The essays in this volume examine elements of the fantastic in a variety of media. From the fiction of Toni Morrison, Stephen King, and Chinua Achebe, to the rock songs of David Bowie, the fantastic is seen as adaptable to any art form. In an accessible manner, the contributors present fresh approaches to examining the elements of the fantastic in literature, film, music, and popular culture. The collection features an essay by Ursula K. Le Guin.

A collection of legends representing the rich tapestry of beliefs of Aboriginal people throughout Australia. Tales range from creation stories to legends of animals, birds, rivers, lakes and shores, as well as hero stories. A dictionary of Aboriginal words is included.

Classical Presences
Series Editors: Lorna Hardwick, Professor of Classical Studies, Open University, and James I. Porter, Professor of Greek, Latin, and Comparative Literature, University of Michigan
The texts, ideas, images, and material culture of ancient Greece and Rome have always been crucial to attempts to appropriate the past in order to authenticate the present. They underlie the mapping of change and the assertion and challenging of values and identities, old and new. Classical Presences brings the latest scholarship to bear on the contexts, theory, and practice of such use, and abuse, of the classical past.
Laughing with Medusa explores a series of inter-linking questions, including: Does history's self-positioning as the successor of myth result in the exclusion of alternative narratives of the past? How does feminism exclude itself from certain historical discourses? Why has psychoanalysis placed myth at the center of its explorations of the modern subject? Why are the Muses feminine? Do the categories of myth and politics intersect or are they mutually exclusive? Does feminism's recourse to myth offer a script of resistance or commit it to an ineffective utopianism? Covering a wide range of subject areas including poetry, philosophy, science, history, and psychoanalysis as well as classics, this book engages with these questions from a truly interdisciplinary perspective. It includes a specially commissioned work of fiction, "Iphigeneia's Wedding," by the poet Elizabeth Cook.

A collection of stories exploring dreamtime myths through ancient images, such as the Rainbow Snake, the discovery of fire, and the first man and woman. Divided into three sections, The Great Father, Totemic Ancestors and Creation Myths, it seeks to provide an insight into Aboriginal culture.

Is Kangaroo an Aboriginal word? What does brolga mean? Many of the words Australians use every day have their origins in some of the hundreds of Aboriginal languages once spoken across the land. this book is a fascinating reference for anyone interested in knowing more about the original inhabitants of this vast continent.

An enthralling collection of traditional tales that date back to the beginning of time. Learn how Yhi the sun goddess introduced life to the world, why the emu cannot fly and how the kangaroo got its tail. Packed with myths and legends about creation, these stories retell how people and animals were made.

Renowned storyteller Docia Williams gathers a medley of some of the best haunting stories from her four previous books Spirits of San Antonio and South Texas, Phantoms of the Plains, Ghosts Along the Texas Coast, and When Darkness Falls then she adds a hundred pages of new ghostly tales from the Piney Woods of East Texas and from North Central Texas, including the Dallas area.
Once again Mrs. Williams brings to light tangible evidence and eyewitness testimony in Best Tales of Texas Ghosts to validate an illusive world without dimension, one filled with bizarre and disturbing accounts of unexplained presences.
After interviewing hundreds of people with firsthand experiences and personally witnessing eerie manifestations, she has concluded, [There are things happening all around us that can only be labeled as supernatural.]

Cold facts and impersonal statistics may be the bacon of Texas history, but the tall tales and interesting side stories are the sizzle. In this book, C.F. Charlie Eckhardt presents some of the Texas history sizzle that is often ignored when pure historians write about the Lone Star State. He adds to the flavor of Texas history with tales about such things as the first Texas revolution, the first English speaking person in Texas, and the little known counterrevolution of 1838-1840. Charlie examines the expulsion of the Cherokees from Texas and provides details of some of the more famous Indian fights. Charlie also shows his romantic side with the legend of the famous Yellow Rose of Texas.

San Antonio is such an interesting and fascinating place to live, it seems a lot of folks just don't want to leave when it's their time to go: so, those Spirits of San Antonio just keep on returning--most often "When Darkness Falls". Once again, well-known ghost story writer Docia Williams brings us a new book about recent ghost sightings and mysterious happenings in the Alamo City. A chilling book for those wanting a guide to places where spirits are known to rendezvous or for those who just like a good ghost story.

-- The unique and often turbulent history of St. Augustine, America's oldest city, has spawned more than four hundred years' worth of ghosts
-- Author Dave Lapham has collected twenty-four stories from St. Augustine's rich oral history into a light yet sometimes hair-raising peek at the spooky side of the Oldest City
-- St. Augustine has loads to offer travelers of all interests

A fascinating and detailed look at English folklore and village customs. Contents Include - What Folklore is - The Calendar - Village Seasonal Life: Part 1: Winter Feasts to Midsummer: Part 2: Midsummer to Christmas - Our Dance and Drama:1. The Sword Dance - 2 . The Play - The Other Play - The Morris Dance - Our Country Dances - Our Songs and their Folklore - Our Tales - A page of Magic

This is the first volume in a set of two. Volume 1 introduces and collects together the scattered quotations of the Greek writers of the sixth to the fourth centuries BC who first recorded in prose the tales of Greek mythology (the 'mythographers'), whilst Volume 2 will be a scholarly commentary.

American Indian stories from famed Traditional Storyteller for the National Park Service - Esther Martinez. My Life in San Juan Pueblo is a rich, rewarding, and uplifting collection of personal and cultural stories from a master of her craft. Esther Martinez's tales brim with entertaining characters that embody her Native American Tewa culture and its wisdom about respect, kindness, and positive attitudes. Sure to bring a smile to readers of all ages, this enchanting glimpse of an oral tradition passed from grandfather to granddaughter also features a CD of the stories as told by Esther Martinez herself.

A powerfully poignant tale of one of the most turbulent moments in Scotland's history: the North Berwick Witch Trials. IT'S THE 4TH OF DECEMBER 1591. On this, the last night of her life, in a prison cell several floors below Edinburgh's High Street, convicted witch Geillis Duncan receives a mysterious visitor - Iris, who says she comes from a future where women are still persecuted for who they are and what they believe. As the hours pass and dawn approaches, Geillis recounts the circumstances of her arrest, brutal torture, confession and trial, while Iris offers support, solace - and the tantalising prospect of escape. Hex is a visceral depiction of what happens when a society is consumed by fear and superstition, exploring how the terrible force of a king's violent crusade against ordinary women can still be felt, right up to the present day. 'This series has already produced two works of note and distinction. It raises the question - if a country cannot re-tell its history, will it be stuck forever in aspic and condemned to be nothing more than a shortbread tin illustration? Hex and Rizzio are showing the way towards a reckoning, and about time too' - Stuart Kelly, Scotland on Sunday

Proverbs supposedly contain the wisdom of the common folk--eternal truths to be passed down through the ages. They are short, often humorous, expressions that teach lessons or give practical advice, and they are perhaps the best indicators of attitudes and beliefs of any form of folklore. Not only reflecting culture, proverbs also perpetuate the cultural dictates of the past, including the fears, prejudices, and misconceptions of their predominately male authors. Because they are generalizations, proverbs sometimes impede accurate observation and analysis and stifle original thought. Like many other traditions and cultural practices, proverbs often promote misleading stereotypes of women. This reference book collects more than 800 American proverbs about women and analyzes their significance. The volume begins with introductory chapters that explore the relationship between proverbs and culture and the image of women presented in proverbs. The chapters that follow are devoted to particular categories, such as wives and 6~rriage, mothers and daughters, women as property, and old women and grandmothers. Each chapter includes a brief introductory overview and a listing of proverbs relating to the topic. The proverbs were gathered through an extensive review of journal articles, proverb dictionaries, and other literature. In addition to true proverbs, the volume includes some phrases, sayings, and proverbial comparisons. Not included are expressions that contain words like "mother" or "daughter" but do not really describe women or comment about them. The book then presents a concluding analysis of how American proverbs portray women, an alphabetical index of proverbs, and an extensivebibliography.

Step into a magical world of fanciful characters, animals, and landscapes that will delight adult coloring fans of fairy tales, landscapes, and whimsical drawings. Inspired by fairy tales and magical realism, artist Renata Krawczyk has created illustrations that will delight fans of coloring intricate scenes of fantasy and wonder. The beautiful drawings include such charming scenes as cottages adorned with fairy lights, delicate flowers, paper sailboats, tiny teacups, toadstools, hot-air balloons, unicorns, and more.