Spectral Sounds

Overview

From the ringing of a disconnected bell to footsteps in the halls of an abandoned house and the whisper of an unexplained voice in the ear, uncanny sounds are often the heralds of danger and terror in Gothic and supernatural fiction. Yet, when examining the range of stories which best manipulate our aural sense it is clear that there is more room to explore how significant sound is to our experience of fear.

This new collection presents tales in which ghosts interact with the corporeal world through noise, bodiless voices wander through the ether, and the objects whose sounds we trust, like the telephone, betray us. Featuring obscure pieces alongside some of the pioneers of the weird including B M Croker, Algernon Blackwood, H D Everett and Sheridan Le Fanu.

Author Biography

Manon Burz-Labrande is a researcher based at the University of Vienna who specializes in the content, history and literary influence of penny bloods and penny dreadfuls. Her research has also explored scientific romances and the crossover of literature with medicine, as well as a long-held interest in the role of sound in Gothic and strange fiction.