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.

This collection of essays examines the legacy of H.P. Lovecraft’s most important critical work, Supernatural Horror in Literature. Each chapter illuminates a crucial aspect of Lovecraft’s criticism, from its aesthetic, philosophical and literary sources, to its psychobiological underpinnings, to its pervasive influence on the conception and course of horror and weird literature through the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. These essays investigate the meaning of cosmic horror before and after Lovecraft, explore his critical relevance to contemporary social science, feminist and queer readings of his work, and ultimately reveal Lovecraft’s importance for contemporary speculative philosophy, film and literature.

”The reader would do well to remember that it is Lovecraft‘s shadow which overlies almost all of the important horror fiction.”—Stephen King Written by arguably the most important horror writer of the twentieth century, H. P. Lovecraft’s 1927 essay “Supernatural Horror in Literature” traces the evolution of the genre from the early Gothic novels to the work of contemporary American and British authors. Throughout, Lovecraft acknowledges those authors and stories that he feels are the very finest the horror field has to offer: Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry James, Rudyard Kipling, Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson, Guy de Maupassant, Ambrose Bierce, and Arthur Conan Doyle, each prefaced by Lovecraft's own opinions and insights in their work. This chilling collection also contains Henry James’ wonderfully atmospheric short novel The Turn of the Screw. For every fan of modern horror, here is an opportunity to rediscover the origins of the genre with some of most terrifying stories ever imagined.

Prepare to embark on a journey into the chilling unknown with "Supernatural Horror in Literature: A Journey into the Chilling Unknown" by H. P. Lovecraft. In this captivating exploration, Lovecraft delves into the darkest corners of the human psyche, unraveling tales of terror and dread that will haunt your dreams. As you delve into Lovecraft's macabre world, be prepared to confront ancient evils, cosmic horrors, and unspeakable terrors beyond human comprehension. Lovecraft's mastery of the supernatural genre will transport you to realms where sanity teeters on the brink of oblivion. But here's the question that lingers in the shadows: What if the true horror lies not in the monsters that lurk in the darkness, but in the existential dread that permeates the human experience? Could Lovecraft's tales of cosmic insignificance and existential terror be reflections of our own fears and anxieties? Engage with Lovecraft's seminal work as he guides you through the annals of supernatural literature, from the eerie tales of Edgar Allan Poe to the spine-chilling stories of Algernon Blackwood. Through his insightful analysis and unparalleled storytelling, Lovecraft offers readers a glimpse into the abyss of the unknown. Are you ready to confront the horrors that lurk beyond the veil of reality? Immerse yourself in Lovecraft's world of eldritch horrors and forbidden knowledge, where each story is a journey into the depths of the human psyche. Let Lovecraft's haunting prose and vivid imagination transport you to realms where the line between dreams and nightmares blurs. Here's your invitation to explore the twisted landscapes of the supernatural with H. P. Lovecraft's "Supernatural Horror in Literature." Will you accept the challenge and venture into the chilling unknown? Don't miss out on the opportunity to experience this timeless masterpiece. Purchase your copy of "Supernatural Horror in Literature: A Journey into the Chilling Unknown" now, and prepare to confront the darkness that lies within.

We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive classic literature collection. This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts, We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. Also in books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy. We use state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."Supernatural Horror in Literature" is a long essay by the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft surveying the topic of horror fiction. It was written between November 1925 and May 1927 and revised during 1933-1934. Lovecraft examines the beginnings of weird fiction in the gothic novel (relying greatly on Edith Birkhead's 1921 survey The Tale of Terror) and traces its development through such writers as Ambrose Bierce, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe (who merits his own chapter). Lovecraft names as the four "modern masters" of horror: Algernon Blackwood, Lord Dunsany, M. R. James, and Arthur Machen.

How is this book unique? Font adjustments & biography included Unabridged (100% Original content) Formatted for e-reader Illustrated About Supernatural Horror in Literature by H. P. Lovecraft "Supernatural Horror in Literature" is a book by the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft surveying the topic of horror fiction. Lovecraft examines the beginnings of weird fiction in the gothic novel (relying greatly on Edith Birkhead's 1921 survey The Tale of Terror) and traces its development through such writers as Ambrose Bierce, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe (who merits his own chapter). Lovecraft names as the four "modern masters" of horror: Algernon Blackwood, Lord Dunsany, M. R. James, and Arthur Machen. An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia terms the work "HPL's most significant literary essay and one of the finest historical analyses of horror literature." Upon reading the essay, M. R. James proclaimed Lovecraft's style "most offensive". However, Edmund Wilson, who was not an admirer of Lovecraft's fiction, praised the essay as a "really able piece of work...he had read comprehensively in this field--he was strong on the Gothic novelists--and writes about it with much intelligence".David G. Hartwell has called "Supernatural Horror in Literature", "the most important essay on horror literature".

This single author collection of essays tackles the usual subjects in horror literature—particularly Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, H. P. Lovecraft and Ramsey Campbell—but also examines some of the less well-known names of the genre, including Charles Brockden Brown and Algernon Blackwood.

Originally published in 1927 in a small-circulation amateur magazine, spanning the period from antiquity until the 1930s, and covering both the Anglo-American world and Continental Europe, Lovecraft’s essay remains unparallelled as a survey of horror literature in our hemisphere. Said literature’s emergence as a genre coincided with the institutional establishment of liberalism, which represents a diametrically opposed worldview. This would suggest that horror literature, even if inadvertently or subconsciously, represents an attempt at escaping the limitations of the secular, materialist, rationalist Weltanschauung of liberal modernity, as well as a desire for meaning in a world rendered meaningless through ‘liberation’ from hierarchies, folk traditions, the occult, and the supernatural. Also of interest is the fact that the aesthetics of Gothic horror are invariably and luxuriantly beautiful (if in a dark way), whereas the logical extreme of rationality (utilitarianism, standardisation) is inherently anti-aesthetic. Would this not indicate, then, that the Age of Reason marked the beginning of a process that concluded in late modernity with the wholesale destruction of beauty, except where it, or the counterfeiting of it, was dictated by economic necessity? If so, we may view Lovecraft’s essay not merely as a resource for those seeking entertainment within a genre of literature, but also a map for those seeking to escape, and begin to transcend, the despair engendered by a worldview that pronounced itself dead when someone spoke of ‘the end of history’.