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A comprehensive presentation of the evolution of the horror story, filled with significant and powerful works by the masters of the genre.Tags
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Member Reviews
A decent collection of mostly (apart from Le Fanu) twentieth-century dark fiction. My favorites by far were "Sticks" by Karl Edward Wagner, about a fisherman who stumbles upon an ancient ritual site festooned with unsettling stick figures; and "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs," which suggests a modern god of urban violence and the madness of the crowded, and which many years ago was my introduction to the work of Harlan Ellison.
An amazing anthology of stories that not only represent the best of horror fiction but document the - "descent" - of such fiction over more two centuries. The stories are divided into three streams: moral, psychological, and fantastic. Included are the familiar and the unfamiliar (at least to this reader) from some of the greatest authors writing in any genre to the great specialists in the field of horror fiction. This is a collection to be relished and referred to when the desire to be terrified takes your fancy.
My taste in horror is pretty narrow, but even for me this fat collection was far more "hit" than "miss"
In The Dark Descent, hailed as one of the most important anthologies ever to examine horror fiction, editor David G. Hartwell traces the complex history of horror in literature back to the earliest short stories. The Dark Descent, which won the World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology, showcases the finest of these ever written--from the time-honored classics of Edgar Allan Poe, D.H. Lawrence, and Edith Wharton to the contemporary writing of Stephen King, Clive Barker, and Ray Bradbury.
A superb collection of horror tales both classic and contemporary. "The Dark Descent" refers to the ordering of the stories: they go from explicit supernatural themes, to more subtle and ambiguous treatments of the uncanny and dreadful. Tip: skip the editor's pretentious, PoMo-gobbledegook introductions to the stories, and just enjoy these bone-chilling tales on their own terms.
This is quite a collection! A veritable "murder's row" of great horror authors! And, as a big fan of Stephen King, three from him, including the Lovecraftian "Crouch End", which is not one of my faves. But, beware! Not only is this a scary group of tales, it's one heck of a heavy volume to boot! Read and workout at the same time!
A very good collection spanning the genre from classics (such as Poe and Hawthorne), to contemporary authors (King and Barker), and everything in between.
While certainly not comprehensive, this broad collection is a great addition to any horror collection, or for anyone wanting to get acquainted with the genre.
I only wish the order of stories was chronological, to see the progression of horror.
While certainly not comprehensive, this broad collection is a great addition to any horror collection, or for anyone wanting to get acquainted with the genre.
I only wish the order of stories was chronological, to see the progression of horror.
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Best Horror Books
281 works; 84 members
Nightmare Magazine's Top 100 Horror Books
100 works; 7 members
Best Horror Mega-List
342 works; 6 members
Jones and Newman's Horror: Another 100 Best Books
100 works; 7 members
Jones & Newman: Best Horror Books Further Recommended Reading
577 works; 4 members
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Common Knowledge
- Original title
- The Dark Descent
- Alternate titles
- The Dark Descent: The Evolution of Horror (book jacket) (book jacket)
- Original publication date
- 1987
- Epigraph
- To taste the full flavor of these stories you must bring an orderly mind to them, you must have a reasonable amount of confidence, if not in what used to be called the laws of nature, at least in the currently suspected habit... (show all)s of nature. . . . To the truly superstitious the "weird" has only its Scotch meaning: "Something which actually takes place."
—Dashiell Hammett, Creeps by Night
The appeal of the spectrally macabre is generally narrow because it demands from the reader a certain degree of imagination and a capacity for detachment from everyday life. Relatively few are free enough from the spell of daily routine to respond. . . .
—H. P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature - Dedication
- To Tom Doherty and Harriet P. McDougal and the Tor books Horror imprint, and especially Melissa Ann Singer, editor, for support and patience.
To Kathryn Cramer and Peter D. Pautz for their hard work and enthu... (show all)siasm, as well as provocative discussion.
To Patricia W. Hartwell for letting the books pile up and the piles of paper fall over throughout the house and still loving me. - First words
- Introduction: On a July Sunday morning, I was moderating a panel discussion at Necon, a small New England convention devoted to dark fantasy.
- Publisher's editor
- Singer, Melissa Ann
- Original language
- American English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.087208
- Canonical LCC
- PS648.H6
Classifications
- Genres
- Horror, Fiction and Literature, Fantasy
- DDC/MDS
- 813.087208 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English By type Genre fiction Adventure fiction Mystery fiction Collections
- LCC
- PS648 .H6 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Collections of American literature Prose (General)
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 801
- Popularity
- 34,641
- Reviews
- 14
- Rating
- (4.20)
- Languages
- English, Italian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 9
- ASINs
- 9
