A really excellent analysis of the gothic literary genre &
some great insights into the surprisingly recent
phenomenon of mass fear (as projected onto
supernatural figures), I'm a little skeptical about his
application of these insights to contemporary film, but
overall definitely worth the read.

There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.

Sadly I had to DNF this e-book (sorry!) as it was so repetitive and boring to me!

I am a huge fan of witches and wizards and ghosts and anything that goes bump in the night, in books, movies, games, etcetera.

While I did enjoy this book for the most part I did find it a little too academic at times. It is one that I may well re-visit, however, and has brought to my attention certain books and movies that I have not yet experienced.

Whenever someone asks me what kind of books I want to read more my answer will be non-fictional books. But every time I try to get my hands on something that will keep me interested I'm not that lucky with my choice. For the longest time, I believed that maybe I'm not made for them.
However, every once in a while I come across a book like 'Haunted' and fall in love with it.

The synopsis promised a review of the past culture that shaped a lot of those monsters we know now from TV, movies, and literature. The author did a great job to intertwine historical developments with works of literature (and later cinema). I'm a huge fan of horror stories and classical monsters as some of the most intriguing ideas are rooted in earlier societies and their beliefs.

The book is written in a clear and easy-to-understand language although some parts were a little stiff but I didn't mind much.

I also discovered a whole new set of books I haven't read yet and I look forward to reading them. However, here lies the reason why I settled for four stars instead of 5. As I didn't know all of the discussed books some of the ending as well as the plot twists were spoiled. I guess most of the stories are well-known which is why many people won't be surprised but this was not the case for me.

In the end, I'm really happy that I discovered the book and I hope to read more by the author in the future. I recommend it to those who are a fan of classical literature as well as the horror genre in general.