I wrote last month about horror fiction. Today I am going to follow the same path and review a specific reference work in the field, St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost and Gothic Writers. This work is available in the reference section of Gulfport Public Library. It is a large and expensive book which would probably only be purchased by an extremely devoted fan of the genre with deep pockets, so we are lucky to have it here at the library.

The book is organized alphabetically by the last names of the authors it covers. This makes it easy to use. Old favorite authors are easy to find. Also this is the perfect volume to pick through at random to let serendipity lead you to a new author you are not familiar with. I find that kind of activity a lot of fun. It is like looking around in an old bookstore you have never been in before never knowing what new discovery is waiting around the corner on a dusty shelf.

The entries on the authors are fairly long and detailed. This is definitely a good thing. I just turned to Stephen King’s entry. It begins with a listing of the standard information that you might expect. Some interesting facts are encountered here. Before getting any of his books published, King worked both as a janitor and a laborer in an industrial laundry, as well as, an English teacher at Hampden Academy in Maine. He has been a full time writer from 1973 to the present. The entry listed his published novels. Then his novels published under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman are listed. Next his short stories are listed. Then his plays are listed. Next his “other” publications are listed including a collection of poetry. Film adaptations, biography, bibliography, critical studies and theatrical activities finish the listings.

Next is the real meat of the article. In this final section you find statements about the lasting value of King’s work and the criticism he has received from his peers. The author notes that without Stephen King’s influence on the genre not only would bookstore fail to have horror sections, but even this book, St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost and Gothic Writer, might not exist. I find it interesting that King is also compared to J. R. R. Tolkien. There similarity is that they both single-handedly created new genres, modern fantasy and modern horror. The author goes as far as to compare King to another British writer, Charles Dickens. Both Stephen King and Charles Dickens were able to capture their age, the author writes. King’s depiction of horror captures the fears and troubles of the late 20th century.

So that is how the entries are organized and what kinds of information they convey. This is a good resource for fans of the genre. The lists of publications alone could lead to interesting discoveries. So if you want to learn more about your favorite spooky writers this is one place to go.