|
Supernatural Horror In Literature
"Supernatural Horror in Literature" is a 28,000-word essay by American writer H. P. Lovecraft, surveying the development and achievements of horror fiction as the field stood in the 1920s and 30s. The essay was researched and written between November 1925 and May 1927, first published in a small-circulation amateur magazine in August 1927, and then revised and expanded during 1933–1934. The essay Lovecraft's meticulously researched essay covers a broad spectrum, attempting to present a comprehensive historical account of horror literature, with insights into the nature, development and history of the weird tale. Beginning with the genre's alchemical and folkloric roots, it continues with tales of diabolism from the Renaissance, the birth of Gothic fiction towards the end of the 18th century and its migration to the "New World" during the 19th, and it ends with an acknowledgement of Lovecraft's most noteworthy contemporaries. As a guide to early Gothic fiction, the author reli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horror Fiction
Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare an audience. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defined the horror story as "a piece of fiction in prose of variable length... which shocks, or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing". Horror intends to create an eerie and frightening atmosphere for the reader. Often the central menace of a work of horror fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for larger fears of a society. History Before 1000 The horror genre has ancient origins, with roots in folklore and religious traditions focusing on death, the afterlife, evil, the demonic, and the principle of the thing embodied in the person. These manifested in stories of beings such as demons, witches, vampires, werewolves, and ghosts. Some early European horror-fiction were the Ancient Greeks and Ancie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macbeth
''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambitions and power. It was first published in the Folio of 1623, possibly from a prompt book, and is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy. Scholars believe ''Macbeth'', of all the plays that Shakespeare wrote during the reign of King James I, contains the most allusions to James, patron of Shakespeare's acting company. In the play, a brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to violence by his wife, Macbeth murders the king and takes the Scottish throne for himself. Then, racked with guilt and paranoia, he commits further violent murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion, soon becoming a tyrannical ruler. The bloo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melmoth The Wanderer
''Melmoth the Wanderer'' is an 1820 Gothic novel by Irish playwright, novelist and clergyman Charles Maturin. The novel's titular character is a scholar who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for 150 extra years of life, and searches the world for someone who will take over the pact for him, in a manner reminiscent of the Wandering Jew. The novel is composed of a series of nested stories within stories, gradually revealing the story of Melmoth's life. The novel offers social commentary on early 19th-century England, and denounces Roman Catholicism in favour of the virtues of Protestantism. Background The structure of the book as a series of short stories joined reflects its initial conception as such. In reality, Maturin was under pressure from his publisher to fulfil a contractual obligation, which goes some way to explaining the "chaotic and haphazard process by which (he) wrote". Maturin spent many hours researching the novel in Marsh's Library, Ireland's first public ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Maturin
Charles Robert Maturin, also known as C. R. Maturin (25 September 1780 – 30 October 1824), was an Irish Protestant clergyman (ordained in the Church of Ireland) and a writer of Gothic fiction, Gothic plays and novels.Chris Morgan, "Maturin, Charles R(obert)." in ''St. James Guide to Horror, Gothic, and Ghost Writers'', ed. David Pringle. Detroit and New York: St. James Press, 1998. (396–97) His best known work is the novel ''Melmoth the Wanderer'', published in 1820 which made a great impact on writers such as Balzac, Baudelaire and Poe. Early life Maturin was descended from Huguenots, Huguenot émigrés who left France and found shelter in Ireland in the anti-Protestant persecution which followed the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in the late seventeenth century. One of these descendants was Gabriel Jacques Maturin, who became Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin after Jonathan Swift in 1745 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Monk
''The Monk: A Romance'' is a Gothic novel by Matthew Gregory Lewis, published in 1796 across three volumes. Written early in Lewis's career, it was published anonymously when he was 20. It tells the story of a virtuous Catholic monk who gives into his lustful urges, setting off a chain of events that leave him damned. It is a prime example of the type of Gothic that specializes in horror. Upon publication, the novel proved scandalous. Readers were shocked by its sexually explicit content, and themes of rape and incest, leading it to become arguably the most controversial Gothic novel of the 18th century. There was public outcry, but the novel was hugely popular. Over time, Lewis came to feel that its writing had been in poor taste. Later editions were heavily censored by the author himself. ''The Monk'' is considered part of the gothic literary canon, a forerunner to the popular gothic novels of the 19th century, and an influence on the modern horror genre. It has been ad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matthew Gregory Lewis
Matthew Gregory Lewis (9 July 1775 – 16 May 1818) was an English novelist and dramatist, whose writings are often classified as "Gothic horror". He was frequently referred to as "Monk" Lewis, because of the success of his 1796 Gothic novel '' The Monk''. He also worked as a diplomat, politician and an estate owner in Jamaica. Biography Family Lewis was the first-born child of Matthew and Frances Maria Sewell Lewis. His father, Matthew Lewis, was the son of William Lewis and Jane Gregory and was born in England in 1750. He attended Westminster School before proceeding to Christ Church, Oxford, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1769 and his master's in 1772. During his time at Westminster, Lewis's parents separated. Mrs Lewis moved to France in this period; while there, she was in continuous correspondence with Matthew. The correspondence between Matthew and his mother consisted of discussion regarding the poor state of his mother's welfare and estate. That same year, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Brockden Brown
Charles Brockden Brown (January 17, 1771 – February 22, 1810) was an American novelist, historian, and magazine editor, editor of the Early National period. Brown is regarded by some scholars as the most important American novelist before James Fenimore Cooper. Although Brown was not the first American novelist, as some early criticism claimed, the breadth and complexity of his achievement as a writer in multiple genres (novels, short story, short stories, essays and Magazine, periodical writings, poetry, historiography, and reviews) makes him a crucial figure in literature of the early republic. His best-known works include Wieland (novel), ''Wieland'' and ''Edgar Huntly'', both of which display his characteristic interest in Gothic fiction, Gothic themes. He has been referred to as the "Father of the American Novel." Biography Early life Brown was born on January 17, 1771, the fourth of five brothers and six surviving siblings in a Philadelphia Quaker merchant family. His ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mysteries Of Udolpho
''The Mysteries of Udolpho: A Romance'' is a Gothic novel by Ann Radcliffe, which appeared in four volumes on 8 May 1794 from G. G. and J. Robinson of London. Her fourth and most popular novel, ''The Mysteries of Udolpho'' tells of Emily St. Aubert, who suffers misadventures that include the death of her mother and father, supernatural terrors in a gloomy castle, and machinations of Italian brigand Signor Montoni. It is often cited as an archetypal example of the Gothic novel. The popularity of ''The Mysteries of Udolpho'' helped cement the Gothic novel as a distinct genre, and has inspired many imitators since publication. It was a notable point of reference in Jane Austen's ''Northanger Abbey'', which both satirizes and pays homage to Gothic literature. Summary ''The Mysteries of Udolpho'' is a quintessential Gothic romance, replete with incidents of physical and psychological terror: remote crumbling castles, seemingly supernatural events, a brooding, scheming villain an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Castles Of Athlin And Dunbayne
''The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne'' is a gothic novel by Ann Radcliffe, first published in London by Thomas Hookham in 1789. In her introduction to the 1995 Oxford World Classic's edition of the text, Alison Milbank stated that the novel's plot "unites action of a specifically Scottish medieval nature with the characterization and morality of the eighteenth-century cult of sensibility." The novel, subtitled "A Highland Tale", is set in the feudal Scottish Highlands and centred around the two titular castles of Athlin and Dunbayne. Whilst Athlin – "an edifice built on the summit of a rock whose base was in the sea" – is home to a refined society headed by the gentle Countess Matilda and her children, Dunbayne is the domain of the villainous Baron Malcolm. The novel's plot follows the young Earl of Athlin, Osbert, who seeks to take revenge against the unlawful murder of his father by the Baron Malcolm twelve years earlier after meeting the peasant Alleyn (who is later rev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ann Radcliffe
Ann Radcliffe (née Ward; 9 July 1764 – 7 February 1823) was an English novelist who pioneered the Gothic fiction, Gothic novel, and a minor poet. Her fourth and most popular novel, ''The Mysteries of Udolpho'', was published in 1794. She is also remembered for ''The Romance of the Forest'' (1791) and ''The Italian (Radcliffe novel), The Italian'' (1797). Her novels combine suspenseful narratives, exotic historical settings, and apparently-supernatural events which turn out to have rational explanations. Radcliffe was famously shy and reclusive, leaving little record of the details of her life. She was born in London to a middle-class family, and was raised between Bath, Somerset and the estate of her uncle Thomas Bentley (manufacturer), Thomas Bentley. In 1787, she married William Radcliffe, a journalist, and moved to London. She published five novels between 1789 and 1797 to increasing acclaim and financial success, becoming one of the highest-paid authors of the eighteent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Old English Baron
''The Old English Baron'' is an early Gothic novel by the English author Clara Reeve. It was first published under this title in 1778, although it had anonymously appeared in May 1777 under its original name of ''The Champion of Virtue'', before Samuel Richardson's daughter, Mrs Bridgen, had edited it for her. Apart from typographical errors, the revision was trifling. Background Reeve noted in the 1778 preface that "This Story is the literary offspring of ''The Castle of Otranto'', written upon the same plan, with a design to unite the most attractive and interesting circumstances of the ancient Romance and modern Novel, at the same time it assumes a character and manner of its own, that differs from both; it is distinguished by the appellation of a Gothic Story, being a picture of Gothic times and manners." In other words, Reeve set out to take Walpole's plot and adapt it to the demands of the time by balancing fantastic elements with 18th-century realism. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
