American Scary, Jeremy Dauber
American Scary, Jeremy Dauber
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American Scary
A History of Horror, from Salem to Stephen King and Beyond

Author: Jeremy Dauber

Narrator: Jeremy Dauber

Unabridged: 16 hr 54 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/01/2024

Synopsis

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 reader 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.  

About Jeremy Dauber

Jeremy Dauber is a professor of Jewish literature and American studies at Columbia University. His books include Jewish Comedy and The Worlds of Sholem Aleichem, both finalists for the National Jewish Book Award, and, most recently, American Comics: A History. He lives in New York City.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Nursebookie on August 23, 2024

AMERICAN SCARY BY JEREMY DAUBER An exhaustive history of horror by talented Jeremy Dauber that answers the question, “What scares the crap out of us”. This book explores historical perspectives that touch an array of media from Hollywood to literature, Lovecraft to Hitchcock, and so much more. I reall......more

Goodreads review by Janette on January 04, 2025

A thorough, although at times, exhausting look back at America’s history of horror in literature, film, and our culture in general. Well researched. I loved learning about many books, movies and television programs I’d never heard of before. As the title suggests, the author truly begins at America’......more

Goodreads review by Justin on July 22, 2024

Jeremy Dauber does to the horror genre with American Scary what he did to the comic book world with American Comics. The author exhaustingly researched the genre and gives us a definitive history of what scares Americans. American Scary takes us to the startling origins of the horror genre in the Uni......more

Goodreads review by Jamele (BookswithJams) on October 22, 2024

Thank you to Novel Suspects, Algonquin Books, and Hachette Audio for the copies to review. I loved reading this via audio, as this could drag a little at times, or be a bit thorough is maybe a better way to put it, but overall it was a look into why we can’t get enough of horror stories and being sca......more

Goodreads review by The Bookish Elf on November 03, 2024

In American Scary, Jeremy Dauber, a Columbia University professor and cultural historian, presents a fascinating journey through the dark corridors of American horror, from colonial fears to contemporary anxieties. Following his acclaimed works on American Comics and Jewish Comedy, Dauber brings his......more

Quotes

Praise for American Scary:

"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

Praise for American Comics:

"The first book about comics that covers events I was there for, where I’m not shaking my head at how wrong it is. A really good history of all the different strands of comics that came together over the last hundred and twenty years to become American Comics."—Neil Gaiman

"An entertaining and richly detailed new history of comics . . . both opinionated and frequently funny . . . the story Dauber tells is a mighty one."—Michael Tisserand, New York Times Book Review

"Until now one could only dream of an engaging, analytic history encompassing the entire medium. That sounds like a job for Superman, but Jeremy Dauber has gotten there first . . . His perceptive, critical overview is enlivened by a jaunty style that bops from the political cartoons of Thomas Nast in the 1860s to the demise of an equally influential gadfly, Mad magazine, in 2018."—Michael Saler, Wall Street Journal

"An entertaining, big . . . comprehensive survey of the comics industry, from its inception in early twentieth-century newspapers to the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe megamovie crossover empire."—Scott Bradfield, New Republic

"Dauber lets his love for the medium shine through . . . [and] makes a compelling argument that we can view, through the lens of comics' content, how America sees itself."—Cliff Cumber, Washington Independent Review of Books

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