Ghouls In Literature
If ghouls are popular in films, then they’re practically a genre in literature. There are numerous literary classics in which ghouls are either featured, or are the main antagonists. Renfield from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, Dracula, is considered to be a ghoul. After he’s locked into the insane asylum he believes eating live creatures will sustain his life force; even bugs, ick. In the numerous horror works of H.P. Lovecraft, ghouls are actually a subterranean species. According to Lovecraft, the ghouls were sometimes previously humans, but after living beneath ground and consuming human flesh for so long, they had been mutated into disgusting malformed humanoid creatures. However, despite their horrific appearance in later work, in Lovecraft’s earlier novella, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, ghouls are less frightening, sometimes comical and helpful to the story’s protagonist.
Some speculate that the part vampire, part zombie creatures in Richard Matheson’s “I Am Legend” were half confused with ghouls, since ghouls don’t necessarily eat living humans, and are mostly known for their preference for carrion. The creature’s in Matheson’s novel eat both the living and the dead. Brian McNaughton created a well-known series of short stories in 1987, in which his ghouls were the protagonists of the stories. “Throne of Bones” went on to receive a World Fantasy Award, and the series achieved best-seller status and success. Michael Slade wrote the grisly novel “Ghoul”, in which he portrays a heavy metal band as having connections to a serious of extremely violent murders. In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Ron Weasley’s family keep a ghoul for a pet in their attic; implying that in their world of fiction, the ghoul is more of an animal than a human.
There’s also the highly acclaimed book the has put the “fun” in “fundamental” all over the world, Max Brooks’ The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Undead. In the guide, zombies are frequently referred to as being ghouls, so apparently over time the two concepts although quite different, have become synonymous. Another popular series of books in which ghouls appear, is The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher. Ghouls appear as the more mythologically accurate creature they are; as intelligent creatures that feed on human flesh.