The Grand Guignol cover

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.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?