Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror; Revised Edition with a New Afterword
Illuminating the dark side of the American century, The Monster Show uncovers the surprising links between horror entertainment and the great social crises of our time, as well as horror's function as a pop analogue to surrealism and other artistic movements.
With penetrating analyses and revealing anecdotes, David J. Skal chronicles one of our most popular and pervasive m
...more
With penetrating analyses and revealing anecdotes, David J. Skal chronicles one of our most popular and pervasive m
Paperback, 432 pages
Published
October 15th 2001
by Faber & Faber
(first published 1993)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
782)
Oct 23, 2011
D.R. Haney
added it
Wow. I just noticed another review of this book somewhere below: "Reads a lot like a history book. Couldn't get interested in it." Yes, I imagine a work subtitled A Cultural History... would read a lot like a history book, wouldn't it?
Horror fans, in my experience, too often write like perennial adolescents, and it's certainly rare to encounter one who can authoritatively call upon Freud, Fiedler, Fussell, Sontag, and Pound, among others, as does David J. Skal. Some of the detours in The Monste...more
Horror fans, in my experience, too often write like perennial adolescents, and it's certainly rare to encounter one who can authoritatively call upon Freud, Fiedler, Fussell, Sontag, and Pound, among others, as does David J. Skal. Some of the detours in The Monste...more
Monster Show is an enjoyable sociological interpretation of horror movies in the context of war, social upheaval, economic downturns, the sexual revolution and Reagan's '80s.
The emphasis on pioneer directors such as Todd Browning and James Whale is also understandable.
I particularly enjoyed the chapter "it's alive unfortunately", a take on overpopulation and loss of control over our bodies... The Omen, Prophecy, Alien, Children of the Corn,Rosemary's Baby,all suggest offspring may be threat to t...more
The emphasis on pioneer directors such as Todd Browning and James Whale is also understandable.
I particularly enjoyed the chapter "it's alive unfortunately", a take on overpopulation and loss of control over our bodies... The Omen, Prophecy, Alien, Children of the Corn,Rosemary's Baby,all suggest offspring may be threat to t...more
I finally got around to reading the revised edition. I had read the original when it first came out, and found the book to be very insightful for how it related the horror genre to cultural trends in America. The book is very idiosyncratic; you can tell Skal has written volumes on Dracula and Tod Browning, and that he doesn't care at all about 1960's European horror. The book is not comprehensive; there is a lot that's missing, and Skal's discussion of the films never gets much deeper than a sup...more
I have tempered enthusiasm for this critical text on horror films. Simply due to how extensive it is, this book is essential reading for the horror film enthusiast; however, Skal relies too heavily on the research of his predecessors. and he never voices any disagreement with what they've said. The result is a hodge-podge of theoretical paradigms that are often contradictory, and in the case of the Freudian readings, arguably outmoded.
If Skal had updated the theoretical basis for his analysis an...more
If Skal had updated the theoretical basis for his analysis an...more
Pretty brilliant. Awesome minor stories told in the book include the weird friendship between Vampira and James Dean, the staging of a Broadway musical version of Carrie which turned into an epic flop, Bela Lugosi's trysts with Clara Bow, a brief history of thalidomide birth defects and there are many, many more. He uses two major figures as framing devices for the book - the circus performer turned Hollywood director Tod Browning, and the photographer Diane Arbus - and its really effective. The...more
If you like monster movies, any kind and time period, or melodrama or theatre fantastique, this is a must read book. For those who are not a keen fan of the above genres this book is a fun and informative introduction to those kinds of movies and their history. It also shows were movies went to and where they may go next. For myself I have never called myself a horror fan, indeed when I became aware of movies of this kind the flavour of the decade was slasher flicks or teenager horror flicks. Th...more
Oct 21, 2012
Leonardo
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Fans of horror in pop-culture
Monster Show es una excelente y amena crónica del devenir del horror en la cultura popular estadounidense del siglo XX, con un énfasis particular en el cine, las historietas y las novelas populares. El panorama que nos presenta es exhaustivo, desde el cine mudo, hasta el splatterpunk de fines del siglo XX, con temas y personajes recurrentes (Todd Browning y los freaks, Drácula y la criatura de Frankenstein, los grupos censores, el terror como metáfora del lado oscuro de una sociedad "perfecta")....more
As a history book it's great - you get all the important names in the american horror, stories behind movies and personalities in an exciting and well-written narrative.
As a study of the phenomenon of horror it's not so great. My beef with Skal is that he interprets all movies in two ways - freudian or as a metaphor for the state of the American society. He doesn't give the creators any credit, he almost doesn't care about the design, the actors, the camera work, the enjoyment of suspense and su...more
As a study of the phenomenon of horror it's not so great. My beef with Skal is that he interprets all movies in two ways - freudian or as a metaphor for the state of the American society. He doesn't give the creators any credit, he almost doesn't care about the design, the actors, the camera work, the enjoyment of suspense and su...more
Aug 24, 2012
Nick
is currently reading it
Very readable history of horror focusing primarily but not exclusively on film. Like much of so-called cultural studies, Skal is far too fond of master explanations and facile analogies, e.g. WWI amputees and the patchwork Frankenstein, or zombies and Vietnam. Such arguments are most engaging when they go beyond simple analogy to cultural traumas films themselves consider, Cf. The Black Cat and the Skal's discussion of it. For anyone beginning a study of film horror, this is a good place to star...more
Extremely interesting for hardcore fans of social-history and/or horror and, to a lesser extent, film theory. It's a tad front loaded and a disproportionate amount of time is spent on Dracula (1931) and Tod Browning. Being that Skal has written books completely devoted to both, this is not a shocker. A lot of people will talk about what this book lacks and glosses over, but what is included is well written and very rarely gets too heavy handed. I really enjoyed it.
Very interesting if you're into the subject for the first half of the book, but towards the end it dives into the psycho-sexual aspects of horror and begins to drag a bit in my opinion. Still, Skal is one of the better writers on classic horror films, and there are enough moments in this one to make it worth a read.
A great overview of the history of the monster film. A few of the ideas seem to need a big more expansion, but Skal is interested in an overview, and he creates an entertaining story. It gets a bit negative in the end towards current Hollywood horor productions (a trend I see all the time in works by scholars of the earl Hollywood period) but otherwise a fair, fun read.
I didn't think I'd get through this hefty 400+ page volume so quickly, byt Skal does a great job shedding light on some classic horror films (the early sections dealing with Tod Browning are fantastic). Chapter 8's Drive-In salute is worth the cover price alone. MUST reading for any horror film fan.
An absolute must-read for fans, as well as those who feel that horror movies have nothing to offer. The author puts the genre into proper perspective, illustrating how horror often reflects the times and fears in which the films were made. Wildly informative and entertaining!
Didn't read this revised edition, however, the 1990-something original edition was perfectly fine and elucidating, and, ultimately, current. Yet, Skal's take on the slaughter/torture onset of horror in film, that this revised edition must contain, I'm sure, is interesting.
Insightful book by pop culture historian David j Skal. "We can understand society more by what it fears." Skal discusses how different cultural fears and hang ups-such as nuclear war and the battle for reproductive rights, can be reflected in horror films.
I love this book. Insightful and thought-provoking study of how horror is shaped by culture and events and how horror reshapes culture. I've worn out my copy.
A must-read for anyone interested in horror or pop culture. Skal Rules!
A must-read for anyone interested in horror or pop culture. Skal Rules!
I read this quite awhile ago. As I recall, there was quite a bit of digression, and this could, at times, get tiring.
Feb 17, 2011
Rachel Kendall
added it
Everything you ever wanted to know about 'monsters' from Tod Browning's Freaks, to Lon Chaney's amputees. All good fun and all in the name of 'research' for the next issue of Sein und Werden. Hah. Right.
This was a page-turner until the last two chapters, on horror/slasher movies in the age of AIDS, and "modern" vampires. Those chapters felt like they were from a different book.
An interesting long-form look at how horror films reflect the fears and anxieties society won't (or can't) discuss, "The Monster Show" is likely to resonate most with genre fans. Author David J. Skal certainly takes some liberties in assigning the same reactions to world events and cultural changes to every member of a society, but I found his discussion broad enough to still be applicable. Some great interviews and anecdotes throughout -- really a useful, interesting read for someone with any l...more
Reads a lot like a history book. Couldn't get interested in it.
Mar 22, 2013
Amanda
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
freaks and geeks
Shelves:
horror,
nonfiction
This was an interesting history of essential horror movies but, holy shit, it needed to quit with all of the Freud. If you can bear sections on Dracula’s castration complex or whatever, it’s worth the read since it is quite informative and it did talk about a few old movies I haven’t seen and would like to look up. If the Freudian bullshit is too much for you, however, skip it.
Enjoyable and slightly tacky history of horror. Skal always goes for the lurid image or the surprising connection. Still, a fun read and worth the ILL for a photo of James Dean in Frankenstein makeup in high school.
I found the book to be very insightful, and filled with interesting tidbits. It read like a text book, and I disagreed with several of his points of view. Still, I believe I'll be a better horror writer now for reading this book. For anyone interested in this genre, I would happily recommend reading "The Monster Show."
Anyone with an interest in horror, especially horror films, needs to read this book. It is required.
Highly recommended for all horror fans. Although I missed some more info on art since this was a study in visual horror there were many interesting points made and Skal's writing is engaging. Too bad I didn't have time to read this in one day, I really could have. PS. Shame on me but I had heard of Vampira only briefly somewhere and now I found out she was Finnish and used to hang out with James Dean!
Mr. Skal is a student of film and culture. This is apparent in this fantastic book about the relevance of horror films and culture. The author is proficient in showing how cultural, social, health and fnancial trends are rflected in or by horror films. Aside from that scholarly aspect, the book is an enjoyable trip for any true horror film fan.
Sep 22, 2008
Miik
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
People with Brains
Recommended to Miik by:
People with Braiiiiins
This book was goddamn fascinating. It looked at the obstacles and misgivings that the film industry had in unleashing the first horror movies, describes how those movies went on to impact the national psyche, and ultimately how they went on to shape humanity's conception of fear. Read it!
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
David J. Skal became fascinated with monsters at the height of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when indestructible monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolf Man provided a "nuclear security blanket" for a whole generation of youngsters.
Active as an editor and reporter on his high school newspaper, he was granted a journalism scholarship to Ohio University, Athens, where he earned a bachelor'...more
More about David J. Skal...
Active as an editor and reporter on his high school newspaper, he was granted a journalism scholarship to Ohio University, Athens, where he earned a bachelor'...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
Jul 27, 2011 12:55am