 223
Review of The Three Imposters	p. 227
Review of The Great God Pan	p. 228
The Gospel of Intensity	p. 230
Excerpt from "Oscar Wilde"	p. 255
Art and Luxury	p. 257
Ghosts and Kindred Horrors	p. 265
Excerpt from "A Study of Individual Psychology"	p. 265
The Value of the Supernatural in Fiction	p. 267
Some Japanese Bogie-Books	p. 279
Ghost Stories	p. 292
Excerpt from "Books of the Christmas Season"	p. 294
Two Volumes from Henry James	p. 295
Excerpt from "Gillette"	p. 297
Excerpt from "Chronicle and Comment"	p. 299
Review of The King in Yellow	p. 300
Review of The Wind in the Rose Bush	p. 300
Mr. Morris's "The Footprint"	p. 301
Algernon Blackwood-An Appreciation	p. 303
Robert Hichens	p. 307
The Creeps	p. 324
The Decay of the Ghost in Fiction	p. 329
Toward a Horror Genre	p. 337
The Supernatural in Fiction	p. 337
The Abuse of the Supernatural in Fiction	p. 342
Review of The Supernatural in Modern English Fiction	p. 350
Excerpt from The Supernatural in Modern English Fiction	p. 356
Timeline of Major Works of Horror	p. 367
Index	p. 369
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