This book undertakes a study of the trope of possessed child in literature and film. It argues that the possessed child is fundamentally an American phenomenon which, first, may be traced to the Calvinist bias of the US as a nation founded on Puritanism and, second, to the rise of Catholicism in that country, to which Puritanism owes its origins.

Autorentext

ADRIAN SCHOBER has a PhD in Literature and Film from Monash University, Australia. His research interests include science fiction, horror, Hitchcock, Kubrick, and children's literature - this is his first book.

Inhalt

Preface Acknowledgements Introduction The New England Connection: Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and James's The Turn of the Screw God is Dead: William Peter Blatty/ William Friedkin's The Exorcist East Meets West: Frank de Felitta/ Robert Wise's Audrey Rose Culture Shock: James Herbert's Shrine For Children Only? William Mayne's It and Victor Kelleher's Del-Del Conclusion Notes Filmography Bibliography Index