More Things Than are Dreamt of: Masterpieces of Supernatural Horror, from Mary Shelley to Stephen King, in Literature and Film

For centuries, perhaps from the beginning of time, people young and old have been drawn to the genre of supernatural horror, first on the printed page and then on the screen. From fairy tales to Freddy Krueger, the appeal of the genre rests on the all too human search for something above nature, something unknown and unnameable. This search has produced works as memorable as they are terrifying, and we feel their power once again in More Things Than Are Dreamt Of. The sweep of the book encompasses almost two centuries as it reconsiders in detail such classics of literature as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, tales of Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Henry James' The Turn of the Screw and Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, right up to such contemporary novels of horror as Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby, William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist and Stephen King's The Dead Zone. But what sets this book apart is that the authors go on to study the most significant feature films derived from these and many other works of fiction, from the silent era until today. Theme, plot, characters and place, the primary elements of the novels and stories, are considered first as originally conceived and then again as they achieve a new and often different life on the screen. Explaining the why and the how of these acts of transformation is the great accomplishment of More Things Than Are Dreamt Of, a book that enhances our understanding of both literature and film. And of course all the while it helps us to experience again those agreeable shudders and chills that come from beyond our dreams.