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A Dark Night's Dreaming: Contemporary American Horror Fiction (Understanding Contemporary American Literature) Hardcover – January 1, 1996

by Tony Magistrale (Editor), Michael A. Morrison (Editor)

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A Dark Night's Dreaming opens by defining the shape of horror fiction today, illuminating the genre's narrative themes, psychological and social contexts, and historical development. The core of the volume focuses on the lives and major works of the six who have dramatically shaped the genre: William Peter Blatty, Thomas Harris, Stephen King, Anne Rice, Peter Straub, and Whitley Strieber. A final chapter analyzes the complex relationship between horror fiction and its adaptation to film.
Looking beyond the tormented maidens, madmen, monsters, and other archetypes of the genre, these critics differentiate contemporary Gothic fiction from that of earlier generations while demonstrating that horror remains one of the most important and consistent strains connecting the diverse elements of the American literary tradition. They comment on the genre's enormous popularity and undeniable influence in American society and scrutinize its changing representations of women, monsters, and gore. The volume concludes with an extensive bibliography of primary and secondary works.

Print length

192 pages
Language

English
Publisher

University of South Carolina Press
Publication date

January 1, 1996
Dimensions

6.5 x 0.75 x 9.75 inches
ISBN-10

1570030707
ISBN-13

978-1570030703
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Like a number of other writers, Tony Magistrale and Michael A. Morrison are inclined to use the word gothic more or less interchangeably with horror. In their well-written introduction to this anthology of critical essays they point out differences between the gothic works of the period they're covering (1970 to about 1995) and the 18th-century gothics: the physical trappings of tunnels, staircases, enclosed spaces, if present at all, are only symbols for the psychological environment of people who fear social and/or personal disintegration; the female victim is now often the hero as well, and calls on her own resources to vanquish the monster; and the image of the monster is more human than it used to be, more of a dark reflection of ourselves.

A Dark Night's Dreaming collects eight essays by well-known horror critics such as Douglas E. Winter (author of Stephen King: The Art of Darkness). The first essay is on the nature and archetypes of "horror at the end of the century" (picking up in 1980, where Stephen King's Danse Macabre leaves off). One essay each is devoted to the authors Thomas Harris, Stephen King, Anne Rice, Peter Straub, William Peter Blatty, and Whitley Strieber. The last essay is on the interplay between horror fiction and film. Included is an excellent 13-page bibliography of primary (emphasizing fiction in the years 1988-94) and secondary sources.

Note: the dust jacket features a good color reproduction of William Blake's The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun, known to readers of Thomas Harris's Red Dragon as the painting that serial killer Francis Dolarhyde is obsessed with--and which also gives the novel its title. --Fiona Webster

Review

This gathering of contemporary horror fiction surveys the genre's themes, contexts, and development through a reflection on the lives and works of six who've shaped the genre: William Blatty, Stephen King, Anne Rice, and others. Although scholarly in tone and content, this is sure to intrigue any avid genre fan who wants a studied analysis of writers and their works. -- Midwest Book Review

Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of South Carolina Press (January 1, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1570030707
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1570030703
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 0.75 x 9.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #6,032,295 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #19,257 in American Literature Criticism
- #42,994 in Literary Criticism & Theory
- #56,317 in Literary Movements & Periods

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Weaver

Uneven quality, but two of the chapters are excellent.

Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 1999

In the past few years there seems to have been an explosion of commentary on horror fiction, but the quality of that commentary has been uneven. Some works seem more interested in "justifying" horror as a legitmate genre--they do more cheerleading and gushing than really insightful writing. I find much commentary on King to fall into this category (particularly, Winter's THE ART OF DARKNESS and some commentary on the genre done by Clive Barker). Others are so full of inflated scholarly jargon that it's hard to fight your way through the prose to figure out what the ideas are. Nina Auerbach's OUR VAMPIRES, OURSELVES comes to mind here.
A DARK NIGHT'S DREAMING falls somewhere in the middle. For the most part, this collection is quite readable, but the quality of the essays is uneven. I found little new or insightful in the background essays on the genre or on the influence of film, and that was disappointing. I was also disappointed in the chapter on King. On the other hand, I thought two of the chapters were very good--the one on William Peter Bladdy--which mixed some biographical background with commentary on the novel and the movie adaption of THE EXORCIST quite skillfully. And the chapter on Thomas Harris which really led me to think about THE RED DRAGON and THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS in a different light--and especially to think about the popularity of "serial killer" fiction and how it fits into the horror genre.
One could hope for a better collection overall, but this one certainly had its moments.

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