The Oxford Book of the Supernatural

By D.J. Enright

Book Overview

From the eerie visitation of Scrooge by Marley's ghost, to the three witches brewing evil on the heath in Macbeth, to the deadly lust for blood of Bram Stoker's Dracula, we have always been fascinated by things that go "bump in the night." The supernatural has chilled our hearts and has fired our imaginations, and it has fueled the writings of our greatest authors, from Odysseus's journey to the underworld in Homer, to Faust's bargain with Mephistopheles in Goethe. The Oxford Book of the Supernatural compiles some of the very best writings on this fearsome subject, drawing from both ancient and modern, from East and West, and from Christian, Islamic, and Buddhist traditions. Here readers will enter a foreboding realm of ghosts and vampires, werewolves and witches, dreams and telepathy, demonic possession and near-death experiences. Drawing from both factual accounts and the finest works of literature, and including writers ranging from Homer to Hardy, Pliny to Primo Levi, and Apuleius to A.S. Byatt, Enright offers material that probes the dark corner where the supernatural and natural worlds collide, igniting our deepest anxieties and fears. At times touching, grotesque, eerie, and frightening, The Oxford Book of the Supernatural will interest anyone who is curious about the supernatural or the occult. But whether you believe in the unearthly or not, this literate anthology will satisfy what Virginia Woolf has called "the strange human craving for the pleasure of feeling afraid."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0192832034
• ISBN13: 9780192832030
• Release Date: December 1995
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 576 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 1.3" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

The Complete Spectrum of Spectres

D.J. Enright has put together an incredible collection of ghostly encounters, both fact, fiction, and all points in between. In this massive and meticulously researched tome, Enright draws upon science, literature, theology, psychology, and folklore to give his readers what is perhaps the most exhaustive, yet enjoyable, collage of the Supernatural yet written. Highly recommended, this book is well worth the price. No serious student of things that go bump in the night should be without it.

This is one excellent book...

I've read many books on the supernatural but most really lose my interest after a while. I think this one was a great collection of many little stories and explanations of the supernatural. It has all kinds of interesting things in it. Anyone interested in the supernatural should definitely own this book=)

Worth the money

This book was so comprehensive and left me satisfied. I enjoyed all of the writings included in the book. I got chills as I read it in the night time. It is a very long book and includes so many classic writers as well as modern ones. I can thoroughly recommend buying this book. Its like getting many, many books in one.