Wednesday, October 21, 2015

A New History of the Horror Story: From Homer to Lovecraft

Flavorwire: The below essay, by attorney and writer Leslie S. Klinger, is taken from the introduction to In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe: Classic Tales of Horror, 1816–1914, a new anthology devoted to recovering those horror writers who are obscured by the looming shadow of Edgar Allan Poe. In his introduction, Klinger locates the origin of the “tale of terror” not in Poe — as is often claimed — but in Homer. Next, Klinger threads his history of horror through its “flowering” in the late 18th century, in effect providing a sensible context for what would become the modern horror story. In Klinger’s narrative, Poe’s work, as well of that of his disciples, is made all the more fascinating because it is placed in a new context — a new history of horror.

3 comments:

Fred Zackel said...

Although I have not started he essay yet, I might mention that one epic horror story within Homer's The Odyssey is Ulysses traveling to Hades ... and discovering his mother is there. She committed suicide, hanging herself, gnawed by her worry over her son's whereabouts. Center that within his having poured blood in a trench in Hades to get the shades to gather to be questioned... yeah, maybe. I can't remember if there was anything horror'd in Gilgamesh.

Todd Mason said...

Gilgamesh's trip to the underworld to rescue Enkidu, of course.

Meanwhile, who the Hell every says Poe invented horror fiction? Detective fiction, perhaps...or at least it's commonly noted thus. Washington Irving wasn't the only pre-Poe horrorist in the US, much less in English...

Todd Mason said...

Wow. having just looked at the beginning of the essay, what a load. Wonder if Flavorwire's Sturgeon is any relation.