Crime and Horror in Victorian Literature and Culture, Volume II

Matthew Kaiser, an associate professor at the University of California, Merced, presents a scholarly examination of Victorian anxieties in this second volume of his two-part anthology. The text maps the psychological and cultural fears that defined nineteenth-century Britain, focusing on how society policed unstable boundaries during an era of extreme wealth disparity. Kaiser organizes the material into four distinct sections: monstrosity, hauntings, alien worlds, and death. This structure allows for a deep exploration of the specific phenomena that rattled middle-class subjectivity at the time. The collection draws from a wide array of primary sources spanning 1829 to 1904. Readers will encounter short fiction, poetry, plays, government reports, journalism, and social criticism. Notable inclusions are Vernon Lee’s writings, H. G. Wells’ contributions, and a new translation of Émile Durkheim’s Suicide: A Study in Sociology. The volume also features Margaret Oliphant’s novella A Beleaguered City alongside works by Christina Rossetti, Elizabeth Gaskell, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Rudyard Kipling. Topics range from criminology and colonialism to sexual exploitation, prison conditions, capital punishment, mental illness, and homelessness. This academic work suits readers interested in the historical context of horror tropes and the socio-political underpinnings of Gothic literature. It provides concrete examples of how Victorian writers processed their societal fears through various genres. Scholars of British literature, students of criminology, and fans of classic Gothic fiction will find value in its extensive annotations and diverse source material. It is less suitable for those seeking modern horror novels or casual reading without historical context.