James Goho - Caitlin R. Kiernan: A Critical Study of Her Dark Fiction

Several of the chapters in this book are revised versions of essays published in journals. Chapter One originally appeared in a different form as The Call of the S : Irish Supernatural Literature and Folklore in the Fiction of Caitln R. Kiernan in The Green Book , 9 (2017), Swan River Press, Dublin, ire. Chapter Two is a significantly revised version of The best Vitality/Cannot excel Decay: Echoes of Literary Decadence in the Fiction of Caitln R. Kiernan, which appeared in Wormwood , 30 (2018), Tartarus Press, Leyburn, UK. Chapter Three is a revised version of The Figure of the Gothic Body in the Fiction of Caitln R. Kiernan, which first appeared in Studies in the Fantastic , 5 (Winter 2017/Spring 2018) from the University of Tampa Press. Chapter Four is an extensively revised version of Caitln R. Kiernan and the Folklore of Awe and Terror, which was published in Weird Fiction Review, 5 (2014), from Centipede Press. Chapter Five is a much-revised version of Science and Mystery in the Works of Caitln R. Kiernan from Weird Fiction Review , 7 (2016). Chapter Six is a revised version of Haunted Perceptions: Fear and Trembling in the Works of Caitln R. Kiernan from Weird Fiction Review, 6 (2015). Chapter Nine: Retruthing Steampunk: Caitln R. Kiernan Rewrites American West Steampunk appeared in Extrapolation 59.2 (2018). It is reprinted here with the kind permission of Liverpool University Press, the publisher of the original article.

Many people contributed to this book. First, I am grateful to S.T. Joshi. He has encouraged me for some time to undertake and complete this book. He is an enduring source of wisdom on literature. I cannot say thanks enough for all of his suggestions, help, encouragement and advice over the years. Three of the chapters in this book are revised from articles published in Weird Fiction Review , edited by Mr. Joshi. Thanks also go to Jared Waters, of the wonderful Centipede Press, for publishing those three essays. I also want to thank Dr. David Reamer, editor, Studies in the Fantastic , and the unnamed reviewer for their suggestions and editorial directions that vastly improved my essay published in that journal. The editors, including Dr. Andrew M. Butler of Canterbury Christ Church University, and the anonymous reviewers at Extrapolation were also generous in their help and suggestions to develop my article. I give a special thanks to Dr. Gerry Canavan of Marquette University for his advice and suggestions. And I want to mention the late Dr. Michael M. Levy of the University of WisconsinStout, a scholar of science fiction, a fine and caring person, and a former managing editor at Extrapolation . Dr. Levy was generous with his helpful and encouraging communications with me during my articles review. I thank Brian Showers at Swan River Press in Dublin for publishing my piece in The Green Book . As well, I thank the unidentified reviewer and editor for their editorial improvements. Mark Valentine was kind enough to print my article on the Decadence and Kiernan in Wormwood, which is published by Tartarus Press of Carlton, Leyburn, North Yorkshire. The Winnipeg Millennium Library was instrumental in obtaining copies of difficult to access references through interlibrary loans. Rose Flickner at the University of Rochester Rush Rhees Library tracked down a number of especially critical articles for this book. For many years Shaun Goho and Jill Pascoe have listened to me talk about all things gothic and afforded much advice on my research directions. Their comments and suggestions improved this book. My good friend, Dave Williamson, the Canadian author, and I talked about the gothic and Kiernan at many of our routine Book Chat Brunches. Dave knows more about writing and authors than anyone else. I wish to thank the editors at McFarland for their care and consideration during the preparation of the book. As well, I thank the McFarland readers of the original manuscript for their thoughtful comments and suggestions to improve the book. It is a much better book due to all of their help. Any errors or flaws in the book are mine alone. Of course, the real source of any inspiration there might be in this book is due to Caitln R. Kiernan; she is the creative source. And deepest thanks to Pam, who is always wonderful, for her countless hours reading and editing the manuscript.