Roger Luckhurst

* ¿Por qué, cómo y dónde enterramos a nuestros muertos? ¿Cómo los recordamos? * Las pirámides de Guiza, las catacumbas de París y los cenotafios erigidos para los muertos del mundo son solo algunas d

H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) was a reclusive scribbler of horror stories for the American pulp magazines that specialized in Gothic and science fiction in the interwar years. He often published in Weird Tales and has since become the key figure in the slippery genre of "weird fiction." Lovecraft developed an extraordinary vision of feeble men driven to the edge of sanity by glimpses of malign beings that have survived from human prehistory or by malevolent extra-terrestrial visitations. The ornate language of his stories builds towards grotesque moments of revelation, quite unlike any other writer.This new selection brings together nine of his classic tales, focusing on the "Cthulhu Mythos," a cycle of stories that develops the mythology of the Old Ones, the monstrous creatures who predate human life on earth. The stories collected here include some of Lovecraft''s finest, including "The Call of Cthulhu," "At the Mountains of Madness," "The Dunwich Horror," "The Colour Out of Space," "The Shadow over Innsmouth," and "The Shadow out of Time." The volume also includes vital extracts from Lovecraft''s critical essay, "Supernatural Horror in Literature," in which he gave his own important definition of "weird fiction." In a fascinating introduction, Roger Luckhurst gives Lovecraft the attention he deserves as a writer who used pulp fiction to explore a remarkable philosophy that shockingly dethrones the mastery of man.Featuring a chronology, bibliography, and informative notes, this is a must-have critical edition for Lovecraft aficionados, and the best introduction to his work for first-time visitors to his strange fictional world.

The second in a series of republished classic literature, The Ghost Stories of M. R. James collects the tales that best illustrate his quiet mastery of the ghost story form. Running through each of these stories is a slowly escalating sense of unease and dread, which ultimately shifts into the wildly uncanny. James' characters exist in a world of ancient objects whose atrocious histories begin to repeat when they are disturbed, and the blinkered repression common to James' narratives only amplifies the shock of the spectral appearance.

An arresting and poignant cultural history of graveyards from early burial sites to now Why how and where do we inter our dead How do we set out to remember them The Pyramids of Giza the catacombs and columbaria of Rome and the cenotaphs erected to the world s war dead are but some of the answers In inimitable style Roger Luckhurst probes the often moving sometimes contested ways in which people throughout history have responded to the problem of laying the dead to rest Blending history art literature and popular culture Graveyards explores the various different aspects of the treatment of the dead Chapters range from early burials and the emergence of necropolises and catacombs to grave robbing garden cemeteries and the perilous overcrowding of the urban dead to monuments for deceased heroes and rulers and the development of modern memorial culture The products of our persistent fascination with graveyards are everywhere in literature art film and television and Luckhurst engages these cultural afterlives alongside grave sites particular social and historical contexts Illustrations throughout offer insights into the rich and unusual visual culture of the grave helpful guides and provisions for the afterlife tender dedications gravestones an

* Una historia que cautivará a cualquiera que desee levantar el velo de nuestra fascinación por lo espeluznante, lo mórbido y lo sobrenatural. * A través de un viaje en el tiempo, recorriendo sus distintas formas de expresion, este libro traza los caminos entrecruzados del gotico, desde las sombras de la historia hasta el corazon mismo de la cultura popular contemporanea. * Ruinas, demonios inmortales, pasajes oscuros y bosques repletos de terrores expuestos y escondidos: los bucles del gotico se han arrastrado por la arquitectura de iglesias, mezquitas y casas señoriales, irrumpiendo incluso en los grandes almacenes de las zonas perifericas y en ciudades superpobladas. La palabra gotico evoca asociaciones con lo oscuro y lo melancolico, lo extraño y lo temido, asi como lugares y personas embrujados. Este libro es una mirada sin precedentes a las formas en las que este extraño estilo se ha manifestado a traves de la arquitectura, la literatura, el cine, el arte, los videojuegos y mas. Desde las obras de Victor Hugo y E. T. A. Hoffmann hasta el gotico del sur, el folclore antiguo y las peliculas de terror clasicas, se explora como una estetica que comenzo en los margenes se ha reinventado a lo largo de los siglos para convertirse en parte de la cultura global dominante. El libro empieza hablando de la arquitectura y la forma goticas, incluidos elementos como el arco, la casa y las ruinas. Analiza la representacion del gotico en entornos rurales y urbanos, asi como en el desierto y las zonas fronterizas. A continuacion, se adentra en las tradiciones y escenarios goticos de todo el mundo, desde los sublimes Alpes y el interior de Australia hasta el paramo artico, del oscuro reino folclorico del bosque hasta los paisajes postindustriales de hospitales y asilos abandonados, y luego mas alla de los limites del planeta, al incognoscible horror cosmico. El autor investiga los monstruos que nos reflejan a nosotros mismos y a la sociedad, y demuestra que a medida que el gotico ha viajado por todo el mundo y a traves del tiempo se ha transformado de acuerdo con la forma de nuestros miedos y ansiedades.