
American Scary
A History of Horror, from Salem to Stephen King and Beyond
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Narrated by:
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Jeremy Dauber
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By:
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Jeremy Dauber
About this listen
From the acclaimed author of American Comics and Jewish Comedy comes a highly entertaining book that examines the American obsession with horror—and what it tells us about ourselves.
In American Scary, noted cultural historian and Columbia professor Jeremy Dauber takes the listener to the startling origins of the horror genre in the United States, drawing a surprising through-line between the lingering influence of the European Gothic, the enslaved insurrection tales propagated by slaveholders, and the apocryphal chronicles of colonial settlers kidnapped by Native Americans, among many others.
These foundational narratives give rise to and are influenced by the body of work we more closely associate with horror: the weird fiction of HP Lovecraft, the lingering stories of Shirley Jackson, the unsettling films of Alfred Hitchcock, the up-all-night tales of Stephen King, and the gripping critiques of Jordan Peele.
From “The Tell-Tale Heart” to M3gan, we begin to see why the horror genre is the perfect prism through which to view America’s past and present. With the extraordinary historical breadth and dexterous weave of insight and style that has made him twice a finalist for the National Jewish Book, Dauber makes the haunting case that horror reveals the true depths of the American mind.
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Critic reviews
"The American character defies description in many cases, but we are an obvious nation when it comes to our fears. With depth and dexterity, Dauber gets at the heart of our delusions of damnation, our obsessions, and confessions. American Scary synthesizes for both scholar and fan what it is we're afraid of, and why we always come back for more. A must-have for any horror completist."—Meg Elison, author of Number One Fan
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Unearth the terrifying and true tales behind some of the scariest horror movies to ever haunt our screens, including the Enfield poltergeist case that was retold in The Conjuring 2 and the serial killers who inspired Hannibal Lector in The Silence of the Lambs. Behind the Horror dissects these and other bizarre tales to reveal haunting real-life stories of abduction, disappearance, murder, and exorcism.
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Okay
- By 6catz on 05-19-21
By: Dr. Lee Mellor
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Marvel Comics in the 1970s
- The World Inside Your Head
- By: Eliot Borenstein
- Narrated by: Todd Menesses
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Marvel Comics in the 1970s explores a forgotten chapter in the story of the rise of comics as an art form. Bridging Marvel's dizzying innovations and the birth of the underground comics scene in the 1960s and the rise of the prestige graphic novel and postmodern superheroics in the 1980s, Eliot Borenstein reveals a generation of comic book writers whose work at Marvel in the 1970s established their own authorial voice within the strictures of corporate comics.
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Misunderstood What it was about
- By Erik J. Larsen on 12-07-23
By: Eliot Borenstein
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Paperbacks from Hell
- The Twisted History of ’70s and ’80s Horror Fiction
- By: Grady Hendrix, Will Errickson - contributor
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Take a tour through the horror paperback novels of two iconic decades...if you dare. Hear shocking plot summaries that invoke devil worship, satanic children, and haunted real estate! Horror author and vintage paperback book collector Grady Hendrix offers killer commentary and witty insight on these trashy thrillers that tried so hard to be the next Exorcist or Rosemary's Baby. Complete with story summaries and artist and author profiles, this unforgettable volume dishes on familiar authors like V. C. Andrews and R. L. Stine, plus many more.
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The Rosetta Stone of horror schlock
- By Stefan Filipovits on 08-26-20
By: Grady Hendrix, and others
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Nightmare Fuel
- The Science of Horror Films
- By: Nina Nesseth
- Narrated by: Raquel Beattie
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Horror films promise an experience: fear. But how exactly do filmmakers pull this off? The truth is, there's more to it than just loud noises and creepy images. With the affection of a true horror fan and the critical analysis of a scientist, Nesseth explains how audiences engage horror with both their brains and bodies, and teases apart the elements that make horror films tick. Nightmare Fuel covers everything from jump scares to creature features, serial killers to the undead, and the fears that stick around to those that fade over time.
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Science + Horror = Intrigued
- By Bradley on 12-06-22
By: Nina Nesseth
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The Barn
- The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi
- By: Wright Thompson
- Narrated by: Wright Thompson
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Wright Thompson’s family farm in Mississippi is 23 miles from the site of one of the most notorious and consequential killings in American history, yet he had to leave the state for college before he learned the first thing about it. To this day, fundamental truths about the crime are widely unknown, including where it took place and how many people were involved. This is no accident: the cover-up began at once, and it is ongoing.
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Evocative
- By Mentally in Paris on 09-25-24
By: Wright Thompson
So many interesting ideas about the origins of horror.
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A catalog of creepy and a discourse of darkness
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