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leigh_reidelberger's review against another edition
3.0
Solid 3.5
This is one book I will probably listen to again at some point, because there is a lot of really neat information I didn’t previously know:
- Mary Lambert was the first female director to helm a major studio horror film, 1989's Pet Semetery.
- When The New Yorker published Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, they received more letters than they ever had before, or would ever receive (at least at the publication of this book.), mostly negative of course.
There are SO many movies, actors, writers, directors, and random historical trivia, like the birth of the Spiritualism craze in the US.
Be prepared for all the spoilers lol- when diving into different movies, they definitely give away most endings, so keep that in mind if you haven't watched a ton of horror.
Overall, it felt a little superficial, like just scratching the surface of what is a really interesting topic.
This is one book I will probably listen to again at some point, because there is a lot of really neat information I didn’t previously know:
- Mary Lambert was the first female director to helm a major studio horror film, 1989's Pet Semetery.
- When The New Yorker published Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, they received more letters than they ever had before, or would ever receive (at least at the publication of this book.), mostly negative of course.
There are SO many movies, actors, writers, directors, and random historical trivia, like the birth of the Spiritualism craze in the US.
Be prepared for all the spoilers lol- when diving into different movies, they definitely give away most endings, so keep that in mind if you haven't watched a ton of horror.
Overall, it felt a little superficial, like just scratching the surface of what is a really interesting topic.
thedustbunnyslibrary's review against another edition
4.0
I was tempted to give 5 stars but instead am giving this a solid 4.5. I absolutely adored this book but I ran into a number of issues.
For me, the title was misleading. This was not so much about the “science” as it was feminism and sociology. Because of the subtitle’s mention of stunts and special effects, I expected a more technical side; more behind the scenes work like the creation of costumes, props, set production, stop-motion animation, and so forth by women. Sadly, there was next to none of this. I was ecstatic when Millicent Patrick was finally (briefly) mentioned in the final chapter.
At the core of The Science of Women in Horror is feminism. The majority of the book talks of equality, symbolism, stereotypes, and the like. I thought there was a lot of great information brought to light, ranging from race, sexuality, sexism, agism, and ableism in horror films.
Of course, many tropes are explored. Section One focuses on Mothers. I was in disbelief when Rosemary’s Baby and Mother! (which could’ve been slipped into a later chapter as well) weren’t given special attention. Morticia Addams was briefly mentioned, but it felt forced and unnecessary (a reoccurring issue throughout the book) when the authors could’ve easily given her a spotlight.
Section Five focused on Innocence, and the charming Lydia Deetz makes an appearance. “Beetlejuice” was one of my favorite chapters (which is fitting, being my favorite movie). I thought it was clever to compare Winona Ryder’s Lydia to her character, Veronica, in dark comedy film Heathers.
Throughout the book, there are footnotes and photographs. Here, you can find briefed historical, scientific, and extra behind-the-scenes facts. Some felt lazy or disconnected, but overall I thought they were a great addition, though I was disappointed to learn they’re removed from the Scribd audiobook.
My final complaint is that Mary Shelley didn’t get the attention she deserved (as well as many other female creators). While mentioned in the introduction and end, I feel we could’ve used more background on how she influenced the modern horror genre.
All in all, this was an incredibly informative book that tied together feminism and horror, two of my favorite topics. I appreciate what the authors were going for and the time they took to speak to directors and to do their research on the topics at hand.
I will DEFINITELY be reading their other book: The Science of Monsters.
For me, the title was misleading. This was not so much about the “science” as it was feminism and sociology. Because of the subtitle’s mention of stunts and special effects, I expected a more technical side; more behind the scenes work like the creation of costumes, props, set production, stop-motion animation, and so forth by women. Sadly, there was next to none of this. I was ecstatic when Millicent Patrick was finally (briefly) mentioned in the final chapter.
At the core of The Science of Women in Horror is feminism. The majority of the book talks of equality, symbolism, stereotypes, and the like. I thought there was a lot of great information brought to light, ranging from race, sexuality, sexism, agism, and ableism in horror films.
Of course, many tropes are explored. Section One focuses on Mothers. I was in disbelief when Rosemary’s Baby and Mother! (which could’ve been slipped into a later chapter as well) weren’t given special attention. Morticia Addams was briefly mentioned, but it felt forced and unnecessary (a reoccurring issue throughout the book) when the authors could’ve easily given her a spotlight.
Section Five focused on Innocence, and the charming Lydia Deetz makes an appearance. “Beetlejuice” was one of my favorite chapters (which is fitting, being my favorite movie). I thought it was clever to compare Winona Ryder’s Lydia to her character, Veronica, in dark comedy film Heathers.
Throughout the book, there are footnotes and photographs. Here, you can find briefed historical, scientific, and extra behind-the-scenes facts. Some felt lazy or disconnected, but overall I thought they were a great addition, though I was disappointed to learn they’re removed from the Scribd audiobook.
My final complaint is that Mary Shelley didn’t get the attention she deserved (as well as many other female creators). While mentioned in the introduction and end, I feel we could’ve used more background on how she influenced the modern horror genre.
All in all, this was an incredibly informative book that tied together feminism and horror, two of my favorite topics. I appreciate what the authors were going for and the time they took to speak to directors and to do their research on the topics at hand.
I will DEFINITELY be reading their other book: The Science of Monsters.
kblincoln's review against another edition
4.0
If you like horror and you are a woman, or if you like horror and are in any way shape or form connected with reviewing, critiquing, writing, or producing horror– read this book. No, really. I mean it.
The breadth of knowledge and passion for horror writing and the exposing of the common tropes Horror uses when portraying women, as well as identifying and celebrating the female authors, producers, writers, and directors who bring those delicious thrills to us in this book are not only extremely informative and presented in lovely, chapter bite-sized digestible chunks, but also important for all of us to acknowledge and be culturally competent with.
Each chapter takes a move or TV series (author Meg Hafdahl is a huge X Files fan so no surprise that’s included) and unpacks tropes like the virgin survivor, or the healer etc. present in famous media horror entertainment, and peppers the chapters throughout with interesting interviews with women horror entertainment folks about their own motivations and perceptions of women. It’s quite readable and interesting.
And now I have about four horror movies on my to-be-seen queue to watch with this new information about historical representation and tropes in the forefront of my brain.
The science in this book is mostly, heavily, social science such as psychology and lit crit. There are a few drips and drabs of hard science, and I wished for a bit more of that, as well as (I read the Kindle version so possibly formatting contributed to this) was sometimes confused about the random hard science or history facts that appeared in call out boxes sometimes. The factoids didn’t always immediately connect to the chapter or theme being discussed.
Definitely a cool and informative book in terms of pop culture and feminist theory. As I said above, a must-read for female horror fans!
The breadth of knowledge and passion for horror writing and the exposing of the common tropes Horror uses when portraying women, as well as identifying and celebrating the female authors, producers, writers, and directors who bring those delicious thrills to us in this book are not only extremely informative and presented in lovely, chapter bite-sized digestible chunks, but also important for all of us to acknowledge and be culturally competent with.
Each chapter takes a move or TV series (author Meg Hafdahl is a huge X Files fan so no surprise that’s included) and unpacks tropes like the virgin survivor, or the healer etc. present in famous media horror entertainment, and peppers the chapters throughout with interesting interviews with women horror entertainment folks about their own motivations and perceptions of women. It’s quite readable and interesting.
And now I have about four horror movies on my to-be-seen queue to watch with this new information about historical representation and tropes in the forefront of my brain.
The science in this book is mostly, heavily, social science such as psychology and lit crit. There are a few drips and drabs of hard science, and I wished for a bit more of that, as well as (I read the Kindle version so possibly formatting contributed to this) was sometimes confused about the random hard science or history facts that appeared in call out boxes sometimes. The factoids didn’t always immediately connect to the chapter or theme being discussed.
Definitely a cool and informative book in terms of pop culture and feminist theory. As I said above, a must-read for female horror fans!
shereadytoread's review against another edition
3.5
This is a good overview of women in horror. Although it took me a little while to get use to the organization of the book. Instead of a chronological organization, it's split into topics and each chapter dives into how women are reflected in that topic in both horror and society. There are not many deep dives into specific films but rather more general connections of films and themes to aspects of history and society.
undisciplinedbeing's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
Absolutely in love and thrilled with this book. As a fan of horror films, I am in awe of the analysis. Somehow I expect this book to leave out queer and trans women of the conversation, but it didn't. I really really appreciate the analysis, and would also recommend watching Queer for Fear docuseries as well to complement this reading!
itsalina's review against another edition
dark
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Murder
laurelinwonder's review against another edition
5.0
There are some reviews that make it pretty clear that they didn't read the whole book; worse say they didn't finish the book, then list all the films they think are not mentioned, the majority of which are. So, what I am saying is this, ignore the nay sayers on this one.
On to my review, after reading the entire thing, as well as reviewing it a second time while making notes. This book is not an in-depth coverage of all that it purports to do, so do not go into this hoping for the depth and breadth of a humanities textbook. However, it does more than a cursory glance of a lot of women in the film -- many of which haven't yet really gotten the attention that they deserve, so bravo to that. What this book also does is draw together a ton of introductory source material that is a great platform to launch a lot of important conversations from. If you have a deep interest in women in horror, this is a great start, and I hope that these writers get together and write more, because it is very accessible, and I think, meant to reach a wide audience. This particular topic needs to be addressed far and wide, so had they taken a more super-academic, super film buff approach it might have scared off potential readers, this is a positive move.
I read a lot that I had not thought of, appreciated the interviews, that in general added another level of knowledge to each topic. There were only a few films that I have not seen or heard about, but that's for the best as spoilers kind of abound here, so read with an eye for titles that you are not familiar with if you want to avoid those spoilers. Keep in mind, that a text of this course has to talk about what happens in these films in order to analyze them, so this is not negative in my mind. There is so much to unpack here, and I could see this being a wonderful addition to an introduction to women and film, or women in horror college course.
On to my review, after reading the entire thing, as well as reviewing it a second time while making notes. This book is not an in-depth coverage of all that it purports to do, so do not go into this hoping for the depth and breadth of a humanities textbook. However, it does more than a cursory glance of a lot of women in the film -- many of which haven't yet really gotten the attention that they deserve, so bravo to that. What this book also does is draw together a ton of introductory source material that is a great platform to launch a lot of important conversations from. If you have a deep interest in women in horror, this is a great start, and I hope that these writers get together and write more, because it is very accessible, and I think, meant to reach a wide audience. This particular topic needs to be addressed far and wide, so had they taken a more super-academic, super film buff approach it might have scared off potential readers, this is a positive move.
I read a lot that I had not thought of, appreciated the interviews, that in general added another level of knowledge to each topic. There were only a few films that I have not seen or heard about, but that's for the best as spoilers kind of abound here, so read with an eye for titles that you are not familiar with if you want to avoid those spoilers. Keep in mind, that a text of this course has to talk about what happens in these films in order to analyze them, so this is not negative in my mind. There is so much to unpack here, and I could see this being a wonderful addition to an introduction to women and film, or women in horror college course.