Sibylle Baumbach (PhD, LMU Munich; MA, UC Santa Barbara) is Full Professor of English Literature and Culture at the University of Innsbruck. Previously she taught at the universities of Mainz, Warwick, Giessen, and Stanford. She is the author of Shakespeare and the Art of Physiognomy (2008) and editor of Regions of Culture – Regions of Identity (2010).

• Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Literature and Fascination 2. The Power of Magic and the Fear of Contamination: Fascination in Early (Modern) Literature 3. Facing the Femme Fatale: The Poetics of Seduction and the Fascination with Storytelling 4. The Spark of Inspiration: Mesmerism, Electrifying Fiction, and Gothic Fascination 5. The Anxiety of Influence: Fascination with the Self and the Other 6. The Gorgon Gazes Back: Contemporary Fascination 7. The Journey Ahead: Medusamorphic Perspectives Bibliography Index