I enjoyed reading this book. The audience for this book is viewers who have already seen these movies. It is a critical look at these horror movies and why they are so scary. There are a lot spoilers so if you have not seen the movie in question watch it and then come back and read about it. While I had seen most of these movies I appreciated the sidebars of other movies to watch since I had missed some of those. Any fan of horror movies will enjoy reading this book.

This is a must have for any horror film fans.
What I liked about it was that it wasn’t a best of book. It didn’t just list the ‘Best horror movies’ . It’s a collection of well thought out examinations and explications of the movies. It had been expertly researched and I found it fascinating,

*I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review*

Best-Of book roundups always make half the audience angry (How dare they leave my favorite off! The nerve of them to enjoy different movies than me! What makes you the authority anyway? etc etc etc -- BORING REVIEW, y'all! People like different things. Get over it.)

That said -- like peeking at someone's bookshelf, it's always kind of interesting to find out what OTHER people like, what their criteria for something being "good" is, and how they categorize/organize their opinions, ideas, and arguments.

This book uses illustrations and charts to great effect to break down the movies they picked (because they got a book deal, and we didn't, so they get to do that) and more importantly, the WHY of their choices.

Also, what is with these other reviewers and the unreasonable hatred for someone including The Others on their list. That is seriously weird.

Naturally with 34 films, there's going to be some ones you agree with, ones you hate, ones you've never heard of, and ones you wonder why they were left out. That's the nature of books like these, and with so many different KINDS of horror out there, you can only include so many. Sometimes there's overlap in genres and subgenres you like and sometimes there isn't.

The writing is semi-academic yet approachable. This is something that the cool undergrad film teacher might assign that would make their class super popular.

TL;DR -- Chill out because the author likes The Others and can break down why. Easy to read, okay to skim, some surprises but overall a fun read about horror movies and the strategic elements of an effective scary movie.

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.

‘The Book Of Spoilers’ would be a better suited title for this book, every discussion of a film is pretty much a blow by blow of everything that happens in the movie. If I wanted to know what happened in a movie I’d check it out on Wikipedia or you know, watch the movie.
The barometers of the scares throughout the movies were a cute touch, but I felt this book could’ve been better.

Due to the format of the book I was unable to read this properly via the Netgalley Shelf app and I was not given the option to download it to my Kindle so I am unable to give a full review on this on. I'm giving it 2 stars for the portions I was able to read but they were out of order so this isn't a full reflection of my thoughts.

This is a stunning book on horror films. Following an introduction on the tactics used by horror film-makers. Matt Glasby analyses 34 films, breaking them down into different aspects of the genre as well as producing a chart to present the level of jumps and scares throughout the film.
Fortunately for horror film fans looking to broaden their viewing pleasure, Glasby includes international films in his list such as Rec and the haunting Lake Mungo.
There is the odd surprise in the book's choices such as the inclusion of The Others over a film such as, for example, Onibaba. If Matt Glasby finds The Others frightening I think he is in the wrong field of film analysis.
Otherwise, this is a fantastic book.

An interesting dissection of horror movies. As a big horror fan I enjoyed reading this, although I only read sections at a time.
Shame it didn’t work on my kindle though!

Matt Glasby’s The Book of Horror: The Anatomy of Fear in Film is an informative and interesting look at a variety of classic and contemporary scary films from around the world. The book is well-organized and well-written with a great design. But, the writing is a bit dry and meandering sometimes. Furthermore, the book can get a bit technical so I think it is better suited for film students than the average reader.

The book examines thirty-four frightening films from around the globe. The book begins with 1960’s Psycho and wraps up with 2019’s It. The book features many American movies. However, the globe is fairly well-represented with films from places like Japan, Australia, Thailand, Spain, and Italy. But, I really would have liked to see more non-English language movies. The films are a great mix of renowned classics with twentieth and twenty-first century movies. The book includes popular choices like The Exorcist, The Strangers, Suspiria, and The Blair Witch Project. However, there are lesser known works like Lake Mungo, The Innkeepers, Banshee Chapter, and the Orphanage.

Each chapter explores a notable horror movie, examining what exactly makes the work so frightening. Glasby notes its scariest moments via a scare rating and a timeline of movie events with brief explanatory titles. Each film also receives a scale which documents the seven scare tactics: dead space; the subliminal; the unexpected; the grotesque; dread; the uncanny; and the unstoppable. This may be useful to some readers but I didn’t really follow it. Although there is a brief explanation of the seven scare tactics at the beginning of the book, I didn’t think that in-depth knowledge of these things really influenced my understanding of the chapters. I also like that each film has a further viewing section where the author lists 3 similar films to explore if you liked the main film.

Glasby’s writing is brief but thorough as each main film receives a write up of approximately 3-5 pages. The writing is a bit dry but, for the most part, it is clear and easy-to-follow. However, the writing can sometimes get technical and seems better suited for film majors. Furthermore, the writing sometimes meanders and could be more concise.

I like the book’s sparse black and white design with splashes of red. The minimalism keeps the focus on the writing while also emphasising the terrifying aspect of the subject matter. Each film chapter is accompanied by nicely spooky illustrations from Barney Bodoano. I love the haunting black and white drawings which wonderfully represent iconic imagery from the films.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion for this book in exchange for an honest review.



🎥 🎥 🎥 ½ out of 5 movie cameras!

As a person who loves horror movies, this book allowed me to seek out movies that I haven't seen (or sometimes even heard of). It is a nice list of movies, along with the whys that cause them to stand the test of time. Highly recommend for anyone who loves horror movies, or would like to watch great movies in general.

Thank you to NetGalley, White Lion Publishing, and Matt Glasby for providing me with a eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Just in time for the spooky season, Matt Glasby has put together a book a great little compendium of films with horrors that will stick with you even after the credits roll. Starting with 1960's Psycho and ending with 2019's IT Chapter Two, we are taken through decades of films that fill you with horror in many different ways. If you're not into spoilers, you may choose to steer clear of certain chapters until you've seen the film. However, Glasby provides a wealth of information on each short piece. He also makes sure to provide three additional films for every entry - many well known films are suggested, sprinkled with a handful of obscure selections.

If you are a lover of horror films, this is a great quick read and may even given you some films to add to your watch list.

I liked this book. I was introduced to a lot of movies that I've never heard of. It had a good combination of popular movies and lesser-known ones. It gave you a lot of information, and it was really acceptable as well. I enjoyed the graphs that were presented, as well as the recommendations he gave. I will definitely go on a horror movie watching spree after this.

Matt Glasby explores over 40 postwar horror films considered the most scary. In it each film is analysed but seven scare tactics. These are also plotted against the film timeline shown in a graph. Also shared is further viewing lists pertaining to each film.

This is a must for all serious horror movie fans and film students alike.

*eArc provided by the publisher and NetGalley

The Book of Horror by Matt Glasby is one of the newest book on the famous film genre that aims at introducing the reader with some of the most famous and worthy entries this genre has to offer to its viewers. Though there are literally hundreds of other books that have the same premise, some of which discuss many of the same movies as this one, The Book of Horror has a few tricks up its sleeve that manage to differentiate it from the rest.
- The first is the fact that it separates, names, and defines the scare tactics this genre has created and used in its history. According to Glasby, these tactics are Dead Space (the use of space as a means to create dread and anticipation), The Submilinal (difficult to notice visual and aural information that makes the viewer feel scared or uncomfortable), The Unexpected (famous and kind of cliched jump scares), The Grotesque (uncomfortable to watch visual effects, most often associated with the body), Dread (the feeling of anticipation for something scary to happen), The Uncanny (the feeling that there is something kind of wrong with what's happening on the screen), and The Unstoppable (the feeling that there is no way in which the antagonist can be stopped). As we can see, this separation of the different aspects of the horror are created to be able to include both corporeal horror in the form of killings, bodily mutations, etc. but also the psychological one. Moreover, they are applicable to all sub-genres of horror, from the formulaic teen slasher and found footage film to the headier and artsier offerings of the genre.

Each of these seven aspects of a horror film are noted in each entry in the book in at least two places. The first is within the text itself, the majority of which is dedicated to a lengthy summary of the film in question, in the form of small visualization signs representing one of the aspects. The second is through a kind of a bar chart that measures each of these aspects and gives it a mark.

The measurements bring us to the second unique feature of he book, its Scare Rating. Presented like a chart with dips and spikes, it is created as a means for the book to show the scariest parts of a film, show exactly where they happen within the film and measure them on a scale from 1 to 10. It looks cool, for sure, with the spikes looking a bit like the frantic pulse of the possible viewer of the films. Yet, it also kind of beats the purpose of the book because it works as a major spoiler for each of the films not only by saying what the scary parts are but exactly when they happen. On the other hand, the book doesn't really say anything new that might be of interest for a longtime fans of the genre... This quality slightly hurts the quality writing by Glasby and incredibly beautiful illustrations by Barney Bodano which manage both to represent the movie in questions but also to show it in a somewhat unique style. Despite these minor flaws, the book is a worthy possession for most cinema fans, especially the ones interested in horror.

Good review and analysis, with ratings, of many popular horror films! Pictures included and recommendations for fans of each film.

An excellent breakdown of what makes horror films so horrifying. It included a lot of films I've seen, and quite a few that I haven't but that I am now intending to look up! I appreciated the way the information was broken down and presented.

The Book of Horror: The Anatomy of Fear in Film by Matt Glasby

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, this book is a lovely celebration of a creepy and macabre genre that is so often misunderstood. It gives fun facts you might not necessarily have known - I didn't know that Jamie Lee Curtis is the daughter of Janet Leigh, who famously got murdered in the shower in Psycho. Or that The Others may have been set in Jersey, but it was written and directed by a Spanish-Serbian man and filmed in Australia.
I love the use of the symbols denoting the 7 main Scare Tactics used throughout horror and how the book uses them to analyse each film. At times the plot graph scare-o-meter seems a little pointless and just put in to fill up the page space, but it is fun to look at where is considered the scariest moment of each film.
Every chapter is accompanied by an illustration from Barney Bodoano, some of which are downright unsettling. It might have been interesting to see some colour illustrations, perhaps some old film advertisements or something similar, but the illustrations that were there were perfectly spooky.
This book would be a good gift for somebody who likes mainstream horror, but anyone who loves obscure indie films and is a bit of a horror snob might not like the fact that the main films discussed are predominantly the most obvious examples in the genre. (but perfect for someone like me!)
The recommendations that accompany each chapter are often interesting and very relevant. They gave me tons of recommendations for friends – even some for my super hipster boyfriend (despite him only liking very obscure horror and claiming all films that I find actually scary [The Babadook, Sinister, Annabelle Creation] as 'just comedies really' and 'not scary at all')
Most of the films are available on streaming services, either free or to buy, however there are a few major exceptions: The Innocents, Who Can Kill A Child, The Entity, Angst, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, The Eye, The Orphanage and Lake Mungo. A couple of the recommendations are also unable to be sourced digitally, including some I personally was really interested in, such as: The Poughkeepsie Tapes, Switchblade Romance and Saint Maud among others. This wouldn't be that much of a big deal, apart from the fact that in the prologue, it is stated that one of the categories for a film being included in this book was that it had to be 'legally and readily available'. I would argue, that, in this day and age, 'readily available' translates into being on Netflix or Amazon, and perhaps a horror-specific streaming service such as Shudder at a push. However, this is by no means a bad thing, other than for my wallet when I buy all the DVDs! However, I really like that it includes films that were only out this year, such as The Lighthouse, which only came out on DVD about a week or so ago.
Some films get more space, which always seems to work better. The Descent is one of the films to get 4 pages instead of 2 and the analysis is more in depth, and more interesting as a result.
This would be a wonderful coffee table book and/or handbook for either horror enthusiasts or budding novices.

Subtitle: The Anatomy of Fear in Film

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

The Book of Horror examines a sampling of post WWII horror films to determine the various techniques the filmmakers used to create horror. It includes a mix of undisputed classics and more recent and probably lesser known films. Along with each main film featured, it includes brief descriptions of three other films that explore similar horror themes.

At the beginning, the book defines seven distinct methods of horrifying audiences. I'll list a brief summary below:

Dead space - This is the amount of background included in each frame. Either too much or too little can be unsettling, as well as offering opportunities for showing details in the background to startle or create dread or doubt in the viewers mind.
Subliminal - The use of subtle visual or audio clues that may go unnoticed.
The Unexpected - Jump scares or plot twists
The Grotesque - Blood and gore
Dread - Creating apprehension that something horrible is going to happen
The Uncanny - Creating the feeling that something is just not 'right'
The Unstoppable - Creating a sense that the horror is never going to end

The part of this book I liked the best were its breakdowns of classic horror films that I've already seen, such as Psycho, The Haunting, The Exorcist, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, The Shining, Blair Witch Project, and IT, Chapter 2. In addition for the analysis previously mentioned, there were also comments from the directors and bits of trivia that provided additional depth to my knowledge of those films. For movies I hadn't seen, such as The Ring, it provided a long-form synopsis that gave me an image of what happened in the film and why. Probably 50-60 percent of the films mentioned were ones I had never heard of.

I gave The Book of Horror four stars. Because I'm not a fan of Japanese style horror and don't watch many foreign films, I won't be watching a lot of the recent movies covered here. The PDF version I read employed a lot of white font on black background sections, which caused some eye strain when reading on my devices. This probably isn't an issue if you read a physical copy of the book, but could cause some problems if reading a digital version.

If you love horror it's a must! It is very well written and beautifully put together, illustrations are amazing! It takes every film apart minute by minute, scene by scene and explains the science of horror, a very curious read! I didn't see all of them films myself, but still did enjoy it a lot, if you're a horror lover you're in for a treat!

This book is a treat for horror fans. I’ve seen most of the movies discussed here and the author’s analysis was eye-opening. The Shining is one of my favorite films, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen it and Matt Glasby made me notice new things. As per its subtitle, The Anatomy of Fear in Film, there are all kinds of horror movies here: Ghost stories, slasher flicks, supernatural villains and serial killers; commercial and not widely known; foreign and domestic. The illustrations are gorgeous and the charts that track the tension throughout the films are fun to check out. The author also uses a system to code the ways that the tension is achieved. Even the films that I haven’t seen captured my interest and made me want to stream them asap. The Book of Horror is an innovative way to look at scary movies.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/White Lion Publishing!