The world of wonder

Why do children love spine-chilling stories? Is it not paradoxical to associate enjoyment with creepiness, fear and terror? The subject of this book is the emotional experience of terror in children in response to the reading of children's literature. The empirical research investigates children's immediate responses to stories by authors such as Roald Dahl and Marc De Bel. In addition, it analyses the textual traits of gothic tales for children that provoke terror (mystery, magic, humour), in contrast to horror (fear, anxiety and sadness). The research shows clear differences between the feeling of terror and the emotion of horror, and between the experiences of young and adult readers.