Danse Macabre Read online

  Theodore Sturgeon. Caviar; The Dreaming Jewels; Some of Your Blood*

  Thomas Tessier. The Nightwalker

  Paul Theroux. The Black House

  Thomas Tryon. The Other*

  Les Whitten. Progeny of the Adder*

  Thomas Williams. Tsuga's Children*

  Gahan Wilson. I Paint What I See

  T. M. Wright. Strange Seed*

  John Wyndham. The Chrysalids; The Day of the Triffids*

  About the Author

  Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. Among his most recent are Under the Dome, the Dark Tower novels, Cell, From a Buick 8, Everything's Eventual, Hearts in Atlantis, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Lisey's Story, and Bag of Bones. His acclaimed nonfiction book On Writing was also a bestseller. He was the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Maine with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

  Index

  Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (film), 76

  Abominable Dr. Phibes, The (film), 140

  Adventures of Chickenman, The (radio series), 114

  Aickman, Robert, 376

  Alas, Babylon (book), 9

  Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV series), 237, 261

  Alien (film), 16, 21-22, 192, 194-95, 198, 222

  Aliens Are Coming, The (TV film), 236

  Allegory, 9-10, 32-33, 41-43, 74, 155

  Allen, Irwin, 219

  Allen, Woody, 57

  American-International Pictures, 31-32, 41-43

  Amityville Horror, The (film), 145-53

  Andromeda Strain, The (film), 169, 170

  Anxiety, 108-9

  Apollonian themes, 78-79, 166, 170

  Approaching Oblivion (book), 404

  Archer, Lee, see Ellison, Harlan

  Argento, Dario, 200

  Arkham House, 30, 266

  Arkoff, Samuel Z., 31-32

  Armadale (book), 51

  Arnold, Jack, 111

  Art, 137-39

  Assault on a Queen (film), 259

  Assault on Precinct 13 (film), 222

  Attack of the Fifty-Foot Woman, The (film), 218-19

  Attack of the Giant Leeches, The (film), 32

  Avon Press, 100

  Bad (film), 187

  Bad Place (archetype), 278, 280-81

  Bad Seed, The (film), 192

  Ballard, J. G., 163n.

  Beaumont, Charles, 254, 255

  Beck, Calvin, 213

  Beginning of the End (film), 65, 166

  "Big Tall Wish, The" (TV show), 257

  Bird, Cordwainer, 395-97 see also Ellison, Harlan Birds, The (film), 192, 198

  Bissell, Whit, 45, 48

  Black Book of Clark Ashton Smith, The (book), 409

  Black comedy, 161-62

  Black House, The (book), 376

  Blatty, William Peter, 315

  Blob, The (film), 219

  Bloch, Robert, 30-31, 79, 127, 240, 286n.

  Body Snatchers, The (book), 324-44, 361

  Bonnie and Clyde (film), 58

  "Boomerang" (TV show), 256

  "Born of Man and Woman" (short story), 329

  Boys from Brazil, The (book), 314

  B-pictures, 139, 212

  Bradbury, Ray, 11, 30, 124, 127, 257, 329n.-30n., 344-45

  Brennan, Joseph Payne, 23, 306

  Bride of Frankenstein (film), 60

  Brides of Dracula (film), 69

  Bronte, Branwell, 40

  Brood, The (film), 107, 139

  Brooks, Mel, 30

  Browning, Ricou, 103

  Browning, Tod, 35-36

  "Burial, The" (short story), 63

  Byron, Lord, 62-63

  Cain, James M., 79

  Cain's Hundred (TV series), 237

  Campbell, John W., 160

  Campbell, Ramsey, 195n., 376-78, 384

  "Canavan's Back Yard" (short story), 306

  Cannibalism, 81, 142, 379-80

  Cantalupo, Michael, 195

  Car, The (film), 173

  Carlson, Richard, 7-8, 102

  Carpenter, John, 21, 222-23

  Carrie (book), 426-27

  Carrie (film), 179-83, 226

  Car Sinister (book), 174

  Cartoons, 132

  Disney movies, 106-7

  Castle, William, 192n., 196-97

  Castle of Frankenstein, The (magazine), 213-14

  Cat People (film), 120-22

  Changeling, The (film), 109, 117, 153

  Charby, Jay, see Ellison, Harlan

  Chayefsky, Paddy, 251

  "Cheaters, The" (short story), 240

  Chermak, Cy, 249

  "Chicken Heart That Ate the World" (radio program), 130

  Children, 104-6

  cruelty of, 207-8

  fears of, 125-27

  and horror, 107-8

  Children of Cain (film), 219

  "Children of the Kingdom" (short story), 265

  China Syndrome, The (film), 164, 170

  "Chopper" (TV show), 249

  Chrysalids, The (book), 41

  Clarke, Arthur C., 110n.

  Cline, C. Terry, 315

  Clockwork Orange, A (film), 162

  Clone, The (book), 23n.

  Close Encounters of the Third Kind (film), 17, 159

  Cochran, Eddie, 44

  Coleridge, S. T., 104

  Collins, Wilkie, 50

  Colossus (book), 162

  Coma (film), 192, 199

  Comeback, The (film), 212

  Comics, 22-23, 36-37, 369, 419

  "Companion, The" (short story), 378

  Conqueror Worm, The (film), 206

  Cook, Oscar, 256

  Coppola, Francis, 226

  Corman, Roger, 32, 202, 204

  Creature from the Black Lagoon (film), 102, 109, 111

  Creeping Unknown, The (film), 171

  Crichton, Michael, 225

  Crime, 79-80

  "Croatoan" (short story), 398

  Cronenberg, David, 107, 138n., 139, 222

  Currey, L. W., 326

  Curse of the Demon (film), 117

  Curse of the Werewolf (film), 298

  Curtis, Dan, 245-47

  Curtis, Jamie Lee, 21

  Curtis, Price, see Ellison, Harlan

  Dahl, Roald, 261

  Damon (book), 315

  Dark Carnival (book), 346

  Darkness, fear of, 193-99

  Dark Shadows (TV series), 245-46

  Dark Star (film), 222

  Davis, Jack, 23

  Dawn of the Dead (film), 81, 139, 216

  "Day at the Dentist's, A" (short story), 134-36

  Day the Earth Stood Still, The (film), 1

  Deadbeat, The (book), 79

  Death, 140, 205-6

  Deathbed Stories (book), 404

  Death Tour (book), 398

  De Laurentiis, Dino, 62

  Deliverance (film), 192, 199

  Dementia-13 (film), 80, 192, 199, 228

  "Demon with a Glass Hand" (TV show), 243

  Denning, Richard, 102

  De Palma, Brian, 179-82, 206, 229, 325

  Derleth, August, 30, 266n.

  Die, Monster, Die (film), 185

  Dimension X (radio series), 124

  Dionysian themes, 78-79, 166, 170

  Dirty Harry (film), 57

  Disbelief, suspension of, 128-29

  Discrimination, 38-39

  Disney, Walt, 106-7

  Dr. Cook's Garden (TV film), 312n.

  Dr. Doom, 37

  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (book), 50, 72-78, 83

  Dr. Octopus, 36-37

  Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (film), 162

  Dog Soldiers (book), 78

  Doll Who Ate His Mother, The (book), 378-79

  Donovan's Brain (book), 17-19

  Dracula (book), 26-27, 50, 63-68, 69, 82

  Dracula (film), 70, 14
4

  Dracula (TV drama), 261

  Dreiser, Theodore, 345

  Drop Dead! An Exercise in Horror (radio play), 136

  Duel (short story, TV film), 173-74

  Earth Abides (book), 424

  Earth vs. The Flying Saucers (film), 2, 13, 158, 170

  Easy Rider (film), 168

  Edison, Thomas, 59

  Edmundson, Wallace, see Ellison, Harlan

  Edwards, Blake, 58

  Elkin, Stanley, 401-2

  Ellis, Landon, see Ellison, Harlan Ellison, Harlan, 127, 231-33, 236, 243, 394-410

  "Emissary from Hamelin" (short story), 407

  Evictors, The (film), 223n.

  Evil, 65

  Exorcist, The (book), 273, 315, 330

  Exorcist, The (film), 3, 139, 177-79, 422

  "Eye of the Beholder" (TV show), 38, 260

  Eye of the Cat (film), 242-43

  Fairy tales, 109, 139, 186-87

  Family Plot (film), 225

  Fantasia (film), 106

  Faulkner, William, 291-92

  Fear, 5, 105-6, 126-27, 193, 204-5, 297

  in children, 125-27

  in film, 139

  "Fever, The" (TV show), 259

  Fiedler, Leslie, 375

  Finney, Jack, 5, 258-59, 324-27

  Five (film), 131

  Fog, The (book), 387-90

  Forbes, Bryan, 175

  Forbin Project, The (film), 162

  "Foul Play" (short story), 24-25

  Frank, Pat, 9

  Frankenheimer, John, 3, 214

  Frankenstein (book), 50, 52-56, 59-60

  Frankenstein: The True Story (TV film), 262

  Freaks, 33-35, 38

  see also Monsters Freaks (film), 35

  Free will, 64

  Freud, Sigmund, 74

  Friedkin, William, 139, 214

  Friedman, Lenemaja, 299, 301

  "From A to Z, in the Chocolate Alphabet" (short story), 408

  Frye, William, 240

  Funerals, 140-42

  Fury, The (film), 107, 206, 325

  Fuzz (book), 417

  Gaines, William M., 22

  "Galaxy Being, The" (TV show), 243

  Gardner, Erle Stanley, 392n.

  Gargoyles (TV film), 262

  Geeks, 35

  Ghastly Ones, The (film), 138

  Ghosts, 51, 265, 271

  Ghost Story (book), 26, 266, 267-77

  Giant Spider Invasion, The (film), 200, 201-2, 218

  Gimmicks, 195-97

  God, 64

  Gog (film), 163

  Goldman, William, 175n., 314

  "Good Man Is Hard to Find, A" (short story), 21

  Gothic fiction, 271-72, 296-97, 300

  Grant, Charles L., 306

  "Graveyard Shift" (short story), 28n.

  Gregg Press, 326

  Guest, Val, 171, 172

  Haas, George F., 408

  Hailey, Arthur, 391

  Hair of Harold Roux, The (book), 424

  Halloween (film), 21, 192, 197

  Hammer Films, 61, 69, 80

  Hammett, Dashiell, 392

  "Hansel and Gretel" (fairy tale), 109, 183-84, 187

  "Harrison Bergeron" (short story), 234

  Harryhausen, Ray, 2

  Harson, Sley, see Ellison, Harlan

  Hart, Ellis, see Ellison, Harlan

  Hartwell, David, 326

  Hatlen, Burton, 51, 52, xii

  Haunted houses, 146, 277-80

  "Haunter of the Dark, The" (short story), 119

  Haunting, The (film), 25, 119, 192

  Haunting of Hill House, The (book), 118, 282, 297, 298

  Hawks, Howard, 81, 154

  Height of the Scream, The (book), 378

  Heinlein, Robert, 341

  "He Lives" (TV show), 253

  Herbert, James, 4, 212, 376, 383

  Herrmann, Bernard, 260

  Hitchcock, Alfred, 79, 225, 235-36

  "Hitler Painted Roses" (short story), 401-4

  Home Box Office, 223 n.

  Hooper, Tobe, 138

  Horror of Party Beach, The (film), 164-65, 228

  Horrors of the Black Museum (film), 140

  Hour of the Oxrun Dead, The (book), 306

  House Next Door, The (book), 262, 282, 283-96

  House on Value Street, The (book), 423

  Howard, Robert E., 71, 240, 368

  Humor, 130

  "Hungry Glass, The" (short story), 240

  Hunter, Evan, 417

  Hypnotism, 68

  I Am Legend (book), 161

  I Bury the Living (film), 192

  If You Could See Me Now (book), 267

  I Married a Monster from Outer Space (film), 221, 223-24

  Immortality, 50

  Incredible Hulk, The (TV series), 45, 59, 298

  Incredible Shrinking Man, The (film), 4, 169

  Independent films, 227

  Inhabitants of the Lake, The (book), 378

  Inner Sanctum (TV series), 116

  Insanity, 185-86

  "Invaders, The" (TV show), 260

  Invasion of the Body Snatchers (film), 5, 139, 140

  Invasion of the Saucer-Men (film), 220

  Invasion of the Star Creatures (film), 221

  Irish, William, see Woolrich, Cornell

  "It Came Out of the Woodwork" (TV show), 243

  I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (film), 45, 46, 48-49

  I Was a Teenage Werewolf (film), 45-46

  Jackson, Shirley, 33, 118, 282, 296, 297

  Jack the Ripper (film), 197n.

  Jakes, John, 392-93

  James, Henry, 51

  Jarvis, E. K., see Ellison, Harlan Jaws (film), 206

  Jewel of Seven Stars, The (book), 83

  Job, 64

  Jones, D. F., 162-63

  Jong, Erica, 69

  Jorgensen, Ivar, see Ellison, Harlan

  Journey to the Unknown (TV series), 262

  Jude the Obscure (book), 82

  Julia (book), 267, 269-70

  Juvenile delinquency, 43-44

  Kael, Pauline, 325

  Karloff, Boris, 53, 61, 238

  Kaufman, Philip, 5n., 6-7

  King, Tabitha, 375n.

  Kingdom of the Spiders (film), 4

  King Kong (film), 61-62

  Kipling, Rudyard, 74

  Kiss Before Dying, A (book), 313

  Klein, T. E. D., 265

  Kolchak: The Night Stalker (TV series), 248, 249-50

  Kolchak Tapes, The (book), 245

  Kubrick, Stanley, 121, 122, 123, 162

  Lady in a Cage (film), 81

  Lair of the White Worm, The (book), 83

  Landis, John, 363

  Last Man on Earth, The (film), 161

  Lederer, Charles, 160

  Lee, Christopher, 61

  Lee, Stan, 36

  Left-handedness, 38-40

  "Legacy of Terror" (TV show), 249

  Leiber, Fritz, 174, 383

  Leone, Sergio, 58

  Levin, Ira, 174, 175, 311-17

  Lewis, M. G., 51

  Lighting techniques, 121-23, 198-99 see also Gimmicks Lights Out (radio series), 129

  Little Shop of Horrors, The (film), 202

  Living End, The (book), 401-2

  "Lonely Women Are the Vessels of Time" (short story), 407

  Looking for Mr. Goodbar (film), 192, 197-98

  "Lottery, The" (short story), 33

  Love and Death in the American Novel (book), 375

  Lovecraft, H. P., 30, 65, 79, 81, 100-102, 119-20, 203-4, 255-56, 378, 408

  Lugosi, Bela, 61n., 70, 224

  Lurking Fear and Other Stories, The (book), 100

  Lustig, William, 200

  Macabre (film), 192

  MacDonald, John D., 126

  Malin, Irving, 296

  Maniac (film), 200-201

  Marriages (book), 267

  "Mars Is Heaven" (short story), 124-25

  Martian Chronicles
(book), 11

  Martin (film), 81n.

  Martin, Quinn, 262

  Marvel Comics, 36-37

  Matheson, Richard, 30, 161, 173, 247, 254, 260, 329, 360

  McBain, Ed, 417

  McCauley, Kirby, 222, xii

  McTeague (book), 430

  Merchant, Paul, see Ellison, Harlan

  Mesmer, Franz, 68

  MGM, 35, 225

  Michael, David J., 398

  Midnight Express (film), 192

  "Miniature" (TV show), 255

  Mitchell, Clyde, see Ellison, Harlan Monk, The (book), 50-51

  "Monkey's Paw, The" (short story), 22

  Monsters, 32-43, 217-18 see also Freaks "Monsters Are Due on Maple Street, The" (TV show), 253

  Motion pictures, see Movies

  Movies, 57-58, 110-11, 137-211

  cartoons, 132

  Disney movies, 106-7

  Munsters, The (TV series), 57

  Music, 110

  Mystery Playhouse Starring Boris Karloff (TV series), 238

  Mythology, 52, 78-79

  Narcissism, 296, 298

  Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, The (book), 378

  National Enquirer (newspaper), 34

  National Lampoon (magazine), 34

  "New Exhibit, The" (TV show), 255

  Newman, Edwin, 385

  Nicholson, James H., 31-32

  "Nick of Time" (TV show), 259

  Night Evelyn Came out of the Grave, The (film), 197n.

  Night Gallery (TV series), 252, 255-56

  Nightmare (film), 80

  "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (TV show), 260

  Night of the Hunter, The (film), 192, 198

  Night of the Lepus (film), 169

  Night of the Living Dead (film), 33, 81, 142-43, 166, 170, 192, 198, 227, 228

  Night Shift (book), 85, 241

  Night Stalker, The (TV series), 245, 246-49

  Night Strangler, The (TV series), 248

  Nightwalker, The (book), 376

  Night Watch (film), 192

  1984 (film), 161

  Nolan, William F., 116, 117

  Norris, Frank, 430

  Nosferatu (film), 68

  Nosille, Nalrah, see Ellison, Harlan

  Nyby, Christian, 154

  Oates, Joyce Carol, 377

  Oboler, Arch, 129, 131-35

  O'Brien, Willis, 62

  O'Connor, Flannery, 21

  "Of Missing Persons" (short story), 259

  Ogle, Charles, 59

  Omega Man, The (film), 161

  Omen, The (film), 192, 199, 201

  Once Upon a Time in the West (film), 58

  One Hundred and One Dalmatians (film), 106

  Oral sex, 69

  Orgasm, 68

  Our Lady of Darkness (book), 383

  Outer Limits (TV series), 80, 241-44

  Pal, George, 161

  Paranoia, 322, 326, 330-32

  Parasite, The (book), 376

  Park, John G., 296-97, 301-2

  "Patterns" (short story), 252

  "Perchance to Dream" (TV show), 254

  Peter Gunn (TV series), 237

  Phase IV (film), 149

  Phobias, see Fear

  Physical deformities, see Freaks; Monsters

  Pierce, Jack, 60-61

  "Pigeons from Hell" (short story), 240

  Pimples, 46-47

  Pit and the Pendulum, The (film), 143

  Plan 9 from Outer Space (film), 224

  Playden, Paul, 249

  Pleasance, Donald, 21

  Poe, E. A., 65, 378

  Polanski, Roman, 311-12

  Polidori, John, 62-63

  Political subtexts, 154-61

  Powers, Richard Gid, 342-44

  "Prey" (short story), 247

  "Printer's Devil" (TV show), 253n., 255

  Prophecy (film), 3, 163, 214

  Psycho (film), 79-80, 143, 192, 199, 235-36, 242

  Puppet Masters, The (book), 341

  Rabid (film), 222

  Radio, 113-36