Cover of Foundations of Fear

Foundations of Fear

Foundations of Fear seriesNext:Worlds of Fear(1994) →

Horror fiction is a special and enduring pleasure, invoking fear and wonder. For centuries, writers have struggled to achieve the sublime through these tales, at times creating works of enduring interest. Horror novels have become one of the major bestselling forms of fiction in recent years, and Hollywood has given us a huge and varied supply of popular films, which has created an audience in the millions for horror. But throughout history, many of the finest achievements in horror have been in short fiction. From these masterpieces have been selected the contents of Foundations of Fear. This anthology presents an international selection of the strongest work by writers such as Clive Barker, H.P. Lovecraft, and Arthur Machen, who have been identified as category horror writers, and by writers such as Carlos Fuentes, Gerald Durrell, and Daphne Du Maurier, whose literary reputations transcend category. For horror in literature cuts across all category boundaries. Thus the reader will find in this volume domestic horror stories by Thomas Hardy, Violet Hunt and Mary Wilkins Freeman; and stories by Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick, masters of science fiction. The Introduction to Foundations of Fear takes particular note of women writers, who have made important contributions to the development of the horrific in literature; in addition to those already mentioned the collection includes works by Madeline Yale Wynne, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Gertrude Atherton, and others. Foundations of Fear challenges the notion that the supernatural in fiction has in modern times been supplanted by the psychological, the idea that horror is dead. Horror is one of the dominant literary modes of our time, a vigorous and living body of literature that continues to thrill us with the mystery and wonder of the unknown.

Read more

Contents

1 * Introduction (Foundations of Fear) * (1992) * essay by David G. Hartwell

12 * Don't Look Now * (1966) * novella by Daphne du Maurier

41 * They * (1941) * shortstory by Robert A. Heinlein

52 * At the Mountains of Madness * [Cthulhu Mythos] * (1936) * novel by H. P. Lovecraft

115 * The Little Room * (1895) * shortstory by Madeline Yale Wynne

124 * The Shadowy Street * (1965) * novelette by Jean Ray (aka La ruelle tenebreuse 1932 )

145 * Passengers * (1968) * shortstory by Robert Silverberg

154 * The Moonstone Mass * (1868) * shortstory by Harriet Prescott Spofford

163 * The Blue Rose * [Blue Rose] * (1985) * novella by Peter Straub (aka Blue Rose)

197 * Sandkings * (1979) * novelette by George R. R. Martin

223 * The Great God Pan * (1894) * novella by Arthur Machen

256 * Aura * (1965) * novelette by Carlos Fuentes

276 * Barbara, of the House of Grebe * (1890) * novelette by Thomas Hardy

295 * Torturing Mr. Amberwell * (1985) * novelette by Thomas M. Disch

317 * The Prayer * (1895) * novelette by Violet Hunt

334 * Who Goes There? * (1938) * novella by John W. Campbell, Jr. [as by John W. Campbell ]

370 * . . . and my fear is great * (1953) * novella by Theodore Sturgeon (aka . . . And My Fear Is Great . . .)

409 * When Darkness Loves Us * (1985) * novelette by Elizabeth Engstrom

439 * We Purchased People * (1974) * shortstory by Frederik Pohl

449 * The Striding Place * (1896) * shortstory by Gertrude Atherton

454 * In the Hills, the Cities * (1984) * novelette by Clive Barker

474 * Faith of Our Fathers * (1967) * novelette by Philip K. Dick

495 * The Bell in the Fog * (1905) * novelette by Gertrude Atherton

509 * The Sand-Man * (1816) * novelette by E. T. A. Hoffmann (aka Der Sandmann)

530 * Bloodchild * (1984) * novelette by Octavia E. Butler [as by Octavia Butler ]

543 * Duel * (1971) * novelette by Richard Matheson

558 * Longtooth * (1970) * novelette by Edgar Pangborn

580 * Luella Miller * (1902) * shortstory by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman [as by Mary Wilkins Freeman ]

589 * The Entrance * (1979) * novelette by Gerald Durrell

619 * The Lurking Duck * (1992) * shortfiction by Scott Baker

649 * Notes on the Writing of Horror: A Story * (1985) * novelette by Thomas Ligotti

Genre
horror
Setting
1990s
Audience
adult
Length
epic · 660 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked Foundations of Fear? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked Foundations of Fear. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Best New Horror 4 Shares horror, anthology, short stories
  2. The Arbor House Treasury of Horror and the Supernatural Shares horror, anthology, short stories
  3. The Mammoth Book of Terror Shares horror, anthology, horror and supernatural
  4. Borderlands 2 Shares horror, anthology, short stories

“If you want more of the same (horror), start with these.”

  1. Six Stories
  2. Before the Play
  3. Bobo
  4. Black Butterflies

“If it was the anthology that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. Best New Horror 11
  2. A Treasury of American Horror Stories
  3. Fear: A Modern Anthology of Horror and Terror (Volume 2)
  4. Turn Down the Lights

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF
  2. Year's Best SF 6
  3. The Science Fiction Century
  4. The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fourth Annual Collection