Newly published: Writing Fear. Horror literature, gothic novels and literary horror from 1800 to the present day

Jakob Baur / Lars Koch / Barbara Schaff (Eds.):
Writing Fear
Horror literature, gothic novels and literary horror from 1800 to the present day
transcript Verlag 2026

The literarization of fear began around 1800, when cultural concepts of order were eroding and enlightened reason was increasingly confronted with its unsettling dark sides and irritating doppelgangers. In exemplary readings, the contributors examine literary productions of fear and horror from this period to the present day - with a particular focus on the German horror novel and the Anglo-Scottish gothic novel. In doing so, they analyze motif traditions, narrative processes and emotional semantics of literary fear (desire), which they reconstruct as an effect and resonance space of modern experiences of insecurity.

Further information can be found on the publisher's website.