The literature of the supernatural has had a distinguished history over the past two centuries, and the incorporation of the supernatural in literary works can be traced back as far as classical antiquity.

Presents critical excerpts and analyses from a variety of sources that combine to provide overviews of the work of 138 of the most significant authors of the modern period in American literature; arranged alphabetically, with bibliographies.

The Gothic Vision examines a broad range of tales of horror, terror, the uncanny and the supernatural, spanning the late-eighteenth century to the present, and of related theoretical approaches to the realm of dark writing. It argues that such narratives are objects for historical analysis, due to their implication in specific ideologies, while also focusing on the recurrence over time of themes of physical and psychological disintegration, spectrality and monstrosity. This is an excellent overview of a genre that is increasingly studied in literature, film, and cultural studies courses.

Includes section "Book reviews," Mar. 1940-