American Nightmares: The Haunted House Formula in American Popular Fiction [Paperback]

Dale Bailey (Author)

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Product Details

Paperback: 156 pages
Publisher: Popular Press 1; 1 edition (Dec 31 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 087972790X
ISBN-13: 978-0879727901
Product Dimensions: 15.2 x 22.9 x 0.9 cm
Shipping Weight: 463 g
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,193,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Book Description

Bailey traces the haunted house tale from its origins in English gothic fiction to the paperback potboilers of the present, highlighting the unique significance of the house in the domestic, economic, and social ideologies of our nation. In the hands of the best gothic writers, Bailey concludes, the haunted house has become a powerful and profoundly subversive symbol of everything that has gone nightmarishly awry in the American Dream.

About the Author

Dale Bailey teaches at the University of Tennessee. His short fiction, nominated for the Nebula Award by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Amazing Stories, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, The Best from Fantasy & Science Fiction, and elsewhere.

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Amazon.com: 5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars a highly readable critique of the haunted house tale, Jun 25 1999

By Jack Slay - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: American Nightmares: The Haunted House Formula in American Popular Fiction (Hardcover)

Bailey writes as you wish all academicians wrote (most, unfortunately, write tortured prose convulsing in theory, all scribbling madly toward tenure); Bailey is a much-needed exception: his prose is accessible; his criticism insightful; his observations often humorous. Dig this penetrating summation of Poe: "...three-fifths genius and two-fifths sheer fudge, that raving lunatic of American letters, that drunken pedophile dying in his Baltimore ditch." American Nightmares is a keen examination of the haunted house story and how it is inherently an American tale, how it is, in fact, a direct and dire result of our everyday obsessions with the American Dream. Bailey takes obvious delight in examining such pop icons as The Haunting of Hill House, The Amityville Horror, Burnt Offerings, and The Shining (and as he does, you can almost hear the wailings and gnashings of teeth from ivory towers across the country). In short, this book is a highly readable, vastly entertaining pop culture manifesto. It's a must-read for any horror aficionado, highly recommended for anyone interested in American lit, and suggested for all entertained by good prose and refreshing insight.

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