- Hardcover: 280 pages
- Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press; 3rd edition (31 Oct 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0809324709
- ISBN-13: 978-0809324705
- Product Dimensions: 23.5 x 16.2 x 2.2 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,367,124 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Synopsis
In this study of fearful fictions and films, Jack Morgan rends the gothic's biological core from its oft-discussed psychological elements and argues for a more trans-historical conception of the gothic, one negatively related to comedy. This work dissects popular examples from the gothic literary and cinematic canon, exposing the inverted comic paradigm within each text. Rooting his study in comedy as theoretically conceived by Suzanne Langer, C.L. Barber and Mikhail Bakhtin, Morgan analyses the physical and mythological nature of horror in inverted comic terms, identifying a biologically grounded mythos of horror. Motifs such as sinister loci, languishment, masquerade, and subversion of sensual perception are contextualized here as embedded in an organic reality, resonating with biological motives and consequences. Morgan also devotes a chapter to the migration of the gothic tradition into American horror. Morgan's subjects range from high gothic classics like Matthew Lewis's "The Monk", Ann Radcliffe's "The Mysteries of Udolpho" and Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", to later literary works such as Poe's macabre tales, Melville's "Benito Cereno", H.P.Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hillhouse", Stephen King's "Salem's Lot" and Clive Barker's "The Damnation Game". Films featured include "Nosferatu", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", "Friday the 13th", "Night of the Living Dead", "Angel Heart", "The Stand" and "The Shining".
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First Sentence
THE WORD LIFE, ASIDE FROM MEANING THE TOTALITY of what is happening, can be taken to signify mainly two different things: the complex memory image that constitutes one's story folded into the collective history; secondly, the autonomic biological dynamic that is ongoing-the vital process in which one's body, brain included, is an entirely dependent participant-Life, with a capital L. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
THE WORD LIFE, ASIDE FROM MEANING THE TOTALITY of what is happening, can be taken to signify mainly two different things: the complex memory image that constitutes one's story folded into the collective history; secondly, the autonomic biological dynamic that is ongoing-the vital process in which one's body, brain included, is an entirely dependent participant-Life, with a capital L. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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2 reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Impressive Analysis, Very Readable
9 Oct 2003
Format:Paperback
Morgan provides persuasive readings of a number of classic and lesser-known books and films. While the book is theoretically informed, a non-specialist audience as well will find it a pleasure to read. Any fan of horror or the gothic ought to read this book.
1 of 5 people found the following review helpful
"Whatever Just Crash It"
6 Dec 2005
Format:Paperback
Toyota's recently-aired television spot featuring two male middle-schoolers and an adult technician at a crash-test facility strikes my limit when it comes to horror: i.e., mere children bullying an adult. The follow-up was even more outrageous. Thus, though not a fan exactly of gothic literature and film, but one who's aware of its pervasive (and persuasive) influence on popular culture, I keep an eye peeled. That's how I come to Jack Morgan's gem of a study. His insights into the nature of gothic make a difference, make one take it more seriously. Moreover, the actual biology is substantial and, finally, Morgan's sound scholarship and lucid prose (no slack anywhere) recommend it highly. Lucid prose.
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