Evil Roots: Killer Tales of the Botanical Gothic (British Library Tales of the Weird)

Daisy Butcher and Arthur Conan Doyle and Lucy H Hooper and Charlotte Perkins Gilman and H G Wells and Edmond Nolcini and M R James and Ambrose Bierce and Howard R Garis and William Hope Hodgson and Edith Nesbit and H C McNeile and Abraham Merritt and Emma Vane and Nathaniel Hawthorne

ISBN 10: 0712352295 / ISBN 13: 9780712352291

Published by British Library Publishing, 2019

About this Item

Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover.

Seller Inventory # CHL8589541

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Evil Roots: Killer Tales of the Botanical Gothic (British Library Tales of the Weird)
• Publisher: British Library Publishing
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0712352295
• ISBN 13: 9780712352291
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Used; Good

About this title

Synopsis

A tangle of tales featuring perilous plants, scary sprouts, and frightening flowers

Strangling vines and meat-hungry flora fill this unruly garden of strange stories, selected for their significance as the seeds of the "killer plant" trope in fiction, film, and video games.

Before the Demogorgon of Stranger Things and the appearance of Mario's iconic foe the Piranha Plant, writers of the 19th and early 20th centuries were exploring the lethal potential of vegetable life, inspired by new carnivorous species discovered on expeditions into the deep jungles of the world and breakthroughs in the grafting and genetics disciplines of botany.

Suddenly, the exotic orchid could become a curiously alluring, yet unsettlingly bloodthirsty menace; the beautifully sprawling wisteria of the stately home could become anything but civilized, and the experimentation of botanists weening new shoots on their own blood could become fuel for a new genre of horticultural nightmare.

Step within to marvel at Charlotte Perkins Gilman's giant wistaria and H. G. Wells' hungry orchid; hear the calls of the ethereal women of the wood, and the frightful drone of the moaning lily; and do tread carefully around E. Nesbit's wandering creepers

Every strain of vegetable threat (and one deadly fungus) can be found within this new collection, representing the very best tales from the undergrowth of Gothic fiction.

Also featuring illustrations by Lauren Forrester.

About the Author

Daisy Butcher is a Gothic and Horror scholar attached to The Open Graves, Open Minds project. Her research focuses on the monstrous feminine and body horror from the 19th century Gothic short story to modern film and TV.