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A Century of Weird Fiction, 1832–1937

Disgust, Metaphysics, and the Aesthetics of Cosmic Horror

A Century of Weird Fiction, 1832–1937 explores the aesthetics of the unthinkable in weird fiction, tracing a twisted entanglement of ontology and aesthetics. Drawing on recent speculative philosophy and affect theory, the study argues that weird fiction exploits the viscerality of disgust to confront readers with the intertwinement of the human and nonhuman.

272 pages | 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 | © 2020

Horror Studies

Literature and Literary Criticism: General Criticism and Critical Theory


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Reviews

"Timely and astute. . ."

Review 19

“Jonathan Newell’s rigorous analysis reveals how weird fiction has anticipated and influenced important movements in contemporary philosophy. This book offers striking new critical insights, giving a fresh perspective on Lovecraft as well as illuminating critically neglected writers such as William Hope Hodgson. Newell writes with depth, sensitivity and flair, and A Century of Weird Fiction is sure to become a key text for scholars working across Gothic and Horror Studies, as well as those with an interest in contemporary philosophy.”

 

Chloé Germaine Buckley, Manchester Metropolitan University

“This book is ‘disgusting’ in that word’s etymological sense: it ‘turns’ our ‘taste’ toward the affective disruptions of human life. Newell moves among classical and contemporary philosophy, canonical and contemporary weird fiction, theory and close reading, to articulate precisely the sliminess of our being. A critical tour de force!"
 

Steven Bruhm, Western University, Canada

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