Grand-Guignol: The French Theatre of Horror

The Théâtre du Grand-Guignol in Paris (1897–1962) achieved a legendary reputation as the “Theatre of Horror”, a venue displaying such explicit violence and blood-curdling terror that a resident doctor was employed to treat the numerous spectators who fainted each night. Indeed, the phrase grand guignol has entered the language to describe any display of sensational horror.

Since the theater closed its doors forty years ago, the genre has been overlooked by critics and theater historians. T...