The bloodied nightgown and other essays

The bloodied nightgown : Dracula

Waugh stories : Alexander, Arthur, Evelyn, Auberon, and Alexander Waugh

Prophet motive : Kahlil Gibran

Queen of crime : Agatha Christie

A dog's life : J. R. Ackerley

The English wars : prescriptive and descriptive dictionaries

Once upon a time : Grimms' fairy tales

Why me? : the Book of Job

Grendel hates music : J.R.R. Tolkien and Beowulf

Lonesome Road : Marilynne Robinson

Flamethrower : Richard Pryor

Art wins : Elena Ferrante

All villains have mothers : Elmore Leonard

Fuckwad : dirty words

Metamorphoses : Angela Carter

Ladies' choice : Little Women

Funny peculiar : Edward Gorey

Brave face : Natalia Ginzburg

Beyond the waters of death : Gilgamesh

The day the Earth exploded : Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger

Bigger things to hide behind : Andy Warhol

A theory of the fantastic : Gianni Rodari

Original sinner : Graham Greene

Art made flesh : Francis Bacon.