Horror: A Thematic History in Fiction and Film (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Horror has an established tradition in both fiction and film. From books such as Frankenstein and Dracula to films such as Seven and The Blair Witch Project, the genre holds an irresistable appeal for modern audiences. But why? Is horror an anti-establishment force and an argument for social revolution? Is it a liberating expose of human nature and a peek at the dark side of the unconscious? Or is it pure evil, solely designed to corrupt and deprave? Starting from such questions about the nature of horror, this book offers an accessible history of the genre. Using examples from key Gothic texts of the Romantic period, as well as more recent popular novels and films, it approaches its subject thematically. It includes chapters on horror, religion and identity; "mad science," vampires and the undead; madness and psycho-killers; forbidden knowledge and books; narratives of invasion and pestilence; Satanism and demonic possession; ghosts and the ghost-story; and body-horror and metamorphoses.

About the Author

Darryl Jones is a professor at School of English, Trinity College Dublin.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: A Hodder Arnold Publicaton (October 31, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340762535
• ISBN-13: 978-0340762530
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #216,221 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #35 in

  Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Horror > British

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A doctrine to Gods and Monsters, May 15, 2004

By	Sorcha Ní Fhlainn (Dublin, Dublin Ireland) - See all my reviews

Darryl Jones' book on the themes that horror has masqueraded in is a pleasure to read. Jones has a unique blend of all encompassing knowledge on the themes of Mad Science, Mary Shelly, Hammer Horror, Post Modern Horror, and the development of the vampire from Polidori, La Fanu and Stoker to Rice, Blade and The Lost Boys. Cannibalism also features in a chapter focusing on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Cannibal Holocaust entwined with a debate of censorship rampant in the horror world. Jones' unique writing style allows him some breadth of humour, first hand accounts and hindsight when discussing the cultural parallels of horror and modernity- how horror has associated itself with the chaos of culture and politics and the development of traditional horror motifs.

A book for those who wish to complete their knowledge on the purposes of horror, not only as a source of entertainment or psychological understanding of the human interest in base fears but in how the reaction to horror at specific moments in culture has backlashed or opened the debate of censorship, decency and how we interpret these terms. The book serves as an academic guide to horror and an indepth source for horror buffs alike. A humourous, well written read from a fantastic horror academic.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A bit too pretentious, pedantic, and postmodern, September 7, 2008

By	Prof. CJ "The Eclectic Professor" (North FL, USA) - See all my reviews

I was excited to read this book, but it let me down. I should have realized that "Thematic" was a codeword for "postmodern." Darryl Jones's HORROR illustrates exactly why Stephen King has such disdain for literary academics and critics. (And, perhaps not coincidentally, Jones seems rather dismissive of King's work in a lot of ways.) This book contributed very little to my thinking about the horror genre. As an academic myself (though I should hope one more grounded in the real world), I could decipher his postmodernist jargon, though it absolutely bored me, taking a genre about which I am personally enthusiastic and injecting it with all the fun of a chemistry class. This book is all about subtext, and hardly at all about stories themselves - very little is discussed about fear (in the non-societal meaning), and likewise not much time is spent discussing which horror stories and films are scary and why. Instead, it's all about the Freudian/Foucaultian hidden meaning where, of course, nothing is what it actually is (for example, the word "gender" is primarily a verb), where "artsiness" and political commentary take precedence over storytelling, where all fears are collective rather than indivdual, and everything horrifying is ultimately a metaphor for something sexual.

In addition, the book is organizationally haphazard. I would have expected that Jones, as an English academic, would be much better at transitions from one topic or book/movie to the next. Instead, it's all over the place - one second we're reading about repressed sexuality in a Gothic novel from a couple of centuries ago, and the next we're reading about misogyny in a recent film, with little or no segue linking them. It makes for a bewildering experience. Add to that the fact that Jones seems to assume that the reader has already read/seen every book/movie he discusses, and you're left with a decidedly difficult reading experience.

Furthermore, Jones is constantly injecting his own leftwing political views into everything and, like most leftist academics, he often champions the working class in an abstract sense, but is totally dismissive of working-class people on an individual, concrete basis. (Aside from his apparent disdain for Stephen King and his blue-collar writing style, another example of this phenomenon can be seen when Jones discusses THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. Jones thinks that the motives presented in the movie for the family's murders and mutilations - economic disenfranchisement due to the closing of a nearby slaughterhouse - are quite plausible; in other words, when working-class people lose their jobs, becoming cannibalistic mutilators is just a natural, reasonable, likely transition. Excuse me for not seeing working class people in that light.)

If you think subtext is more important than actual story, if you think postmodern concepts of class and gender are the most important elements of everything, and if you think that Marx, Freud, Foucault, and feminism collectively have things pretty much figured out, you'll probably enjoy this book. If not, might I recommend King's DANSE MACABRE, which, though dated (it was published in '82) is not only a more readable and less academic/elitist, but a better-organized and more thought-provoking look at the genre.

One last thing: I think it's revealing when all the positive reviews of a book appear to have been written by the author's students.

3 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Darryl Jones and the Masses, January 31, 2006

By	J (Dublin) - See all my reviews

Jones is clearly a master of his craft: Mummies, vampires, and monsters from Frankenstein to the diabolical Body Snatcher, Jones gives us an insight into the horror genre while briefly touching upon his personal experiences--most notably, an entire chapter devoted to the traumatizing experience of having to consume a small family of Asians off the coast of Beijing with his cousin while still a mere child. It is disturbingly clear that Jones is far superior to any of us in both intellect and stature; If you don't buy his book, chances are he will go searching for you and, most likely, eat you while you're sleeping. I highly reccomend this book to anyone who is willing to look deeply into the black heart of both Jones and the Horror Industry.