Table of Contents

Introduction Part One: It's All in Your Mind i. Dreams & Nightmares ii. Psychological Distress iii. Gazing into the Abyss Part Two: Only Human After All iv. Ailments & Afflictions iv. Depravity & Destruction vi. Matters of Mortality Part Three: The World Around Us vii. Dark Landscapes viii. Beasts & Creatures ix. Ruins & Desolation Part Four: As Above, So Below and Beyond x. The Wicked & the Divine xi. Supernatural Beings & Mysterious Entities xii. The Macabre in Myth &Legend Further reading Index Picture credits Acknowledgement / About the Author

About the Author

S. Elizabeth (aka Mlle Ghoul) is a writer, curator, and frill-seeker. Her essays and interviews focusing on esoteric art have appeared in Haute Macabre, Coilhouse, Dirge Magazine, Death & The Maiden, and her occulture blog Unquiet Things, which intersects music, fashion, horror, perfume, and grief. She is the co-creator of The Occult Activity Book Vol 1 and 2 and the author of TheArt of the Occult (2020) and The Art of Darkness (2022).

Reviews

"In the desolate gloom, we find a light. Author S. Elizabeth is the coolest of Cool Aunts with her exquisite taste, quick wit, and profound empathy; The Art of Darkness is your permission to explore that which the daytime world seeks to conceal. Here you'll find Egon Schiele and Dorothea Tanning -- familiar artists whose work struck us in the face as we wandered museum halls -- alongside those creating right now: Nona Limmen, Becky Munich, Bill Crisafi. You'll be guided past gods and ghosts, roam dreams and ruins, and witness lunacy and alienation, safe in the company of your capable guide. And you'll emerge a little wiser, perhaps a little stranger, but all the better for it. So open the cover and come on in... the dark is warm."--Sonya Vatomsky, author of Salt Is For Curing

"The Art of Darkness appeals to me not only as an art enthusiast and voracious consumer of images, but as a collector and dealer whose eye is also drawn towards the dark. One might wonder at the appeal of a Victorian memorial with weeping figures or a Catholic saint figure with bleeding wounds--but I find that those who enjoy this kind of imagery have had to endure a lot of sadness and sturm und drang, which we must hide behind a placid exterior in polite society. The artwork allows us to sit with difficult feelings and express them in a beautiful way. It becomes a hand on one's shoulder and a light in the dark. That's just what The Art of Darkness offers in a thoughtfully chosen collection of works that run the gamut from high to low, ancient to contemporary; iconic to unacknowledged. Like her spectacular, long-standing blog Unquiet Things, it's a dizzying roundup of everything I enjoy alongside new discoveries I can't wait to explore. It rivals Umberto Eco's "On Ugliness" for insightful and inspired curation on a fascinating subject. An approachable, enjoyable read for both the curious novice and jaded aesthete."--Kate Kierstead, proprietor of Roses & Rue Antiques

"Every plunge into darkness deserves a guide, and S. Elizabeth sets the ideal pace for such a journey, dividing the depths so that one can appreciate varieties in tone, feeling, and purpose. Having this voice in your head as you travel -- by turns methodical, curious, reverent, witty, and wise -- creates the experience of being led by a faithful artistic companion and fellow night-traveler."--T. Bloom, Marketing & Creative Design, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

"The Art of Darkness is an antidote to posivibes. With this book, S. Elizabeth built a museum of death, ruination, madness, bad gods, and bodily aberration--and here she guides you through the history of macabre art with insight, humour, and reverence for the unpleasant thoughts that keep you up at night."--Peter Counter, Be Scared of Everything: Horror Essays

"Dante had Virgil. You have S. Elizabeth. And I cannot imagine a finer guide through the labyrinthine darkness of artistic self-expression. Here the intricate inter-twinings of creativity, the human psyche, and the inescapable, multitudinous dark form a matryoshka of shadows. Here there be monsters, but you need not beware. For, as you shall learn within these pages, we are each part and parcel of the dark."--Maika, Liminal Flares podcast