Book Review: Rethinking George MacDonald: Contexts and Contemporaries. This collection of sixteen essays edited by Christopher MacLachlan, John Patrick Pazdziora and Ginger Stelle sets out to 'look directly at MacDonald the Victorian.' To achieve this the essays are collected into four thematic sections: ‘Belief and Scepticism’, ‘Social Reform and Gender’, ‘Ideals and Nightmares’, and ‘Scotland’. The broad scope of thematic concerns covered in the book allows the reader to gain a strong idea of MacDonald's role and his place beside his Victorian contemporaries.

The walking dead have permeated popular culture to such an extent that no visit to a bookshop or cinema goes without encountering some variation of the contemporary zombie. Zombie literature is inescapable, and the sheer volume available is as daunting as a relentless crowd of flesh-hungry foes. With this in mind, I would like to suggest three zombie themed anthologies that not only act as an introduction to the genre, but also flesh-out various interpretations of the zombie as a multifaceted monster. If you are to read only one zombie book, let it be ZOMBIES: A Compendium of the Livin

A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

The run of Hamlet at the Young Vic theatre earlier this year has been widely condemned by critics, some of whom were as cruel as to announce that ‘Michael Sheen could be right up there among the great Hamlets but director Ian Rickson’s gimmicky production is a disaster’ (Charles Spencer, The Telegraph) and that ‘I have never left a production of Hamlet feeling as irritated and cheated’. In fact, all that reviewers seem able to agree on is that it was a horrible idea but that Michael Sheen was brilliant, a compliment for him at least. I would argue that not only was Michael Sheen br

Clock Tower is a story of orphans, isolation, sordid family secrets and sprawling Norwegian castles, as such, all the critical elements for a piece of classic gothic story-telling.

As a companion study to his own monograph Stephen King on the Big Screen (2009), in which Mark Browning discusses theatrically released movies formulated around a King-based premise, Stephen King on the Small Screen (2011) now deals with television-oriented productions based on material by King. A brief introductory review of the major works on the topic up to the date of publication demonstrates that this is indeed a much neglected area. King adaptations in television are mostly mentioned in passing, if at all, even in those works proclaiming to analyse a wide range of material. Browning thus provides a platform for King’s television pieces to be discussed in their own right and outside of potentially restricting or distorting theoretical frameworks...

American Horror Story started on FX last night, and, if you missed it, then I would urge you to try and catch it on the internet.  This new psychosexual drama comes, amazingly, from Glee creator Ryan Murphy, who has turned his attention away from the all-singing, all-dancing students of McKinley High, to something far more macabre instead.  American Horror Story is a complete indulgence of Gothic excess, jam-packed with references to, amongst others, The Shining, The Haunting, The Amityville Horror, Rosemary’s Baby, Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks. American Horror Story starts with the basic

In Stephen King’s Gothic John Sears examines the Gothic underpinnings of the ubiquitous work of author Stephen King via a broad sample of King’s works, ranging from his earliest writings to some of his most recent novels, stories, criticism and interviews. Sears offers an insightful and nuanced analysis of how King’s narratives both speak to and work against major Gothic writings, traditions and themes...

Natalie Wilson, Seduced by Twilight, McFarland and Co. 2011. ISBN: 978-0786460427 Gizelle Liza Anatol (ed.), Bringing Light to Twilight, Palgrave MacMillan, 2011. ISBN: 978-0230110687 “I’m so mad you think I read Twilight.” Fright Night I sympathise with Fright Night Ed’s frustration. When I tell people I’m researching Gothic children’s literature, often they say, ‘So, stuff like Twilight, then?’ Was it out of sheer stubbornness that I resisted so long? Literary snobbery? Was it the fact that when the films came out, my ‘tween’ niece thought they were ‘sooo amazin

My aim with this series is to draw attention to some of the best examples of ‘gothic gaming’ produced over the years. Whilst video games have become a universally recognised academic field, there is still a considerable gap between their current circulation and the cultural space held by other forms of media such as books and films. In the first part of what I hope will be an interesting and informative series, I will be examining Clive Barker’s Undying, arguably one of strongest examples of gothic adaptation yet seen in video gaming. Undying was one of the first games to use the first person perspective to connect players’ experience directly to the world of the game, boasting one of the most immersive and atmospheric representations of ‘period horror’ story-telling yet conceived in a video game.