For the first time ever, in a single volume, a comprehensive guide to horror and the supernatural in all the arts.

From the subtle shivers of the classic ghost story to Inner Sanctum's creaking door, from James Whale's Frankenstein to George Romero's Night of the Living Dead, from Hector Berlioz to Bernard Herrmann, this remarkable book celebrates the flourishing of terror in all its forms.

Over fifty authorities in the field--including critics, novelists, scholars, and literary journalists--have been brought together to chronicle and comment on the endless fascination of fear, speaking in a variety of voices to the general reader, the horror enthusiast, and the serious student. Here--and only here--the reader will find Jacques Barzun on the art and appeal of the ghostly and ghastly, Ramsey Campbell on the pleasures of bad movies, E. F. Bleiler on devils and demons, Colin Wilson on poltergeists, John Crowley on Shakespeare's ghosts, Ron Goulart on horror comics, T.E.D. Klein on the supernatural, and Douglas E. Winter on mad doctors and the contemporary scene.

With more than fifty essays and six hundred entries covering authors, composers, visual artists, directors, actors, and a generous selection of movies, The Penguin Eyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural is a unique reference volume.