Tales of the Troubled Dead
Ghost Stories in Cultural History
Edinburgh University Press · Print & ebook · September 4, 2019
Considers the ways ghost stories appeal to our uneasy relationship with conventional good sense What do they want, the ghosts that, even in the age of science, still haunt our storytelling?
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- Who it’s for
- Catherine Belsey traces ghost stories across centuries, from ancient texts to contemporary fiction and film.
- Genres
- Horror Lit Crit, Gothic & Romance Lit Crit, Shakespeare Studies
- Published
- Edinburgh University Press, September 4, 2019
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Considers the ways ghost stories appeal to our uneasy relationship with conventional good sense What do they want, the ghosts that, even in the age of science, still haunt our storytelling? Catherine Belsey’s answer to the question traces Gothic writing and tales of the uncanny from the ancient past to the present – from Homer and the Icelandic sagas to Lincoln in the Bardo.
Continue reading
Taking Shakespeare’s Ghost in Hamlet as a turning point in the history of the genre, she uncovers the old stories the play relies on, as well as its influence on later writing. This ghostly trail is vividly charted through accredited records of apparitions and fiction by such writers as Ann Radcliffe, Washington Irving, Emily Brontë, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James, M. R. James and Susan Hill. In recent blockbusting movies, too, ghost stories bring us fragments of news from the unknown. - Traces examples of ghost stories from Homer to the present day - Describes the aspects of storytelling designed to involve readers - Includes stories of attested apparitions, as well as fiction by a wide range of both canonical and popular authors
Ghost Stories in History
Catherine Belsey traces ghost stories across centuries, from ancient texts to contemporary fiction and film.
Come here for
- A cultural history of ghost stories from Homer to the present
- Shakespeare’s Ghost in Hamlet as a turning point
Expect
- Attested apparitions alongside fiction by canonical and popular writers
- How storytelling draws readers into tales of the uncanny
Where it sits
| Shakespeare Studies | 60% |
|---|---|
| Horror Lit Crit | 51% |
| Gothic & Romance Lit Crit | 42% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Literary Criticism
- Gothic & Romance Lit Crit
- Women Authors Criticism
- Medieval Literary Criticism
Show all 5 publisher categories
- Shakespeare Studies
- Authors
- Catherine Belsey
- Publisher
- Edinburgh University Press
- Published
- September 4, 2019
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- Literary Criticism