The Gothic Imagination 99778800223300111188117711__0011__pprreexxvvii..iinndddd ii 99//3300//22001111 66::1100::3377 PPMM Also by John C. Tibbetts The American Theatrical Film Schumann: A Chorus of Voices Composers in the Movies: Studies in Musical Biography Dvorak in America All My Loving?: The Films of Tony Palmer Shakespeare into Film (with James M. Welsh and Richard Vela) Novels into Film (with James M. Welsh) 99778800223300111188117711__0011__pprreexxvvii..iinndddd iiii 99//3300//22001111 66::1100::3377 PPMM The Gothic Imagination Conversations on Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction in the Media John C. Tibbetts Preface by Richard Holmes 99778800223300111188117711__0011__pprreexxvvii..iinndddd iiiiii 99//3300//22001111 66::1100::3388 PPMM THE GOTHIC IMAGINATION Copyright © John C. Tibbetts, 2011. All rights reserved. First published in 2011 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978–0–230–11816–4 (hc.) ISBN 978 –0– 230– 11817–1 (pbk.) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tibbetts, John C. The gothic imagination : conversations on fantasy, horror, and science fiction in the media / John C. Tibbetts ; preface by Richard Holmes. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978–0–230–11816–4 Hardback ISBN 978–0–230–11817–1 Paperback 1. Gothic fiction (Literary genre), English—History and criticism. 2. Gothic fiction (Literary genre), American—History and criticism. 3. Gothic revival (Literature)—History and criticism. 4. Fantasy films— History and criticism. 5. Horror films—History and criticism. 6. Science fiction films—History and criticism. 7. Horror television programs— History and criticism. 8. Science fiction television programs—History and criticism. 9. Fantasy in art. 10. Horror in art. I. Title. PR830.T3T53 2011 700’.415—dc22 2011012942 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: October 2011 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America. 99778800223300111188117711__0011__pprreexxvvii..iinndddd iivv 99//3300//22001111 66::1100::3388 PPMM To my father, James C. Tibbetts (1917–1998), member of First Fandom, who first showed me the way to the worlds of wonder. 99778800223300111188117711__0011__pprreexxvvii..iinndddd vv 99//3300//22001111 66::1100::3388 PPMM Witness this new-made world, another heaven. . . Of amplitude almost immense, with stars Numerous, and every star perhaps a world Of destined habitation. . . Milton, Paradise Lost, Book VII, 1667 (lines 617–623) 99778800223300111188117711__0011__pprreexxvvii..iinndddd vvii 99//3300//22001111 66::1100::3399 PPMM C O N T E N T S Preface ix Prefatory Note xiii Acknowledgments xv Introduction: Voices Heard ’Round the Cosmic Campfire 1 One The Lovecraft Circle 9 Two The Heroic Age of Fantasy and Science Fiction 55 Three The Bradbury Chronicles 141 Four Destination: Mars! 177 Five The Extravagant Gaze 201 Six “Where No Man Has Gone Before . . . ” 245 Seven The Music of Terror 273 Eight Postmodern Gothic 283 Nine “The Heresy of Humanism” 359 Epilogue “Night Vision” 383 Notes 385 Bibliography 405 Index 411 99778800223300111188117711__0011__pprreexxvvii..iinndddd vviiii 99//3300//22001111 66::1100::3399 PPMM 99778800223300111188117711__0011__pprreexxvvii..iinndddd vviiiiii 99//3300//22001111 66::1100::3399 PPMM P R E F A C E By Richard Holmes Richard Holmes. Image copyright, Stuart Clarke. It’s always a great idea to get a bunch of enthusiasts sounding off about a subject they really know, love, and deeply care for. In the case of the Gothic and science fiction practitioners here, it’s genuinely weird and thought-pro- voking, too. John Tibbetts’s wild and exuberant anthology of interviews will certainly test your synapses as well as your literary prejudices. It reminds me that I belong to an old-fashioned generation whose idea of science fiction was defined by two heroic events of the late 1960s: the Apollo 11 Moon landing and Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. More than 40 years later, I am amazed by the Gothic richness, the anarchic wit, and technical resilience of the form as it has obviously continued to develop, especially in America. Just what is it in the Gothic genome that allows it to go on flourishing? 99778800223300111188117711__0011__pprreexxvvii..iinndddd iixx 99//3300//22001111 66::1100::3399 PPMM