Reference Book Articles

Adrian, Jack. "Walter de Mare."  St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost and Gothic Writers. Ed. David Pringle.  Detroit: St. James/Gale.

A good overview of the ghost stories and the novel The Return.  "His talent was for rendering the familiar, in the words of T.S. Eliot 'suddenly strange' . . . . De la Mare rarely, if ever, used the supernatural as an end in itself."  The events are inexplicable.

Anon. Concise Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 5. Late Victorian and Edwardian Writers, 1890-1914.  Detroit: Gale Research, 1991.

Anon. Concise Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 6.  Modern Writers, 1914-1945. Detroit: Gale Research, 1991.

Anon.  "Walter de la Mare."  The Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th ed. New York:  Columbia University Press, 2004.

Selective biography and bibliography.

Anon.  "Walter de la Mare."  Junior Book of Authors 2nd ed. New York: H.W. Wilson, 1951.

Suitable biographical, bibliographical, and critical essay for young adults.

Anon. "Walter de la Mare."  World Authors 1900-1950.  New York: H.W. Wilson, 1996.

Long and very useful biographical, bibliographical, and critical essay for the general reader.

Ashley, Mike. "Walter de la Mare."  Who's Who in Horror and Fantasy Fiction.  New York: Taplinger, 1977.

A brief biographical and bibliographical entry.

Beatty, Jerome, Jr.  Saturday Review Gallery; in which Some of the Outstanding Writers of Recent Years Present Reminiscences and Biographical Portraits of Important and Striking Figures who Have Appeared on or Near the Literary Scene Over the Past Century. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1959.

Bingham, Jane M., ed.  Writers for Children:  Critical Studies of Major Authors Since the Seventeenth Century.  New York: Scribner, 1987.

Bleiler, E.F.  The Guide to Supernatural Fiction.  Kent, OH:  Kent State University Press, 1983.

Good annotated listings for de la Mare's  ghost stories and the supernatural fantasies. Of course, excellent work by Bleiler, a giant in the field.

Bloom Harold, ed.  "Walter de la Mare."  Modern Horror Writers.  New York:  Chelsea House, 1994.

Reprints excerpts from previously published criticism.

Briggs, Julia. "Walter de la Mare, 1873-1956."  The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural.  Ed. Jack Sullivan. New York:  Viking, 1986.

An excellent encyclopedia article by the late Julia Briggs that mentions all of the major aspects of de la Mare's productive career.  Emphasizes his belief in the primacy of the imagination, sleep, and dreams.  Through a long life, he wrote poetry, fiction, essays, and non-fiction books.  A good overview of his life and works.

Clute, John.  "Walter de la Mare."  The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. Ed. John Clute and John Grant.  New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997.

An excellent encyclopedia entry that discusses the ghost stories as nostalgic fantasies that are really very modern in their themes. Thinks of the tales as presenting a labyrinth from his protagonists cannot escape.  Also says that his poetry, despite its traditional forms and diction, are strikingly modern.

Clute, John.  "Walter de la Mare."  Supernatural Fiction Writers: Fantasy and Horror.  Ed. E.F. Bleiler.  2 vols.  New York: Scribners, 1985.

Shows how de la Mare was held in such high esteem during his lifetime, but that is work was frequently not understood.  Discusses the similarity between de la Mare's and Aickman's ghost stories, showing how their close adherence to physical detail disintegrates into a supernaturalism that is an existential crisis for their characters.

Collier, Laurie and Joyce Nakamura.  Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults:  A Selection of Sketches from Something about the Author. 6 vols.  Detroit: Gale Research, 1993.

Connors, Scott.  "Walter de la Mare."  Supernatural Literature of the World.  Ed. S.T. Joshi and Stefan Dziemianowicz.  Westport, CT:  Greenwood Press, 2005.

Describes de la Mare's presentation of the ghost story as remarkably like that of Robert Aickman as "not conscious."  Stresses the supremacy of the imagination and its sometimes terrifying quality.  .Indeed physical objects become ghosts.  Repeats Peter Penzoldt's famous commentary on de la Mare's creation of "the inconclusive ghost.

Crawford, Gary William.  "The Modern Masters, 1920-1980."  Horror Literature: A Core Collection and Reference Guide.  Ed. Marshall B. Tymn.  New York: R.R. Bowker, 1981.

Several paragraph are given to de la Mare that discusses the "inconclusive" ghost stories and notes their place as truly modern tales.

Decker, James M.  "Walter de la Mare."  Late-Victorian and Edwardian British Novelists. Vol. 153 of The Dictionary of Literary Biography. Ed. George M. Johnson.  Detroit: Gale, 1995.

Admits that de la Mare is best-known as a poet, but contends that the protagonists of his novels, "such as Arthur Lawford, Miss M., and Cecil Jennings, de la Mare painted delicate portraits of souls in flux; all three characters, each possessed of a mental or physical'abnormality,' experience a mental awakening and attempt to reexamine their position in the established social order. . . . The confrontation, and not the ultimate result of that struggle, provides de la Mare with a forum to dissect the heart of human existence in an acute but sensitive manner."

Dickey, James, and Donald J. Greiner.  Classes on Modern Poets and the Art of Poetry. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2004.

Doyle, Brian, ed.  "Walter de la Mare."  Who's Who of Children's Literature.  New York: Schocken, 1968.

Harris-Fain, Darren. "Walter de la Mare."  British Science-Fiction and Fantasy Writers. Vol. 253 of The Dictionary of Literary Biography.  Ed. Darren Harris-Fain.  Detroit: Gale, 2002.

Harris-Fain writes of de la Mare, "His work is frequently described as neo-Romantic, and his evocations of nature and the past are often connected with the supernatural."  Discusses the ghost stories, such as "Seaton's Aunt," which depicts a kind of psychic vampire. One of his last ghost stories, "Bad Company," is more overtly a horror tale.  "His fantastic fiction is carefully crafted in language, plot, and characterization, all of which contribute to his subtle, thoughtful treatment of such concerns as identity, death, and the supernatural."

Kirkham, Michael.  "Walter de la Mare."  British Poets, 1880-1914. Vol. 19 of The Dictionary of Literary Biography. Ed. Donald E. Stanford.   Detroit: Gale, 1983.

Opening remarks stress that de la Mare deserves more critical recognition.  Regards the early poems such as "The Listeners" and the verse for children as the works for which he is most remembered.  Finds similar preoccupations in the short stories.  Much of the essay is close analysis of some poems.

Kunitz, Stanley J. and Vineta Colby, eds.  "Walter de la Mare."  Twentieth Century Authors. 1st supp. A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Literature.  New York: Wilson, 1955.

Kunitz, Stanley Jasspon, and Howard Haycraft, eds.  "Walter de la Mare."  Junior Book of Authors. 2nd ed. rev. 1951.

Landon, Lana Hartman.  "Walter de la Mare." British Short Fiction Writers, 1915-1945. Vol. 162 of The Dictionary of Literary Biography.  Ed. John H. Rogers.  Detroit: Gale, 1996.

Comments perceptively on the short stories for children and the ghost stories.  She writes that the more overtly supernatural stories, and even the other tales show "philosophical and metaphysical, if not supernatural concerns, and a consistent texture of the unusual, a constant threat of unreality, runs through all his adult fiction."

Lucas, John. "Walter de la Mare."   Modern English Poetry from Hardy to Hughes: A Critical Survey.  New York: Barnes and Noble, 1987.

Magill, Frank Northen and Dayton Kohler, eds.  "Walter de la Mare."  Cyclopedia of World Authors.  New York: Harper, 1958.

Mariconda, Steven J.  "The Haunted House: Walter de la Mare."  Icons of Horror and the Supernatural:   An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares.  2 vols.  Ed. S.T. Joshi.  Westport. CT:  Greenwood Press, 2007.

Discusses de la Mare's "A Recluse" as a haunted house story.  Also discusses de la Mare's poem "The Listeners" and some other poems as works using the icon of the haunted house.

Nodelman, Perry.  Touchstones:  Reflections on the Best in Children's Literature. Vol. 2.  Fairy Tales, Fables, Myths, Legends, and Poetry.  Children's Literature Association Publications, 1987.

Oxbury, H.F. "Walter de la Mare."  Great Britons: Twentieth-Century Lives.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985.

Schmidt, Michael. "Walter de la Mare."  Reader's Guide to Fifty Modern Poets.  New York: Barnes and Noble, 1979.

Stableford, Brian.  "Early Modern Horror Fiction, 1897-1949." Fantasy and Horror:  A Critical and Historical Guide to Literature, Illustration, Film, TV, Radio, and the Internet.  Ed. Neil Barron. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1999.

Annotates de la Mare's The Return and his first collection The Riddle. Notes that The Return is an exercise in existential speculative fiction.

Stableford, Brian.  "Early Modern Horror, 1897-1949."  Horror Literature: A Reader's Guide.  Ed. Neil Barron.  New York: Garland, 1990.

Similar annotations to The Return and The Ridddle in Stableford's chapter in Barron's Fantasy and Horror.

Tuck, Donald H.  "Walter de la Mare."  The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: through 1968. Chicago:  Advent, 1974.

A brief biographical note and a listing some of his works, mainly the ghost stories.

Untermeyer, Louis.  "Walter de la Mare."  Lives of the Poets; the Story of One Thousand Years of English and American Poetry.  New York: Simon and Schuster, 1959.

Wales, Katie, ed.  Essays and Studies 1994: Feminist Linguistics in Literary Criticism. Vol. 47.  Brewer, 1994.

Ward, Martha E. and Dorothy A. Marquardt.  "Walter de la Mare."  Authors of Books for Young People.  Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1964.