A review by brnineworms
The Rise of Supernatural Fiction, 1762 1800 by E.J. Clery

medium-paced

2.5

Dry as dust. There were a few ideas I found interesting, such as the gendering of media consumption (with the novel being seen as inherently feminine/effeminate), and the way footlights revolutionised the theatre experience by promoting the audience’s total immersion in a fiction. There’s something to be said about truth and verisimilitude – reality vs the unreal, “real” apparitions vs hoaxes, suspension of disbelief; the book does toy with this theme, but never commits to it.

I found The Rise of Supernatural Fiction rather dreary for the most part. Engagement required conscious effort. Maybe I’m just not in the mood for history books right now, or maybe this book in particular needed some restructuring.

CONTENT WARNINGS: some discussion of death (ghosts, murder, but nothing graphic), also sexism and misogyny