Divided into sections that explore the origins and evolution of horror fiction, the recurrent themes that can be seen in horror, and ways of understanding horror through literary and cultural theory, the text analyses why horror is so compelling, and how we should interpret its presence in literature.

1. Introduction Kevin Corstorphine   Part I: The Origins and Evolution of Literary Horror 2. Bhayānaka (Horror and the Horrific) in Indian Aesthetics Dhananjay Singh   3. Horror in the Medieval North: The Troll Ármann Jakobsson   4. The Horror Genre and Aspects of Native American Indian Literature Joy Porter   5. Vampires, Shape-Shifters, and Sinister Light: Mistranslating Australian Aboriginal Horror in Theory and Literary Practice Naomi Simone Borwein   6. Men, Women, and Landscape in American Horror Fiction Dara Downey   7. Blood Flows Freely: The Horror of Classic Fairy Tales Lorna Piatti-Farnell   8. Turning Dark Pages and Transacting with the Inner Self: Adolescents’ Perspectives of Reading Horror Texts Phil Fitzsimmons   9. Horror and Damnation in Medieval Literature Andrew J. Power   10. The Jacobean Theater of Horror Tony Perrello   11. “A mass of unnatural and repulsive horrors”: Staging Horror in Nineteenth-Century English Theatre Sarah A. Winter   12. Horror in Gothic Chapbooks Franz J. Potter   13. “We stare and tremble”: Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Horror Novels Natalie Neill   14. “The Horror! The Horror!”: Tracing Horror in Modernism from Conrad to Eliot Matthias Stephan   15. Global Horror: Pale Horse, Pale Rider David Punter   Part II: Themes of Literary Horror   16. Vampires: Reflections in a Dark Mirror Wendy Fall   17. Zombie Fictions Anya Heise-von der Lippe   18. “You don’t think I’m like any other boy. That’s why you’re afraid”: Haunted / Haunting Children from The Turn of the Screw to Tales of Terror Chloé Germaine Buckley   19. Discussing Dolls: Horror and the Human Double Sandra Mills   20. “They Have Risen Once: They May Rise Again”: Animals in Horror Literature Bernice M. Murphy   21. Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Woods?: Deep Dark Forests and Literary Horror Elizabeth Parker   22. Disability and Horror Alan Gregory   23. Monstrous Machines and Devilish Devices Gwyneth Peaty   24. “And Send her Well-Dos’d to the Grave”: Literary Medical Horror Laura R. Kremmel   25. Imperial Horror and Terrorism Johan Höglund   26. Postmodern Literary Labyrinths: Spaces of Horror Reimagined Katharine Cox     Part III: Approaches to Literary Horror 27. Evolutionary Study of Horror Literature Mathias Clasen   28. Transgressive Horror and Politics: The Splatterpunks and Extreme Horror Aalya Ahmad   29. Boundary Crossing and Cultural Creation: Transgressive Horror and Politics of the 1990s Coco d’Hont   30. “Maggot Maladies”: Origins of Horror as a Culturally Proscribed Entertainment Sarah Cleary   31. The Mother of All Horrors: Medea’s Infanticide in African American Literature Christina Dokou   32. Horror, Race, and Reality Ordner W. Taylor, III   33. Postcolonial Horror Tabish Khair   34. Conceptualizing Varieties of Space in Horror Fiction Andrew Hock Soon Ng   35. Towards an Acoustics of Literary Horror Matt Foley   36. Hesitation Marks: The Fantastic and The Satirical in Postmodern Horror Laura Findlay   37. “It’s Alive!” New Materialism and Literary Horror Susan Yi Sencindiver   38. Horror “After Theory” Lyle Enright

This handbook examines the use of horror in storytelling, from oral traditions through folklore and fairy tales to contemporary horror fiction. Divided into sections that explore the origins and evolution of horror fiction, the recurrent themes that can be seen in horror, and ways of understanding horror through literary and cultural theory, the text analyses why horror is so compelling, and how we should interpret its presence in literature. Chapters explore historical horror aspects including ancient mythology, medieval writing, drama, chapbooks, the Gothic novel, and literary Modernism and trace themes such as vampires, children and animals in horror, deep dark forests, labyrinths, disability, and imperialism. Considering horror via postmodern theory, evolutionary psychology, postcolonial theory, and New Materialism, this handbook investigates issues of gender and sexuality, race, censorship and morality, environmental studies, and literary versus popular fiction.

Offers a refreshing update on the genre of Horror Literature, particularly in light of timely theoretical discussions such as queer theory, feminist theory, and animal studiesTraverses time periods and geographical areas, covering topics ranging from medieval European horror to zombie fictionEstablishes the importance of the horror genre within the academy, which has been grossly overlooked and downplayed until recently