Joseph Robert Brighouse (15 July 1774 – 19 September 1821) was an English literary critic and
bon viveur. He wrote for many publications but he is best known for his trenchant reviews in
Mistress Huffington's Postulates and
Th'Examiner. He was an early supporter of
Jane Austen, who he saw as something of a trailblazer in the hitherto
outré genre of zombie fiction. He was particularly noted for a new style of critique in which he awarded points for the amount of blood spilled and the most inventive mechanisms in which characters met their end. The
British Library holds several of his review copies, wherein copious marginalia can be clearly observed. However these annotations are said to be so disturbing that to this day they may only be examined by persons who have obtained a suitable certificate from their psychiatrist. (
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