Kröger (academic writing, Mississippi State University) and Anderson (American literature, University of Mississippi) ask: what is it about the spectral that has held popular attention for so
long? What does it symbolize for authors and audiences? What is a ghost? Existentially ghosts lie between fact and fiction, between the orbits of believer and nonbeliever, and provide bounteous
fodder for storytelling, literature, and film. In 10 chapters the editors and their contributors offer a broad, comparative look at the place of ghosts in literature and film, and they see the
ghost as a useful metaphor for death and the uncertainties of life. There are three parts: the Gothic and the ghostly; spectral figures and spectral histories; and spectral projections. This
concise and interesting book is for scholars and the intellectually curious. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
