A review by grannyweatherwax88
Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters by Jack Halberstam

2.0

I'm sure that many wonderful and insightful point were made in this book, but they largely went over my head since I'm not well versed in psychoanalysis (and think that Freud's theories were seriously flawed). The final chapter on slasher films was the best one as it analyzed the use of skin in Texas Chainsaw Massacre Two and Silence of the Lambs and I wish the whole book had been so interesting. I found it curious that in his exploration of the gothic, Jack Halberstam failed to mention Daphne Du Maurier or Shirley Jackson. It was particularly noteworthy since he examined the movie version of The Birds at great length. I just feel like any conversation of the gothic that does not feature the undisputed queens of gothic horror is incomplete. For an examination of gothic horror, the whole thing felt quite dry and bloodless.