ABSTRACT
The Odyssey had already probed the limits of horror and realism. The most literary curses share with their sub-literary counterparts the tendency to indulge in catalogue as horror is heaped on horror; the phantasmagorias of a Lucan are not far away. Horror can also be achieved by the combination of murder, sacrifice or torture with some kind of perverted artistic purpose. Horror is a natural ingredient of fantasy. Dreams offer a frequent bridge between the re al world and the fantastic, and surviving evidence belongs much more readily to the world of literature rather than to psychology. On this basis, one can conveniently dream the literary cliches one has simply read in books, whether in normal dreams or in day-dream fantasies. From dreams there is an easy transition to ghosts and apparitions, and the flourishing industry of novella relating to them. Some dream materials in a handbook context are also relevant to the themes of literary dreams.
