Includes bibliographical references and index -- Includes web resources (p. 217)
Introduction : spiders on the wall and elsewhere -- Some basic zoological facts -- Arachnophobia -- Venom and cold intellect : the spider and its web in the European intellectual tradition -- The femme fatale and eroticism -- Oppressive mothers, dreams and Louise Bourgeois -- Spiders in art and caricature -- Myth and folklore -- Urban legends -- Spider goes Hollywood.