Pop culture history meets blood-soaked memoir as Adam Rockoff, “a passionate fan of the horror genre in all its forms,” (The New York Times) recalls a life spent watching blockbuster slasher films, cult classics, and everything in between. Horror films have simultaneously captivated and terrified audiences for generations, racking up millions of dollars at the box office and infusing our nightmares with chainsaws, goblins, and blood-spattered machetes. Today’s hottest television shows feature classic horror elements, from marauding zombies and sexy vampires to myriad incarnations of the devil himself. Yet the horror genre and its controversial offshoots continue to occupy a nebulous space in our critical dialogue. The Horror of It All is a memoir from the front lines of the horror industry that dissects (and occasionally defends) the massively popular phenomenon of scary movies. Author Adam Rockoff delivers “the sharpest pop culture criticism you’ll find in any medium today,” (Rue Morgue) as he traces the highs and lows of the genre through the lens of his own obsessive fandom, which began in the horror aisles of his childhood video store and continued with a steady diet of cable trash. From the convergence of horror and heavy metal, to Siskel and Ebert’s crusade against the slasher flick, to the legacy of the Scream franchise, and the behind-the-scenes work of horror directors and make-up artists, Rockoff mines the rich history of the genre, braiding critical analysis with his own firsthand experiences as a horror writer and producer. Filled with mordant wit and sharp insight, The Horror of It All “is an amiable and often amusing guide” (Kirkus Reviews) that explains why horror films not only endure, but continue to prosper. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

A horror film aficionado and screenwriter reflects on a life spent watching blockbuster slasher films, cult classics, and everything in between, tracing the highs and lows of the horror genre as reflected by his own fandom.

Horror Takes Its Time Looking for a thoughtful fright? Or perhaps a frightful thought? Packed with stories selected by one of today’s leading esoteric scholars, this book will do more than make your toes curl and your skin crawl. These tales reveal hidden truths, inspire forbidden pursuits, and divulge the secrets of magical initiation in the guise of fiction. Covering topics from rituals to hauntings to Satanism, this one-of-a-kind volume includes selections from: Aleister CrowleyAmbrose BierceArthur MachenEdgar Allan PoeRobert W. ChambersRalph Adams CramH.P. LovecraftDion FortuneSir Edward George Bulwer-LyttonBram Stoker As DuQuette writes in his introduction, horror takes its time. It creeps in, seeps in, and lingers. These stories will take you hours to read, but they will stay with you, biting at your heels from the shadows, eternally. Don’t say we didn’t warn you...

This horror story has a man unable to distinguish between what is real and not real in a museum and finding out in a very horrific way. Stephen King said "H. P. Lovecraft has yet to be surpassed as the twentieth century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale."

#1 Amazon Best Seller in Philosophy Criticism. The world is increasingly unthinkable, a world of planetary disasters, emerging pandemics, and the looming threat of extinction. In this book Eugene Thacker suggests that we look to the genre of horror as offering a way of thinking about the unthinkable world. To confront this idea is to confront the limit of our ability to understand the world in which we live – a central motif of the horror genre. In the Dust of This Planet explores these relationships between philosophy and horror. In Thacker's hands, philosophy is not academic logic-chopping; instead, it is the thought of the limit of all thought, especially as it dovetails into occultism, demonology, and mysticism. Likewise, Thacker takes horror to mean something beyond the focus on gore and scare tactics, but as the under-appreciated genre of supernatural horror in fiction, film, comics, and music. This relationship between philosophy and horror does not mean the philosophy of horror, if anything, it means the reverse, the horror of philosophy: those moments when philosophical thinking enigmatically confronts the horizon of its own existence. For Thacker, the genre of supernatural horror is the key site in which this paradoxical thought of the unthinkable takes place. The cover of In the Dust of this Planet can be seen in a New York gallery, on a banner at the 2014 Climate Change march in New York and on Jay-Z's back promoting Run. The book influenced the writers of the US TV series True Detective and has been lambasted by ex-Fox News broadcaster, Glenn Beck in this podcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IW8OK4_1gQ

Written by the screenwriter and producer behind Stephen King’s It, and with an introduction by horror icon Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street), this is a hilarious must-read for any horror movie fan—and it just might save your life Are you reading this in a cornfield, at a summer camp, or in an abandoned mental institution? Have you noticed that everything is poorly lit, or that music surges every time you open a door? If the answer is yes, you’re probably trapped in a horror movie. But don’t freak out—just read this book! With it you will learn how to overcome every obstacle found in scary films, including: • How to determine what type of horror film you’re trapped in • The five types of slashers and how to defeat them • How to handle killer dolls, murderous automobiles, and other haunted objects • How to deal with alien invasions, zombie apocalypses, and other global threats • What to do if you did something last summer, if your corn has children in it, or if you suspect you’re already dead So don't be afraid: no vampire, zombie horde, cannibal hillbilly, Japanese vengeance ghost, or other horror movie monster can hurt you—as long as you have this book.

NPR Book of the Year 2020 Electric Literature: One of 55 Books by Women and Nonbinary Writers of Color to Read in 2020 | Lit Hub & The Millions: Most Anticipated Books of 2020 | Ms. Magazine: Anticipated 2020 Feminist Books | Refinery29: Books by Black Women We are Looking Forward To Reading | One of The Millions’ Most Anticipated Reads of 2020 | Amazon Book of the Month Pick | Audible Editor’s Pick | Essence’s Pick| Glamour’s Must Read | Ms. Magazine’s Anticipated Read of 2020 A startling debut about class and race, Lakewood evokes a terrifying world of medical experimentation—part The Handmaid’s Tale, part The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. When Lena Johnson’s beloved grandmother dies, and the full extent of the family debt is revealed, the black millennial drops out of college to support her family and takes a job in the mysterious and remote town of Lakewood, Michigan. On paper, her new job is too good to be true. High paying. No out of pocket medical expenses. A free place to live. All Lena has to do is participate in a secret program—and lie to her friends and family about the research being done in Lakewood. An eye drop that makes brown eyes blue, a medication that could be a cure for dementia, golden pills promised to make all bad thoughts go away. The discoveries made in Lakewood, Lena is told, will change the world—but the consequences for the subjects involved could be devastating. As the truths of the program reveal themselves, Lena learns how much she’s willing to sacrifice for the sake of her family. Provocative and thrilling, Lakewood is a breathtaking novel that takes an unflinching look at the moral dilemmas many working-class families face, and the horror that has been forced on black bodies in the name of science.

Horror has the gripping ability to captivate...and enthrall. It hooks you with unnerving stories of dread and evil, pushes your limits and pokes every phobia. Audiences love to be scared but behind every muffled scream is something deeper and even more fascinating. In Screaming for Pleasure, S.A. Bradley takes you on a wild journey exploring horror, where you'll discover what is so tantalizing about terror, including: Rare insights about some of the greatest fright directors of all time, like David Cronenberg, Guillermo Del Toro and John Carpenter, culled from hundreds of interviews.An in-depth look at 6 of the most impactful horror films by women directors, plus a list of over 15 women directors you should be watching now.Relive the most terrifying and shocking moments in horror film history with detailed breakdowns of over 100 films. Plus, you'll uncover how horror lets you peek in at what may be lurking within yourself. Screaming for Pleasure thrills you with the beauty and depth of the horror genre, dissecting films, literature and music, that reveals how horror constantly reinvents itself and reflects the anxieties of each generation. Whether you're frightened to watch scary movies alone or a horror obsessive, Screaming for Pleasure is the entertaining guide to help cinephiles of all types fall in love with horror again.

In this classic novel of psychological terror, an unrelenting storm forces three travelers to take shelter in a sinister mansion. A powerful storm rages through the Welsh mountains, driving three travelers off the road. Philip Waverton, his wife, Margaret, and their friend Roger Penderel are desperate to get out of the torrential downpour. Their only option is a mysterious old mansion, home to the bizarre Femm family and their brutish butler, Morgan. Although the Femms have plenty rooms in their home, they are hesitant to allow guests to stay in them. Instead, Penderel and the Wavertons must settle in for the night by the ground-floor fireplace and hope the storm will pass by morning. But as the hours go by, their situation only gets worse. The storm intensifies, and the dark house begins revealing its secrets—like what lies behind the two locked doors on the top floor. Now the travelers can only pray they survive until morning . . . Published in 1927, Benighted served as the basis for the 1932 James Whale film The Old Dark House, starring Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, and Gloria Stuart. It was J. B. Priestly’s second novel. “Priestley’s book is a beautifully written affair, oftentimes thrilling and touching, that this reader found perfect company during a few recent stormy days in late October. . . . The novel will surely manage to chill the modern-day reader.” —Fantasy Literature

John Carpenter's Halloween, released on October 25, 1978, marked the beginning of the horror film's most colorful, controversial, and successful offshoot--the slasher film. Loved by fans and reviled by critics for its iconic psychopaths, gory special effects, brainless teenagers in peril, and more than a bit of soft-core sex, the slasher film secured its legacy as a cultural phenomenon and continues to be popular today. This work traces the evolution of the slasher film from 1978 when it was a fledgling genre, through the early 1980s when it was one of the most profitable and prolific genres in Hollywood, on to its decline in popularity around 1986. An introduction provides a brief history of the Grand Guignol, the pre-cinema forerunner of the slasher film, films such as Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and cinematic trends that gave rise to the slasher film. Also explained are the slasher film's characteristics, conventions, and cinematic devices, such as the "final girl," the omnipotent killer, the relationship between sex and death, the significant date or setting, and the point-of-view of the killer. The chapters that follow are devoted to the years 1978 through 1986 and analyze significant films from each year. The Toolbox Murders, When a Stranger Calls, the Friday the 13th movies, My Bloody Valentine, The Slumber Party Massacre, Psycho II, and April Fool's Day are among those analyzed. The late 90s resurrection of slasher films, as seen in Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, is also explored, as well as the future direction of slasher films.