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Author:   Lorna Piatti-Farnell
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Imprint:   Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN:  

9781666946734

ISBN 10:   1666946737
Pages:   272
Publication Date:   19 March 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Introduction: A Matter of Life and Death Lorna Piatti-Farnell (SAE Creative Media Institute, New Zealand) Part I: Historical Echoes and Iconographic Recurrences 1. Poison and Toxicity in 1950s Hollywood Cinema: Bigger Than Life (1956) Wendy Haslem (University of Melbourne, Australia) 2. The Leprous Distilment: Poison and the Film Noir Narrative Robert Singer (CUNY Graduate Center, USA) 3. Roald Dahl's Femme Fatales and Their Weapon of Choice: Poison Rosie Gailor (Queen Mary University of London, UK) 4. The Needle and the Snake: Tracing the Historical Echoes of Cleopatra’s Poisons in the Popular Imagination Lorna Piatti-Farnell 5. Killer Fashion: Clothes that Poison in History, Media, and Popular Culture Lisa J. Hackett (University of New England, Australia), Jo Coghlan (University of New England, Australia) and Huw Nolan (University of New England, Australia) 6. Devious Beauty and Deadly Betrayal: Poison as a Multifaceted Symbol in Asian Genres of Cinema Kyoung-suk SUNG (National Research Foundation of Korea, South Korea) Part II: Popular Representations and Evolving Meanings 7. Constitution Checks, Agency and Dice Rolls: Poison in the Tabletop Role-Playing Space Matthew Thompson (University of Southern Queensland, Australia) 8. Body Transformation and the Cycle of Death and Rebirth: Poison and Scarlet Rot in the Elden Ring Videogame Martin Charvát (Metropolitan University Prague, Czech Republic) and Michaela Fikejzová (Metropolitan University Prague, Czech Republic) 9. Sex, Poison, and Control in Comics: The Evolving Representation of DC’s Poison Ivy Carl Wilson (Independent Scholar, UK) 10. “Even Stopper Death”: Harry Potter, Potions, Poisons, and Plants Jenny Wise (University of New England, Australia) and Lesley McLean (University of New England, Australia) 11. Poison as Allegorical to Loss and Grief in Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece Ruairí Kennedy (University of Galway, Ireland) 12. Growing in Nightshade: Toxic Culture and Healing Horror in Netflix’s Wednesday Lindsey Scott (University of New England, Australia) Notes on Contributors Index

Reviews

Poison may be deadly if consumed but as subject matter for cultural enquiry it is delicious: this book is an intoxicating mix of approaches to the fascinating world of poisons laced throughout popular culture and history. * Kirstin Mills, Senior Lecturer of Graduate Research, Macquarie University, Australia * This wonderful edition potently mixes poison's diverse cultural constructions, media reimaginings, and physical realities. Spanning the poisonous ""femme fatales"" of Ancient Greek myth to those of Roald Dahl's short stories and American film noir, the materialities of poison from developing celluloid to creating clothes, the pleasures of poisoning our enemies in role-playing and video games, considering famous ""poison"" figures from Cleopatra to Poison Ivy, and poisonous tropes in the Potter-verse, One Piece, and New Korean cinema, Poison and the Popular Imagination has something for every reader - pick your poison. * Lynn Kozak, Associate Professor of History and Classical Studies, McGill University, Canada *

Poison may be deadly if consumed but as subject matter for cultural enquiry it is delicious: this book is an intoxicating mix of approaches to the fascinating world of poisons laced throughout popular culture and history. * Kirstin A. Mills, Senior Lecturer of Literature, Macquarie University, Australia *

This collection is truly a wicked pleasure for any reader interested in the fascinating strands of poison’s cultural history. From the alluring aesthetics of fairy-tale poison to the political intricacies of toxic consumption throughout film, videogames, literature and more, these essays throw light on the most insidious and elusive of substances. * Monica Germanà, Reader in Gothic and Contemporary Studies, University of Westminster, UK * Poison may be deadly if consumed but as subject matter for cultural enquiry it is delicious: this book is an intoxicating mix of approaches to the fascinating world of poisons laced throughout popular culture and history. * Kirstin Mills, Senior Lecturer of Graduate Research, Macquarie University, Australia * This wonderful edition potently mixes poison's diverse cultural constructions, media reimaginings, and physical realities. Spanning the poisonous ""femme fatales"" of Ancient Greek myth to those of Roald Dahl's short stories and American film noir, the materialities of poison from developing celluloid to creating clothes, the pleasures of poisoning our enemies in role-playing and video games, considering famous ""poison"" figures from Cleopatra to Poison Ivy, and poisonous tropes in the Potter-verse, One Piece, and New Korean cinema, Poison and the Popular Imagination has something for every reader - pick your poison. * Lynn Kozak, Associate Professor of History and Classical Studies, McGill University, Canada *

Author Information

Lorna Piatti-Farnell is Academic Dean at SAE Creative Media Institute in Auckland, New Zealand.

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