Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares

809 Pages·2006·4.33 MB·English

by  S. T. Joshi

Icons of Horror and the
Supernatural: An
Encyclopedia of Our Worst
Nightmares,
Volumes 1 & 2
Edited by
S. T. Joshi
Greenwood Press
ICONS OF HORROR
AND THE
SUPERNATURAL

ICONS OF HORROR
AND THE
SUPERNATURAL
An Encyclopedia of
Our Worst Nightmares
VOLUME 1
Edited by S. T. Joshi
Greenwood Icons
GREENWOOD PRESS
Westport, Connecticut (cid:1) London
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Iconsofhorrorandthesupernatural:anencyclopediaofourworstnightmares/editedby
S.T.Joshi.
p.cm.—(Greenwoodicons)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-313-33780-2(set:alk.paper)—ISBN0-313-33781-0(vol1:alk.paper)—
ISBN0-313-33782-9(vol2:alk.paper)
1. Horrortales—Historyandcriticism. 2. Supernaturalinliterature. 3. Horrorfilms—
Historyandcriticism. 4. Supernaturalinmotionpictures. I. Joshi,S.T.,1958-
PN56.H6I26 2007
809'.9164—dc22 2006031212
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable.
Copyright#2007byS.T.Joshi
Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe
reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe
expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:2006031212
ISBN:0-313-33780-2(set)
0-313-33781-0(vol.1)
0-313-33782-9(vol.2)
Firstpublishedin2007
GreenwoodPress,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881
AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc.
www.greenwood.com
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe
PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational
InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48-1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Photos vii
Preface ix
Volume 1
The Alien, Donald R. Burleson 1
The Angel and the Demon, Matt Cardin 31
The Cosmic Horror, Brian Stableford 65
The Cthulhu Mythos, S. T. Joshi 97
The Curse, Alan Warren 129
The Devil, Darrell Schweitzer 161
The Doppelga¨nger, Tony Fonseca 187
The Ghost, Melissa Mia Hall 215
The Ghoul, Scott Connors 243
The Haunted House, Steven J. Mariconda 267
The Immortal, Brian Stableford 307
The Monster, Richard Bleiler 341
The Mummy, Paula Guran 375
Volume 2
The Psychic, Tony Fonseca 409
The Sea Creature, Mike Ashley 441
vi Contents
The Serial Killer, Hank Wagner 473
The Siren, Melissa Mia Hall 507
The Small-Town Horror, John Langan 537
The Sorcerer, K. A. Laity 565
The Urban Horror, Rob Latham 591
The Vampire, Margaret L. Carter 619
The Werewolf, Stefan Dziemianowicz 653
The Witch, Bernadette Lynn Bosky 689
The Zombie, June Pulliam 723
General Bibliography 755
Notes on Contributors 761
Index 767
List of Photos
The Alien (page 1) is present in this still from Ron Haskin’s 1953 film The
War of the Worlds # Paramount/The Kobol Collection. Courtesy of
Picturedesk.
A stillfrom WilliamFreidkin’s1973filmTheExorcistturnsustoTheAngel
and the Demon (page 31). Courtesy of Photofest.
TheCosmicHorror(page65)ismadevividwiththisstillfromthe1993film
Necronomicon. # Hadida/Davis Film/Yuzna Prods/The Kobol Collec-
tion. Courtesy of Picturedesk.
For the Cthulhu Mythos (page 97), what better than a reproduction of this
June 1936 cover of Astounding Stories, illustrating H. P. Lovecraft’s
‘‘TheShadowoutofTime’’andPeaslee’sencounterwiththeGreatRace.
# Mary Evans Picture Library/Alamy.
The Curse (page 129) is evoked by this poster for Jacques Tourneur’s 1957
film Curse of the Demon. Courtesy of Photofest.
The Devil (page 161), is revealed with serial killer Gilles de Rais. Accused of
evokingtheDevilbysacrificingchildren,forthisandotherwickednesshe
was condemned to death. # Mary Evans Picture Library/Alamy.
FredericMarch(asDr.HenryJekyllandMr.Hyde)inRoubenMamoulian’s
1932 film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde portrays The Doppelga¨nger (page
187). # Paramount Pictures/Photofest.
A drawing of Florence Cook conjures The Ghost (page 215). # Mary Evans
Picture Library/Alamy.
WhatwouldbemoreappropriateforTheGhoul(page243)thanthispicture
of Boris Karloff starring in Hunter T. Hays’ 1933 film The Ghoul. #
Gaumont-British/The Kobol Collection. Courtesy of Picturedesk.
The Haunted House (page 267) is classically depicted with this still from
Robert Wise’s 1963 film The Haunting. # MGM/The Kobol Collection.
Courtesy of Picturedesk.
viii List of Photos
The Immortal (page 307) is imaged here as The Wandering Jew, condemned
tojourneytheearthwithoutrestuntilJudgmentDayforrefusingtoallow
Jesus to rest on his doorstep when bearing the cross. # Mary Evans
Picture Library/Alamy.
The Creature in Jack Arnold’s 1954 film Creature from the Black Lagoon
seemed the perfect embodiment for The Monster (page 341). # Uni-
versal/Photofest.
TounearthTheMummy(page375),weagainturntoBorisKarloff,thistime
as Imhotep and Ardath Bey in Karl Freund’s 1932 film The Mummy. #
Universal Pictures/Photofest.
The Psychic (page 409), is called forth by Margaret Wycherly (as Madam
Rosalie La Grande) in Tod Browning’s 1929 film The Thirteenth Chair.
# MGM/Photofest.
A Sea Serpent from Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus by Olaus Mag-
nus,publishedinRomein1555,depictsTheSeaCreature(page441).#
Visual Arts Library (London)/Alamy.
TheSerialKiller(page473)recallsAnthonyHopkins(asHannibalLecter)in
Jonathan Demme’s 1991 The Silence of the Lambs. Courtesy of Pho-
tofest.
TheSiren(page507)isappropriatelygracedbyJohnWaterhouse’sTheSiren.
# Visual Arts Library (London)/Alamy.
To illustrate The Small-Town Horror (page 537) we turned to Christopher
Lee starring in Robin Hardy’s 1973 film The Wicker Man. # British
Lion/The Kobol Collection. Courtesy of Picturedesk.
For The Sorcerer (page 565) we use the frontispiece to Dr. Faustus by
Christopher Marlowe. # Mary Evans Picture Library/Alamy.
A still from Albert and Allen Hughes’ 2001 film From Hell captures The
Urban Horror (page 591). Courtesy of Photofest.
The Vampire (page 619) pictures Max Schrek (as Count Orlaf) in F. W.
Murnau’s 1922 film Nosferatu. Courtesy of Photofest.
TheWerewolf(page653)couldhardlybeimagedbyanythingotherthanLon
Chaney Jr. starring in George Waggner’s 1941 film, The Wolf Man. #
Universal/The Kobol Collection. Courtesy of Picturedesk.
For The Witch (page 689) we have a splendid 1863 woodcut of the Witches
from Macbeth. # Mary Evans Picture Library/Alamy.
TheZombie(page723)isgruesomelydepictedwithastillfromLucioFulci’s
1979 film Zombie Flesh Eaters. # Variety/The Kobol Collection.
Courtesy of Picturedesk.
Preface
Although the genre of supernatural horror can be thought to date to the
earliest writings of human civilization, it has gained particular importance
and popularity within the last century, and particularly within the last three
decades. Such popular writers as Stephen King, Anne Rice, J. K. Rowling
(whose works tread the borderline between the supernatural and pure fan-
tasy), Peter Straub, Clive Barker, and Neil Gaiman have brought the genre
unprecedented attention in the literary world; less popular but perhaps even
more accomplished writers such as Ramsey Campbell, Thomas Ligotti, and
Caitlin R. Kiernan have elevated the supernatural to the highest levels of
literary craftsmanship. The inclusion of H. P. Lovecraft, in many ways the
fatheroftwentieth-centurysupernaturalwriting,intheprestigiousLibraryof
America shows that this field can attain canonical status. Paralleling the
growth of supernatural literature is the burgeoning of the supernatural in
film, television, comic books, role-playing games, and other media, so that it
can truly be said that we live in a haunted age.
Icons of Horror and the Supernatural examines twenty-four of the leading
icons ofsupernaturaland nonsupernaturalfiction,tracingtheirrootsin folk-
lore and legend and discussing their prevalence in literature, film, and other
mediaaswellasinpopularcultureandsocietyasawhole.Thearticles,written
byleadingauthoritiesinthefield,areaimedatageneralaudienceofstudents
and interested readers and written without the use of the technical jargon of
literary criticism; but, because of their comprehensiveness, they will be of
interest to scholars as well. Because the articles are substantially longer than
conventionalencyclopediaentries,rangingbetween12,000and15,000words,
theyallowforanexhaustivecoverageoftheirtopic,butarenonethelessnotas
lengthy as full-length books on the subject, which would make them less
convenient as introductions to their chosen subjects. The articles, arranged
alphabetically,useaneclecticmixofcriticalapproaches—historical,thematic,
philosophical/religious—as dictated by the subject matter. Since the super-
naturalliteraturehasdrawnmanyofitscentralconceptsfromancientreligious