Synopsis
A smart, funny crash course in the horror movie canon, from Psycho to Hereditary, for people who love getting the reference but hate being scared.
You don’t have to miss out just because you don’t like to be frightened! Stop trying to read nonsensical Wikipedia plot summaries (we know you’re doing it), and let an expert tell you everything you need to know about the most influential horror films of the past 60 years—without a single jump scare or a drop of gore.
With a rundown of the history and significance of horror cinema, explanations of common tropes, and detailed entries on 25 important movies ranging from Night of the Living Dead to The Blair Witch Project to Get Out, Horror for Weenies will turn even the scarediest of cats into a confident connoisseur.
Each entry includes:
– A detailed plot summary, with enough jokes that it won’t freak you out
– Smart, illuminating analysis of the film’s themes and cultural significance
– Descriptions of iconic scenes you definitely do not want to look at
– Talking points for impressing even the biggest scary-movie buffs
Never get left out of a conversation again!
Review
The biggest thanks to Quirk Books for this lovely ARC!
Imagine this: you’re at a party, chatting with your pals, or maybe pals of pals, when the conversation takes an abrupt turn to what everyone’s been watching. And if you’re with the best kinda people (I’m not biased AT ALL), the subject of horror movies gets thrown around, and films like John Carpenter’s Halloween or Brian De Palma’s Carrie seem to steal the show. Or maybe it’s more recent films like Jordan Peele’s Get Out or David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows. Sounds fabulous, right? Except there’s one problem. You, my friend, are a weenie who enjoys reading horror but maybe not watching it. Your throat dries up, you try to draw an anecdote from a scary episode of television from somewhere in your memory (does Dwight cutting that face off the CPR mannequin and wearing it in The Office count?). Fear not any longer! As of September 3rd of this very year, a solution is finally here! Emily Hughes has brought salvation to the land of weenies in her informative book, Horror for Weenies: Everything You Need to Know About the Films You’re Too Scared to Watch.
Did that sound like a cheesy informercial from way back when? That’s what I was going for. At any rate, Horror for Weenies is a delightful, treasure of a book for both well-versed fans of horror cinema and, well, weenies. As someone who discovered horror later in life, I have certainly tried to do my due diligence and watch all there is in the world of on-screen screams. And while I’ve been able to mostly accomplish that, there’s a lot of history out there, a lot of facts surrounding these wildly influential films, and a lot to be learned about horror’s place in pop culture. Hughes manages to wrangle this unfathomable amount of knowledge to give us one volume, showcasing some of the most influential horror films in today’s history. I cannot commend Emily Hughes enough for compiling all of this information into succinct chapters on each film complete with humorous synopses, sections on why these films matter, and books you can read if you can’t bring yourself to watch them.
Reading Horror for Weenies was a true delight even as someone who is only sometimes a weenie. This book felt like a wonderful, nostalgic trip down memory lane to my college apartment where I discovered Romero, Carpenter, and Hitchcock. Hughes places an incredible amount of care and detail into this book to deliver a unique reading experience that will undoubtedly satisfy cravings of knowledge for those who don’t enjoy spending an hour or longer with their shoulders in their ears and fingers over their eyes. This is accessible horror information across the board, the kind of gift for any horror-lover in your life would love to have on their shelves.
Horror for Weenies by Emily C. Hughes releases on September 3rd from Quirk Books!
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