A Dark Night's Dreaming opens by defining the shape of horror fiction today, illuminating the genre's narrative themes, psychological and social contexts, and historical development. The core of the volume focuses on the lives and major works of the six who have dramatically shaped the genre: William Peter Blatty, Thomas Harris, Stephen King, Anne Rice, Peter Straub, and Whitley Strieber. A final chapter analyzes the complex relationship between horror fiction and its adaptation to film. Looking beyond the tormented maidens, madmen, monsters, and other archetypes of the genre, these critics differentiate contemporary Gothic fiction from that of earlier generations while demonstrating that horror remains one of the most important and consistent strains connecting the diverse elements of the American literary tradition. They comment on the genre's enormous popularity and undeniable influence in American society and scrutinize its changing representations of women, monsters, and gore. The volume concludes with an extensive bibliography of primary and secondary works.

Light and darkness shape our perception of the world. This is true in a literal sense, but also metaphorically: in theology, philosophy, literature and the arts the light of day signifies life, safety, knowledge and all that is good, while the darkness of the night suggests death, danger, ignorance and evil. A closer inspection, however, reveals that things are not quite so clear cut and that light and darkness cannot be understood as simple binary opposites. On a biological level, for example, daylight and darkness are inseparable factors in the calibration of our circadian rhythms, and a lack of periodical darkness appears to be as contrary to health as a lack of exposure to sunlight. On a cultural level, too, night and darkness are far from being universally condemnable: in fiction, drama and poetry the darkness of the night allows not only nightmares but also dreams, it allows criminals to ply their trade and allows lovers to meet, it allows the pursuit of pleasure as well as deep thought, it allows metamorphoses, transformations and transgressions unthinkable in the light of day. But night is not merely darkness. The night gains significance as an alternative space, as an ‘other of the day’, only when it is at least partially illuminated. The volume examines the interconnection of night, darkness and nocturnal illumination across a broad range of literary texts. The individual essays examine historically specific light conditions in literature, tracing the symbolic and metaphoric content of darkness and illumination and the attitudes towards them.

A groundbreaking history of the human mind told through our experience of dreams—from the earliest accounts to current scientific findings—and their essential role in the formation of who we are and the world we have made. "A resounding case for the mystery, beauty and cognitive importance of dreams." —The New York Times What is a dream? Why do we dream? How do our bodies and minds use them? These questions are the starting point for this unprecedented study of the role and significance of this phenomenon. An inves­tigation on a grand scale, it encompasses literature, anthropology, religion, and science, articulating the essential place dreams occupy in human culture and how they functioned as the catalyst that compelled us to transform our earthly habitat into a human world. From the earliest cave paintings—where Sidarta Ribeiro locates a key to humankind’s first dreams and how they contributed to our capacity to perceive past and future and our ability to conceive of the existence of souls and spirits—to today’s cutting-edge scientific research, Ribeiro arrives at revolutionary conclusions about the role of dreams in human existence and evolution. He explores the advances that contempo­rary neuroscience, biochemistry, and psychology have made into the connections between sleep, dreams, and learning. He explains what dreams have taught us about the neural basis of memory and the transfor­mation of memory in recall. And he makes clear that the earliest insight into dreams as oracular has been elucidated by contemporary research. Accessible, authoritative, and fascinating, The Oracle of Night gives us a wholly new way to under­stand this most basic of human experiences.

The exciting conclusion to The Dreaming Dark saga: Unimaginable horror is coming for the world of Eberron—if Daine and his companions cannot stop it first A band of war-weary soldiers have uncovered a plot that may tear the very fabric of reality forever. To prevent a long-banished race of monsters from unleashing an army of horrors upon the waking world, Daine and his companions will have to break through the boundaries of the world itself, to brave the fey realms of Twilight and Shadow. Their ultimate goal: the nightmare-haunted realm of Dal Quor. But first, they must cross the perilous realm where they are hunted and where the only way out is through . . . the Gates of Night. The journey ahead will not only alter the world of Eberron but Daine, Pierce, Lei, and Jode themselves. As the group travels to other planes—narrowly escaping death while trying to prevent the death of everything they know—they will find the secrets of their pasts hiding in the shadows and discover just what destiny has in store for them.

Two authors steal you away into a world of dark dreams, shapeshifters and dangerous and forbidden romance!

In a cave of mystery and wonder deep in the Carpathian Mountains, bodyguard Joie Sanders encounters a most remarkable being. Proud, strong, immortal, he is called Traian - an ageless hunter, locked in a life and death battle with enemy vampires - and he will be her salvation in a labyrinth protected by the ingenious traps of a mysterious ancient race. What awaits them in the darkness is not known, and each step could be their last - as their destined path leads them toward a fiery passion that will illuminate the perilous dark night.

When U.S. foreign agent Sam Chase joins an elite unit with three other psychically gifted young women to solve a chilling, macabre case, she is partnered with Lance "Bear" Rutledge, a sexy forensic investigator who does not believe in the supernatural. Original.