"A Hideous Bit of Morbidity": An Anthology of Horror Criticism from the Enlightenment to World War I

by Jason Colavito (Editor)

Overview

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 put the work in context. The book also includes an overview of horror criticism, a publication timeline, and period photographs and illustrations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786469093
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	04/09/2012
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Jason Colavito is also a frequent contributor to Skeptic magazine, and has earned praise from Archaeology magazine for his archaeology writing. He lives in Albany, New York and can be found online at www.JasonColavito.com.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents



Introduction 1

A Note on the Text 11



1. FEAR, TERROR, AND THE SUPERNATURAL 13

On the Words for "Fear" in Certain Languages:

A Study in Linguistic Psychology

Alex F. Chamberlain 13

Excerpt from On the Sublime and Beautiful

Edmund Burke 18

On the Pleasure of Writing Dismal Stories,

Exciting Surprize and Horror

Daniel Defoe 22

Excerpt from "The Prodigal and His Brother"

Frederick W. Robertson 25

The Dread of the Supernatural

The Spectator 27

Gothic Horror

Lafcadio Hearn 31



2. THE GOTHICS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS 37

Excerpt from The Supernatural in Romantic Fiction

Edward Yardley 37

Excerpt from "On Gothic Superstition"

Nathan Drake 41

Excerpt from a Review of Literary Hours

by Nathan Drake The Monthly Review 47

Introductory Dialogue to Tales of Terror

Matthew Lewis (attributed) 50

Excerpt from "The Revival of Romance"

Walter Raleigh 53

The School of Terror

Thomas E. Rankin and Wilford M. Aikin 58

Fiction in the Romantic Movement

William Allen Neilson 59

Excerpt from "Mrs. Ann Radcliffe"

Sir Walter Scott 60

Excerpt from "Fragments of an Unpublished Manuscript"

Adam Eagle (Fitz-James O'Brien) 65

Letter to William Godwin

Charles Lamb 66

Introduction to Ghost Stories

Rudolph Ackermann 67

A Tale for a Chimney-Corner

Leigh Hunt 68

Excerpt from "A Letter from Geneva"

John Polidori 77

Remarks on Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus

Sir Walter Scott 79

Excerpt from a Review of Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus

John Croker 93

Excerpt from a Review of Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus

The Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany 94

Review of Presumption; or the Fate of Frankenstein

The London Magazine 97

Excerpt from "Mrs. Shelley"

R. H. Horne 99

Letter Denying Authorship of The Vampire

Lord Byron 103

Excerpt from "Ellis, Acton, and Currer Bell"

Peter Bayne 105



3. POE AND HIS SUCCESSORS 108

Excerpt from "Later German Romanticism"

George H. Danton 108

The Origins of Hawthorne and Poe

Paul Elmer More 110

Edgar Allan Poe

Robert Chambers 122

Excerpt from "Edgar Allan Poe"

James Russell Lowell 126

Review of The Raven and Other Poems

The Knickerbocker 129

Poe: Lack of Substance

W. C. Brownell 132

Poe's Fixing of the Short-Story Form

Charles Sears Baldwin 138

Fitz-James O'Brien

Charles Sears Baldwin 144

Excerpt from "The Mid-Century in America"

Henry Seidel Canby 145

Maupassant and Poe

Frederic Rowland Marvin 148

Advertisement for Tales of Soldiers and Civilians

American Publishers 152

Excerpt from "Ambrose Bierce: An Appraisal"

Frederic Taber Cooper 152

Bierce: Satire, Romance, Philosophy

Edwin Markham 158

Table of Contents vii

Excerpt from "The Short Story"

Fred Lewis Pattee 160

Excerpt from "Concerning Irvin Cobb"

The Bookman 161



4. MONSTERS OF THE GILDED AGE 164

The Physiology of "Penny Awfuls"

The London Hermit (Walter Parke) 164

Review of The Purcell Papers by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

The Saturday Review 182

Excerpt from "Concerning Tea"

E. V. Lucas 183

Excerpt from "The New Gallery"

J. Charles Cox 185

The Religion of Robert Louis Stevenson

W. J. Dawson 187

Review of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

The Dublin Review 194

Excerpt from "Novelists' Law"

Alfred Bailey 195

The Secret Out

The New York Herald Tribune 196

Excerpt from "Richard Mansfield"

William Henry Frost 199

Excerpt from "R. L. Stevenson"

Richard Le Gallienne 200

Excerpt from "Our Library List"

Murray's Magazine 200

Review of Dracula

Baron de Book-Worms 201

Supped Full with Horrors

Charles F. Lummis 202

Review of Dracula

The Literary World 204

Excerpt from "Open Questions:

Talks with Correspondents"

Current Literature 204

Excerpt from Human Sexuality

J. Richardson Parke 205

Letter to Julian Hawthorne

Edmund Clarence Stedman 206

Excerpt from Modern Vampirism

A. Osborne Eaves 207

Frankenstein

The Bookman 208



5. FIN DE SIÈCLE SCIENCE, DETECTION, AND TERROR 209

Excerpt from "Fictions of the Future"

The Dublin Review 209

Review of The Island of Dr Moreau

The Baron de Book-Worms 211

Review of The Invisible Man

William Morton Payne 214

Excerpt from "Love, War and Pseudo-science"

William Lyon Phelps 215

Mr. Wells's War of the Worlds

Clement Shorter 215

Review of The War of the Worlds

William Morton Payne 218

Excerpt from The Technique of the Mystery Story

Carolyn Wells 219

Review of My Friend the Murderer

The Literary World 220

Excerpt from "Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles"

Arthur Bartlett Maurice 221

Curiosity and Horror in the Theatre

Arthur Bingham Walkley 223

Review of The Three Imposters

The Bookman 227

Review of The Great God Pan

Richard Henry Stoddard 228

The Gospel of Intensity

Harry Quilter 230

Excerpt from "Oscar Wilde"

A. Edward Newton 255

Art and Luxury

Ramiro de Maetzu 257



6. GHOSTS AND KINDRED HORRORS 265

Excerpt from "A Study of Individual Psychology"

Caroline Miles 265

The Value of the Supernatural in Fiction

Lafcadio Hearn 267

Some Japanese Bogie-Books

Andrew Lang 279

Ghost Stories

W. F. Dawson 292

Excerpt from "Books of the Christmas Season"

Noah Brooks 294

Two Volumes from Henry James

Henry Wysham Lanier 295

Excerpt from "Gillette"

Amy Leslie 297

Excerpt from "Chronicle and Comment"

The Bookman 299

Review of The King in Yellow

The Literary World 300

Review of The Wind in the Rose Bush

The Literary World 300

Mr. Morris's "The Footprint"

Ward Clark 301

Algernon Blackwood-An Appreciation

Grace Isabel Colbron 303

Robert Hichens

Frederic Taber Cooper 307

The Creeps

H. D. Traill 324

The Decay of the Ghost in Fiction

Olivia Howard Dunbar 329



7. TOWARD A HORROR GENRE 337

The Supernatural in Fiction

Andrew Lang 337

The Abuse of the Supernatural in Fiction

Edmund Gosse 342

Review of The Supernatural in Modern English Fiction

Montague Summers 350

Excerpt from The Supernatural in Modern English Fiction

Dorothy Scarborough 356



Appendix: Timeline of Major Works of Horror 367

Index 369

Editorial Reviews

delightful...cleverly related illustrations...the volume complements rather than duplicating existing resources on the field. I hope a companion volume covering the more recent era will be forthcoming”—Science Fiction Studies; “a veritable feast...nicely produced”—SF Site.

From the Publisher