The Grand Guignol

by Mel Gordon

From its beginnings in turn-of-the-century Paris and throughout its sixty-year reign of terror, the Theatre of the Grand Guignol gleefully celebrated horror and fear. Innocent victims, mangled beauty, insanity, mutilation, depravity, and guilt were its primary themes. By dissecting primal taboos in an unprecedentedly graphic manner, it became the progenitor of all the blood-spilling, eye-gouging, and limb-hacking "splatter" movies of today. This first English-language book on Grand Guignol examines its history, themes, and methods; summarizes its plots; provides the texts of two typical plays; and illustrates it with close to 100 pictures.

Genres: Nonfiction, Horror, History, Theatre, Plays, France, Reference

174 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate the pictures and plot summaries immensely, but it really should be read, in my opinion in tandem with Grand-Guignol: The French Theatre of Horror by Richard J. Hand. The latter is a bit more in-depth, though it clearly builds on Gordon's at the same time, but lacks the interesting visuals and when they discuss individual effects, etc., they are divorced from the plot summaries which I would have found helpful. They both cover similar territory, each having more details in certain areas than others.

[Annie Oosterwyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of the Grand Guignol and its historical context. My interest stems from "The Bones of Paris" by Laurie R. King and also Neil Gaiman's reading list.
This book is a concise history of the theater. Each bill included alternating horror and comedy performances, intended to provide a cathartic experience for the audience (sometimes requiring a physician's aid).
Includes brief biographies of founders, writers and actors and also how some of the technical tricks were performed (stabbings, amputations, etc). The end matter contains summaries of the plays performed there.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting if somewhat sensationalist survey of the Grand Guignol Theatre of Paris, including summaries of several dozen plays from the theatre's repertoire and translated texts of two complete works.

[Matthew Pridham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This slim but illustrated book is an entertaining history of the Grand Guignol, a formative chapter in the development of modern horror fiction, particularly horror movies. The Grand Guignol (the name means “The Great Puppet”) was a theater in Paris that specialized in melodramatic and intensely gory plays. Gordon’s book has photos of some of these effects and they could be pretty gnarly. These plays were the forerunners of modern horror movies that focus on bloodshed and dismemberment, which is why you’ll sometimes hear Saw, Hostel, and other works of extreme horror referred to as being “Grand Guignol.” Alongside a brief history of the theater and its cultural effects, this book includes synopses of some of the plays performed there.

I reviewed this book for my list of informative and entertaining histories of the horror genre. If you’re interested in similar titles, check out some of my favorites:

https://matthewpridham.wordpress.com/...

[S.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting, but a bit spare.

[John-Christian]

History of horror theater upon whose shoulders all modern horror/gore films stand. Wonder what would happen if modern checkout counter rags like The Star or The National Enquirer were the source of material for stage plays (well is guess they kinda are since every headline will be made into a docu-drama).

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a lively and fun look at the history of this Paris theatre (from 1892 to 1957 or so), it's influence, style, etc. There are numerous good illustrations and photos. My favorite section was a copious sampling of plot summaries of piece done there over the years. Edgar Allen Poe was the true father of the style of the Grand Guignol, the theater that specialized in gothic horror.

[Rod · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really nicely compiled book on the greatest theatre in history. The excerpts from the scripts was a really nice treat, and only someone like Mel Gordon could capture something as crazy as the Grand Guignol.