Considering his status in the contemporary Gothic, Patrick McGrath’s fiction has garnered remarkably little scholarly criticism. His was the final entry in Chris Baldick’s 1992 collection of Gothic tales, suggesting that McGrath may well be the future of the genre. In the intervening years...
‘Always Bet On Duke’ has been the catchphrase of one of gaming’s most iconic and controversial heroes: Duke Nukem. Duke’s reputation of ‘kicking alien asses’, making tongue in cheek jokes, and encountering ‘babes’ has split opinion in both gaming and the wider world of media: childish, tasteless and downright offensive or clever comment on the relationship between gaming and political correctness? Either way, Duke’s humour has been enduring and endured for over eleven years; the time between the releases of Duke Nukem 3D in 1996 and near-eternally delayed Duke Nukem Forever in 2011.
The next in the series of the University of Wales Gothic Authors: Critical Revisions is Carol A. Senf’s short but comprehensive work on Bram Stoker. Stoker is one of the most influential Gothic writers of the late 19th Century, yet discussions of his work outside of Dracula are few and far between. Senf provides an overview of all of Stoker’s works, focusing on how the Gothic tradition informs even his least Gothic novels and short stories.
Proving the old adage that it’s not what you do but how you do it, Insidious gives the corpse of the American horror film a few invigorating jolts.
The critical mapping of what has come to be known as contemporary gothic has been troubling scholars for well over three decades.
At the core of the Gothic, through all its manifestations, lies the monster: the ghost, the demon, the freak, the creature, the outcast, the Other.
Waller examines the interactions between the living and the undead via a broad range of classic and contemporary films, plays, novels, stories, and made-for-television movies.
For centuries the world's oceans have inspired mankind with an unparallelled sense of fascination and terror. I believe that it is true to say that more is known about outer space than is known about the world's own oceans. Ever since the first mariners began to explore the seas there have been tales of great monsters that have emerged from its depths to prey on the unwary. These tales have developed and evolved over time and have provided fuel for some of our great writers and film makers imaginations.
The word Gothic evokes horrifying images of ruined castles, vengeful ghosts, murderous maniacs and helplessly imprisoned heroines. But in Sara Wasson’s fine study, Urban Gothic of the Second World War: Dark London, there is no crumbling house of Usher, no supernatural forces and no madmen kidnapping damsels...
This book is published as part of the ‘Edinburgh Critical Studies in Victorian Culture series’ which, according to series editor Julian Wolfreys, draws on “the most provocative, thoughtful and original research” to offer “timely…revisions of Victorian literature, culture, history and identity” (viii).