This two-volume set offers comprehensive coverage of horror literature that spans its deep history, dominant themes, significant works, and major authors, such as Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, and Anne Rice, as well as lesser-known horror writers. Many of today's horror story fans—who appreciate horror through movies, television, video games, graphic novels, and other forms—probably don't realize that horror literature is not only one of the most popular types of literature but one of the oldest. People have always been mesmerized by stories that speak to their deepest fears. Horror Literature through History shows 21st-century horror fans the literary sources of their favorite entertainment and the rich intrinsic value of horror literature in its own right. Through profiles of major authors, critical analyses of important works, and overview essays focused on horror during particular periods as well as on related issues such as religion, apocalypticism, social criticism, and gender, readers will discover the fascinating early roots and evolution of horror writings as well as the reciprocal influence of horror literature and horror cinema. This unique two-volume reference set provides wide coverage that is current and compelling to modern readers—who are of course also eager consumers of entertainment. In the first section, overview essays on horror during different historical periods situate works of horror literature within the social, cultural, historical, and intellectual currents of their respective eras, creating a seamless narrative of the genre's evolution from ancient times to the present. The second section demonstrates how otherwise unrelated works of horror have influenced each other, how horror subgenres have evolved, and how a broad range of topics within horror—such as ghosts, vampires, religion, and gender roles—have been handled across time. The set also provides alphabetically arranged reference entries on authors, works, and specialized topics that enable readers to zero in on information and concepts presented in the other sections.

Table of Contents:
Guide to Related Topics Preface Introduction: Spookhouses, Catharsis, and Dark Consolations Timeline of Horror Literature through History VOLUME 1 Part One: Horror through History Horror in the Ancient World Horror in the Middle Ages Horror in the Early Modern Era Horror in the Eighteenth Century Horror in the Nineteenth Century Horror from 1900 to 1950 Horror from 1950 to 2000 Horror in the Twenty-First Century Part Two: Themes, Topics, and Genres Apocalyptic Horror Eco-horror Gender, Sexuality, and the Monsters of Literary Horror Ghost Stories The Gothic Literary Tradition Gothic Poetry Horror Anthologies Horror Comics Horror Criticism Horror Literature and Science Fiction Horror Literature as Social Criticism and Commentary Horror Literature in the Internet Age Horror Publishing, 1975–1995: The Boom Years Horror Video Games The Legacy of Frankenstein: From Gothic Novel to Cultural Myth Occult Fiction Page to Screen: The Influence of Literary Horror on Film and Television Religion, Horror, and the Supernatural Shakespearean Horrors Small Press, Specialty, and Online Horror Vampire Fiction from Dracula to Lestat and Beyond Weird and Cosmic Horror Fiction Young Adult Horror Fiction Part Three: Reference Entries (Authors, Works, and Specialized Topics) Aickman, Robert Ainsworth, William Harrison Ajvide Lindqvist, John Alcott, Louisa May Alone with the Horrors Alraune Ancestral Curse Arkham House At the Mountains of Madness Ballard, J. G. Barker, Clive Barlow, R. H. Barron, Laird Baudelaire, Charles "The Beast with Five Fingers" Beaumont, Charles Beloved Benson, E. F. Bierce, Ambrose Blackwood, Algernon Bleiler, E. F. Bloch, Robert Body Horror Body Snatching Books of Blood Borges, Jorge Luis Bowen, Marjorie Bradbury, Ray Bram Stoker Award Brennan, Joseph Payne Brite, Poppy Z. The Brontë Sisters Brown, Charles Brockden Bulwer-Lytton, Edward Burnt Offerings Butler, Octavia E. Buzzati, Dino Byron, Lord Byronic Hero "The Call of Cthulhu" Campbell, Ramsey Carmilla Carrion Comfort Carroll, Jonathan Carter, Angela The Case of Charles Dexter Ward "Casting the Runes" The Castle of Otranto The Ceremonies Chambers, Robert W. Charnas, Suzy McKee "The Chimney" Cisco, Michael Coleridge, Samuel Taylor Collier, John Collins, Wilkie "The Colour out of Space" Communion Conjure Wife Coppard, A. E. Crawford, F. Marion Cthulhu Mythos Dagon The Damnation Game The Damned The Dark Domain Dark Fantasy Dark Gods The Dark Tower Datlow, Ellen de la Mare, Walter "The Death of Halpin Frayser" "The Demon Lover" Derleth, August The Devil Rides Out Devils and Demons Dick, Philip K. Doubles, Doppelgängers, and Split Selves Dracula Dreams and Nightmares The Drowning Girl du Maurier, Daphne Due, Tananarive "The Dunwich Horror" Ellison, Harlan Etchison, Dennis Ewers, Hanns Heinz The Exorcist "The Fall of the House of Usher" Farris, John Faulkner, William Fear Féval, Paul Forbidden Knowledge or Power Frame Story Frankenstein Gaiman, Neil Gautier, Théophile "The Ghost Ship" Ghost Story The Girl Next Door "The Girl with the Hungry Eyes" Gogol, Nikolai The Golem "Good Country People" Gothic Hero/Villain Grabinski, Stefan Grant, Charles L. "The Great God Pan" "Green Tea" The Grotesque Haggard, H. Rider Haining, Peter Hand, Elizabeth The Hands of Orlac Hardy, Thomas Harris, Thomas Hartley, L. P. Harvest Home The Haunted House or Castle The Haunting of Hill House Hawthorne, Nathaniel Hearn, Lafcadio Hell House Herbert, James Hichens, Robert Hill, Joe Hill, Susan The Historian Hodgson, William Hope Hoffmann, E. T. A. "The Horla" The Hound of the Baskervilles The House Next Door House of Leaves The House of the Seven Gables The House on the Borderland Howard, Robert E. Hubbard, L. Ron Hugo, Victor Huysmans, J. K. I Am Legend "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" In a Glass Darkly Incubi and Succubi International Gothic Association International Horror Guild Award Interview with the Vampire The Invisible Man Irving, Washington The Island of Doctor Moreau It VOLUME 2 Jackson, Shirley James, Henry James, M. R. The Jewel of Seven Stars John Silence: Physician Extraordinary Joshi, S. T. Joyce, Graham Kafka, Franz Keene, Brian Ketchum, Jack Kiernan, Caitlín R. King, Stephen The King in Yellow Kipling, Rudyard Kirk, Russell Klein, T. E. D. Kneale, Nigel Koja, Kathe Koontz, Dean Kuttner, Henry Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things Lane, Joel Lansdale, Joe R. "The Last Feast of Harlequin" "Lazarus" Le Fanu, J. Sheridan Lee, Tanith Lee, Vernon "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" Leiber, Fritz Lewis, Matthew Gregory "Ligeia" Ligotti, Thomas Link, Kelly "The Listeners" Long, Frank Belknap "Lot No. 249" Lovecraft, H. P. Lovecraftian Horror Lumley, Brian The Lurker at the Threshold Machen, Arthur "Mackintosh Willy" Mad Scientist Malpertuis The Manuscript Found in Saragossa Martin, George R. R. "The Masque of the Red Death" Matheson, Richard Maturin, Charles Robert Maupassant, Guy de McCammon, Robert R. McDowell, Michael McGrath, Patrick Melmoth the Wanderer Metcalfe, John Meyrink, Gustav Miéville, China The Mind Parasites Misery The Monk "The Monkey's Paw" Monsters Moore, Alan Morrell, David Morrison, Toni Morrow, W. C. "Mr. Arcularis" Mummies "The Music of Erich Zann" The Mysteries of Udolpho New Weird Newman, Kim The Night Land Night Shift Nolan, William F. Northanger Abbey "The Novel of the Black Seal" Novels versus Short Fiction The Numinous Oates, Joyce Carol O'Brien, Fitz-James Occult Detectives O'Connor, Flannery The October Country Oliver, Reggie Onions, Oliver The Other Our Lady of Darkness "Out of the Deep" Palahniuk, Chuck Penny Dreadful The Phantom of the Opera "The Phantom 'Rickshaw" Phantoms "Pickman's Model" The Picture of Dorian Gray Poe, Edgar Allan Possession and Exorcism The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner Psychological Horror Pulp Horror Quinn, Seabury Quiroga, Horacio Radcliffe, Ann The Rats "The Rats in the Walls" Ray, Jean "The Reach" "The Recrudescence of Imray"/"The Return of Imray" The Return Rice, Anne "Ringing the Changes" "The Rocking-Horse Winner" Rohmer, Sax Romanticism and Dark Romanticism Rosemary's Baby Russell, Ray Saki Samuels, Mark Sandkings "The Sand-man" Sarban "Sardonicus" "Schalken the Painter" Schulz, Bruno Schweitzer, Darrell "The Screaming Skull" She Shea, Michael Shelley, Mary Shiel, M. P. The Shining Shirley Jackson Awards "A Short Trip Home" "Silent Snow, Secret Snow" Simmons, Dan Smith, Clark Ashton Something Wicked This Way Comes Song of Kali The Songs of Maldoror (Les Chants de Maldoror) Spiritualism Splatterpunk "Sredni Vashtar" Stevenson, Robert Louis Stoker, Bram The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Straub, Peter Sturgeon, Theodore The Sublime Summers, Montague Surrealism Tem, Melanie Terror versus Horror Tessier, Thomas "There's a Long, Long Trail A-Winding" "They" "Thrawn Janet" Transformation and Metamorphosis Trilby The Turn of the Screw The Uncanny Unreliable Narrator Vampires "The Vampyre" VanderMeer, Jeff Varney the Vampire; or, The Feast of Blood Vathek Wagner, Karl Edward Wakefield, H. R. Walpole, Horace Wandrei, Donald Weird Tales Wellman, Manly Wade Wells, H. G. Welty, Eudora The Werewolf of Paris Werewolves Wharton, Edith Wheatley, Dennis "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs" "The White Hands" "The White People" Whitehead, Henry S. "The Willows" Wilson, F. Paul Witches and Witchcraft The Woman in Black World Fantasy Award Wyndham, John Yarbro, Chelsea Quinn "The Yellow Wall-Paper" "Young Goodman Brown" "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" Zombies Select Bibliography About the Editor and Contributors Index