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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
dark
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
This was a really fun and insightful look into horror in all media by one of the most influential kings of horror. It's really great seeing what influenced The Stand, Salem's Lot, Carrie and The Shining. Some of my favourite parts of the book was when King talks about his childhood and what got him into reading and what frightened him. If you're a King fan or just a horror fan in general I really recommend this.
dark
informative
medium-paced
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
Finally finished this one, although the fact that it took me so long is more a reflection of my inability to really dig into nonfiction than it is on the book itself. It's an interesting examination of horror fiction (both screen and print) from 1950-1980. The 30th anniversary of the book is next year. It'd be interesting to see King tackle a sequel.
Hmm, this was a slightly disappointing entry from Stephen King, only the second subpar experience I've had with his works (Roadwork being the other).
There's a lot of interesting ideas, and fun anecdotes to be sure. The book is made with passion, and it's particularly neat seeing horror dissected by one of its masters. Unfortunately the book hasn't aged very well.
I watch old movies and TV shows all the time, but a lot of them simply aren't the best examples (after forty more years of media) for what he's trying to talk about. The points he makes are repeated too often, with synopsis after synopsis of plots and specific scenes padding out a hearty portion of the book. It's written for an audience that doesn't have all that material on-hand, and a lot of it was tedious for me to read. He is self-aware that it's indulgent, and though I appreciated this fact, it didn't make it more enjoyable.
Now, it's unfair to blame the book for aging poorly in my eyes, and silly to blame King for not being aptly technologically prescient, so I don't detract from the overall score too harshly for how dated it seems.
The book does provide a snapshot of how horror was viewed at the time, and I have to assume it gives a great deal of insight into his future works—perhaps after I read those this will improve in my eyes.
I was looking for a unique perspective on the horror genre, and there were definitely snippets of it amongst plot summaries and personal stories (the latter being written quite well). It just wasn't what I was looking for overall.
There's a lot of interesting ideas, and fun anecdotes to be sure. The book is made with passion, and it's particularly neat seeing horror dissected by one of its masters. Unfortunately the book hasn't aged very well.
I watch old movies and TV shows all the time, but a lot of them simply aren't the best examples (after forty more years of media) for what he's trying to talk about. The points he makes are repeated too often, with synopsis after synopsis of plots and specific scenes padding out a hearty portion of the book. It's written for an audience that doesn't have all that material on-hand, and a lot of it was tedious for me to read. He is self-aware that it's indulgent, and though I appreciated this fact, it didn't make it more enjoyable.
Now, it's unfair to blame the book for aging poorly in my eyes, and silly to blame King for not being aptly technologically prescient, so I don't detract from the overall score too harshly for how dated it seems.
The book does provide a snapshot of how horror was viewed at the time, and I have to assume it gives a great deal of insight into his future works—perhaps after I read those this will improve in my eyes.
I was looking for a unique perspective on the horror genre, and there were definitely snippets of it amongst plot summaries and personal stories (the latter being written quite well). It just wasn't what I was looking for overall.
"This book is only my ramble through that world, through all the worlds of fantasy and horror that have delighted and terrified me….It’s a dance. And sometimes they turn off the lights in this ballroom. But we’ll dance anyway, you and I. Even in the dark. Especially in the dark. May I have the pleasure?" ~Stephen KingI first read Danse Macabre when I was seventeen, and while I gobbled it up, there was a lot that just went right over my head unappreciated at the time. Even though I was well on my way to becoming a voracious consumer of the genre, I was also still very much a novice.
Fast forward ten years later. I’m in my late 20’s when I decide to pick this book up for the second time. I’m smarter (having been around the block a few times); I've seen many more horror movies, and read many more books, so that this time around Danse Macabre rocked my socks completely off my feet. I was finally able to appreciate it for what it really is – a love letter to the genre and a full-on vivisection of its fans. Not only is King dissecting us, he is unabashedly and with good humor, dissecting himself.
Danse Macabre begins to feel like an intimate conversation between friends bonding over the exquisite surprise that they share the same devout love and enthusiasm for the subject at hand. King makes “horror talking” such a heady, delicious experience I can never help but feel intoxicated (and totally addicted).
This brings me to present day – my late 30s – and my third reading. The 2010 edition includes a new introductory essay called “What’s Scary”. Unfortunately it’s not the sequel to Danse Macabre I long for, but it is vintage King and to hear his thoughts on some of the more recent contributions to celluloid horror (i.e. Blair Witch Project and the remake of The Last House on the Left) is worth every word.
One of my favorite lines is when he refers to the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake and how it dethroned The Passion of the Christ at the box office: “suggesting that John Lennon was wrong – zombies, not the Beatles, turned out to be more popular than Jesus.”
Amen brother. Can I get a witness?
This is going to sound all fangirly, but I think this book is perfect, even in all of its imperfections (the weakest, even uninspired, section is the short chapter on television). King’s conversational tone is sometimes at odds with his more “jargony” academic analyses, but I like “brainy” King (in fact, I think I may love him). What can I say – “thinky thoughts” are sexy and King has a lot of them to share in 400-plus pages (some of it so insightful, so spot-on, that this really is the definitive “word” on modern horror). I won’t say final, cause my fingers are still crossed for that sequel!!!
At 37, I’ve consumed my fair share of horror and then some, and since my first reading of Danse Macabre have had all of 20 years to consider just what it is I’ve consumed. In no way could I articulate what the genre means to me as well as King has here. He cuts to the quick, to horror’s beating heart, sometimes with a scalpel, sometimes hacking away with a more blunt tool, but always with sincerity, and a profound respect that extends not only to the work, but to the fans.
Stephen King meanders through entries in the horror genre in books, movies and television between the years 1950-1980. I’ve never been a huge fan of reading other people’s thoughts on books that I have not read. If I have read the book, that’s different and I enjoy the analysis. For that reason, this one was tough to get through.
I did add a few books to me “want to read” list. It was enjoyable reading King’s thoughts on these other words of art. Though it would be neat to get an updated version covering 1980-2020, but I doubt King will ever do that.
Overall, unless you’re a big fan of King or a big fan of horror, and preferably both, this is probably not for you. I give it three stars, more than a few of my least favorite King novels, mostly in recognition for what it is.
I did add a few books to me “want to read” list. It was enjoyable reading King’s thoughts on these other words of art. Though it would be neat to get an updated version covering 1980-2020, but I doubt King will ever do that.
Overall, unless you’re a big fan of King or a big fan of horror, and preferably both, this is probably not for you. I give it three stars, more than a few of my least favorite King novels, mostly in recognition for what it is.
I've read it twice over the years, and it does present some good insight on the horror genre. It is a great starting point for anyone interested in the genre. Nonetheless, as it was published thirty years ago it is now very dated. Also, King sometimes writes like a prepubescent boy who's just discovered a knack for the vernacular.
The best thing would be for King to revisit and revise this book for the next thirty years. A lot of unnecessary and otherwise verbose sections could be cut completely, and the leftover space used economically to cover more relevant material.
The best thing would be for King to revisit and revise this book for the next thirty years. A lot of unnecessary and otherwise verbose sections could be cut completely, and the leftover space used economically to cover more relevant material.
Not the type of book I would normally choose but this was interesting and a bit humorous