The Literature of Terror

The Literature of Terror: the Modern Gothic is the second volume in David Punter's impressive survey of gothic writing covering over two centuries. The text was originally published in 1980 to wide acclaim and following its publication, critical interest in gothic writing has risen substantially. This long awaited second edition has been expanded to take into account the latest critical research, and is now published in two volumes. Volume One covers the period from 1765 to the Edwardian age while Volume Two discusses modern gothic, starting with the 'decadent' gothic writing of Oscar Wilde and continuing through the twentieth century. David Punter's thorough analysis places gothic writing within its historical and sociological context. A new chapter on post-war fiction and film extends the scope of the original study, exploring the development of a contemporary 'culture of horror' and showing the continuing relevance of the Gothic as a means of expression. This new edition also contains a new chapter which analyses the relationship between cultural material and sociopathic behaviour, offering an important contribution to contemporary sociological debate. The two volumes combined provide the most up-to-date and comprehensive introduction to gothic and related terror writing across the English language as a whole. Both volumes contain detailed bibliographies with assessment of all the significant books published in the area during the last fifteen years. The broad scope of this study enables detailed understanding of this popular genre and will be welcome reading for students of English and American literature and cultural studies. David Punter is Professor of English Studies at the University of Stirling.

Volume two continues the survey through the gothic writing of the twentienth century, it includes a new chapter on film and post-war fiction, and a detailed examination of the development of a 'culture of horror'.

Preface to the first edition Preface to the second edition Acknowledgements 1. Gothic and decadence: Robert Louis Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, H. G. Wells, Bram Stoker, Arthur Machen 2. Later American Gothic: Ambrose Bierce, Robert W. Chambers, H. P. Lovecraft 3. The ambivalence of memory: Henry James and Walter de la Mare 4. Formalism and meaning in the ghost story: Arthur Conan Doyle, H. G. Wells, Algernon Blackwood, M. R. James, David Lindsay 5. Gothic in the horror film 1930-1980 6. Modern perspectives of the barbaric: Mervyn Peake, 'Isak Dinesen', John Hawkes, Joyce Carol Oates, James Purdy, William Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, J. G. Ballard, Robert Coover, Angela Carter 7. Contemporary Gothic transformations 8. Mutations of terror: theory and Gothic Bibliography Index