Theatre and the Macabre

Theatre and the Macabre is a must-read book for academics, history buffs, theatre professionals and students of the macabre. The range of subjects covered and depths to which they are explored, literally from head to footlights, make this book an invaluable addition to any library. -- Teel James Glenn, actor, director, fight choreographer and novelist
Meredith Conti and Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr. have choreographed a fascinating collection on the macabre and the theatre. More than that, its delineation of the liminal nature of performance, witnessing and participation reveal the centrality of death to the ongoing dance of life. -- Simon Bacon, author and editor of Gothic: A Reader, and Horror: A Companion
Horror onstage is too often considered a mere curiosity, rarely worthy of serious critical consideration. By presenting a wide range of pieces that incorporate history and region, as well as exploring those extraordinary places where literature, theatre, folklore and pop culture meet, Theatre and the Macabre succeeds in proving that the study of theatrical horror is tremendously valuable. -- Lisa Morton, author of Calling the Spirits: A History of Seances
Skulls, ghosts, severed heads. . . . This is a book steeped in gruesome and creepy manifestations. The essays gathered together address the ethics and politics of macabre spectacles--from Grand Guignol to twenty-first-century immersive experiences--as well as the potentially lucrative exploitation of our fascination with the body's perturbing vulnerabilities. It is this joint concern that gets right to the bleeding heart of macabre theaters. -- Dr. Adam Alston, Goldsmiths, University of London