Over the past thirty years, Stephen King has received enormous attention from both the popular press as well as academics seeking to explain the unique phenomenon of his success. Books on King explore his canon in religious contexts, in political and historical contexts, in mythic--specifically Jungian--contexts, in Gothic/horror (especially American literary) contexts, and in a wide variety of other contexts appropriate to a writer who, over the past half century, has become America's Storyteller. Beginning with a never-published chapter authored by Stephen King himself on the influence of the genre on his own writing, King Noir makes an invaluable contribution to King scholarship by placing King's works in conversation with American crime fiction.

This is the third book that Tony Magistrale and Michael J. Blouin have coauthored on the work of Stephen King, and the first to consider King's canon through the lens of crime fiction. King Noir examines not only King's own efforts at writing in the detective genre, but also how the detective genre finds its way into work typically regarded as horror fiction.

In interviews, King has acknowledged his debt to earlier writers in the genre, such as Ed McBain and Raymond Chandler, and he much more often references hard-boiled writers than he does horror writers. One could speculate that King became a writer because of his love of pulpy crime fiction, which he continues to hold in high esteem. From The Dead Zone to Mr. Mercedes, from the crime fiction of his pseudonym Richard Bachman to his most recent novel Holly, King returns obsessively to patterns established by American sleuths of every stripe, paying homage to them at the same time as he innovates on the formulas he has inherited. To focus upon a hard-boiled Stephen King is to discover exciting new avenues for inquiry into one of America's most enduring, and adaptable, storytellers.

Over the past thirty years, Stephen King has received enormous attention from both the popular press as well as academics seeking to explain the unique phenomenon of his success. Books on King explore his canon in religious contexts, in political and historical contexts, in mythic--specifically Jungian--contexts, in Gothic/horror (especially American literary) contexts, and in a wide variety of other contexts appropriate to a writer who, over the past half century, has become America's Storyteller. Beginning with a never-published chapter authored by Stephen King himself on the influence of the genre on his own writing, King Noir makes an invaluable contribution to King scholarship by placing King's works in conversation with American crime fiction.

This is the third book that Tony Magistrale and Michael J. Blouin have coauthored on the work of Stephen King, and the first to consider King's canon through the lens of crime fiction. King Noir examines not only King's own efforts at writing in the detective genre, but also how the detective genre finds its way into work typically regarded as horror fiction.

In interviews, King has acknowledged his debt to earlier writers in the genre, such as Ed McBain and Raymond Chandler, and he much more often references hard-boiled writers than he does horror writers. One could speculate that King became a writer because of his love of pulpy crime fiction, which he continues to hold in high esteem. From The Dead Zone to Mr. Mercedes, from the crime fiction of his pseudonym Richard Bachman to his most recent novel Holly, King returns obsessively to patterns established by American sleuths of every stripe, paying homage to them at the same time as he innovates on the formulas he has inherited. To focus upon a hard-boiled Stephen King is to discover exciting new avenues for inquiry into one of America's most enduring, and adaptable, storytellers.

This book surveys the labyrinthine relationship between Stephen King and American History. By depicting American History as a doomed cycle of greed and violence, King poses a number of important questions: who gets to make history, what gets left out, how one understands one's role within it, and how one might avoid repeating mistakes of the past. This volume examines King's relationship to American History through the illumination of metanarratives, adaptations, queer and alternative historical lenses, which confront the destructive patterns of our past as well as our capacity to imagine a different future. Stephen King and American History will present readers with an opportunity to place popular culture in conversation with the pressing issues of our day. If we hope to imagine a different path forward, we will need to come to terms with this enclosure--a task for which King's corpus is uniquely well-suited.

I read the poems of What She Said About Love with a growing sense of their achievement, their expression of a particular and valuable voice. Here is a poet who understands that The act of casting shape from chaos / breeds enemies. That refers to Michaelangelo, but it stands in for the poet generally, and especially one of who has Tony Magistrale's gifts. Poetry is the enemy of bland, boring, mass-produced speech. It is language intensified to a level of combat with the world. And Magistrale has managed to keep up the fight in poem after poem. This is a bracing, sweet, dark, and always moving volume of poems. I believe it will affect those who read it deeply. It deserves a wide audience. - Jay Parini, Middlebury College The Plan, which describes a Texas-style barbecue in a Venetian twilight, concludes: In this most secreted city, I divulge no secrets / Content to wear my hat at rakish angle / Tend the grill, savor its sizzle, a characterization that neatly fits the many fine poems of Anthony Magistrale whose sizzle is sure to whet the appetites of readers. The tones may vary, from the moodiness of Venetian Poems to the playfulness of Beware, the Bible Warns, of Fallen Women, but constant throughout are the intellectual alertness, the satisfying structures, and the vivid descriptions: the adjectives are often surprising, as in dense, pasty Milanese rain, but almost always just right. I Nemici be gins: The act of casting shape from chaos / breeds enemies. Magistrale's point is well taken here, but in this case it's much more likely to breed friends and admirers. - Michael Palma, Bordighera Poetry Prize Judge, 2007-2008

Although there have been over 700 illustrators of Poe's work over the past two centuries, this book chooses to examine only the best of them. Beginning with the French in the nineteenth century and tracing the great illustrators of Poe to the present, this book not only provides close analyses of individual visualizations but also seeks to supply an art history context to understanding their emergence. The majority of the artists featured remain unknown, even to Poe scholars, although their artwork represents iterations inspired by the most famous of Poe's poems and stories. In some cases, the illustrations helped increase the visibility of particular Poe works and to make them part of the international Poe canon. A few of the illustrators featured in this book (e.g., Manet, Doré, Redon, Beardsley) are recognized among the most famous artists in the world. Others, such as Martini and Blumenschein, while remaining minor figures in art history, nevertheless produced immortal work based on Poe's fiction and poetry. While still other visual artists represented here (Rackham, Dulac, Clarke) achieved artistic fame as book illustrators based on homages to other writers and fairy tales in combination with their Poe studies; their work on Poe, however, helped to solidify their larger reputations as professional illustrators. The last chapter extends traditional visualizations influenced by Poe to include his impact on twentieth- and twenty-first century filmmakers and cartoonists. They, too, found in Poe's writing either a source for direct re-creation or an inspiration for their own atmospheric excursions into the bizarre, the exotic, and the psychologically complex.

While many of the artists included in the book are represented in important collections from libraries and art galleries around the world, Poe scholars (and art historians) have yet to explore both the range of these illustrations and analyze their significance in the context of how they enrich our understanding of Poe. Some of the questions this book seeks to answer are: What was there about Poe's narrative and poetic art that impressed and continues to inspire illustrators and other visual artists? What kinds of insights and understandings do these visual artists help readers of Poe to see and/or reconsider about his work? Are there definite distinctions--e.g., stylistic, thematic, historical, etc.--that were more relevant to Poe illustrators from the nineteenth century compared to those from the twentieth? How are these emphases reflective of the various art movements to which Poe's illustrators were associated? And lastly, what do these illustrations reveal about changing attitudes and critical emphases toward Poe's canon over time?

Although there have been over 700 illustrators of Poe's work over the past two centuries, this book chooses to examine only the best of them. Beginning with the French in the nineteenth century and tracing the great illustrators of Poe to the present, this book not only provides close analyses of individual visualizations but also seeks to supply an art history context to understanding their emergence. The majority of the artists featured remain unknown, even to Poe scholars, although their artwork represents iterations inspired by the most famous of Poe's poems and stories. In some cases, the illustrations helped increase the visibility of particular Poe works and to make them part of the international Poe canon. A few of the illustrators featured in this book (e.g., Manet, Doré, Redon, Beardsley) are recognized among the most famous artists in the world. Others, such as Martini and Blumenschein, while remaining minor figures in art history, nevertheless produced immortal work based on Poe's fiction and poetry. While still other visual artists represented here (Rackham, Dulac, Clarke) achieved artistic fame as book illustrators based on homages to other writers and fairy tales in combination with their Poe studies; their work on Poe, however, helped to solidify their larger reputations as professional illustrators. The last chapter extends traditional visualizations influenced by Poe to include his impact on twentieth- and twenty-first century filmmakers and cartoonists. They, too, found in Poe's writing either a source for direct re-creation or an inspiration for their own atmospheric excursions into the bizarre, the exotic, and the psychologically complex.

While many of the artists included in the book are represented in important collections from libraries and art galleries around the world, Poe scholars (and art historians) have yet to explore both the range of these illustrations and analyze their significance in the context of how they enrich our understanding of Poe. Some of the questions this book seeks to answer are: What was there about Poe's narrative and poetic art that impressed and continues to inspire illustrators and other visual artists? What kinds of insights and understandings do these visual artists help readers of Poe to see and/or reconsider about his work? Are there definite distinctions--e.g., stylistic, thematic, historical, etc.--that were more relevant to Poe illustrators from the nineteenth century compared to those from the twentieth? How are these emphases reflective of the various art movements to which Poe's illustrators were associated? And lastly, what do these illustrations reveal about changing attitudes and critical emphases toward Poe's canon over time?

The contributions of Edgar Allan Poe have withstood the test of time; his best poems and fiction are more popular and carry greater significance now than they did during his own era. This highly readable introduction to the life, times, and major works of Poe offers fresh interpretations of timeless masterpieces like The Raven and The Purloined Letter. Carefully considering important thematic elements as well as genre, this book organizes the works of Poe into four significant groupings: the poetry, Vampiric love stories, tales of psychological terror, and the detective stories. Close readings are given for a selection of the most important works that represent Poe's canon of writings, including the chilling Tell Tale Heart and The Black Cat.

This introductory study to Edgar Allan Poe begins with a concise biographical chapter that explores Poe's troubled experiences. The Literary Heritage chapter chronicles Poe's influence on other writers, artists, and filmmakers who followed. This work examines the major poems from Poe's canon, with special attention to those works that are most often taught and anthologized. Poe's most famous tales of terror and revenge are juxtaposed because they all revolve around murders and the elements of terror associated with the act of killing. Likewise, his love stories are brought together in a chapter that deals with vampirisim and gender. The final chapter, The Origins of the Detective Tale, examines Poe's tales of ratiocination, and traces the evolution of many popular culture super sleuths to Poe's Dupin. A selective bibliography of biographical and critical works on Poe, including contemporary reviews, completes this thorough volume. Students, general readers, and fans of all things Gothic will enjoy the fascinating insights this volume offers.

One of the very first books to take Stephen King seriously, Landscape of Fear (originally published in 1988) reveals the source of King's horror in the sociopolitical anxieties of the post-Vietnam, post-Watergate era. In this groundbreaking study, Tony Magistrale shows how King's fiction transcends the escapism typical of its genre to tap into our deepest cultural fears: that the government we have installed through the democratic process is not only corrupt but actively pursuing our destruction, that our technologies have progressed to the point at which the individual has now become expendable, and that our fundamental social institutions-school, marriage, workplace, and the church-have, beneath their veneers of respectability, evolved into perverse manifestations of narcissism, greed, and violence.
Tracing King's moralist vision to the likes of Twain, Hawthorne, and Melville, Landscape of Fear establishes the place of this popular writer within the grand tradition of American literature. Like his literary forbears, King gives us characters that have the capacity to make ethical choices in an imperfect, often evil world. Yet he inscribes that conflict within unmistakably modern settings. From the industrial nightmare of Graveyard Shift to the breakdown of the domestic sphere in The Shining, from the techno-horrors of The Stand to the religious fanaticism and adolescent cruelty depicted in Carrie, Magistrale charts the contours of King's fictional landscape in its first decade.

ENTANGLEMENTS is Tony Magistrale's third collection of poetry. The book contains poetry written in both Europe and the United States. Many of the poems reflect a certain awareness of Vermont as seasonal place and essence. Additionally, some of the poems bear black and white illustrations created by Michael Strauss, well-known Vermont landscape painter.

Surely one of America's most popular novelists, Stephen King has only recently begun to receive serious attention from scholars and literary critics. The Dark Descent assembles fifteen illuminating original essays that consider King from a variety of intellectual orientations, addressing the major novels and central thematic concerns that represent King's contributions to American letters and elevating King scholarship to a new level of critical discourse. This volume places King firmly within the canon of contemporary American fiction.

The essayists are concerned with explicating the meanings of individual narratives and creating critical contexts for their interpretion. While covering a broad range of his works and using multiple theoretical approaches--including reader-response, mythic, psychoanalytic, and structuralist criticism--to offer insights into King's fiction, most of the essayists reflect on one of two central theses: that King's body of literature may be seen as having been deeply influenced by the mainstream traditions of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American and European fictions, and that the narratives may be read as profound commentary on the major political and social tensions shaping contemporary American life. King's supernatural horrors reflect actual horrors, and his compelling style makes art out of horror fiction. A King chronology, bibliography and an expository introduction flank the analytical essays.

Abject Terrors is an expansive study of the most significant films from the prolific horror genre - from its origins in the 1920s and 1930s, to its contemporary representations. This survey brings together close analyses of individual motion pictures, demonstrating the interconnections among these filmic texts and their contribution to defining quintessential aspects of the modern and postmodern horror film.

This comprehensive survey delves into the varied critical perspectives surrounding Stephen King's The Shining and Stanley Kubrick's iconic film adaptation. It explores the contrasting interpretations of King's supernatural horror and Kubrick's psychological thriller, examining themes of trauma, madness, and family dynamics. The book offers insights into the artistic, cultural, and philosophical debates that have emerged over the years, providing readers with a deep understanding of how both versions have shaped the horror genre and influenced popular culture.

This study traces Edgar Allan Poe's contribution to the Gothic tradition and his invention of the detective tale. It explores the connections between these genres in British and American writers influenced by Poe, such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, Thomas Harris, and Stephen King. This book also examines women writers strongly influenced by Poe, such as Joyce Carol Oates, Sara Paretsky, and Sue Grafton. The last chapter of the volume considers films - in particular, the Roger Corman Poe series, Chinatown, Seven, and Blade Runner - that connect the horror and detective genres.

Dialogues Among Lost Tourists centers on journeys--literal and metaphorical voyages--to foreign places. Divided into three parts, this collection of dialogues mediates between the living and the dead, past and present, real and imaginary. Readers are invited to travel alongside the poet to places where time is briefly suspended long enough to access something of what every tourist discovers in the mystery, humor, sadness, and magic of a unique journey. Sometimes getting lost in a strange place presents the best opportunity for unexpected discoveries.

This in-depth survey examines the wide-ranging critical responses to Stephen King's The Shining and Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation. Through scholarly analysis, the book explores the thematic differences between the novel and the film, with discussions on horror, psychological trauma, and the tension between supernatural and psychological terror. It provides a comprehensive look at how both works have been interpreted and their lasting impact on literature and cinema.

Twaynes United States Authors Series presents concise critical introductions to great writers and their works.

Devoted to critical interpretation and discussion of an authors work, each study takes account of major literary trends and important scholarly contributions and provides new critical insights with an original point of view. An Authors Series volumeaddresses readers ranging from advanced high school students to university professors. The book suggests to the informed reader new ways of considering a writers work. A reader new to the work under examination will, after reading theAuthors Series, be compelled to turn to the originals, bringing to the reading a basic knowledge and fresh critical perspectives.

Each volume features:

• A critical, interpretive study and explication of the authors works
• A brief biography of the author
• An accessible chronology outlining the life, work, and relevant historical background of the author
• Aids for further study -- complete notes and references, a selected annotated bibliography and an index
• A readable style presented in a manageable length

This analysis of the work of Stephen King explores the distinctly American fears and foibles that King has celebrated, condemned, and generally examined in the course of his wildly successful career.

Stephen King: America's Storyteller explores the particular American-ness of Stephen King's work. It is the first major examination to follow this defining theme through King's 40-year career, from his earliest writings to his most recent novels and films made from them.

Stephen King begins by tracing Stephen King's rise from his formative years to his status as a one of the most popular writers in publishing history. It then takes a close look at the major works from his canon, including The Shining, The Stand, It, Dolores Claiborne, and The Dark Tower. In these works and others, author Tony Magistrale focuses on King's deep rooted sense of the American experience, exemplified by his clear-eyed presentation of our historical and cultural foibles and scars; his gallery of unlikely friendships that cross race, age, and class boundaries; and his transcendent portrayals of uniquely American survival instincts, fellowship, and acts of heroism from the least likely of sources.

Contributors analyze the theme of violence in the film adaptations of Stephen King's work, ranging from his earliest movies to the most recent, through a variety of lenses.

I read the poems of What She Said About Love with a growing sense of their achievement, their expression of a particular and valuable voice. Here is a poet who understands that The act of casting shape from chaos / breeds enemies. That refers to Michaelangelo, but it stands in for the poet generally, and especially one of who has Tony Magistrale's gifts. Poetry is the enemy of bland, boring, mass-produced speech. It is language intensified to a level of combat with the world. And Magistrale has managed to keep up the fight in poem after poem. This is a bracing, sweet, dark, and always moving volume of poems. I believe it will affect those who read it deeply. It deserves a wide audience. - Jay Parini, Middlebury College The Plan, which describes a Texas-style barbecue in a Venetian twilight, concludes: In this most secreted city, I divulge no secrets / Content to wear my hat at rakish angle / Tend the grill, savor its sizzle, a characterization that neatly fits the many fine poems of Anthony Magistrale whose sizzle is sure to whet the appetites of readers. The tones may vary, from the moodiness of Venetian Poems to the playfulness of Beware, the Bible Warns, of Fallen Women, but constant throughout are the intellectual alertness, the satisfying structures, and the vivid descriptions: the adjectives are often surprising, as in dense, pasty Milanese rain, but almost always just right. I Nemici be gins: The act of casting shape from chaos / breeds enemies. Magistrale's point is well taken here, but in this case it's much more likely to breed friends and admirers. - Michael Palma, Bordighera Poetry Prize Judge, 2007-2008

This book surveys the labyrinthine relationship between Stephen King and American History. By depicting American History as a doomed cycle of greed and violence, King poses a number of important questions: who gets to make history, what gets left out, how one understands one's role within it, and how one might avoid repeating mistakes of the past. This volume examines King's relationship to American History through the illumination of metanarratives, adaptations, queer and alternative historical lenses, which confront the destructive patterns of our past as well as our capacity to imagine a different future. Stephen King and American History will present readers with an opportunity to place popular culture in conversation with the pressing issues of our day. If we hope to imagine a different path forward, we will need to come to terms with this enclosure-a task for which King's corpus is uniquely well-suited.