A review by whateveryoneelseisreading
The Book of Horror: The Anatomy of Fear in Film by Matt Glasby
5.0
I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion in exchange for an honest review.
What a fantastic book this is! I am a huge horror fan and I particularly enjoy reading about horror films, so I was excited to see what this book would be like. Thankfully it lived up to all my expectations and more. This book is a brilliant snapshot of the history of horror movies, covering both famous films and more obscure ones. It picks a single movie from each year (starting in 1960) and then discusses both the movie and horror more generally in the time period. It also lists additional films for further viewing which I really appreciated as this is where the more obscure stuff comes in. I got a lot of great recommendations from this book and I can't wait to watch them all.
My only minor gripe is that is picks a pretty strict definition of horror, excluding all franchises and blended genres (for example, no Friday the 13th or Alien) which seems like a bit of an oversight. The author does give a reason for this but I don't think it's a full discussion of horror due to these exclusions. Still, this is a brilliant book and I enjoyed my ARC so much that I've actually asked for the full copy for Christmas. This is definitely a must have for any horror fans, particularly those who want to learn more about horror cinema over the years.
What a fantastic book this is! I am a huge horror fan and I particularly enjoy reading about horror films, so I was excited to see what this book would be like. Thankfully it lived up to all my expectations and more. This book is a brilliant snapshot of the history of horror movies, covering both famous films and more obscure ones. It picks a single movie from each year (starting in 1960) and then discusses both the movie and horror more generally in the time period. It also lists additional films for further viewing which I really appreciated as this is where the more obscure stuff comes in. I got a lot of great recommendations from this book and I can't wait to watch them all.
My only minor gripe is that is picks a pretty strict definition of horror, excluding all franchises and blended genres (for example, no Friday the 13th or Alien) which seems like a bit of an oversight. The author does give a reason for this but I don't think it's a full discussion of horror due to these exclusions. Still, this is a brilliant book and I enjoyed my ARC so much that I've actually asked for the full copy for Christmas. This is definitely a must have for any horror fans, particularly those who want to learn more about horror cinema over the years.