Providing an indispensable resource for academics as well as readers interested in the evolution of horror fiction in the 20th century, this book provides a readable yet critical guide to global horror fiction and authors. Horror Fiction in the 20th Century encompasses the world of 20th-century horror literature and explores it in a critical but balanced fashion. Readers will be exposed to the world of horror literature, a truly global phenomenon during the 20th century. Beginning with the modern genre's roots in the 19th century, the book proceeds to cover 20th-century horror literature in all of its manifestations, whether in comics, pulps, paperbacks, hardcover novels, or mainstream magazines, and from every country that produced it. The major horror authors of the century receive their due, but the works of many authors who are less well-known or who have been forgotten are also described and analyzed. In addition to providing critical assessments and judgments of individual authors and works, the book describes the evolution of the genre and the major movements within it. Horror Fiction in the 20th Century stands out from its competitors and will be of interest to its readers because of its informed critical analysis, its unprecedented coverage of female authors and writers of color, and its concise historical overview.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction Why Write About Horror? What Is Horror Fiction? American and British Horror Literature Before the Twentieth Century International Horror Part One 1901–1939, The Golden Age Chapter 1 British Writers The "Classical" Tradition(s) The Machen Quartet Breaks with Tradition Naturalism and the Psychological Ghost Story Traditionalists and Holdovers New Voices The War Years Voices of the Twenties The End of the Golden Age Chapter 2 American Writers The Great Age of the American Ghost Story East Coast versus West Coast The East Coast School Sexism and Great Age Content East Coast Membership The West Coast School Exceptions After Weird Tales' Debut Chapter 3 Horror in the Pulps Before Weird Tales Weird Tales H. P. Lovecraft The Weird Tales Crew What Lovecraft and Weird Tales Wrought, and What They Did Not Outside of Weird Tales The Shudder Pulps The End of Weird Tales' Golden Age Chapter 4 Horror in the Mainstream The Creation of the Mainstream Before the Great War America England After the War Chapter 5 Outside the Anglosphere, 1901–1939 Africa (Angola, Lesotho, Nigeria, South Africa) The Americas (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela) Asia (India, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Philippines) Europe (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia and the Soviet Union, Spain) The Middle East (Egypt, Iran, Turkey) Part Two 1940–1970, Midcentury Frights Chapter 6 American Writers Ray Bradbury Robert Bloch Richard Matheson Charles Beaumont The Group Fritz Leiber Midcentury Writers of Horror One-Shots Chapter 7 British Writers The Changing Landscape The 1940s The 1950s The 1960s Chapter 8 Horror in the Mainstream The Effects of the War American Writers Writers of the United Kingdom Chapter 9 Horror on the Cheap Pulps and Digests Paperbacks Comics Chapter 10 Outside the Anglosphere, 1940–1970 Africa (Angola, Congo, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Lesotho, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa) The Americas (Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico, Uruguay, Venezuela) Asia (India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines) Europe (Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain) The Middle East (Israel, Syria, Turkey) Part Three 1971–2000, The Boom Years Chapter 11 Horror as Big Business American Best Sellers The British Response In the Mainstream Chapter 12 The Boom and Bust of the 1980s and 1990s Full-Timers Part-Timers, Tourists, and Dabblers RPG Fiction Chapter 13 Short-Fiction Authors, 1971–2000 From Before the Boom The 1970s Generation The 1980s Generation The 1990s Generation Chapter 14 Horror for Children and Young Adults 1900–1960 The 1960s The 1970s The 1980s The 1990s Chapter 15 Outsiders Writing Horror African American Writers Australian Aboriginal Writers Latinx Horror Native American Horror Queer Horror Chapter 16 Outside the Anglosphere, 1971–2000 Africa (Congo, Guinea, Kenya, Mauritania, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa) The Americas (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Québec, Venezuela) Asia (China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand) Europe (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland) The Middle East (Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Syria, Turkey) Epilogue Notes Selected Bibliography Index