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American Monsters
An important work of post-modern feminist horror, American Monsters is a poignant, angry volume about predation, the corruption of the rave scene, and empowerment through trauma-related super-abilities.
This edition features black and white prints of illustrations by artist Rose Deniz.
The first section of American Monsters is The Succubi Sideshow. This is a series of darkly compelling vignettes introducing a wide range of characters. You’ll find no happy, well-balanced individuals in this disturbing gallery. These are the origins of the monstrous denizens of the book. There are good monsters, yes, but there are some very bad ones too.
In the second section, The Phantastic Carnival, the Monsters are brought together through the murderous designs of an ancient, soul-hungry goddess. What could be a better lure for a big haul of youthful life-force than a spectacular Halloween party in a peculiar hill-top mansion? This section is presented as a film script and, like the previous piece, is illustrated with gorgeous watercolour paintings from artist Rose Deniz.
Non-Fiction, the third and final section of American Monsters, is a collection of moving and insightful essays. This includes a series of authoritative feminist analyses of horror, ethnography and rave culture. The heart of this section however is The Night The Sky Opened Up, a heart-rending account of the night when the author’s dear friend was executed in front of her by a meth-laced gang-member.
Packed with horror homages both oblique and obvious, American Monsters is a book for adventurous readers – ones who are not scared of non-traditional narratives, of evil smog-goddesses, or of women turning the tables.
This edition features black and white prints of illustrations by artist Rose Deniz.
The first section of American Monsters is The Succubi Sideshow. This is a series of darkly compelling vignettes introducing a wide range of characters. You’ll find no happy, well-balanced individuals in this disturbing gallery. These are the origins of the monstrous denizens of the book. There are good monsters, yes, but there are some very bad ones too.
In the second section, The Phantastic Carnival, the Monsters are brought together through the murderous designs of an ancient, soul-hungry goddess. What could be a better lure for a big haul of youthful life-force than a spectacular Halloween party in a peculiar hill-top mansion? This section is presented as a film script and, like the previous piece, is illustrated with gorgeous watercolour paintings from artist Rose Deniz.
Non-Fiction, the third and final section of American Monsters, is a collection of moving and insightful essays. This includes a series of authoritative feminist analyses of horror, ethnography and rave culture. The heart of this section however is The Night The Sky Opened Up, a heart-rending account of the night when the author’s dear friend was executed in front of her by a meth-laced gang-member.
Packed with horror homages both oblique and obvious, American Monsters is a book for adventurous readers – ones who are not scared of non-traditional narratives, of evil smog-goddesses, or of women turning the tables.
- GenresHorror
221 pages, Paperback
First published April 4, 2010
About the author
Sezin Devi Koehler
6 books87 followersAuthor of upcoming "Much Ado About Keanu: Toward a Critical Reeves Theory," the first ever sociocultural deep dive into Keanu Reeves' entire creative catalog. Arriving April 29, 2025 from Chicago Review Press.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 14, 2012
For a truly unique and in depth look at the myriad faces culturally entrenched misogyny wears, American Monsters pulls no punches. Author Sezin Koehler digs deeply into the collective consciousness of women across America and flips pile after pile of dirt off the coffins of rape and abuse survivors' fear, shame, guilt, and horror, allowing those ugly and emaciated skeletons to dance again and bare their shunned stories for all to see. And that type of storytelling is what is needed in a culture that still treats the subject of rape as a thing for entertainment and titillation.
And this is only part one of American Monsters.
In part two, Sezin provides a series of non-fiction analytical essays that unpack a variety of theories on the horror genre in American culture, arguing convincingly that the genre itself is rooted on the victimization and otherizing of women. Using examples from works by the King of Horror himself, Stephen King, as well as many popular movies, Sezin's understanding and explanation of the roots and impact of the genre on women and societal attitudes in general gives readers a fascinating and thought-provoking range of ideas to digest.
This book will take you through a roller coaster of emotions--ferocious anger, divine celebration, and marveling thoughtfulness. I highly recommend it to anyone with a uterus, an interest in those with a uterus, and a hunger for a more thorough look at our society's trends and attitudes towards women, specifically as it relates to the horror genre. If you're a fan of the book Cunt by Inga Muscio, American Monsters will take the place on your library shelf beside it.
And this is only part one of American Monsters.
In part two, Sezin provides a series of non-fiction analytical essays that unpack a variety of theories on the horror genre in American culture, arguing convincingly that the genre itself is rooted on the victimization and otherizing of women. Using examples from works by the King of Horror himself, Stephen King, as well as many popular movies, Sezin's understanding and explanation of the roots and impact of the genre on women and societal attitudes in general gives readers a fascinating and thought-provoking range of ideas to digest.
This book will take you through a roller coaster of emotions--ferocious anger, divine celebration, and marveling thoughtfulness. I highly recommend it to anyone with a uterus, an interest in those with a uterus, and a hunger for a more thorough look at our society's trends and attitudes towards women, specifically as it relates to the horror genre. If you're a fan of the book Cunt by Inga Muscio, American Monsters will take the place on your library shelf beside it.
January 25, 2015
I'll admit I was a little apprehensive about reading this book due to its horror themes but... I thought it was fantastic!!!!
I loved the unconventional structure of the book by having the first part introducing each character and their story, the second part putting them in action at a terrifying rave party set up by a maniac and the third part being non fiction; including the heartbreaking tale of the author Sezin's experience losing a close friend in unimaginable circumstances along with wonderful essays detailing women in horror, feminism and inspirations and references.
The monsters were terrifying and wonderful and I loved following them on their journey and the ultimate feel of girl power those journeys take. I didn't know much about the rave scene so for me, that was a very interesting setting.
I was completely heartbroken reading about Wendy (I cried in my arm chair for some time) yet I was so inspired after reading Sezin's thoughts on Stephen King and rape revenge with a dash of Twin Peaks thrown it.
This is a fine piece of literature and I can't wait for American Monsters II! Girls totally run the world!
I loved the unconventional structure of the book by having the first part introducing each character and their story, the second part putting them in action at a terrifying rave party set up by a maniac and the third part being non fiction; including the heartbreaking tale of the author Sezin's experience losing a close friend in unimaginable circumstances along with wonderful essays detailing women in horror, feminism and inspirations and references.
The monsters were terrifying and wonderful and I loved following them on their journey and the ultimate feel of girl power those journeys take. I didn't know much about the rave scene so for me, that was a very interesting setting.
I was completely heartbroken reading about Wendy (I cried in my arm chair for some time) yet I was so inspired after reading Sezin's thoughts on Stephen King and rape revenge with a dash of Twin Peaks thrown it.
This is a fine piece of literature and I can't wait for American Monsters II! Girls totally run the world!
December 1, 2014
The title and cover told me it would be violent and dark so it took a while before I was in a space that would allow me to read it and be ok. Once I started I couldn't put it down although I am not a horror genre reader nor did I have first hand experience with the rave scene that was raging as this book was written. It's an unconventional book but I loved it. I felt the characters' rage and rooted for them and although men inflicted horrible things upon these characters, they found comfort and strength in each other. The non-fiction and academic parts of the book allow you to understand the inspirations for the fictional part and answered the questions you would have wanted to ask the author. This section made me think about the world I live in in a way that I haven't done since college. Go into this with an open mind.
April 6, 2010
A most unusual story, moving from a narrative genre to something else! Individual stories are quite violent, but the well constructed story pushes one to see how these are connected and where they lead. As the author says: BEWARE.....it is violent. More later.
September 16, 2010
A wonderful read that you must sit down with! I recommend it to any and all readers!
February 18, 2012
Okay, firstly I’m going to come out and admit that I know the author, and though we’ve never met in person, we’ve conversed on a number of occasions and gotten to know each other somewhat. I admit this because I don't want what I have to say about Sezin’s work to be construed as some hidden agenda. I believe that my reviews of films, books and TV shows on various websites require me to be as open and honest about what I critique, even when it’s from my friends.
AMERICAN MONSTERS is many things: open, honest, intelligent, original, harrowing, intriguing. It is *not* shallow, light reading. But it *is* a compelling and thought-provoking work on feminism and the horror genre.
Sezin has divided her work into two parts, of differing formats but still connected once seen as a whole, though you can read each of them, separately and gain something different from them. The first part is fiction, and is headed by The Succubi Sideshow, a dark collection of vignettes introducing a wide, wild range of different but still related characters, people with monstrous natures both within and without, who are both offenders and victims, and the vignettes explore equally monstrous themes such as violence, rape, exploitation, suicide, loneliness. There are unflinching scenes, but nothing is done with exploitation or titillation in mind. Sezin depicts these terrible things for what they are.
The Monsters presented here are assembled together in The Phantastic Carnival, which is presented in a movie script format, which on reading it would make for a heady and satisfying movie experience (I should also make note of the wonderful, stylistic watercolour illustrations throughout, provided by artist Rose Deniz).
Possibly the most difficult part to read was in the second part, The Night the Sky Opened Up, but only because it was so difficult to read the account of events which truly happened to someone I know. It’s an open, honest, distressing autobiographical account of the worst day in Sezin’s life, when in Los Angeles she bore witness to the murder of her best, dearest friend Wendy, to whom this book is dedicated. It was an event which pushed Sezin into a brutal time, full of trauma, depression and distress, but which also spawned her into writing the fictional parts of this book. Her account is rich in detail and minutiae, harrowing and compelling, giving us a glimpse not only into real-life horror, but also the psyche of a fascinating, erudite individual and how this shaped her life and thinking.
The essays which follow are an intelligent, fascinating read, discussing and analyzing a wide variety of topics: The Compiler: On Truth and Synchronicity, for instance, touches on the rave culture, the portrayal of vampires, the unique perspective afforded “Third Culture Kids” like Sezin (and myself) in anthropological discussions, and the dichotomy between male and female psychologies when interpreting horror film and fiction. And What Horror Means – An Essay focuses on women/mothers as the Monster in works such as Stephen King, in particular The Shining, and this one I found a particular eye-opener, allowing me to look on a story I thought I knew with new eyes. There’s also an Afterword, written more than ten years following the events, and I am grateful for this section, for it was an uplifting coda to the life of a woman who had gone through Hell, had been changed by it, but not destroyed. She has led a fascinating life, and I want more people to know her through this.
AMERICAN MONSTERS is many things: open, honest, intelligent, original, harrowing, intriguing. It is *not* shallow, light reading. But it *is* a compelling and thought-provoking work on feminism and the horror genre.
Sezin has divided her work into two parts, of differing formats but still connected once seen as a whole, though you can read each of them, separately and gain something different from them. The first part is fiction, and is headed by The Succubi Sideshow, a dark collection of vignettes introducing a wide, wild range of different but still related characters, people with monstrous natures both within and without, who are both offenders and victims, and the vignettes explore equally monstrous themes such as violence, rape, exploitation, suicide, loneliness. There are unflinching scenes, but nothing is done with exploitation or titillation in mind. Sezin depicts these terrible things for what they are.
The Monsters presented here are assembled together in The Phantastic Carnival, which is presented in a movie script format, which on reading it would make for a heady and satisfying movie experience (I should also make note of the wonderful, stylistic watercolour illustrations throughout, provided by artist Rose Deniz).
Possibly the most difficult part to read was in the second part, The Night the Sky Opened Up, but only because it was so difficult to read the account of events which truly happened to someone I know. It’s an open, honest, distressing autobiographical account of the worst day in Sezin’s life, when in Los Angeles she bore witness to the murder of her best, dearest friend Wendy, to whom this book is dedicated. It was an event which pushed Sezin into a brutal time, full of trauma, depression and distress, but which also spawned her into writing the fictional parts of this book. Her account is rich in detail and minutiae, harrowing and compelling, giving us a glimpse not only into real-life horror, but also the psyche of a fascinating, erudite individual and how this shaped her life and thinking.
The essays which follow are an intelligent, fascinating read, discussing and analyzing a wide variety of topics: The Compiler: On Truth and Synchronicity, for instance, touches on the rave culture, the portrayal of vampires, the unique perspective afforded “Third Culture Kids” like Sezin (and myself) in anthropological discussions, and the dichotomy between male and female psychologies when interpreting horror film and fiction. And What Horror Means – An Essay focuses on women/mothers as the Monster in works such as Stephen King, in particular The Shining, and this one I found a particular eye-opener, allowing me to look on a story I thought I knew with new eyes. There’s also an Afterword, written more than ten years following the events, and I am grateful for this section, for it was an uplifting coda to the life of a woman who had gone through Hell, had been changed by it, but not destroyed. She has led a fascinating life, and I want more people to know her through this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews