Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} A Hideous Bit of Morbidity An Anthology of Horror Criticism from the Enlightenment to World War I by "A Hideous Bit of Morbidity": An Anthology of Horror Criticism from the Enlightenment to World War I by Jason Colavito. Our systems have detected unusual traffic activity from your network. Please complete this reCAPTCHA to demonstrate that it's you making the requests and not a robot. If you are having trouble seeing or completing this challenge, this page may help. If you continue to experience issues, you can contact JSTOR support. Block Reference: #b65870b0-cfbd-11eb-93db-6d8e8e655830 VID: #(null) IP: 116.202.236.252 Date and time: Thu, 17 Jun 2021 22:45:28 GMT. "A Hideous Bit of Morbidity": An Anthology of Horror Criticism from the Enlightenment to World War I by Jason Colavito. The title of the volume "A Hideous Bit of Morbidity," is nothing but what editor and critic Frederic Taber Cooper, in a commentary published in 1912, called Robert S Hichens' famous ghost story "How Love Came to Professor Guildea," the author being called by Cooper "a storyteller of much brilliance who has deliberately chosen to prostitute his gifts to the gratification of unhealthy tastes." So much for a balanced and perceptive critical view. But this is just an example among the many surprising statements that throughout the centuries have been made about supernatural and horror fiction. Editor Jason Colavito -- whose Introduction to this anthology is indeed much more insightful than many of the reviews and essays included therein -- did a fine job painstakingly collecting the comments elicited at the time by books bound to become classical literary works admired and imitated by generations of readers, critics and fellow writers. "A Hideous Bit of Morbidity" provides an exciting ride across the history of dark literature, reporting the conflicting opinions about the gothic output by the likes of Lewis, Walpole and Radcliffe. Particularly enticing are Sir Walter Scott's praise for Mrs Radcliffe's novels and the tale of terror as a legitimate literary art form, as opposed to Leigh Hunt's moralistic view of the genre, that he defined as "puerile" and "a gross mistake" when not aimed to teach the reader about his duty in the present world. Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" appears to have triggered a great deal of controversy. Walter Scott's evaluation of that novel was largely positive. but others condemned the book as a mere extravagancy or "a disgusting absurdity." Similarly, Edgar Allan Poe's fiction was received with variable feelings. While the relationship between his work and that of writers such as E.T.A. Hoffmann and Nathaniel Hawthorne has been repeatedly discussed, Poe has been sometimes considered either as just a man on the verge of madness or as an author lacking in substance and unable to write "real" literature. According to critic W.C. Brownell, Poe's most normal fiction is "a representation of the abnormal," whereas Charles Sears Baldwin calls him the creator of the modern form of short story. Robert Louis Stevenson, H.G. Wells and Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes are also discussed, and so are the works by Arthur Machen (whose "The Great God Pan" has been described by a contemporary critic as "a particularly loathsome specimen"), Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray," Robert W. Chambers' "The King in Yellow" and Algernon Blackwood's horror tales. The anthology also includes some essays on general aspects of supernatural and horror literature. Lafcadio Hearn discusses his theory that ghostly literature is the result of dreams and nightmares, Andrew Lang compares the main features of European and Oriental literary treatment of ghosts and other things that go bump in the night, Dorothy Scarborough and Montague Summers address the issue of the supernatural in modern english fiction. Although, of necessity, rather fragmentary, Colavito's anthology is a veritable feast for those lovers of supernatural fiction who are not simply contented with the pleasure of experiencing some cheap thrills, but want to study in depth the roots of their fictional fears and to get an idea of how concepts and taste may change in the appreciation of any literary work. Algernon Blackwood - A Prisoner In Fairyland (1.5 MB) S'o ("Alone"), published in Paris in 1892, is a collection of poems by the Portuguese poet Ant'onio Nobre. It is the only work of his that appeared in his lifetime, and a classic of Portuguese literature. Algernon Henry Blackwood, CBE ( 14 March 1869 - 10 December 1951 ) was an English short story writer and novelist, one of the most prolific writers of ghost stories in the history of the genre. He was also a journalist and a broadcasting narrator. S. T. Joshi has stated that " his work is more consistently meritorious than any weird writer's except Dunsany's " and that his short story collection Incredible Adventures ( 1914 ) " may be the premier weird collection of this or any other century ". Blackwood was born in Shooter's Hill ( now part of south-east London, but then part of northwest Kent ), and between 1871 and 1880 lived at Crayford Manor House, Crayford and was educated at Wellington College. His father was a Post Office administrator who, according to Peter Penzoldt, " though not devoid of genuine good-heartedness, had appallingly narrow religious ideas ". Blackwood had a varied career, working as a dairy farmer in Canada, where he also operated a hotel for six months, as a newspaper reporter in New York City, bartender, model, journalist for the New York Times, private secretary, businessman, and violin teacher. Throughout his adult life, he was an occasional essayist for various periodicals. In his late thirties, he moved back to England and started to write stories of the supernatural. He was successful, writing at least ten original collections of short stories and later telling them on radio and television. He also wrote fourteen novels, several children's books, and a number of plays, most of which were produced but not published. He was an avid lover of nature and the outdoors, and many of his stories reflect this. To satisfy his interest in the supernatural, he joined The Ghost Club. He never married; according to his friends he was a loner but also cheerful company. Jack Sullivan stated that "Blackwood's life parallels his work more neatly than perhaps that of any other ghost story writer. Like his lonely but fundamentally optimistic protagonists, he was a combination of mystic and outdoorsman; when he wasn't steeping himself in occultism, including Rosicrucianism and Buddhism, he was likely to be skiing or mountain climbing."[5] Blackwood was a member of one of the factions of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, as was his contemporary Arthur Machen. Cabalistic themes influence his novel The Human Chord. His two best known stories are probably " The Willows " and " The Wendigo ". He would also often write stories for newspapers at short notice, with the result that he was unsure exactly how many short stories he had written and there is no sure total. Though Blackwood wrote a number of horror stories, his most typical work seeks less to frighten than to induce a sense of awe. Good examples are the novels The Centaur, which climaxes with a traveller's sight of a herd of the mythical creatures; and Julius LeVallon and its sequel The Bright Messenger, which deal with reincarnation and the possibility of a new, mystical evolution of human consciousness. In correspondence with Peter Penzoldt, Blackwood wrote. My fundamental interest, I suppose, is signs and proofs of other powers that lie hidden in us all; the extension, in other words, of human faculty. So many of my stories, therefore, deal with extension of consciousness; speculative and imaginative treatment of possibilities outside our normal range of consciousness. . Also, all that happens in our universe is natural; under Law; but an extension of our so limited normal consciousness can reveal new, extra-ordinary powers etc., and the word " supernatural " seems the best word for treating these in fiction. I believe it possible for our consciousness to change and grow, and that with this change we may become aware of a new universe. A " change " in consciousness, in its type, I mean, is something more than a mere extension of what we already possess and know. Blackwood wrote an autobiography of his early years, Episodes Before Thirty ( 1923 ), and there is a biography, Starlight Man, by Mike Ashley ( ISBN 0-7867-0928-6 ). Blackwood died after several strokes. Officially his death on 10 December 1951 was of cerebral thrombosis with arteriosclerosis as contributory. He was cremated at Golders Green crematorium. A few weeks later his nephew took his ashes to Saanenmoser Pass in the Swiss Alps, and scattered them in the mountains that he had loved for more than forty years. H. P. Lovecraft included Blackwood as one of the " Modern Masters " in the section of that name in " Supernatural Horror in Literature ". Authors who have been influenced by Blackwood's work include William Hope Hodgson, George Allan England, H.P. Lovecraft, H. Russell Wakefield, " L. Adams Beck " ( Elizabeth Louisa Moresby ), Margery Lawrence, Evangeline Walton, Ramsey Campbell and Graham Joyce. J. R. R. Tolkien was also familiar with Blackwood's fiction. In the first draft of his essay " Notes on the Nomenclature of The Lord of the Rings ", Tolkien stated that he had derived the phrase " crack of doom " from an unnamed story by Algernon Blackwood. Frank Belknap Long's 1928 story " The Space-Eaters " alludes to Blackwood's fiction. Clark Ashton Smith's story " Genius Loci " ( 1933 ) was inspired by Blackwood's story " The Transfer ". The plot of Caitlin R. Kiernan's novel Threshold ( 2001 ) is influenced by Blackwood's work. Kiernan has cited Blackwood as an important influence on her writing.[citation needed] In The Books in My Life, Henry Miller chose Blackwood's The Bright Messenger as "the most extraordinary novel on psychoanalysis, one that dwarfs the subject." Algernon Blackwood appears as a character in the novel The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey In the PS4 game Until Dawn, the main setting is named Blackwood Pines, as the main antagonist is a Wendigo. Critical studies An early essay on Blackwood's work was " Algernon Blackwood: An Appreciation, " by Grace Isabel Colbron ( 1869-1943 ),which appeared in The Bookman in February 1915. The essay was reprinted in Jason Colavito's book A Hideous Bit of Morbidity: An Anthology of Horror Criticism from the Enlightenment to World War I. Peter Penzoldt devotes the final chapter of The Supernatural in Fiction ( 1952 ) to an analysis of Blackwood's work, and the book is dedicated " with deep admiration and gratitude, to Algernon Blackwood, the greatest of them all ". There is an extensive critical analysis of Blackwood's work in Jack Sullivan's book Elegant Nightmares: The English Ghost Story From Le Fanu to Blackwood ( 1978 ). David Punter has an essay on Blackwood in the book Supernatural Fiction Writers. There is a critical essay on Blackwood's work in S. T. Joshi's The Weird Tale ( 1990 ). Edward Wagenknecht analyses Blackwood's work in his book Seven Masters of Supernatural Fiction. In sequence of first publication: - The Empty House and other Ghost Stories (1906) - The Listener and Other Stories (1907) - John Silence, Physician Extraordinary (1908) - Jimbo: A Fantasy (1909a) - The Education of Uncle Paul (1909b) - The Human Chord (1910) - The Centaur (1911) - A Prisoner in Fairyland ( 1913 ); sequel to The Education of Uncle Paul - The Extra Day (1915) - Julius LeVallon (1916a) - The Wave (1916b) - The Promise of Air (1918a) - The Garden of Survival (1918b) - The Bright Messenger ( 1921 ); sequel to Julius LeVallon - Dudley & Gilderoy: A Nonsense (1929) Works, Children's novels: - Sambo and Snitch (1927) - The Fruit Stoners: Being the Adventures of Maria Among the Fruit Stoners (1934) In sequence of first performance: - The Starlight Express ( 1915 ), coauthored with Violet Pearn; incidental music by Edward Elgar; based on Blackwood's 1913 novel A Prisoner in Fairyland - Karma a reincarnation play in prologue epilogue and three acts ( 1918 ), coauthored with Violet Pearn; - The Crossing ( 1920a ), coauthored with Bertram Forsyth; based on Blackwood's 1913 short story "Transition" - Through the Crack ( 1920b ), coauthored with Violet Pearn; based on Blackwood's 1909 novel The Education of Uncle Paul and 1915 novel The Extra Day - White Magic ( 1921a ), coauthored with Bertram Forsyth - The Halfway House ( 1921b ), coauthored with Elaine Ainley - Max Hensig ( 1929 ), coauthored with Frederick Kinsey Peile; based on Blackwood's 1907 short story "Max Hensig - Bacteriologist and Murderer" Works, Short fiction collections. In sequence of first publication: - The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories ( 1906 ); original collection - The Listener and Other Stories ( 1907 ); original collection - John Silence ( 1908 ); original collection; reprinted with added preface, 1942 - The Lost Valley and Other Stories ( 1910 ); original collection - Pan's Garden: a Volume of Nature Stories ( 1912 ); original collection - Ten Minute Stories ( 1914a ); original collection - Incredible Adventures ( 1914b ); original collection - Day and Night Stories ( 1917 ); original collection - Wolves of God, and Other Fey Stories ( 1921 ), honorarily coauthored with Wilfred Wilson; original collection - Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches ( 1924 ); original collection - Ancient Sorceries and Other Tales ( 1927a ); selections from previous Blackwood collections, and pre-publication abridgment of 1932's planned The Willows and Other Queer Tales - The Dance of Death and Other Tales ( 1927b ); selections from previous Blackwood collections; reprinted as 1963's The Dance of Death and Other Stories - Strange Stories ( 1929 ); selections from previous Blackwood collections - Short Stories of To-Day & Yesterday ( 1930 ); selections from previous Blackwood collections - The Willows and Other Queer Tales ( 1932 ); selected by G. F. Maine from previous Blackwood collections - Shocks ( 1935 ); original collection - The Tales of Algernon Blackwood ( 1938 ); selections from previous Blackwood collections, with a new preface by Blackwood - Selected Tales of Algernon Blackwood ( 1942 ); selections from previous Blackwood collections (not to be mistaken for the identical title to a 1964 Blackwood collection) - Selected Short Stories of Algernon Blackwood ( 1945 ); selections from previous Blackwood collections - The Doll and One Other ( 1946 ); original collection - Tales of the Uncanny and Supernatural ( 1949 ); selections from previous Blackwood collections - In the Realm of Terror ( 1957 ); selections from previous Blackwood collections - The Dance of Death and Other Stories ( 1963 ); reprint of 1927's The Dance of Death and Other Tales - Selected Tales of Algernon Blackwood ( 1964 ); selections from previous Blackwood collections (not to be mistaken for the identical title to a 1942 Blackwood collection) - Tales of the Mysterious and Macabre ( 1967 ); selections from previous Blackwood collections - Ancient Sorceries and Other Stories ( 1968 ); selections from previous Blackwood collections - Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood ( 1973 ), selected and introduced by Everett F. Bleiler; selections from previous Blackwood collections; includes Blackwood's own preface to 1938's The Tales of Algernon Blackwood - The Best Supernatural Tales of Algernon Blackwood ( 1973 ); selected and introduced by Felix Morrow; selections from 1929's Strange Stories - Tales of Terror and Darkness ( 1977 ); puts together Tales of the Mysterious and Macabre and Tales of the Uncanny and Supernatural. - Tales of the Supernatural ( 1983 ); selected and introduced by Mike Ashley; selections from previous Blackwood collections - The Magic Mirror ( 1989 ); selected, introduced, and notes by Mike Ashley; original collection - The Complete John Silence Stories ( 1997 ); selected and introduced by S. T. Joshi; reprint of 1908's John Silence ( without the preface to the 1942 reprint ) and the one remaining John Silence story, "A Victim of Higher Space" - Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories ( 2002 ); selected, introduced, and notes by S. T. Joshi; selections from previous Blackwood collections - Algernon Blackwood's Canadian Tales of Terror ( 2004 ); selected, introduced, with notes by John Robert Colombo; eight stories of special Canadian interest plus information on the author's years in Canada. About the Book. Horror fiction stormed the bestseller lists with classics like Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist , setting the stage for Stephen King’s worldwide popularity, but the genre has literary roots going back centuries. This collection provides insight into the way classic horror texts were received, interpreted and discussed by the first generations to experience them, ideas that continue to define the way modern society views horror. Each reprinted article, review or critical essay is prefaced with an introduction and explanatory notes to put the work in context. The book also includes an overview of horror criticism, a publication timeline, and period photographs and illustrations. About the Author(s) Jason Colavito is also a frequent contributor to Skeptic magazine, and has earned praise from Archaeology magazine for his archaeology writing. He lives in Albany, New York and can be found online at www.JasonColavito.com . Bibliographic Details. Edited by Jason Colavito Format: softcover (6 x 9) Pages: 384 Bibliographic Info: 49 photos, appendix, index Copyright Date: 2012 [2008] pISBN: 978-0-7864-6909-3 eISBN: 978-0-7864-5224-8 Imprint: McFarland. Table of Contents. Introduction 1 A Note on the Text 11. 1. FEAR, TERROR, AND THE SUPERNATURAL 13 On the Words for “Fear” in Certain Languages: A Study in Linguistic Psychology Alex F. Chamberlain 13 Excerpt from On the Sublime and Beautiful Edmund Burke 18 On the Pleasure of Writing Dismal Stories, Exciting Surprize and Horror Daniel Defoe 22 Excerpt from “The Prodigal and His Brother” Frederick W. Robertson 25 The Dread of the Supernatural The Spectator 27 Gothic Horror Lafcadio Hearn 31. 2. THE GOTHICS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS 37 Excerpt from The Supernatural in Romantic Fiction Edward Yardley 37 Excerpt from “On Gothic Superstition” Nathan Drake 41 Excerpt from a Review of Literary Hours by Nathan Drake The Monthly Review 47 Introductory Dialogue to Tales of Terror Matthew Lewis (attributed) 50 Excerpt from “The Revival of Romance” Walter Raleigh 53 The School of Terror Thomas E. Rankin and Wilford M. Aikin 58 Fiction in the Romantic Movement William Allen Neilson 59 Excerpt from “Mrs. Ann Radcliffe” Sir Walter Scott 6 0 Excerpt from “Fragments of an Unpublished Manuscript” Adam Eagle ( Fitz-James O’Brien ) 65 Letter to William Godwin Charles Lamb 66 Introduction to Ghost Stories Rudolph Ackermann 67 A Tale for a Chimney-Corner Leigh Hunt 68 Excerpt from “A Letter from Geneva” John Polidori 77 Remarks on Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus Sir Walter Scott 79 Excerpt from a Review of Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus John Croker 93 Excerpt from a Review of Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus The Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany 94 Review of Presumption; or the Fate of Frankenstein The London Magazine 97 Excerpt from “Mrs. Shelley” R. H. Horne 99 Letter Denying Authorship of The Vampire Lord Byron 103 Excerpt from “Ellis, Acton, and Currer Bell” Peter Bayne 105. 3. POE AND HIS SUCCESSORS 108 Excerpt from “Later German Romanticism” George H. Danton 108 The Origins of Hawthorne and Poe Paul Elmer More 110 Edgar Allan Poe Robert Chambers 122 Excerpt from “Edgar Allan Poe” James Russell Lowell 126 Review of The Raven and Other Poems The Knickerbocker 129 Poe: Lack of Substance W. C. Brownell 132 Poe’s Fixing of the Short-Story Form Charles Sears Baldwin 138 Fitz-James O’Brien Charles Sears Baldwin 144 Excerpt from “The Mid-Century in America” Henry Seidel Canby 145 Maupassant and Poe Frederic Rowland Marvin 148 Advertisement for Tales of Soldiers and Civilians American Publishers 152 Excerpt from “Ambrose Bierce: An Appraisal” Frederic Taber Cooper 152 Bierce: Satire, Romance, Philosophy Edwin Markham 158 Table of Contents vii Excerpt from “The Short Story” Fred Lewis Pattee 160 Excerpt from “Concerning Irvin Cobb” The Bookman 161. 4. MONSTERS OF THE GILDED AGE 164 The Physiology of “Penny Awfuls” The London Hermit (Walter Parke) 164 Review of The Purcell Papers by J. Sheridan Le Fanu The Saturday Review 182 Excerpt from “Concerning Tea” E. V. Lucas 183 Excerpt from “The New Gallery” J. Charles Cox 185 The Religion of Robert Louis Stevenson W. J. Dawson 187 Review of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde The Dublin Review 194 Excerpt from “Novelists’ Law” Alfred Bailey 195 The Secret Out The New York Herald Tribune 196 Excerpt from “Richard Mansfield” William Henry Frost 199 Excerpt from “R. L. Stevenson” Richard Le Gallienne 200 Excerpt from “Our Library List” Murray’s Magazine 200 Review of Dracula Baron de Book-Worms 201 Supped Full with Horrors Charles F. Lummis 202 Review of Dracula The Literary World 204 Excerpt from “Open Questions: Talks with Correspondents” Current Literature 204 Excerpt from Human Sexuality J. Richardson Parke 205 Letter to Julian Hawthorne Edmund Clarence Stedman 206 Excerpt from Modern Vampirism A. Osborne Eaves 207 Frankenstein The Bookman 208. 5. FIN DE SIÈCLE SCIENCE, DETECTION, AND TERROR 209 Excerpt from “Fictions of the Future” The Dublin Review 209 Review of The Island of Dr Moreau The Baron de Book-Worms 211 Review of The Invisible Man William Morton Payne 214 Excerpt from “Love, War and Pseudo-science” William Lyon Phelps 215 Mr. Wells’s War of the Worlds Clement Shorter 215 Review of The War of the Worlds William Morton Payne 218 Excerpt from The Technique of the Mystery Story Carolyn Wells 219 Review of My Friend the Murderer The Literary World 220 Excerpt from “Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles ” Arthur Bartlett Maurice 221 Curiosity and Horror in the Theatre Arthur Bingham Walkley 223 Review of The Three Imposters The Bookman 227 Review of The Great God Pan Richard Henry Stoddard 228 The Gospel of Intensity Harry Quilter 230 Excerpt from “Oscar Wilde” A. Edward Newton 255 Art and Luxury Ramiro de Maetzu 257. 6. GHOSTS AND KINDRED HORRORS 265 Excerpt from “A Study of Individual Psychology” Caroline Miles 265 The Value of the Supernatural in Fiction Lafcadio Hearn 267 Some Japanese Bogie-Books Andrew Lang 279 Ghost Stories W. F. Dawson 292 Excerpt from “Books of the Christmas Season” Noah Brooks 294 Two Volumes from Henry James Henry Wysham Lanier 295 Excerpt from “Gillette” Amy Leslie 297 Excerpt from “Chronicle and Comment” The Bookman 299 Review of The King in Yellow The Literary World 300 Review of The Wind in the Rose Bush The Literary World 300 Mr. Morris’s “The Footprint” Ward Clark 301 Algernon Blackwood-An Appreciation Grace Isabel Colbron 303 Robert Hichens Frederic Taber Cooper 307 The Creeps H. D. Traill 324 The Decay of the Ghost in Fiction Olivia Howard Dunbar 329. 7. TOWARD A HORROR GENRE 337 The Supernatural in Fiction Andrew Lang 337 The Abuse of the Supernatural in Fiction Edmund Gosse 342 Review of The Supernatural in Modern English Fiction Montague Summers 350 Excerpt from The Supernatural in Modern English Fiction Dorothy Scarborough 356. Appendix: Timeline of Major Works of Horror 367 Index 369. "A Hideous Bit of Morbidity": An Anthology of Horror Criticism from the Enlightenment to World War I by Jason Colavito. Jason Colavito is an author and editor based in Albany, NY. He is internationally recognized by scholars, literary theorists, and scientists for his pioneering work exploring the connections between science, pseudoscience, and speculative fiction. His investigations examine the way human beings create and employ the supernatural to alter and understand our reality and our world. He has published several books including The Cult of Alien Gods: H.P. Lovecraft and Extraterrestrial Pop Culture (Prometheus Books, 2005); Knowing Fear: Science, Knowledge, and the Development of the Horror Genre (McFarland, 2008); and A Hideous Morbidity: An Anthology of Horror Criticism from the Enlightenment to World War I (McFarland, 2009). His newest book, Cthulhu in World Mythology , will be published later this year by Atomic Overmind Press. In 2011, Colavito launched his own line of print-on-demand books collecting rare texts about alternative history, the occult, and speculative fiction. His Critical Companion to Ancient Aliens became an Amazon.com bestseller in the archaeology category in 2012. Colavito's research on extraterrestrials and H. P. Lovecraft was featured on the History Channel in 2009, and he has provided research assistance and consulted on such programs as Secret History of UFOs (NatGeo), Monster Quest (History Channel), Ancient X-Files (NatGeo UK), and William Shatner’s Weird or What? (History Television Canada/NatGeo UK). Colavito began debunking fringe science and revisionist history in the web-based magazine Lost Civilizations Uncovered in 2001. Since then, his work has appeared in Skeptic magazine, Humanist Network News , Swift , The Canadian , and TVTome and other outlets. Colavito has also worked as a consultant for major museums. In addition to nonfiction writing, Colavito has also authored several short stories. Colavito’s speculative fiction has appeared in a number of outlets, including the anthologies 2012 AD (Severed Press, 2010), Elements of Horror (Elements of Horror Press, 2010), and Letters from the Dead (Library of the Dead Press, 2010), as well as magazines such as Twisted Dreams . Colavito holds a Bachelor of Arts from Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York where he majored in both anthropology and journalism. A summa cum laude graduate, Colavito was recognized as the Distinguished Graduate in the Social and Behavioral Sciences, and he was made the Jessica Savitch Communications Scholar for his work in journalism. In 2004, Colavito placed his first professionally published article, "Charioteer of the Gods," in Skeptic magazine. Shortly thereafter he sold his first book, The Cult of Alien Gods, to Prometheus Books. Colavito is currently pursuing a number of projects, both in nonfiction and fiction.