Product Description

The Supernatural Index is the first index to all known anthologies of supernatural, fantasy, and weird fiction. It covers over 2,100 such books, indexing each volume by contents, author, and title. Books range from 1813 to date and therefore provide a complete history of the horror fiction field. Birth and death dates, along with pseudonyms, are provided for more than 7,700 authors; and for all the rougly 21,300 stories, every attempt has been made to provide original publication details.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2855449 in Books
• Published on: 1995-05-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 952 pages

From Booklist
" The goal of this reference is to list all English language anthologies of supernatural and fantastic stories." If the editors do not succeed, they make a gallant try. The work indexes more than 2,100 anthologies containing more than 21,300 stories by 7,700 writers. Editors range from Alfred Hitchcock and Isaac Asimov to Bennett Cerf. The indefatigable anthologists Martin Greenberg and Peter Haining have pages of their own, as do prolific or much-anthologized writers like Ray Bradbury and H. P. Lovecraft.

The book is in five main sections: editor list, book-title list, author index, story-title index, and book contents, which lists every story in each anthology. The author and story indexes are very thorough, indicating first publication in a periodical, when appropriate. Two appendixes give a list of associational works that were not included in the main indexes, mainly modern anthologies of the supernatural for children, and a list of anthologies that arrived too late for complete indexing. The preface explains how to use the volume, and front matter includes a list of abbreviations used in the entries.

Recommended for large public libraries with active supernatural-literature collections--and a large number of the indexed anthologies--and for academic libraries with popular-literature programs. The only minor caveat is that in the book-contents section white space for penciling in the call numbers of the anthologies is limited.

Review
“...it is a gold mine for avid general readers; but literary scholars will appreciate it as well. A massive undertaking, elegantly achieved, that supersedes the standard index. Recommended”–Choice

“There has never been anything like this volume, a cross-index that is intended to cover all of the supernatural story anthologies ever published...This volume is so comprehensive, covering all known anthologies in the English language, that its user will inevitably find listings of books he did not know existed--especially valuable for writers looking for unauthorized reprints of their work. For anthologists assembling a book, The Supernatural Index is an excellent check on whether a selection has been used before, and if so, how many times and how recently.”–The Bulletin of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

“Recommended for large public libraries with active supernatural-literature collections--and a large number of the indexed anthologies--and for academic libraries with popular-literature programs.”–Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin

“...master bibliographers Mike Ashley and William Contento have brought the horror anthology into its rightful prominence with The Supernatural Index, one of the most useful and obsessively fascinating bibliographies I've ever encountered. Do you need this book? Librarians whose patrons need to trace and elusive story or locate original venues should immediately order a copy for their reference collection and put it on the shelf with other classic bibliographic resources on the fantastic by Contento, E.F. Bleiler, Neil Barron, and Donald H. Tuck. If your interest and/or research gravitate towards supernatural fiction I think you will find this book worth every penny. The care Ashley and Contento have lavished on it together with its comprehensive coverage make The Supernatural Index an invaluable resource and a bibliophile's delight.”–SFRA

“Over the years, Mike Ashley and Bill Contento have made many notable contributions to genre research and scholarship. The Supernatural Index, however, ranks as the greatest of their accomplishments, indexing and annotating the contents of more than 2000 "fantasy, supernatural, occult, weird, and horro" anthologies, published between 1813 and mid-1994. If you're a collector or voracious reader, TSI can tell you at glance whether a particular anthology merely duplicates what you already have or whether there's sufficient unfamiliar material to warrant acquistions. If your're tracking down the far-flung stories of a specific author, TSI can tell you which anthologies to add to your want list. If you're a library buyer or serious researcher, this book is simply a must.”–The Scream Factor

“The Supernatural Index includes more than 21,300 stories in some 2,100 anthologies published in English from 1813 through 1994. Recommended for libraries of all sizes.”–College & Research Libraries

“As aficionados of the genre are sorely aware, the study of weird fiction has until recent decades been hinered by a lack of informed reference tools. Now, to the elite ranks of such pioneers in this shunned field as H.P. Lovecraft , E.F. bleier, and S.T. Joshi, readers may consecrate the names of ashley and Contento for their landmark volume. ...all that remains to be said is that, alought this work's format is that of an index, in application The Supernatural index is truly a manual for all fans of supernatural fiction.”–ARBA

About the Author
MIKE ASHLEY is a researcher and bibliographer of popular literature, particularly fantasy, horror, and science fiction.

WILLIAM G. CONTENTO is a freelance writer.