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1990-1998 |
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The fin de siecle years at the end of the 20th Century, saw the rise and demise of The Gothic Society. In 1990, armed with a lazer printer
and a stapler, Jennie Gray put together the first issue of 'The
Goth'. |
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Some Gothic Society publications still available |
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Best
of "The Goth ": September 1990-December 1991 Jennie Gray (Editor) Udolpho in its previous incarnation was known as The Goth. Here are the best of six issues condensed into a single volume. A few of the subjects covered in this specially redesigned edition are: · The Background to the Writing of Frankenstein · Four ghost stories by Monk Lewis · The Top Fifty Titles in the Fantastic/Gothic genre· Thomas Love Peacock · London, City of Dreadful Night · Cautionary Tales for Children · Montague Summers · The Gothic Quest Reassessed · Kensal Green Cemetery · Austin Osman Spare · Best of "The Goth": March 1992-June 1993 Jennie Gray(Editor) · The Last Highgate Vampire Interview · Dracula, the Curse of the Unread · Frankenstein goes to Hollywood · H P Lovecraft appreciation by Ramsey Campbell · The Black Mass · J K Huysmans on Odilon Redon · Hags and Heroines in the 1790s · From a View to a Death (the 18th century obsession with the Picturesque) |
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Horace Walpole & William Beckford Jennie Gray Two giants of the Gothic genre re-examined, Walpole with his 'Castle of Otranro' and his charming little mock-castle at Strawberry Hill, and Beckford with his callous, amoral but highly amusing 'Vathek' and that superlative monument to folly, Fonthill Abbey. The two men were bitter rivals as collectors of art, antiquities and precious objects. Though they never met, their dislike was mutual and their rivalry continued beyond the grave. |
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Tales
My Mother Never Told Me Jennie Gray Paperback A collection of neo-gothic tales by the founder of the Society and editor of Udolpho. Set in the bleak dream hinterlands and crevices of the brain, with a full Cast of incubi, succubi, murderers, phantoms, slugs, cats, wolf dogs, spectral mice, rot, blood, damnation and all the usual endearing things. |
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The
Pyschopomp A story of twins, doubles and vampiric haunting. The tale unfolds in a hazy web of drug experiences, dreams, nightmares and hallucinations. 'This novel is the most bizarre combination of extreme fantasy and graphic nauseating violence.' |
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"The
Dead Donkey" & "The Guillotined Woman"
by Jules Janin, Honore de Balzac, Terry Hale (Editor),
Tony Johannot (Illustrator) Paperback - 168 pages This story features probably the most nauseating narrator in the entire history of literature. In nineteenth century France there flourished a literature of horror on a par with the English Gothic novel or the German Schauerroman. It was christened 'the frenetique school'. The frenetique was at its peak in the late I 820s and early 1830s. Of this short-lived literary movement Jules Janin's The Dead Donkey and he Guill otined Woman is one of the finest and certainly one of the most unpleasant examples.JulesJanin is supposed to have begun the tale as a spoof of the fashionable frenetique style. However, with its wealth of horrible incident and its sinister and claustrophobic atmosphere, it seems likely that the author actually fell in love with his subject. The bizarre duality of the novel is one of its most striking qualities. This edition comes with Balsac's extraordinary spoof sequel, Chapter XXX, published in an all-English edition for the first time. Masterly in-depth commentary by Terry Hale, and the celebrated illustrations by Tony Johannot. |
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Songs Thomas Lovell Beddoes, Chrissie Demant (Illustrator), Ramsay Colles - Paperback - 96 pages (1992) Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803-1849) was a poet of extraordinary power who published virtually nothing in his lifetime. His genius consisted in evoking an uncanny haunting twilight world, one of ghouls, ghosts, murderers, blood lust, dreams, and reveries. |
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Tales
of the Dead Mrs Utterson (Translator), Terry Hale (Introduction) Paperback - 140 pages This highly influential book was the first English translation of the famous Fantasmagoriana, ou Recueil d'Histoires d'Apparitions de Spectres, Revenans, Fantomes, etc., which was of such critical importance in the development of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Polidori's The Vampyre. Lord Byron, Mary and Percy Shelley, Claire Clairmont and Dr Polidori were all inspired by this book to write their own ghost stories. |
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Tales
from the Gothic Bluebooks Peter Haining (Editor) - Paperback - 164 pages Montague Summers wrote 'It was the aim of the writer of the "bluebook" first to give his narrative as exciting a title as possible; secondly to cram into his limited space as many shocking, mysterious and horrid incidents as possible' Just as important in attracting the basically unsophisticated readership was the engraved frontispiece which faced the title page. These pictures, sometimes heightened with crude bright colours, especially red, depicted suitably lurid scenes of near-rape, impending murder, ghostly apparitions, or other things equally shocking and compelling. This selection from Peter Haining's collection includes, amongst others, 'The Vindictive Monk', 'The Spectre Mother', 'The Life and Horrid Adventures of the Celebrated DocrorFaustus', 'The Bride of the Isles', and 'The Lunatic and his Turkey'. Peter Haining's commentary is entertaining, affectionate, and informative. In addition, the text is illuminated by some of those famous lurid illustrations. |
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Supernatural
Horror in Literature H.P. Lovecraft - Paperback - 32 pages H P Lovecraft is famous today as a writer of horror stories. Yet when he died in 1937, he was known to very few people other than devotees of horror magazines. His most esteemed nonfiction work is 'Supenatural Horror in Literature,'a detailed, masterly and very readable description of what animates and inspires the horror tale. It remains essential reading for anyone who is fascinated by the genesis of the Gothic and other horror genres |
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| Polidori Bishop Biography , Paperback (1998) |
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