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Horror Film Criticism

The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of Hammer Films
Alan Barnes & Marcus Hearn
The Hammer Story is the definitive, authorised history of Hammer Films, and the company has provided unlimited access to its archives. The crypt doors have been thrown wide open, revealing a treasure chest of nearly 500 rare posters, photographs, press books, clippings and even ticket stubs. Hardcover, 192 pp. $44.00.

Zombiemania: 80 Movies to Die For
Arnold T. Blumberg & Andrew Hershberger
Zombiemania takes an in-depth look at one of the most popular horror film categories of all time. What is it that makes us so scared of and yet so intrigued by the living dead? Why is it that shambling corpses with a taste for brains, or mindless automatons controlled by a voodoo master still retain such relentless power? This book is illustrated with many still photographs from films of this genre, some published for the first time. Softcover, 497 pp. $29.95.

Monsters: A Celebration of the Classics from Universal Studios
Jennifer Osborne
With today's fantasy and horror films ruling the box office - and special-edition DVDs available of Universal's masterpieces - Monsters is an invaluable guide for a new generation. It shows where the "creature feature" began, from the twenties silent classic The Phantom of the Opera to fifties favorite Creature from the Black Lagoon. Frightening and fun, this splendid volume is perfect for monster fans of any age. Hardcover, 166 pp. $39.95.

The Curse of the Werewolf: Fantasy, Horror and the Beast Within
Chantal Bourgault du Coudray
Embodying our primal fears, the werewolf has revealed in its various lupine guises radically shifting attitudes to the human psyche. Tracing the werewolf's 'use' by anthropologists and criminologists and shifting interpretations of the figure - from the 'scientific' to the mythological and psychological - Bourgault du Coudray also sees the werewolf in Freud's 'wolf-man' case and the sinister use of wolf imagery in Nazism. The Curse of the Werewolf looks finally at the werewolf's revival in contemporary fantasy, finding in this supposedly conservative genre a fascinating new model of the human's relationship to nature. Softcover, 224 pp. $31.95.

The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse: A Study of Twelve Films and Five Novels
David Kalat
The Mabuse phenomenon is recognized as an icon of horror in Germany as Frankenstein and Dracula are in the United States. This work is a study of the 12 motion pictures and five books (and some secondary films) that make up the eight decades of adventures of master criminal Mabuse, created by author Norbert Jacques in the best-selling 1922 German novel and brought to the screen by master filmmaker Fritz Lang in the same year. Hardcover, 305 pp. $69.95.

Pretend We're Dead: Capitalist Monsters in American Pop Culture
Annalee Newitz
In Pretend We're Dead, Annalee Newitz argues that the slimy zombies and goresoaked murderers who have stormed through American film and literature over the past century embody the violent contradictions of capitalism. Newitz looks at representations of serial killers, mad doctors, the undead, cyborgs, and unfortunates mutated by their involvement with the mass media industry. Pretend We're Dead shows that as literature and film tell it, the story of American capitalism since the late nineteenth century is a tale of body-mangling, soul-crushing horror. Softcover, 224 pp. $28.95.

Book of the Dead: The Complete History of Zombie Cinema
Jamie Russell
Covering hundreds of movies, from America, Europe, and Asia, this exhaustive history chronicles the zombie's on-screen evolution from Caribbean bogeyman to flesh-eating corpse. Along the way, Book of the Dead takes in Bela Lugosi, B-movies, Italian gore films, blind monk movies, shot-on-video backyard epics, and genre classics like Night of the Living Dead. Complete with hundreds of stills and artwork including 64 stunning pages of colour illustrations, and an exhaustive filmography, this is the ultimate zombie movie resource. Softcover, 319 pp. $38.95.

Creeping Flesh
The Horror Fastasy Film Book, Volume 2
Creeping Flesh takes horror and fantasy cinema from around the globe and combines it into one thrilling volume. Compiled into a zine-like book, it takes a focused look at obscure and vilified horror movies, the discovery of "lost" films, and American and British exploitation. Softcover, 159 pp. $33.00.

Godzilla on My Mind
Fifty Years of the King of Monsters
William Tsutsui
In November of 1954, Godzilla crawled out of his radioactive birthplace onto the silver screen and into our imaginations. Today Godzilla stands as a pop icon of Japan -- the third most recognizable Japanese celebrity, according to a New York Times poll. In this short reflection on Godzilla, William Tsutsui, a life-long fan and professional historian, gives us a light-hearted look at 50 years of the big, green, radioactive lizard. Softcover, 240 pp. $18.95.

The Lure of the Vampire
Gender, Fiction and Fandom from Bram Stoker to Buffy
Milly Williamson
Over one hundred years after Bram Stoker's influencial novel was published, the vampire is as ubiquitous as ever in popular culture. The Lure of the Vampire explores the enduring myth of Dracula and vampires and just why it has remained so popular for so long. Milly Williamson examines several movies and television shows in this stimulating volume. Softcover, 213 pp. $33.95.

Shocking Representation
Adam Lowelstein
In this imaginative new work, Adam Lowenstein explores the ways in which a group of groundbreaking horror films engaged the haunting social conflicts left in the wake of World War II, Hiroshima, and the Vietnam War. Lowenstein centers Shocking Representation around readings of films by George Franju, Michael Powell, Shindo Kaneto, Wes Craven, and David Cronenberg. Softcover, 255 pp. $34.50.

A Vault of Horror
Keith Topping
From Night of the Demon to House of Whipcord, this book profiles 80 British horror films which collectively made a lasting impression on the psyche of a nation. Author Keith Topping examines the films which shaped his childhood, taking a wry and often irreverent look at their triumphs and failings, their stars, their continuity blunders and impact on the genre as a whole. Illustrated with many rare colour and black and white photographs, this is one film guide guaranteed to raise a smile as we take you back to the terrors of yesteryear. Softcover, 427 pp. $24.95.

Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia
Horror / Fantasy / Science Fiction
Thomas Weisser & Yuko Mihara Weisser
Within the pages of this exhaustively researched text you'll find expertly written reviews of Japanese genre films -- horror, fantasy, and science fiction -- post-1950. Remarkably, this is only the first volume of the co-authors' life-long project to chronicle the entire canon of modern Japanese cinema by genre. No cult film aficionado will want to be without this remarkable encyclopedia. Softcover, 327 pp. $29.95.

Horror International
Steven Jay Schneider & Tony Williams
Reaching beyond Hollywood, this scholarly anthology examines the horror genre from an international perspective. Its scope is broad -- not only gialli, Hong Kong cinema, and Spanish horror, but Thai cinema, Egyptian films, and Dutch and Romanian horror as well, spread across three sections: The Dynamics of Cross-Cultural Horror Exchange, Haunting Histories and Regional Gothics, Horror in the Social Realm, and Contested Horror Traditions. Softcover, 384 pp. $47.95.

The Rough Guide To Horror Movies
Alan Jones
The Rough Guide to Horror Movies is a comprehensive guide to the world's scariest films. Conjuring up vampires, monsters, ghosts and zombies, it tells the stories behind the movies that have frightened us from the birth of cinema to the present day. Softcover, 277 pp. $21.99.

A Field Guide to Monsters
Dave Elliot
Monster fans listens up: the information contained in this compact field guide can very well save you life. Within these pages lie the secrets to many of the monsters that are still at large today. Dozens of creatures are profiled in detail, including information about their appearance, their orgins, their habitats, their powers, and their weaknesses. Softcover, 192 pp. $19.95.

Beautiful Monsters: The Unofficial Guide to the Alien and Predator Films
David McIntee
In this unofficial companion, David McIntee takes us behind the scenes to reveal how the Alien films were developed, what their influences and antecedents were, and how they have continued to develop and influence to this day. We also take in the popular Predator films and see how, through various ranges of spin-off merchandise, we arrived at the 2004 clash of the titans, the long awaited Alien vs. Predator movie. Softcover, 266 pp. $22.95.

Horror Films
James Marriott
This insightful and authoritative study charts the history of horror through an exhaustive account of twenty key films of the genre. Covering everything from the silent expressionism of Nosferatu and the universal horrors of Bride of Frankenstein to the jaw-dropping extremes of Cannibal Holocaust and the modern psychos of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, this detailed book mixes informative and entertaining production histories with sharp critical analyses of these essential cult classics. Softcover, 298 pp. $37.50.

Framing Monsters: Fantasy Film and Social Interaction
Joshua David Bellin
This academic volume reconsiders the cultural significance of this storytelling mode by investigating how films which are seemingly divorced from reality are actually encoded with the social practices and beliefs of their era of production. Golden era classics like King Kong and The Wizard of Oz, are discussed alongside contemporary classics such as Jurassic Park, Edward Scissorhands, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Softcover, 240 pp. $49.50.

Planks of Reason: Essays on the Horror Film
Revised Edition
Barry Keith Grant & Christopher Sharrott
The original edition of Planks of Reason was the first academic critical anthology on horror films: a book that explored the genre with a rare degree of understanding. This revised edition retains the spirit of the original, but also offers new takes on rediscovered classics and recent developments in the genre. Robin Wood, Steven Neale, and Noel Carroll are amongst the contributors included in this valuable volume. Softcover, 416 pp. $67.95.

Horror Film: Creating & Marketing Fear
Edited by Steffen Hantke
In this exciting anthology, a wide variety of critical approaches are used to discuss how film technology, marketing, and distribution effectively create the aesthetics and reception of horror films. Nosferatu, The Blair Witch Project, The Exorcist, Peeping Tom and several other seminal horror films are examined in these previously unpublished essays. Hardcover, 261 pp. $76.50.

Ghouls, Gimmicks, and Gold: Horror Films and the American Movie Business, 1953-1968
Kevin Heffernan
Ghouls, Gimmicks, and Gold pulls off the masks and wipes away the slime to reveal how the monsters that frightened audiences in the 1950s and 1960s reflected fundamental changes in the film industry. Providing the first economic history of the horror film, Kevin Heffernan shows how the production, distribution, and exhibition of horror films changed as the studio era gave way to the conglomeration of New Hollywood. Softcover, 323 pp. $34.95.

The American Horror Film: An Introduction
Reynold Humphries
Encompassing a rich history -- from Bela Lugosi to the Blair Witch Project -- The American Horror Film surveys the subject without sacrificing insight for breadth. The focus throughout is on the major filmmakers and pertinent critical approaches. An ideal introduction for the uninitiated, and a fresh resource for fans of the genre. Softcover, 216 pp. $34.95.

The Horror Film
Stephen Prince
In this volume, Stephen Prince has collected essays reviewing the history of the horror film and the psychological reasons for its persistent appeal, as well as the discussions of the developmental responses of young adult viewers and children to the genre. This well-balanced collection will appeal to anyone interested in serious scholarship about horror cinema. Softcover, 272 pp. $37.95.

The Astounding B Monster
Marty Baumann
Based upon the award-winning website of the same name, this priceless compendium of personality profiles, interviews and reviews, will delight B-movie fans of all ages. This nostalgic collection features interviews with Beverly Garland, Bruce Campbell, Pamela Duncan, Anne Robinson, James Arness, Robert Clarke, Jack Hill, and several others. Softcover, 239 pp. $19.99.

The Zombie Survival Guide
Max Brooks
Zombies, ghouls -- no matter what their name -- these flesh-eating somnambulists are the greatest threat to humanity, other than humanity itself. In light of this constant threat to the very future of civilization, your only hope is to read and live by the rules laid out in this definitive survival guide. Accept no substitute, and remember, life is your most precious asset, so take no chances and buy this book. Softcover, 254 pp. $19.95.

Hollywood Horror: from Gothic to Cosmic
Mark E. Vieira
Celebrating the ever-popular and enduring cinematic genre populated with vampires, mummies, zombies, werewolves, mad scientists, aliens and psychopaths, Hollywood Horror is an entertaining narrative and pictorial history of the classic American monster movie from the silent era to 1968. This opulent book is illustrated throughout with dramatic black & white photographs. Hardcover, 264 pp. $70.00.