What the Daemon Said: Essays on Horror Fiction, Film, and Philosophy

For more than two decades, Matt Cardin has been one of the most profound and provocative critics and scholars working in the field of horror fiction, and this volume contains his collected essays on a wide array of topics within the genre.

Cardin has made a specialty in treating the multifaceted work of Thomas Ligotti, and in six substantial papers he discusses such subjects as H. P. Lovecraft’s influence on Ligotti’s work and thought, the nature of horror in such celebrated tales as “Nethescurial” and “The Bungalow House,” and other phases of the work of this master of the weird. And in a wide array of interviews, Cardin provides insight into his own vision and outlook, which have served as the basis of his weird tales.

But Cardin is best known as a critic who has brought a formidable knowledge of philosophy and religion to the analysis of horror fiction. Angels and demons; religion and vampires; the nature of cosmic horror—these and other topics are treated by Cardin in the context of horror fiction and film ranging from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to George Romero’s “Living Dead” films. In these and other papers, Matt Cardin displays his effortless mastery of the many complex issues evoked by the very nature of the weird tale.

“This is the perfect companion piece to Matt Cardin’s fiction omnibus To Rouse Leviathan.”
—Jon Padgett, author of THE SECRET OF VENTRILOQUISM

“For my money, Matt Cardin is the most interesting voice in horror criticism of our time.”
—Nathan Ballingrud, author of NORTH AMERICAN LAKE MONSTERS and WOUNDS