View Full Version : Best Books on Horror Films
What's the best book about horror films? I just started a new book I bought on amazon called Projected Fears that's, so far, my favorite. It focuses on the ten most "influential" horror films of all time and why they blew up so huge.
Do others read books about horror films - what are the best ones?
ZERO
barbra
05-11-2005, 10:11 AM
Ive never read any
http://www.horror.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=15
slasherman
05-11-2005, 10:36 AM
This book is about slasher movies from the 80's....its pretty good
http://www.johnnyalucard.com/pics/nightmar.jpg
I like Kim Newman's stuff - he's really smart and insightful. Here's the cover of the Projected Fears book - I thought it was really cool when I saw it on Amazon.com
immortalem
05-11-2005, 10:54 AM
A good book on horror is Clive Barker's A-Z of Horror. It is a really good book on all kinds of horror movies.
Originally posted by Zero
I like Kim Newman's stuff - he's really smart and insightful. Here's the cover of the Projected Fears book - I thought it was really cool when I saw it on Amazon.com
http://www.made-you-look.ca/somethings_fishy2.gif
Hmm the image didn't come up for me when I posted it - so I'm making it my avatar - (damn, I guess I like this book more than I thought hmm).
Anyway, its definitely worth the read - and it offers good answer to all the whiny people who ask me why I spend so much time watching horror films - so there nyaahhh!
ZERO
I dunno....my fav has to be from the great author Newb Newbster. Here is the cover.
http://www.spam.com/sp/SPAMALOT.gif
Pulitzer, Booker and Nobel prize for Newb!!!
ZERO
http://www.21century-ecommerce.com/images/spam-police.jpg
Don't take it personal...just doing my job
"Move along people.....there is nothing to see here"
If your a legit poster than disregard my post.......if not than beware.
urgeok
05-11-2005, 11:27 AM
if this IS a spam post .. then it sets a new all time low for sheer stupidity.
please tell me it isnt ..
zwoti
05-11-2005, 11:32 AM
somebody call?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/zwoti/scans/Spam-CanMan.jpg
I heard Tim Curry on NPR talking about SPamalot - it sounded horrific - dancing cans of spam. . . run.
Originally posted by Zero
I heard Tim Curry on NPR talking about SPamalot - it sounded horrific - dancing cans of spam. . . run.
My son just picked up the soundtrack...I'm gonna have to check it out. Could be good for a laugh.
OK - So far we've only got three books (hmmm, maybe folks here don't actually like to read about horror films. . . ):
Barker, A-Z of Horror
Newman, Nightmare Movies
Phillips, Projected Fears
I'd add David Skal's book, The Monster Show.
(oh, and of course, Newb's Spamalot!) :D
Zero
urgeok
05-11-2005, 12:01 PM
i have a couple hundred books on film ..
several are about horror ..
I've been more interested in reading biographies lately and want to get my hands on the Dario Argento bio but haven't found it yet ..
if anyone wants to sell it - let me know !
I got a hold of a copy of that "Zombies that Ate Pittsburgh" book that goes through Romero's career (well up to Day). It was cool - but I got it from the library - then I wanted to buy it and it was like $200 - damn. I didn't want it that much.
What's the argento book?
I also liked the book of interviews with John Carpenter - I love his films but he doesn't really seem very bright. Oh well.
ZERO
zwoti
05-11-2005, 12:10 PM
where to start......
the haunted world of mario bava - troy howarth
immoral tales (sex & horror cinema in europe 1956-1984) - cathal tohill & pete tombs
mondo macabro (weird & wonderful cinema around the world) - pete tombs
cannibal holocaust and the savage cinema of ruggero deodato
mondo argento - alan jones
art of darkness (the cinema of dario argento) - chris gallant
zombie - allan bryce
blood & black lace (definitive guide to giallo) - adrian luther smith
seduction of the gullible (curious history of the british "video nasty" phenomenon) - john martin
killing for culture (history of death film from mondo to snuff)
meat is murder (guide to cannibal culture)
john morghen the nastiest man in the world - john martin
lucio fulci beyond the gates - chas balun
sex murder art the films of jorg buttgereit - david kerekes
bfi companion to horror - edited by kim newman
aurum film encyclopedias
to name a few
Cool list zwoti- I've read a few of those but many are new titles. I find many horror film books are either really dense academic stuff (like that "Men, Women and Chainsaws" book - which has the coolest title ever) -or- badly written production histories. Its rare to find something intelligent and accessible.
ZERO
DraculaInDallas
05-11-2005, 10:23 PM
"Hammer Films - The House of Horror"
knife_fight
05-11-2005, 11:16 PM
probly the most famous one is Danse Macabre by Stephen King
I really liked Danse Macabre- though I liked King's On Writing better - cool insight into the whole creative process. But Danse Macabre is probably the best introduction to teh whole question of horror out there - in terms of begin accessible and broad.
ZERO
slasherman
05-13-2005, 07:47 AM
I enjoyed this verry much
Psychos! Sickos! Sequels!
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1887664165.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_.gif
filmmaker2
05-13-2005, 08:25 AM
Denis Gifford's "A Pictorial History of Horror Movies"
Way excellent book, plus, as might be expected, great photos.
Try These:
Horror Holocaust by Chas. Balun
Beyond Horror Holocaust by Chas. Balun
and the absolute best Vampire book EVER:
The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead (second edition by J. Gordon Melton and published by Visible Ink Press.
This encycleopedia has EVERYTHING you wanted to know about Vampires; movie history and filmology, myths, legends, vampirism, Gothic movement, Vlad Tepes, History etc.... Excellent book.
In terms of overall history of horror - a lot of them are either really cheezy "fan-boy" stuff or really academic. Some of the more academic stuff is pretty interesting though - I thought Andrew Tudor's Monsters and Mad Scientists was very interesting as it looked at how the horror genre changed over the decades. A cool overview.
By the by, I just finished the book that started this whole thread (and oddly got me accused of spamming - hmmpph). Projected Fears was really cool and I liked where in the conclusion the author says that we shouldn't be suprised at the onslaught of remakes since we've got another Bush in teh White House and we're involved in another war in Iraq - political zingers abounded! It made me laugh out loud.
ZERO
Just finished (well sort of) reading/trying to read a book by Daryl Jones called simply Horror. God it was awful - impenetrable and obscure with paragraphs that were literally incoherent.
My second runner-up for worst book on horror movies was one I read last year called Red White and Blue Nightmares (or something like that) - it wasn't so badly written but kind of pointless.