The Penguin Book of the Undead

Posted on 20 November 2018 by Scott G. Bruce

Since ancient times, accounts of supernatural activity have mystified us Ghost stories as we know them did not develop until the late nineteenth century, but the restless dead haunted the premodern imagination in many forms, as recorded in historical narratives, theological texts, and personal letters The Penguin Book of the Undead teems with roving hordes of dead warriors, corpses trailed by packs of barking dogs, moaning phantoms haunting deserted ruins, evil spirits emerging from burning carcasses in the form of crows, and zombies with pestilential breath.Spanning from the Hebrew scriptures to the Roman Empire, the Scandinavian sagas to medieval Europe, the Protestant Reformation to the Renaissance, this beguiling array of accounts charts our relationship with spirits and apparitions, wraiths and demons over fifteen hundred years, showing the evolution in our thinking about the ability of dead souls to return to the realm of the living and to warn us about what awaits us in the afterlife. Best Read [ The Penguin Book of the Undead ] by [ Scott G. Bruce ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr Although I m no longer doing serious research, writing, or publishing in the scholarly terrordrome, I try to keep up with topics of interest from my former life and things that might be applicable to the courses that I still teach Dante s Commedia, Medieval Italian lit., and Gothic lit I ve long been interested in Medieval Christian visionary literature my Ph.D dissertation posited that that tradition, muchthan the classical descensi of Odysseus and Aeneas, were the real models for the Although I m no longer doing serious research, writing, or publishing in the scholarly terrordrome, I try to keep up with topics of interest from my former life and things that might be applicable to the courses that I still teach Dante s Commedia, Medieval Italian lit., and Gothic lit I ve long been interested in Medieval Christian visionary literature my Ph.D dissertation posited that that tradition, muchthan the classical descensi of Odysseus and Aeneas, were the real mod...Yes YES Primary sources about walking revenants, disease spreading ghouls and resentful ghosts, right back from classical times What s not to love This nifty volume has enough to interest anyone from the student of history to the d...Too many of the samey kind of stories where it s ghosts coming back to haunt monks etc to ask for intercessory prayers likeonce you have read a few of those they all start sounding the same Neededof the Norse ghosts which included one making an apparition of a seal just slowly appear through the floorboards.Other highlights The lesbian ghost who went to hell because she actually did go to confession in life to confess all her sins but casually forgot to mention her Sinful Gay Deeds TM Too many of the samey kind of stories where it s ghosts coming back to haunt monks etc to ask for intercessory prayers likeonce you have read a few of those they all start sounding the same Neededof the Norse ghosts which included one making an apparition of a seal just slowly appear through the floorboards.Other highlights The lesbian ghost who went to hell because she actually did go to confession in life to confess all her sins but casually forgot ...While generally interesting, I found the large amount of Christian sources to be fairly uninteresting, just as a matter of personal taste Unfortunately, Christian doctrine and storytelling had a large part in shaping the perception and ...I thought it was cool, but I love medieval studies and history.A lot of reviews I read were complaining about its Euro centered and mostly Christian focus, but I kinda feel like, get over it, that s what informs much of Western society Not long after I read this, I watched an episode of Expedition Unknown, where they are in Eastern Europe tracking down claims of vampires and looking at its origin They interviewed a Bulgarian guy that honestly could have come straight out of one of these mediev I thought it was cool, but I love medieval studies and history.A lot of reviews I read were complaining about its Euro centered and mostly Christian focus, but I kinda feel like, get over it, that s what informs much of Western society Not long after I read this, I watched an episode of Expedition Unknown, where they are in Eastern Europe tracking down claims of vampires and looking at its origin They interviewed a Bulgarian guy that honestly could have com...The Penguin Book of the Undead is selection of works which presents many different accounts relating to abnormal and supernatural spectres that have risen from the dead Most of these are ghosts which have risen for the dead for some purpose or another That is what the collection is attempting to show for what reason ghosts appear rather than how the image of the undead has developed over time.A large issue with the texts provided is the lack of depth within the texts, usually being only aroun The Penguin Book of the Undead is selection of works which presents many different accounts relating to abnormal and supernatural spectres that have risen from the dead Most of these are ghosts which have risen for the dead for some purpose or another That is what the collection is attempting to show for what reason ghosts appear rather than how the image of the undead has developed over time.A large issue with the texts provided is the lack of depth within the texts,...OMG, if there was ever an award for most deceptive description on the back cover of a book, this would win it The book allegedly teems with roving hordes of dead warriors, corpses trailed by packs of barking dogs, moaning phantoms haunting deserted ruins, evil spirits emerging from burning carcasses in the form of crows, and zombies with pestilential breath Instead of fun and chilling stories of the undead, you get bone dry historical and mostly religious texts spanning from the Dark Ages OMG, if there was ever an award for most deceptive description on the back cover of a book, this would win it The book allegedly teems with roving hordes of dead warriors, corpses trailed by packs of barking dogs, moaning phantoms haunting deserted ruins, evil spirits emerging from burning carcasse...I read this as a potential teaching resource, and am looking forward to using it as such It would fit nicely either in a medieval course mine s The Living and the Dead in Medieval Literature or in a longitudinal survey of the supernatural, perhapsselectively used The readable translations would, I think, also be appreciated by fans of the myst...Do you like cool books about the undead and other creepy stories Then this is not the book for you If you are into very dry, boring stories about the near death experience of medieval monks however then you ll be in hog heaven.I love creepy books in the fall This was not a creepy book I thought it might explore the undead in literature, legends and folk tales perhaps a bit of history of the origins of our modern zombies, vampires and ghouls That s how it was promoted anyway The introduction even explains that the popularity of these themes in modern pop culture is an ancient tradition So, when the book began with the undead and necromancy in the ancient world, I ...

English
20 November 2018

Scott G. Bruce