Supernatural in Modern English Fiction

Scholar of the macabre Dorothy Scarborough provides us with the first comprehensive overview of supernatural fiction in literary history, a book originally written as her dissertation for her Ph.D. at Columbia University and later so universally praised that it was published widely in print. From the early gothic romances of Walpole and Maturin to the more "modern" (as of the writing of this book in 1917) work of Henry James' The Turn of the Screw and W.W. Jacobs' "The Monkey's Paw", Scarborough explores the many facets of supernatural fiction and provides insights into why ghosts, ghouls, witches, werewolves and other weird beings that go bump in the night have provided humanity with such long-lasting and expansive fascination throughout the ages. - Summary by Ben Tucker