From the thumping of Edgar Allan Poe's tell - tale heart to the shower scene in Hitchcock's Psycho, horror has been one of the most enduring popular themes in fiction. The use of horror as a literary vehicle can be traced from ancient Greek tragedies to the gothic fiction of 19th-century England to today's Broadway adaptation of Phantom of the Opera and the emergence of the slasher film.
Covering every aspect of the genre, HORROR presents more than 400 of the best, most original, historically significam, and even worst works of horror from film and literature. Alphabetically listed, each entry functions as a capsule review, providing a plot summary along with a criticai evalua- tion of each work's contribution to the horror genre.

This fascinating and comprehensive guide includes comment on such creations as Frankenstein, King Kong, the Blob, the In- visible Man, Freddy Krueger and The Crea- ture from the Black Lagoon. Also included are works by Isaac Bashevis Singer, H.G. Wells and Joyce Carol Oates, as well as ex- amples from Japanese, German, Russian, and French literature.

Film entries have credit listings including title, country, date of release, production company, producer, director, screenplay, music, special effects, and cast. Literature entries contain the title of the novel or short story, its author, publisher, and date of publication. An introductory essay discusses the histoiy and nature of horror as a liter- ary/artistic phenomenon.

Leonard Wolf is a man who clearly loves horror literature and film. He brings to this book three qualities that are rarely to be found in discussions of the horror genre: an astute literary intelligence, the writing skills of a poet and fiction writer, and a com- passionate sensitivity to the sexual and fami- ly dynamics that are its real agenda. These gifts illuminate his comments on the great works he reviews and at the same time they enable him to spotlight for us surprisingly powerful and poignant moments, even in such dreadful ventures as Varney the Vantpire, "Basket Case," and l Dismember Momma.

Both a history of the genre and a guidebook, HORROR is the first book of its kind to treat the horror arts with a high-levei criticai assessment and scholarly com- mentary. With more than 75 illustrations from films and literature, this book is an in- dispensable reference for all aficionados of the horror genre.